Hello and welcome to something I am quite excited about, my Sunday story. Every Sunday,if all goes to plan, I shall post a short story for your pleasure. Today is the second half of a story called “Finn and the Ghosthunters” and you can read the first half here.
“Gary.” Finn yelled. “C’mon. Jimmy’s been taken to hospital- sounds like trouble.” Being adults in every way other than the law, Finn and Gary had to take the bus as usual. It was a complicated route and seemed to take five times as long as it normally would. The ghost hunting duo hopped off the bus and rushed across the road, getting an angry horn from an annoyed sixty-five year old driving a red Seat. Eventually, Finn and Gary found their way into A and E and then to Jimmy’s bedside.
“Jimmy, it’s Finn,” Finn announced, quietly but urgently. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“The ghost,” Jimmy began croakily. “It was speaking inside my head”
“Hmmm...Ecto-telepathation,” Finn murmured. “Did the ghost identify itself?”
“Yeah, it’s Mr. Slazzler, my former maths teacher. My childish prank blew up his car and killed him.” Finn was surprised by this, Jimmy had seemed so perfect other that the drugs thing.
“What can you do Finn?” Jimmy continued. “He’s already done this to me with the ecto-telepathy thing, what can you do to stop him?”
“I need to lure him to where he died, probably where he first started haunting- and we know where that is don’t we?” Finn smirked, pleased to see Jimmy smiling for once. “But there is one problem- Neither Gary or I can drive. Will you do it?”
“If it gets rid of old Slazzler once and for all then I will,” Jimmy replied instantly. “Dr. Singh reckons I’ll be out in about half an hour.”
“We’ll see you outside in about 30 minutes then,” Finn announced. “Come along, Gary”.
“How do we know this is true?” Gary asked as Finn found a sturdy wall to lean on. “He’s on drugs”.
“He took LSD once,” Finn pointed out.
“Yeah, but once is enough”.
AH, FINN I’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU a voice said in Finn’s head.
“Are you alright?” Gary asked Finn, seeing the expression on his face.
GARY NOLAN TOO the voice said, this time to both of them. THE GHOSTHUNTERS MEET THE GHOST...
“Listen Slazzler,” Finn yelled. “We’re sending you and your lorry to deepest darkest Hades, where you belong”.
EVEN IF THE WOMAN JIMMY LOOOOOOOOOOVES IS IN THE BACK OF MY LORRY?
“You wouldn’t,” Gary whispered.
TOO LATE, GARY. A CERTAIN LUCY MACKINTOSH IS ALREADY GAGGED AND TIED UP. OOPS, WE WEREN’T EXPECTING THAT, WERE WE?
“She’s not part of this,” Finn said coldly. “Play fair. Let her go”.
GHOST’S DON’T PLAY FAIR Slazzler replied and the voice became silent.
“We’ve got to tell Jimmy,” Gary declared.
“No, we haven’t,” Finn replied icily. “There’s nothing we can do for Lucy. We can stop Slazzler’s ghost and save Jimmy”.
“But Jimmy’s life won’t be worth living without her,” Gary argued. “You can’t do it.”
“I’m in charge,” Finn muttered sternly. “So I can and I will.”
[Continues After Break]
It was cold and dark in the back of Slazzler’s lorry and Lucy was worried. What was going to happen to her? What had already happened to Jimmy? She remembered back in her school days, when her class was told that Mr. Slazzler had been killed by a faulty vehicle. She recalled how quiet and far off Jimmy had seemed at the time. She’d guessed at the time what Jimmy had done and it had turned out that her guess was right. But she’d known back then, and still knew now, that Jimmy would never mean to kill someone. Lucy’s normally perfect blonde hair was wet and tangled and she felt frightened and alone. So alone. If only Jimmy was with her...
“Afternoon, fellahs,” Jimmy greeted as he met the Ghosthunters. He looked more like he was ready to run a marathon than had just come out of A & E.
“You ready?” Finn asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Jimmy sighed. Finn pulled out a key ring with several keys on. He selected a car key with the Audi rings on and clicked it. A nearby Audi TT flashed its lights.
“Where did you get those from?” Gary murmured, glaring at Finn.
“I....borrowed them from someone in the waiting room,” Finn replied, ignoring the glare. “Jimmy, let’s go.” The three of them got into the car and, to Gary’s disappointment; he was left to the cramped backseat. On this occasion though, he decided to stay silent.
OOOOH, THEY’VE LET YOU OUT ALREADY a voice said in Jimmy’s head.
“Ignore him,” Finn yelled, sensing the voice.
“Go back to hell, ET” Jimmy muttered.
“ET?” Gary questioned.
“Yeah, that’s who he looks like.” The trio giggled.
HOW DARE YOU Slazzler said, this time in all their heads. Suddenly, Slazzler’s lorry came screeching across the car park towards them.
“DRIVE,” Gary yelled. Jimmy didn’t need to be told. He turned the key and put his foot down. The Audi zoomed forward with the lorry just behind. Gary glanced behind to get a look at Slazzler. A cross between a man and an alien was sat at the wheel. Jimmy skilfully did a handbrake turn out of the hospital and the lorry followed though, it has to be said, much less gracefully. He skidded through a red light, with cars swerving to avoid him all over the place, horns blaring. Slazzler followed the Audi’s every move. But the traffic didn’t have to avoid his truck. As the lorry went through the red light, a large people carrier was in front of it. The lorry then went straight through the people carrier...
“Neat trick that,” Finn murmured, watching through the wing mirror. “Optional ghostly properties. Ghostly when he wants, real when he wants. Very handy”. Jimmy drove down the road as fast as he could manage, switching lanes continuously to avoid the traffic. The lorry however had a much quicker route; straight down one lane, going through every vehicle in the way. This still shouldn’t have caused a problem. The old lorry should never have been able to catch up with the sheer speed of the Audi TT. Yet it did...
“By the time Jimmy pulled onto the dual carriageway the lorry was almost touching him. Suddenly a deafening noise came from the back of the car.
“What is that?” Jimmy exclaimed. He wanted to accelerate away but there was too much traffic.
“Sounds like circular saws,” Finn chuckled.
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Gary moaned, the sound of whirring saws coming ever closer. “I’m about to be sliced in two!”
Jimmy suddenly realised what was in front of them. A car transporter truck. And for once the luck was on his side: the ramp was down.
“You’re not going to...” Gary said, seeing the look on Jimmy’s face in the rear view mirror.
“Oh, yes,” Jimmy answered, and put his foot down.
Lucy woke up with a start. The lorry she was sat in was moving, and at a fair lick too. Her first thought was of Jimmy- it looked like the end for her but maybe Jimmy still had a chance. She hoped so, with all her heart.From nowhere, a strange sensation rocked through her body. She felt like she was a ghost, like nothing mattered anymore. She realised that her hands had gone straight through the ropes tying them together. The gag around her mouth fell away. She wasn’t sure what had happened. Maybe she was a ghost. It didn’t really matter- she could now escape.
“Wooooooooooooo-hooooooooooo” Jimmy and Finn cried as the Audi flew up into the air. Gary just screamed. Finn watched the lorry drive straight through the transporter and noticed a figure leap out of the side of the lorry and land on the grass verge. He smiled to himself. The car landed on all four wheels, bounced and carried on moving.
“We’re here,” Jimmy told Finn, slightly exasperated from his little stunt. “This is Slazzler’s haunting ground”.
“Good,” Finn muttered, still smiling. He pointed his index finger at the lorry and a green spark flew out of it. The spark flew towards the lorry and, on contact, both vanished.
“Was that...magic?” Gary asked in disbelief.
“No, it’s just pure energy,” Finn replied. “Takes a week to build up that sort of energy. Fortunately, I’ve been saving it up for about 3 months.”
“How convenient,” Jimmy muttered, and they all laughed.
5 minutes later, Jimmy parked the car in the hospital car park.
“Leave the keys in the ignition,” Finn instructed, getting out. “I’ll leave you to discuss payment- I have some unfinished business to attend to...”
“I wonder what that’s all about,” Jimmy said as Finn walked away.
“Dunno,” Gary lied.
“What about the pay then? How much do you want?”
“Well...” Gary began.
Meanwhile, a young woman was trotting towards home on the side of the dual carriageway.
“Almost there,” She murmured to herself.
“Lucy,” said a voice from behind. She spun round. A boy, about 16 years old by the look of him, stood before her.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“I’m Finn, a ghosthunter,” he explained. “Someone you know...er...assigned me.”
“Jimmy,” Lucy breathed.
“That’s right”
“Is he OK?”
“He’s fine”
“And what about me? I know the ghost of Mr. Slazzler kidnapped me. But how did I escape?”
“Slazzler used a clever trick,” Finn began. “It meant he could give the lorry and everything inside it ghostly properties, so he could drive straight through things”
“Everything inside it? That included me?”
“Exactly. That’s how you escaped” Then he looked at his watch. “You’d better be going...I believe you’ve got a date”
“Of course...” Lucy exclaimed. “Bye Finn. And... Thank you”
“Anytime,” Finn replied. “Anytime”
“How much did you get?” Finn asked as Gary greeted him at the door.
“Five hundred pounds” Gary announced.
“Five hundred” Finn repeated breathlessly.
“I did wonder if it was enough...” Gary murmured. “How much did you want? Eight hundred? A thousand?”
“About fifty quid would have done,” Finn answered. He smiled. “But five hundred will do!”
The staff of Finn’s friends were quite pleased with themselves. They’d solved their first case and had been paid very well indeed.
At 6:59PM Jimmy rang the doorbell. He was more nervous about this then he had been when leading a ghost back to the place it died. Lucy opened the door.
“C’mon in, Jimmy,” She said with a twinkling smile. Jimmy did as he was told and Lucy shut the door behind him. It had begun. And it was going to be the best night in either of their lives...
That afternoon Doris Dimple left the hospital and went to find her car. She was sure she parked it in bay E7 but found it in G2.She rummaged in her handbag for the keys but couldn’t find them. She peered through the window to find her keys in the ignition. She had definitely put them in her handbag. She wandered around the car to see what other strange things she could find and couldn’t believe her eyes. Someone had virtually sawn her Audi TT in half!
And there you have it, the conclusion to the story. I hoped you enjoyed it, I’m still rather pleased with it after all this time. Let me know your thoughts, there’s a possibility I could write a sequel to this.
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