One, Two, Three, Deep Breath

The Partners

Aimee stepped into the odd carriage. It was moving too quickly to be one, though, and had no horses pulling it. She hadn't the slightest idea how it worked, but she might as well try it, she had nowhere else to go.

People still gave her odd looks as she stood holding a pole. She paid them no mind. All that mattered was that she get away from this horrid place of terrible memories. Wherever this carriage was taking her, it had to be better than here.

She rode quietly for a while, there was mostly silence around her, excepting two passengers. One was wearing some sort of hood that connected to his shirt, oddly enough. Next to him sat a dark haired man wearing dress pants a vest. He was very handsome. Their chatter never ceased, so Aimee decided she would listen in and see what they were conversing about so diligently. She did realize this was rude, but it's not like this was the first time she had done this.

The two's conversation, though it was hard to hear, went as such:

"That last..was difficult... I'd say it was a level... entity"
"But could it have been a....eight Sir?"
The hooded ones eyes wandered as he thought, then widened as he saw Aimee.

"Johnny look up," The hooded one said quietly, staring at Aimee.
Aimee backed up, knocking into a man behind her.
She tripped over her dress, and fell. This didn't stop her though, she started to crawl away, using her hands to scoot backwards.
This is when the raven haired man looked up. Standing, he took a step towards her.
Aimee pushed her self up and stumbled around the other people on the carriage, heading towards the door.
She'd almost made it when someone stepped on the skirt of her dress, tripping her and dragging her down. She pulled her dress out from under their shoe, but it was to late, they had caught up to her.

One of the two was sticking something up to her face, some sort of machine. It beeped rapidly and the two looked at each other.
Aimee started to inch backwards away from the men, but they saw through her.
"I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you. You stick out like a sore thumb."
This confused her, "Stick out like a sore thumb?" Her English was rough, but she could speak it. "Why would a thumb stick out? Why is it sore?"

The hooded one look at her, exasperated. "No," he sighed "It's-It's a saying"

Aimee slowly stood up, surprised that they let her.

The other people on the train were staring, confused and surprised.
Remembering her manners, she said, "Aimee, Aimee Fantome." And curtsied.
"Johnny Ghost, and this is my partner Johnny Toast" he said waving his hand in the other man's direction.
Aimee's eyes widened, then she squinted at the men. "Partner?"
Johnny Ghost rolled his eyes, "No not that kind."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a quick change in Johnny Toast's look, so quick you might not see it if you weren't looking for it. He looked a little hurt, maybe offended too. But as soon as it was there, it was gone.
He glanced at Aimee, and she gave him a small understanding look, unnoticeable to anyone other than him. So that's how it was.

She looked away, seeing that Ghost was now looking down at his machine, oblivious to any of their quick, wordless conversation.
She decided to move on, continuing this conversation would only bring more heartbreak.
"What is that machine in your hand?" She questioned.
Ghost's face lit up. Toast looked a little annoyed already.
"Oh this? I made it myself." He said nonchalantly, waving his hand at it, obviously hiding his excitement. "Just a few nuts and bolts here, some scrap metal there, then I screwed it all together to make a ghost detector." He looked at her smugly.
Johnny's face contorted, frustrated that he wasn't getting the reaction he was hoping for. She'd better play along.
"Wow!" She said, hoping her excitement was believable, she really didn't know anything about ghosts, so she didn't care much about them. "What all does it do?" She asked, sounding interested.
"See, you press this button here. He pointed to the button. "And then this switch, and then you know what level the ghost is."
"And what do you do with the ghosts you find?" She asked, actually interested this time.
She gave a glance in Toast's direction to see an exhausted looking Toast, obviously having heard this spiel before.
Ghost answered her question, "Well we try to help them move on, go to the afterlife. It does depend on how they died though, sometimes it's harder to help them."
"Oh, I see," she said, appreciatively.
"So when are you from?" Johnny Ghost asked.
"When?" She asked, taken aback.
"Yeah, you're definitely not from, like, anywhere near our time." He paused, "Let me rephrase, what year is it?"
"Well last I remember it was seventeen fifteen. I know that can't be right though because, well because-" she gestured to everything around her.
"What do you remember last, miss?" Toast asked.
"I was... I was..." Aimee thought deeply.
Aimee stumbled forwards, and the only reason she didn't fall was because she was caught by Toast. Her legs seemed to go limp, and she screamed.
-----------------------------------------
"Witch!" A woman screeched.
"What?" Aimee responded.
"You're a witch! I saw you, I know what you are!"
"I don't know what you mean? What-"
"Don't pretend! I saw you with your black magic! You can't fool me!"
"But-"
-----------------------------------------
"I'm not one!" Aimee screamed, "Don't touch me!"
She shrieked, pummeling the person holding her back. She started to sob and went limp.
"Hey! Hey! Aimee! You're okay! We're right here! They're not gonna get you. It's just us." A man - and not a young woman - said. Aimee opened her eyes. The held back tears blurring the world around her. Some rolled down her cheeks, and she realized where she was.
She fell to the ground, and a hand was placed on her shoulder.
She started sobbing, Toast - she could tell it was him by his strength - picked her up and carried her out of the carriage.
Aimee opens her eyes and looked around, surveying her surroundings.
Toast let her down and she wiped away her tears.
This was their stop, she guessed. She had no idea where they were, but she might as well go with them, if they'd let her.
"Wh-where are we?" She sniffled. "Paris," Ghost answered.
Her sharp green eyes widened. "Paris? The Paris?"
"Uh, yeah. Wouldn't you know? Your like from France, right?"
Her face lit up. "I've never been! What's it like? What are the people like?" She shook Ghost as she said this. She giggled.
She overheard Ghost whisper to his partner, "Her moods swing like a wrecking ball, don't they."
Toast simply shrugged. She gave Ghost a quick look of annoyance, then grabbed his and Toast's hands and dragged them outside.
"Aimee! Seriously, how old are you?! Five?"
She cocked head to one side, "No, I am twenty one, do I look five?"
Johnny just sighed and shook his head, empty hand on his face.
Aimee abruptly let go when she looked up, seeing the city around her. She shrieked in joy, grabbed the two's hands again and dragged them through the city, taking in everything she could.
"Aimee, we really have somewhere to be right now. Can this wait for later?" Ghost announced.
"Can I come?" Aimee asked, hopeful.
Ghost looked to Toast, who simply shrugged.
"Sure," Johnny said, "I guess."
She smiled brightly, which earned an exhausted look from Ghost.
"This is going to be our whole day isn't it?" Ghost said to Toast.