Jet Black Ghost

w

Run, a voice whispered in his head. It was unfamiliar and oddly feminine, but something in Calum's gut told him to listen.

"Some said she was an angel sent from heaven to bear all our demons," Shawn began, circling the fire as the flame grew higher and higher, and an elicit voice erupted from the depths of the ashes.

"Some said she was the devil. But no one knew the truth. Only the music did," he added, throwing fine grains of turquoise into the fire, and the voice grew louder and louder. Calum exchanged confused stares with Ashton, and Luke's phone rang once again.

Calum watched intently as Shawn's soulless eyes widened, and he began nodding his head as a wave of incoherent words swept over every man's earbuds. The flames were reaching three times Luke's height, and yet they were under complete control, like wild bulls succumbing to a confined field.

His eyes were suddenly encased in a shroud of unexpected darkness, and images flashed through the dark.

Headphones hidden under a pillow.

A knife against pale skin.

A key turning in the lock of a door.

A fireplace.

Two hands.

A girl's eyes.

He was suddenly swept back to reality, and almost screamed like a stereotypical teenage girl from a movie as he realised how close he was to the fire.

Five people standing around a fire at different points.

Hold on...

Were they trying to make a fucking Pentagram?

"What in the name of Luke's six month old underpants-"

"I CHANGE THEM EVERY THREE DAYS OKAY!"

"-Are you trying to do?"

A deafening silence suddenly fell upon all present, as the fire began to sway mysteriously, and charcoal smoke danced eerily through the air, weaving between its orange and yellow counterparts, forming strange markings in ether.

"Maybe my sister will arrive if she sees the ones who failed to save her, fail once again to save themselves," Shawn cackled, before turning on his feet and vanishing into the shadows.

It was at that moment, that Calum realised that the flames had revolved around the four Australian idiots, trapping them in a cage of flame.

Damn, I was always told our band was trash, but karma is taking it way too far! Calum thought to himself, as the ashes of the trash can lid fuelled the desperately deadly flames, rising higher and higher.

Ashton looked like he'd wet his pants, as he pointed towards the black markings rising from the blaze. Luke's eyes widened to the size of flying saucers, and Michael, for the first time in a while, looked wide awake.

Words climbed the ladder of flame, and drifted through the air, forming sentences of horror.

Coins

Paying for it to be quicker

Sleep will come quickly but only if you pay

One letter

Shall be your downfall

Inevitable, unavoidable

Lost

Never to be found again

The middle of the maze must be found

Battles

Persuasion that you're not fighting

While the fight never ended

"I'm sorry, but speaking as the only one who graduated from high school, I can truthfully say that that is some shitty poetry," Ashton remarked, clumsily almost placing his foot into burning cat food.

"How the fuck are we getting out of here?" Michael swore.

"Why don't you tell us smart arse, since you're the one that got us into this mess in the first place?" Luke hollered, narrowly avoiding a flame shooting up his arse (now that would truly be a tragedy for fangirls everywhere).

The bustle of the New Orleans night scene appeared to be a million kilometres away as the sound of crackling flames devouring their prey became raucous.

Suddenly, Calum felt something bang on his head.

He whipped his head around, and saw a smirking ghost, holding a pile of rocks in her blood stained hands.

Lara.