“Smoke day everyweed.”

That was what Ghost Hollow was hearing on the radio when her aunt turned it on. The rest of the song was rather bland, and she didn’t even know why such a song was allowed on the radio. It was a terrible message to send, especially if kids were listening to this... garbage.

The song ended, and so did the ride to Crystal Prep. Ghost looked out of the window at the school. It was all dark, and its reflective crystalline surfaces that usually made the school look like a shining example of a learning center now made the building look cold and sterile.

It spooked the young changeling a little. She’d heard tales of ghosts haunting people in dark establishments like this, but only now seeing the school at night did she believe those tales might actually be true.

“Calm yourself, princess,” Ivory said from the front. “You’re dressed as a ghost yourself, there’s no reason for you to be afraid of anything here.”

“Th-there aren’t going to be ghosts in there, r-right…?” Ghost looked at her aunt. “As in r-real ones?”

“None that I’ve ever seen. Besides, your mother is scarier than any ghost you’ll ever find,” Ivory said boredly. “Alright. You stay here. I’m going in for a little peek at your principal’s files. Crystal Lullaby and Cold Forecast, right?”

“So I won’t have to go in…?” Ghost nodded in relief. “How-how are you going to do that?”

“I’m going to pick the lock,” Ivory said, holding up a black wallet with numerous metal implements sticking out. “Simples.”

“Well, okay. I’ll just be here, then.” Ghost smiled as her aunt shut the door behind her, gliding out into the night like a ghost herself. “Ugh, ghosts…”

The young changeling rubbed her arms, trying to calm herself. She’d never had a problem worrying about ghosts before, but then again, she’d never been out late at night like this.

Eventually she got bored about that and wished she had brought one of her phones out with her. She didn’t mind having a chat with Home Run right about now. She hadn’t seen him in more than a week and she wanted to say that she didn’t miss him, but she did. She put a hand under her chin and almost stabbed herself with one of her talons.

“Ouch…” she moved her hand and looked at her talons, clicking them together. The fake blood on them had crusted and dried, turning darker red in color. If someone were to come over and look through the car window right now, they would surely either call the police or die from a heart attack.

So she continued to sit there, trying to keep focused on why she was doing this.

I’m doing this for Canvas. Maybe what we do tonight will make things easier for her in the future.

Was this what friendship was supposed to feel like? Ghost had never quite known the feeling, but she felt like this was it. It had really pained her to see Canvas in such a state after school and she found that she couldn’t just ignore it. She had to do something and she had to do something today.

The front door was suddenly yanked open and Ghost jumped in her seat and let out a small yelp, but calmed herself after she realized it was only her aunt. All the thoughts about ghosts seemed to have really gotten her on the edge.

“I’ve got the addresses!” Ivory Wings grinned. “It was easy to find them. Just had to get into the principal’s office and use my eagle vision. The cabinets weren’t even locked. Security here stinks.”

“Huh…” Ghost Hollow looked at the papers in her aunt’s hands. “So what now?”

“Now, we go pay them a little visit.”

The first one was Cold Forecast. Number 12 Maple Lane. It was on the other side of town, so Ivory Wings drove slowly there, and by the time they arrived, it was almost midnight.

The car pulled to a stop outside Number 12, and Ivory Wings rolled down the window a crack to look.

“Two storey house,” she said quietly. “Her bedroom is most likely on the second floor. Do you know what she smells like? Try to sniff her out.”

“Umm, I don’t personally know her, but I’ll give it a try…”

Ghost raised her head to smell the air. What she was able to pick up was faint, but it was there. There were four people in the house. Three of them were upstairs, with the remaining one in the garage. All this she reported to her aunt.

“Hmm, is that the best you can do?” Ivory said with a quirked eyebrow. “Well, no matter. You’re still learning. What I see is that there is a man in the garage, and three women upstairs. One of them is full grown and sitting down, and the other two are in separate rooms. I’d wager one of those is Cold Forecast.”

“You were able to tell all that just by smell alone?” Ghost said admiringly.

“Indeed, although I added a touch of the Assassins’ eagle vision to see into the garage. But the lights are still on. We must wait for lights out to continue with the plan. Now, while we wait, why don’t you try your best scary voice?”

“My best scary voice?” Ghost repeated, then cleared her throat. “Umm… Raaar! I’m scary.”

Ivory Wings leaned back. “That’s not very frightening. Try something like this…” At the last two words, Ivory’s voice took on a double toned inflection, with an animalistic growl at the end as a topper.

“That’s no fair, I can’t do the double voice thingie.” Ghost Hollow folded her arms, though she also shivered slightly. That growl at the end sounded pretty scary.

“Well, you can still change the pitch and timbre of your voice, can’t you?” Ivory Wings said, tapping the steering wheel. “Try either a very high or very low pitch. That might be sufficiently scary.”

“Umm… Raaar, this is scary.” The young changeling tried out the lower one. “How’s that?”

“Hmm. Better. But remember, to sound properly frightening, you have to believe you are scary. And you are. You’re dressed as a blood-splattered specter. And once we add the finishing touches, no one will be able to look at you without shuddering.”

“Finishing touches?”

“Quite so!” Ivory said, a bright smile on her face. “Your costume isn’t complete without this,” the elder changeling reached over to the passenger seat and held up a small cooler.

“Umm, am I supposed to carry that?” Ghost pointed at the blue box.

“No, no. It’s what’s inside the cooler that will complete your persona. A little thing I learned from Eastern theater. But it has to be kept cold and applied at the last minute for it to work. So while we wait for Cold Forecast to go to sleep, we’ll hold off on applying it until she does.”

Ghost wondered as to what was in the cooler, but held her tongue. “Yes, Aunt Ivory.”

Ghost Hollow clacked her claws against the car door, quite bored at the moment. She looked out of the window again, groaning when she saw that the lights were still on.

“Aunt Ivory, I’m bored,” she complained.

“Well, no one said stakeouts were fun,” Ivory said. “Unless you’re talking about the stakeout from Salaryday 2. That’s a lot of fun.”

“What’s that?”

“Nevermind, sweetie.”

“Erm… okay, Aunt Ivory…”

They sat in silence for a while longer, until one by one, the lights in the house started to click off.

“They’re all out!” Ghost exclaimed, glad the wait was finally over.

“Excellent,” Ivory said. Then she cracked open the cooler’s lid and brought out a glass vial filled with a bubbling clear liquid.

“This is a formula I learned from Emperor Dragonskin’s favorite acting guild,” Ivory said, shaking the vial. “It helps add that little extra supernatural flair to an outfit. It comes in all kinds of colors, but for this occasion, I chose white. Matches your outfit, see.”

“Oh,” Ghost said, eyeing the vial. “What does it do?”

“Step out of the car and I’ll show you.”

Ghost Hollow did as she was told, making sure to open and close the door quietly in case someone in the Forecast home was a light sleeper.

Ivory Wings unstoppered the vial and sprinkled the contents over the hem of Ghost’s dress. Where the liquid landed, it began to emit a thin haze of smoke, surrounding Ghost’s body like a mist.

“It’s somewhat similar to dry ice, and only lasts about fifteen minutes,” Ivory said, pocketing the now-empty vial. “Now you look the part. Oh, and don’t forget this.”

Ivory Wings produced a small bottle with an eyedropper lid.

“This bottle contains a little mixture of various reagents, infused with changeling venom. Normally, our venom only affects people from the neck down, but this potion does away with that limitation. You may want to put a few drops of it into the target’s mouth, so they can’t call for help. Use it carefully, I only had enough time to make a few tablespoons.”

“Got it.” Ghost took the bottle and tucked it into her pocket.

“Alright then, everything’s all set. Let’s do this.”

Ivory Wings and Ghost Hollow crept over to the Forecast house, positioning themselves under the window of Cold Forecast, according to Ivory Wings. The older changeling boosted Ghost up to the window with her hands.

“I’ll be waiting here to catch you when you’re done,” Ivory shout-whispered up to Ghost. “Make it quick, and make it terrifying.”

Ghost Hollow slid the tips of her claws under the window and pulled it up. It made a slight rattling sound as it was pushed up all the way, allowing the shade to enter. She immediately spotted Cold Forecast, lying in bed with the sheets all the way up to her neck; she seemed to be sound asleep already.

Her footfalls muffled by the carpet, Ghost sidled over to Cold Forecast’s head, and very slowly, held her mouth open while she dropped in three droplets of the potion. Then she stepped back and punched the sleeping girl in the gut.

“Mmmph-!” Cold Forecast’s eyes shot open, but other than that, she didn’t do anything else. The potion really did as Ivory had said.

“Aaahhh… you’re awake,” Ghost drawled in a deep, scratchy voice. Fog from her dress continued to swirl around herself, filling the room with tendrils of mist.

Cold Forecast tried to say something, but instead, a strange strangled sound came out of her mouth, and that was all she could do.

Ghost leaned in close to Cold Forecast, flashing her fangs. “Yesss, you feel it, don’t you? Part of… the curse.”

The bedridden girl’s eyes were wide with fear as Ghost slowly slid a finger down her shoulder, careful not to break the skin with her claws, but giving her a good look at the blood splattered on them.

“What curse, you may be wondering?” Ghost croaked, leaning in and caressing the other girl’s face with a hand. “Why, the artist’s curse.”

Cold Forecast’s breathing became fast and ragged, and her eyes began to brim with tears.

“You know what I’m talking about,” the grim specter said, removing her hand and walking around the room, her bare feet making no sound on the carpeted floor.

Then she scraped her claws down Cold Forecast’s bed, tearing through the sheets, earning more whimpers from the green haired girl.

“You did something quite unforgivable today. Do you remember?” Ghost Hollow felt her claws reach the girl’s leg. “Do you?”

Cold Forecast’s eyes began leaking tears now.

“Come now,” Ghost said darkly. “What’s the matter? Speechless?”

The girl still lay there, unable to say anything and unable to do anything as the young changeling paced back and forth, grinning at her with an open mouth the whole time. Ghost Hollow reflected internally how silly this would look in broad daylight, but then shelved it for later. Right now, she had to be scary.

“Now, I’m thinking I’ll be generous, Forecast…” She suddenly glided back to the bedside, so fast that the girl closed her eyes tightly and gasped. “I will give you another chance. But in return, I want your word that you will never bother an artist for the rest of your life. How does that sound?”

The girl looked like she was attempting to nod, but she couldn’t, because of the vial’s contents.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Now…” Ghost balled a fist, careful not to cut herself with her talons. “Go back to sleep.”

Then with a smile of satisfaction, she threw a punch right into the girl’s face, hard enough to knock her out. That would surely leave a good mark.

Then she walked back to the window and jumped out, landing in the arms of Ivory Wings.

“So, how’d it go, sweetie?” Ivory asked as she put her niece down.

“I have a good feeling she’ll leave Canvas alone from now on,” Ghost Hollow smiled smugly as the two changelings headed back to the car. “So now what?”

“Now we head off to Crystal Lullaby’s place,” Ivory said, opening the door for Ghost. She checked her watch. “Twelve thirty. If we make this quick, you might get to sleep after all.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

The drive to Crystal Lullaby’s house was not quite as long as the one from Crystal Prep to Cold Forecast’s, but by the time they arrived, the fog solution had worn off.

Canvas’ main bully had a two storey house as well and there was a sort of strange figure standing out front, on her home’s lawn. He looked like a little man, but he had a straight pointy hat and a creepy face.

“Who’s that.” Ghost pointed at him.

Ivory peered at the figure and chuckled. “That’s a garden gnome. I thought they went out of fashion decades ago.”

“He’s looking at us. What do we do?” Ghost didn’t like the way he was smiling at them. She quickly ducked down before he could get a good look at her.

“It’s a garden decoration, sweetie. He’s not real.”

“Oh.” Ghost peered harder at the gnome. “He looks so real.”

“Well, that’s the idea.” Ivory pushed the door open and got out.

Ghost Hollow did the same, starting with what her aunt instructed her to do the first time while her aunt applied more of the fog solution. She took a series of sniffs, trying to determine where Crystal Lullaby was. Like the first time, all she could tell was where they were. There were two pairs of people, both in a different room upstairs, though one pair seemed to have a more muffled smell. Ghost didn’t know why.

There weren’t any visible lights on, but one of the windows on the second floor was open.

“They’re all upstairs. Maybe sleeping,” she told her aunt. “The lights don’t seem to be on. And the smell in one seems to be blocked.”

“Well, that just serves us better, doesn’t it?” Ivory said. “Come. I think I’ve identified the right window.”

“That one?” Ghost pointed at the opened window. “She really made it easy, huh?”

“I detect two people in the room,” Ivory frowned. “Maybe she shares a room with a sibling. You may have to deal with two targets here… or try not to wake the other. Though you’re right. I can’t smell them well. The room must be better sealed.”

“If she can’t talk, I think I can handle it.” The young changeling shrugged. “So what happens if I wake her sibling? Do I just scare them too?”

“Well, so long as you don’t get caught…” Ivory Wings mused. “Try not to kill anyone though. That would prompt a nationwide manhunt for someone who doesn’t exist. Come on. I’ll boost you up.”

Ghost Hollow did exactly what she did at the first house. With help from Ivory, she climbed up to the opened window and slithered in, almost like a snake, keeping herself low. This room was a lot more spacious than Cold Forecast’s, and there was no sign of a bed at first. There were plenty of books around the room and a lot of sheet music on what looked like a study table. From what she knew, Crystal Lullaby enjoyed singing, so all this seemed normal enough.

Then at the other side of the room, Ghost spotted a black door right smacked in the middle, with the entire wall the same color.

“Hmm, I wonder where that leads…”

She tried the handle. It was locked.

“Huh.” Ghost Hollow sniffed the air again. Crystal was most definitely in here, but she couldn’t hear anything behind the door. She walked back to the window and gestured for her aunt.

“There’s a locked door in here,” she said in a loud whisper. “Can you take care of it for me?”

Ivory nodded, crouching with her legs like springs and launching herself up to the window. She easily landed on the sill and slid inside the house silently.

“Where’s the door?” Ivory said, adjusting her beanie.

Ghost pointed at it.

Walking over, Ivory Wings crouched down by the lock and got her lockpicking kit out. Ghost watched with much interest as her aunt inserted two metal pins in the lock, adjusting them slowly and quietly, every now and then pushing down with one, with the young changeling hearing a soft click every time she did so.

And soon, she was done, standing up and stowing her kit. “There. That should do. Good luck, sweetie.”

Ivory Wings retreated back outside, landing on the grass with nary a sound. Ghost Hollow turned the handle and opened the door a crack. There were no lights on inside, but she could immediately smell something different. And she didn’t even need her nose to know what was going on. With the door open now, Ghost found she could suddenly hear everything going on inside.

There were some soft moans, and a semi-familiar wet slapping sound. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Ghost could make out a set of expensive looking audio equipment and a microphone on a stand, placed nicely on a table, and tucked away in the corner, a bed and two closets. On the bed, partially hidden beneath the sheets, were the forms of Crystal Lullaby and some guy. Upon closer inspection, Ghost recognized him as Shock Coil, another student at Crystal Prep. He was in her history and computer classes, but she had never talked to him personally.

Their lower bodies were completely covered, but Ghost could still make out the thrusting motions through the sheets, and not to mention the slapping sounds.

“Aah, aah… yeah, harder, Coil,” Crystal Lullaby gasped.

This should be interesting.

The air in the room was filled with love and Ghost inhaled deeply, enjoying the taste of it in her mouth. She almost didn’t want to interrupt.

Almost.

Ghost crouched down and silently shut the door after entering the room. They didn’t even notice her enter. This seemed to be a soundproof studio, and if it was indeed cut off audibly from the outside world, then whatever happened in here would be completely inaudible to the any would-be listeners. Excellent.

As she slinked closer, the two lovebirds didn’t even seem to notice her white shape slowly approaching them, too busy in their lovemaking to even turn their heads to look at her.

The smelt almost completely of love, with only very little lust on the side. The two of them must really love each other, or at least, didn’t crave each other’s bodies as much as Sunny Flare and her built-up lust for Silver Rose. Perhaps this was something else Ghost could use against them if her plan were to go sideways.

“Crystal, I’m close…” Shock Coil moaned as thrust harder against Crystal Lullaby’s lower body.

“Yeah, me too, mm- ah!” She reached up and pulled his head down for a long drawn out kiss.

What a delicious taste… But I’m afraid I have a job to do. This is for Canvas.

Inching closer, Ghost kept low across the floor until, shrouded in fog from her dress, she reached the side of the bed. Neither of them had heard or seen her approach. Looming up over the two lovers, Ghost Hollow opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling shriek.

In the small space, it was deafening, and both Crystal Lullaby and Shock Coil jumped at the sound.

“Who-Who’s there? What was that?!” Crystal’s hand fumbled for the lamp switch and clicked it on.

Ghost’s white face leered from the darkness, her claws outstretched, the dried blood still crusted on their tips.

“Aiiieeee!!!” Shock Coil screamed, his voice embarrassingly high. Crystal Lullaby reeled back in shock, her face draining of all color.

The boy fell away from her, taking the sheets with him as he fell off the bed at the end, tangling up within the purple polkadotted sheets, leaving Crystal Lullaby with nothing to cover herself with besides her pillows. She grabbed one of them and scooted until her back was against her padded wall, lifting the pillow as though it was a shield against the horror before her.

Ghost Hollow had to struggle not to laugh. She wished she had a camera to record all this on. Mastering herself, she turned to Shock Coil and growled, “You. Get out.”

“G-G-Ghost!” Shock coil squealed, trying to escape through the wall.

“I said, get out!” Ghost Hollow waved an arm, spreading more fog in the air.

“No, Coil, don’t leave me!” Crystal Lullaby reached a hand for him. “Help!”

The blue-skinned boy turned back to her and tried to approach her, but Ghost Hollow swatted him aside with the back of one hand, sending him tumbling against a roller chair, knocking it over.

“Get out or I’ll cut your dick off and feed it to the hounds of hell!” Ghost Hollow bellowed, brandishing her claws as she did so.

Shock Coil stumbled over the sheets, seized the handle to the soundproof studio and barrelled out, jumping out the open window without even bothering to pick up his clothes. There was a crash as he landed in the rose bushes outside. Ghost didn’t know if her aunt was still out there, but hopefully he was too panicked and running for his life to notice her. Though, after she heard him land in the bush, she didn’t hear anything else after that.

“No, Coil!” Crystal Lullaby wailed. “Come back! Help, someone! Anyone!”

“Now, for you…” Ghost Hollow grinned, shutting the door to the studio. “I’ve been watching you, mortal. And you have done some dreadful things.” She opened her mouth and licked her fangs, snapping her jaws shut with a wet snap. “Haven’t you?”

“I-I… I don’t know what you’re talking about! Leave me alone! Please!” Crystal squirmed back, trying to burrow a hole through the wall with her back. She held up both her index fingers in a cross formation in front of her shield pillow.

“Don’t lie to me!” Ghost Hollow howled, swatting the pillow aside and getting right in Crystal’s face. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, you strumpet!”

“I…” Crystal began sputtering. “I’m so-sorry! We don’t even have s-sex all that of-often! I promise! I’m-I’m sorry, I know we shouldn’t be doing this!”

At this, Ghost Hollow was taken aback.

“You… You think that’s what this is about?!” She screeched, leaning back and opening her mouth wide. “You fool! There are greater forces at work than are concerned with your petty relationships!”

“I don’t know what else you’re talking about! Leave me alone!” Crystal Lullaby scrambled under Ghost’s arm, falling to her face on the carpet floor below, her legs dangling uselessly above her head.

“Behold!” Ghost shouted down at the other Crystal Prep student. “I am the artisan’s curse! I visit you on this night because you have angered one of my own.”

“I ha-haven’t done anything!” The purple haired girl began crawling away, one eye slightly bruised from falling over. “Heeelp! Heeeelp!”

“Shut your mouth!” Ghost growled, backhanding Crystal into silence.

The girl now lay on her back, dazed, one hand rubbing her eye.

“I want you to think long and hard about something you did to anger an artisan,” Ghost Hollow said, bending over Crystal Lullaby, fog falling from her shoulders.

“Ar… artisan…? You mean tha-that loser, Canvas Splash...?”

“So, you do remember,” Ghost said eerily, dragging her right hand talons across Crystal’s bare skin, leaving trails of red, raised flesh behind. “Then you know what you must do to escape my wrath.” She said the last word as a whisper.

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry!” Crystal Lullaby covered her face with one hand, at the same time, using the other to pull herself away from the white specter. “I wo-won’t bother her again! Please, just leave me alone!”

“It is not I you should apologize to…” Ghost said, drifting back toward the door and opening it. “Make amends, or I will be back. And maybe next time, I will take your head with me.”

“I will! I will! I promise!” Crystal turned and jumped away back towards her bed, knocking her head against the wooden frame. “I w-w-won’t do anything to h-her ever again!”

Ghost slid backwards out the door, leaving her head as the last thing to exit.

“Gooooood….”

And then she shut the door with her foot. Ghost pattered back to the window, seeing a pair of bare legs sticking out of the rose bushes.

“Huh. I must be scarier than I thought.”

Looking down, Ghost Hollow leapt out of the window, clear over the roof and the bush and once again landing in the arms of her aunt.

“This boy just jumped out and knocked himself out over there.” Ivory put down her niece. “I take it Crystal Lullaby and this boy were having some… special time up there? I wonder why we couldn’t smell them.”

“I think the room is soundproof,” Ghost told her aunt as the made their way back to the car. “Not a lot of air gets in or out.”

“A wonder why she has one, then.” Ivory pointed a thumb at Shock Coil’s body. “Maybe so they can screw each other in peace. So, how did it go?”

“I think Canvas is going to be very happy tomorrow,” Ghost Hollow giggled. Both changelings got into the car and drove off into the night.