where our memories lie

Seance Guest

The camera took its time to focus, soft muttering slowly becoming clearer as the equipment warmed up. Error crouched down in front of the lens to make sure it was stable on the tripod he'd set up in the corner of the room, wiping it off carefully with a special rag tucked into his camera bag. Once ensuring the camera was recording, he got up and joined the rest of the group in the center of the room where Blue was lighting candles along the edge of a table. Ink went around to everyone with a smaller handheld camera, taking in everyone's expressions before his own. Blue shooed him off after the artist had blown out one of the candles, mumbling to himself about how they didn't need to pack so many and trailing off into unintelligible ranting. Cross and Dream had huddled into the corner, the monochromatic skeleton trying to coax something out of the baker. The two cut off their conversation as Ink approached, notifying them of the setup almost being done.

Ink returned to the table with the two, strapping the small camera to his chest and taking a seat in one of the folding chairs Killer had lent them. The homeowner found it pretty funny that they had requested to do a seance of all things, though they didn't pay much mind to the (possibly deranged) skeleton and wandered off to their chosen room with the chairs. Error cleared his throat with a brief static sound before taking a seat as well, looking to Blue who gave him a thumbs up, signaling to him that the setup was complete. Dream shifted in his chair uncomfortably.

"You guys must do this a lot, huh.." He trailed off, grabbing his husband's hand and awkwardly taking Ink's small hand. It was clammy, too.. Gross. Blue shrugged, sliding his hoodie sleeve over his hand before holding Error's. The investigator glitched briefly at the contact of both Ink and Blue's hands, though didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"A few times, yeah. Error and I started investigating the paranormal a few years ago, so there's a bit of experience under our belts." Blue leaned back into his seat, feeling the top of the metal backrest dig into his spine. "Wouldn't call either of us any kind of medium though. We're kind of just grasping at straws here- ow???"

Error had gripped Blue's hand with a glare, pressing his hand into the corner of the table.
"It's not just grasping at straws . With such an active place, we're bound to get something out of this. Judging by how hilarious Killer thought this whole seance thing was, maybe someone enjoys his humor." He sat up straight, inhaling deeply and shutting his eyes, Blue and Ink following suit. Dream and Cross glanced at each other and also shut their eyes, Chara watching with an amused expression over his shoulder.

"If it helps, I think it's funny." The young ghost spoke up, the glitched skeleton shushing them immediately. After a moment's pause, he started speaking.

"If there are any spirits here with us, please, do not hesitate to-"

"Alright, if there's any spooky fuckers here come on out!" Ink's high voice rang out through the room, cutting off Error's low and rough one. Chara broke out into laughter, Dream opening his eyes to see Blue sitting with his head in his hands and Error holding Ink in a chokehold.

"You dick, I told you not to pull shit during the seance!" The darker skeleton growled, Ink using his body weight to drag him down to the floor, laughing loudly as they went down.

"Guys, can you just- okay, that's fine, I just- Ink, I lit all of these candles- " Blue made small attempts to get the two to stop fighting, but quickly gave up after not even a minute. Cross seemed to be stifling his own laughter, focused on the boyfriends now wrestling on the dirty floor, while Dream shifted his focus to the ceiling where an odd blue goo had started dripping down from between the wooden boards.

Dream gripped Cross' hand tighter, grabbing his attention and directing it to the goo now piling on the table. Chara swiftly vanished into the air, Cross reaching his spare hand out to dip his fingers into the mysterious substance. It came away sticky, but pulled like fresh melted cheese, and- he sniffed it quickly- smelled like death, probably, considering the circumstances.

"Hey, guys- HOLY FUCK-" Cross stood from his chair and dove into Dream to get them both away from the table as something broke through the ceiling, splattering odd goo all over the room.

The fighting immediately ceased, Ink and Error scrambling to their feet while Blue backed up against the wall to grab the camera from the tripod, holding it up to record the blue gooey ghost as it started to slowly turn. Several colors began to flash underneath the surface of the orb, the thin membrane tearing and leaving gaping holes behind. The goo orb burst, leaving a shimmering ghost in its place, purple tendrils escaping into an empty eye socket as it fully took form, a pair of sunglasses sliding down to cover the sockets. A sharp grin broke out over the being's face as it stretched out to lean over the group.

"Well whadda we have here , dudes? Y'all down here all-up n' fightin' in this here ol' mansion? It's so totes disturbing, y'know." The room went silent after he spoke, Dream looking up and down at the unnaturally long figure in front of them. A lanky hand stretched out to run a fingertip down the blue streaks on Error's face, their grin growing further. The dark skeleton shrieked and swatted the finger away, the hand retreating to the ghost's side.
"An' ya brought me a lil' somethin', huh? I was wonderin' when ya'd come back, yano! I was keepin' an eye on ya durin' ya last visit. Totes diggin' the ghost hunting vibe in here! Too bad ya had to go an' start fightin'. I was enjoyin' the show!"

Blue punched Ink in the shoulder and shot Error a glare, then returning his gaze to the tall ghost.

"Name's Fresh, bee-tee-dubs. Thinkin' I should all up n' take a lil' payment for interrupting my little radical nap here.." The hand from before shot out before anyone could properly react, wrapping around Error's middle and rocketing back as the spirit's body began to fade from their sight. The glasses fell away, purple tentacles waving as the last of the ghost disappeared, the glitch in tow. Dream could hear Ink release a held breath, his breathing after picking up into a panicked wheeze.

"Fuck." Blue breathed out, gripping Ink's shoulder and rubbing it with his thumb. He looked over to Dream and Cross who were a little less shocked, but still shaken from the encounter. "I'm never doing another seance. That sucked."

"Sucked?? Error just got snatched by some kind of slenderman looking thing with bad grammar!" Dream snapped at him, hands balling up into fists. Cross leaned over to remind him to calm down a little, the baker pushing his face away.
"Do you guys even plan to go looking for him? This place is hell! Actual hell! He's probably dead, stars dammit!" Dream got up from the ground and started gathering what remained of the equipment while pacing the room.

"I mean, yeah, but.. There's always a chance he's not dead, so we should go looking, right?" Ink's eyelights had turned a sickly shade of gray and took the shape of two simple little circles. They were shaking slightly, any rainbow tint of color from the skeleton's magic gone from his face. "Right, Dream? Dreamy? Dreamboy?"

Dream stopped in his pacing, turning to look at Ink as Blue helped him up from the floor. He looked to Cross, who seemed to be muttering quietly with Chara who looked equally nervous. Honing in his gaze on the little ghost, he rushed over and poked a finger at them.
"Alright, since you're sticking around, you better tell us where the hell that thing lives in this stupid labyrinth of a house!"

Chara held up their hands in a defensive gesture, floating away from Dream's accusing point. "Hey, hey, now! I lived in the attic, remember? You really think I would explore this place?"

A few looks were thrown their way.

".. Okay, fine. I did, but you can't go looking for that one! That guy lives at the very end of the west wing, up the stairs and in the little circle tower thing that you see on the outside, you know the one?" Chara spat out instructions, taking Dream's nod as a good enough answer. "If anyone dies, don't blame me." The ghostly child faded away quickly after, Cross giving the side of his head a good couple slaps to clear his mind.

Blue and Ink started packing up and attempting to clean the dirtied equipment, preparing for the journey across the home while Dream stood looking at Cross with a scrunched-up concerned expression.
"I don't like this, Cross. Not at all. I don't think it's safe-"

"Dream, nothing about this has been safe. You can't use this as an excuse now. Besides, even if we don't go with them, you know Ink will go by himself." Cross cut him off with the shake of his head, nodding over to the panicking artist. Dream glanced over and sighed, wiping off some of the blue goo from his face.

"I guess you have a point. Let's just tread carefully, alright?"

"As always."

...