31 days of Halloween – Welcome Antonia Tiranth

Zombies, witches and vampires, oh my!
Yes, my dears it is that time again! The time when all the little ones put on their costumes and beg at your doors for treats.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Trying to decide what costume to wear and seeing what your friends come up with is always fun. But there is a little more behind Halloween than that.  It’s a time to let our imaginations run wild! This year it seems that zombies are the theme but I’m still a sucker for the ghosts. Who doesn’t love a good ghost story around the campfire? Or get goosebumps when someone tells about seeing the ghost of a loved one watching over him? I sit here and try to think of my favorite ghost story but there are so many to choose from!  It’s hard to pick just one.  I would have to go with Highland Knight by Cindy Miles. Hilarious! Of course, there’s always my own little ghost story that I am currently working on :
Bane stopped in front of the old man and cleared his throat. “I’m looking for something to send a ghost to hell where it belongs.”
Tim snorted and looked up, blinking and then rubbing his faded blue eyes. “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, if it isn’t Bane. What are you doing here sonny?”
Bane rolled his eyes. Tim was a strange old man, always had been. “I need your help with a ghost.”
“The great ghost killer has a problem?” Tim chuckled, which turned into a dry cough. “And what would your problem be, boy?”
It galled him to have to admit he couldn’t do something but he’d pondered the problem for almost two years and had come up with no solution. “Its attached to someone so I can’t kill it.”
Tim pursed his lips and then began looking through his items. He selected a silver necklace with an emerald amulet. “Just put this on the poor bastard and that ghost should pop right out.”
Bane crouched down and shook his head. “No, Tim. You don’t understand. Its not possessing the boy, its attached to him. I tried to kill it a couple years ago and it nearly killed the boy.”
“I’m not sure I get what you mean, Bane. If its not possessing him, how is it attached?”
Bane looked away from his friend and his gaze was caught by a familiar form moving past Tim’s alley. Gareth Le’Vale. His blood boiled just thinking about the smug bastard. “Wait,” he said to Tim, straightening and moving to the end of the alley.
Gareth wove through the crowds, an annoyed expression on his face as he followed that little blond spitfire of his. He’d been impressed by the girl’s audacity and anyone or anything that could irk Gareth was fine in his book. But neither the girl or Gareth were what he was really looking for. A continued perusal and he finally saw them, the boy and his ghost twin. Bane glanced over his shoulder and crooked his finger, indicating that Tim should come to him. The old man got to his feet slowly and moved to his side. Bane pointed. “There, that’s him.”
Tim squinted in the direction Bane pointed. “Great gods above, Bane, do you know what they are?”
Bane looked skyward and prayed for patience. “If I knew what I was dealing with, do you really think I would be here asking you? Watch this.”
He turned back to the ghost and let his magic pulse. He pointed at the ghost and sent a tendril of energy zipping towards it, hitting it in the shoulder. As expected the ghost reacted by grasping its shoulder but so did the living boy, both letting out a shout of pain. Bane ducked back behind the building and looked back at Tim. “You see?” Tim stared at him, mouth agape. Bane waited for the old man to say something but no words came. “What?”
“You want my help in killing a shadow twin?” the old man finally asked, sounding as if Bane just asked for help killing his mother.
“Its a gods-be-damned ghost, an unnatural abomination and needs to be dealt with. So tell me how to send it to hell where it belongs.”
“You don’t kill a shadow twin!” Tim replied, moving back down the alley to his rug. “Didn’t I teach you anything?”
“You didn’t tell me about anything like this,” Bane said, following the old man. “So what the hell is a shadow twin?”
Tim sat back down on the rug and Bane hunkered down next to him, waiting for the explanation. Tim breathed a shaky sigh and said, “I suppose I neglected to mention them. Shadow twins are extremely rare. It happens when one of a pair dies at childbirth and the spirit of the dead child attaches to the living one. The surviving twin usually has a great capacity for magic. Its something to do with them touching both the ethereal and material planes. They are connected in such a way that whatever you do to one, the other will feel. They are very special.”
A sharp breeze turned the corner of the rug, sending Tim scrabbling to keep his items from flying away. Bane shifted to put his foot on the corner. “So killing one would kill the other?”
“Yes.”
Bane shook his head. He didn’t want to harm the living twin, only the ghost. “So how do you break the connection.”
“Are you insane?” Tim asked.
The wind blew harder, knocking Bane over. As he got to his feet he saw the shadow twins at the end of the alley. It was just like that night years ago. The ghost floated at the boy’s side, eerie white light pulsing from his eyes. “You again.” They spoke slightly out of sync, their combined voice adding to their otherworldlyness. The boy walked slowly towards them, the ghost following. “We thought we told you to leav
e us alone.”