(CT) The Ghost Repellent

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy was very happy to be a part of the camping trip. He never left the school unless he had to and was always accompanied. It was sort of the same, as he went with people, but it was more than some school’s official to help him pick some clothes. He didn’t know where the money came, he never asked himself that kind of question. Just like he didn’t ask himself how they could get to the national park for a week of camping. He was just too happy to be a part of this.

A lot of things proved difficult and a bit scary for him though. First, he had a really weird guy in charge of his cabin. Jimmy didn’t get everything he was saying but he also had him for the activities he had to take part in. He was still not sure what survival safety meant but apparently a part of it consisted in gathering wood for the fires. And cleaning the cabin’s toilet.

Now, it was getting dark and people needed to gather wood. The sun was setting, it was not quite dark but it fell on Jimmy to do it. Normally, he wouldn’t be so scared, he could still see very well and even if he got lost a little bit, he usually found his way back to camp without too much problem. But last night people shared ghost stories and some included stuff happening in the woods. Jimmy was not like the other kids, he didn’t get it was just a story meant to send some shivers down your spine while listening to it just to forget about it afterwards. He thought it was real. And people wanted him to get in the woods, as the sun was setting, when there was someone who enjoyed going after lost kids in the woods at night. He didn’t think so. Except that his supervisor was pretty scary too with his big voice and words Jimmy did not always understand. It was all a matter of which one was scarier. Seeing as how Marcus was not around but the woods clearly were, Jimmy made his choice. He dared not go. If only Marcus was there to come with him.

Marcus was not there but Jimmy saw someone else. He didn't know Ellen Banks well but she acted as a very strong woman and some people seemed afraid of her. It was his opinion since they were walking away from her. Someone as strong would be able to beat up any ghost in the woods. Unaware of the bad idea this was, Jimmy walked towards the blonde woman and tapped on her arm to get her attention.

[Ellen Banks]

Mhhh? What’s that? Why no, Ellen REALLY didn’t really wanted to be here. At ALL, like...AT ALL. Why would she? She was used to the finer things after all and camping? No this certainly wasn’t what she had in mind as a good time. But unlike most of the general parasitic wastes that seemed content to pollute her hallways (...and yes, pollution that was how she viewed most of the population of the school) She actually had concept of responsibility and the vast majority of the school looked up to her, and she had to represent the school council on social functions so here she was.


And people called her selfish when in reality she put so much focus on making sure the school came first…


...But even so, being surrounded by people got so very tiring so Ellen needed time to herself before she could be among them once more. She needed to detox and to her credit...she was, she was actually beginning to calm down and take some measure of enjoyment out of her surroundings…..


That was until she felt a tap on her arm….


A quick note about Ellen Banks, there was many things in life she didn’t enjoy, top among them being hands on her. She detested being touched. She hated it with a passion, if you hugged her, you might as well jump in your grave right there and then.


So as you can imagine, the instant Ellen felt the touch, She whirled around on her heel her eyes lighting up with a typical Ellen Banks DEATH STARE drilling a hole through Jimmy’s “If you ever touch me again I will cut off that hand and make you eat it..”

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy was not very good with personal space. He had trouble with many things but right now, his issue was that he touched the wrong person at a bad time: when she couldn’t see him. But how else could he get her attention? He wanted to talk to her. Had he known better, he would have looked for someone else but Ellen happened to be the first person he saw and so the person he came to ask help from.

Except that he didn’t have the time. One touch and she was already biting at him. He startled at her reply. Cutting his hand! He pulled said hand quickly against his chest and pressed the other one over it in a protective manner. He didn’t want to have his hand cut off and to eat it. Wait a minute. Was she that dangerous creature living in the woods, preying on kids who had the terrible luck of getting isolated from the rest of the group? Oh no, she’ll kill him, cut him in pieces and eat him and no one will ever find him! Jimmy looked terrified but couldn’t scream. It was more a moan of terror that came out as he backed away, only to stumble against his own two feet and fall down to the ground.

He was not ashamed of it. But it helped calm him down somehow. He recognized the girl. She was with them. He sighed, all terror gone as he realised she was not the crazy killer/ghost/thing living in the woods. “I need to get wood,” he explained as he stood up. No need to be afraid anymore. He even forgot her previous threat.

[Ellen Banks]

Oh dear, it appears that Jimmy had made something of a grave error in judgement believing that she would be the one to accept and understand his interesting way with body language, nor would she be the one that would be the one to save this man-child from some fabrications he made up in his ill-functioning mind, after all, she was sure that she was a lot scarier than anything this boy could imagine.


Ellen didn’t make a move to help him up, nor did she look the least bit concerned for him, why would she? After all, it was HIS fault. It wasn’t like Ellen pushed him to the floor, he tripped over his own feet and Ellen just happened to be there.


….However despite Ellen’s naturally bullheaded nature even she was able to recognize that this boy was…..not all there, so she pulled back a little on the typical death stare, even though not the eyebrow that was raised when Jimmy described what he needed “Riiiightttt” Ellen drawled out tonelessly before leaning forwarrd and speaking in a very slow and measured tone like she was talking to a five year old “Well. Why. Don’t YOU. look for wood...Far...FAR away from me?! Doesn’t that sound like fun”

[Jimmy Halloway]

This girl looked more terrifying than anyone else at the camp. But she was here, so she had to be one of them, right? Jimmy wasn’t very good with age. To him, anyone who was older than he was simply considered as old. Ellen was old. Was she a student, was she a staff, he couldn’t say, but there was something about her. She stood so straight and her eyes... For a moment, Jimmy felt like he must have done something wrong and she was angry at him. But what could he have done wrong? He knew he was stupid and made a lot of mistakes but he barely did anything so far. Nothing in his actions seemed like something people told him he shouldn’t do. She didn’t like when he touched her though, he understood that much. Maybe it was why she was so angry. Jimmy made sure he would not touch her again, so he wouldn’t get another glare like that from her.

Anyway, someone who stood so tall and looked so strong had to be good. Marcus too, because he had big muscles and a big voice, but the man was not here. She was. Jimmy couldn’t understand what her tone of voice implied. She could have use any other way to express herself, the words were all that matter. And she wanted him to find woods away from her. Jimmy could oblige but he came to her for a reason.

Jimmy swayed, clearly embarrassed as he kept biting his lips. Clearly something troubled him and he didn’t know how to express it. “There are killers in the woods. Can you come with me?” He was certain that with her no killer would try to cut him in pieces to feed on him during winter. Even if winter was already pretty much all passed.

[Ellen Banks]

God damn it. Sometimes Ellen really did despair at the state of the student body of the school. No matter what Ellen did or said, no matter how much she screamed and yells to the heavens the contrary. Every single misfit and freak didn’t seem to understand the message. So allow Ellen to spell it out for them: ELLEN. DIDN’T. WANT. TO BE. YOUR.FRIEND. Ellen didn’t speak with people she considered to be beneath her. Of course, she didn’t, she was at the top of the social ladder of the academy why would she even be seen talking to someone on the bottom of the ladder

...Like this….thing….

She wasn’t an idiot, of course, she could see that this boy had some issues that were apparent even before he opened his mouth, just from the glazed look in his eyes and the body language he was giving off.

And yet her face didn’t change for a moment as he made his odd request, merely folding her arms and tilting her head slightly bemused

“If there were killers in the wood, what makes you think I'd be able to stop them?”

[Jimmy Halloway]

Anyone else, simply by looking at Ellen, would know it was better to forget about it and go away. Jimmy was not anyone else. He didn't see that, just like he couldn’t savor the irony in her voice as she asked him why he wanted her to go with him. On the contrary, it was a legitimate question, one he had a very simple answer to: “They say they only attack when the students are all alone in the woods.” Yes, that did mean the fact she isolated herself was the reason why he went to her. Had she been around other students, any of them would have been suited for the task and she could have avoided it. As it turned out, she was the only one in sight and had to be the one he asked it to.

“And we can get even more wood for the fires,” he exclaimed with enthusiasm. She couldn’t be scared of the killers, if they only attacked people that were alone, since they’d be together. There was no reason to be afraid to go into the woods anymore. He was ready to go, he was only waiting for Ellen to accompany him. The fact she stayed there alone, he didn’t know if that meant she was not aware of the ghosts and killers or if she was not afraid. If it was the latter, she was only even more amazing in his eyes and it made him want to go with her even more.