Ghost Friend: A Miller South Teens Halloween Story

It was late fall in Akron, Ohio. Mason, Finn, Lexi, and Xenna were in town, visiting the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. Inside the manor, they were touring the hallway and viewing out the paintings. 

"This place is booorrrriinnnggg," Finn groaned.

"Come on, man. It's not that bad," Mason reassured. He placed his arm around his friend's shoulder. "Remember, we use to visit this place when we were at Miller South."

"That was when we thought old stuff was cool. Now, it's just dull and gross."

"Like our vice principal, Ms. Allen," Lexi added, making the teens laugh. "Hey, Xenna. You sure Dylan and Brian didn't wanna come?"

"Yeah. Dylan said they had homework."

"Hey, you guys," Mason called. "Come check this out."

The teens walked into a room where Mason was standing. The room was huge and was filled with furniture and shelves filled with old books and relics. A painting of a woman hung over the fireplace. 

"Who's the chick?" Finn asked.

"I guess she used to live here," replied Xenna.

"Come on. Let's look over here." The teens followed Lexi into another room. 

When the teens were out of sight, the eyes on the painting lit up and began to move. Suddenly, a white spirit crawled out and formed into a ghost of a teenage girl. She'd then flew after the teens as they were walking down the hallway. 

The ghost took notice of Xenna checking out the paintings and started to follow her around. While Xenna walked, the ghost followed. Suddenly, she bumped into an artifact and caught Xenna's attention. When she turned around, no one was her.

"Xenna," Lexi walked over to her. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I thought someone was behind me."

"Come on. The boys are outside at the gift shop. If we make it, we can stop them from eating all of the chocolate flowers."

When Lexi and Xenna left the manor, the ghost girl appeared out of the wall. She followed the girls as they walked out the door. 

—————————————————————

Later on, back in New York, Dylan and Brian were in the suite working on homework when Mason, Finn, and Lexi walked into the room. 

"Guess who's back?" Mason announced cheerfully.

"Hey." Dylan greeted. "So, how was Stan Hywet?"

"Same as always," answered Finn.

While the teens were talking, Xenna went over to the girls' suite and sat her suitcase on the bed. As she was walking away, her case began to move toward the floor. The sudden thud of the case made Xenna jump in fright. She turned around, but no one was behind her. "Am I going insane?" she thought. She hightailed it out of the suite and over to the suite. The teens were still talking when Xenna knocked on the door.

"Hey, I took some pictures of Stan Hywet. You guys wanna see them?"

"Why? What's changed?" Dylan and Brian laughed as Mason answered the door. Xenna pushed him out of the way and hurried over and sat next to Finn. 

"Hey, Xe," Finn said as he kissed Xenna's cheek. He takes notice of her strange behavior. "You alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been acting weird since we left Stan Hywet. Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing happened."

Finn was confused, but he just smirked. "Don't worry. I get it. That place always gave off a creepy vibe." He then proceeds to tickle her. 

"Stop! Stop it, Finn," Xenna pushes his hands away.

"Alright. I'm sorry. You know, I've always thought that place was haunted, but no one believed me. So, I understand. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw a-"

"GHOST!!" Suddenly, Mason ran out of the bedroom and tripped over the couch.

"Mason!"

"Bro, what happened?"

"I was getting my camera out of my suitcase and-" The ghost flew out from the wall. "That!"

"What the-?!"

"Ghost!" The screams of the teens scared the ghost to where she hid in the freezer. The teens ran and hid behind the couch. They peeked from behind to see where the stowaway spirit was.

"Okay. We got a real-life ghost in our suite," Mason whispered. "What do we do?"

"Call animal control," Finn replied.

"On a ghost?" Lexi slaps Finn on the shoulder, making him wince in pain. 

"Mason, you handled zombies. Do something," Brian said.

"Wha-? Okay, how is it I have to handle something supernatural just because I fought zombies? And FYI, I am not the only one who fought zombies here." Mason gestures to Finn and Lexi.

"No, it was all you, bro," Finn stated sheepishly.

"Wait," Xenna said. "I handle it."

"No! No, too dangerous," warned Finn. 

"We don't know that. Maybe it's harmless." She got up from the couch and walked over to the refrigerator. The teens watched as she opened the freezer. "Hey. How are you? You wanna come out?"

The ghost was shaking. She was afraid of what would happen next. "Come on. Don't be shy." Suddenly, the ghost girl flew out of the freezer and went over to the living room, much to everyone's shock. 

"See? She's cool. Scared, but okay." Xenna turns her attention back to the ghost. "Do you have a name?" The girl was nervous, but she went over the balcony windows and, using the endoplasm residue on her finger, wrote her name. "D..E..S..T..I..N..Y. "Destiny?" " The ghost nods 'yes'. 

"Well, Destiny, I'm Xenna. This is Mason, Lexi, Finn, Dylan, and Brian. We also have other friends here, but they have their own suites." 

"Does anyone else think this is freaky?" Finn stressed. The boys clamored in agreement.

"I don't know. She seems nice to me," Lexi replied. "How about we introduce Destiny to what we do around here? Give her a little Original Eighth Grader tour." She wraps her arms around Mason and Finn's shoulders. "Right, fellas?"

"Yeahh..."

"Sure..."

"Good answer." She turns her attention to Destiny. "Come on, Destiny. Let us show you where the girls hang out." 

The boys watched in bewilderment as the girls walked next door with Destiny. 

"So," Brian began. "You guys went back to Akron and picked up a ghost...can me and Dylan come next time?"

"Dude." Dylan glares at Brian.

"What?"

—————————————————————

Throughout the entire afternoon, the teens were showing Destiny around their suites. In the boys' suite, Finn was with her in the kitchen.

"Alright. Here is the kitchen where we eat." He picks up a spoon and shows it to her. "This is a spoon. It's what we use to eat cereal, ice cream, and soup. But not altogether."

Destiny picks up the spoon, but because she's a ghost, it went through her hand. "Oh...we may need to fix that. Anyway, what do you like to eat?"

Destiny thought of something and flew into a refrigerator. A minute later, she came out and sat on the couch and belched. Finn opened the fridge and looked back at her. "Hey, you ate my sandwich."

Next, Mason and Finn decided to play a prank on Sam. Sam was in the bathroom, preparing to take a shower. He grabbed his shampoo out of the cabinet and closed it to see Destiny making a scary face. This sudden move makes Sam freak out and run out of the bathroom. Destiny then pulled her face out from the wall into the hallway. Mason and Finn were doubled over and laughing. 

At Central Park, Lexi was flying in the turbo broom when Destiny flew beside her. They were racing to see which girl was the fastest. When the race ended, it was clear Destiny was the fastest. Lexi attempted to give her a high five when she forgot she was a ghost. Her hand went through hers, causing Lexi to fall over. 

Later on, Destiny was back in the girls' suite with Xenna. They were sitting on the couch and looking at pictures of the agents' past missions.

"Here's where we went to Brazil. And this is when we were in Las Vegas. And this is when we were at Stan Hywet. See? It's your home." Destiny gazed at the photos in amazement. "You know, when we were there, I never expected a ghost to travel with us. But now, I think this is the best thing that ever happened." 

Destiny placed her hand on the photos. Xenna looks at her and can tell she was upset. "You must be lonely there. Spending your entire life...or afterlife in that manor by yourself. You must not have any friends." Destiny took out a photo from her pocket and showed it to Xenna. "It's that your family?" Destiny nods 'yes'. "Aww. I didn't know. I must've taken you from your home." Xenna looks at the photo with sorrow. She knows what she has to do. 

"Hey, would it make you better if we take you back tomorrow?" Destiny smiles and flies around in delight. "Okay. It's a deal. We'll go first thing in the morning." Xenna takes out her phone. "Here, let's take a picture." Suddenly, Destiny grew frightened and flew into the closet. Xenna walked over and opened it to see her cowering. "Hey, it's okay. I'm guessing you hate getting your picture taken. I'm sorry." She puts her phone away. "Don't worry. No photos. I promise." 

In an instant, Destiny let out a yawn and flew over to the couch. "I’m tired too. It’s getting late." Xenna walks over to the light switch as Destiny settles in. "If you need anything, just...float into the bedroom, I guess? Good night." She turned off the lights and went to the bedroom.

—————————————————————

It was 2:00 in the morning. Everyone was asleep as the city continued to buzz. In the girls' suite, Destiny was sleeping on the couch until something happened. Due to being a spirit, she sunk through floor until she was in another suite. When Destiny woke up, she was startled to see that it was in the wrong room. She floated around and entered the bedroom where a person was sleeping. It wasn't Xenna, so she moved on and continued to look for her suite. Meanwhile, a couple was sleeping when a clanking noise came from the kitchen. 

"Josh. Hon." 

"What?"

"I think there's someone in our room."

The man walked out of the bedroom and began to look in the kitchen. He then checked the bathroom and in the living room. Meanwhile, the wife was trying to relax when Destiny entered the room. She saw the wife was not Xenna and started to leave...not before the wife spotted her. The husband heard his wife scream and ran to the room. When he saw Destiny, he let out a scream as well. Destiny, obviously frightened, flew out of the room and into another, where another guest saw her.

Destiny began to fly from room to room, desperately trying to leave. Ralph, the hotel manager, was at his desk, getting thousands of complaints. 

"Hello. Yes, I understand. There's a ghost. Hello. Ghost problem, I've heard. Hello. Does it have to do with a ghost? We're taking care of it right now." Ralph dials the number for NYPD. "Hello, send the FBI. There’s a ghost in my hotel. No, I'm not joking! There's really a ghost here!"

Desperate to hide, Destiny flew right out of the hotel where a spotlight hit her. Multiple trucks and helicopters surrounded the spirit. Mason and Finn, alerted by the commotion, ran out of the elevator and over to the front desk. 

"Ralph, what's going on?" Mason asked.

"There's a ghost in my hotel! It's scaring my guests!"

Mason and Finn looked at each other in horror. They ran out of the hotel to see Destiny being cornered by the FBI. "Hey! That's our ghost!" Finn yelled. He tried to run after Destiny, but a burly agent blocked his path. "As a matter of fact, she's your ghost now." Finn ran back over to Mason like a dog with his tail between his legs. Lexi and the agents came out to see what was going on. 

"Destiny!" Xenna exclaimed. She ran over and defended Destiny from the guards. "What are you guys doing? She's my friend!"

"A ghost does not belong in a hotel. They belong in a research lab at Area 51. Get it out of here, boys!" Two guards moved Xenna out of the way and sucked Destiny into a ghost trap. When she was in there, they placed her in the back of the FBI evidence truck and drove away.

"Come on! We gotta follow them," Mason ordered. "Lexi, you guys stay here!"

Mason took out his turbo broom and flew after the truck, with Finn and Xenna. Later on, they arrived at Area 51. They watched as the truck containing Destiny went in through the gate where two guards stood by.

"I can't believe it," Finn stated. "All these years of thinking Area 51 is a myth, here it is in front of me."

"Can we focus, please? Destiny is in there with people doing who knows what to her."

"Right."

Discreetly, the teens flew over the guards and landed on the roof. They entered through an air duct and landed on a catwalk over a research lab. The teens saw Destiny in a chamber as scientists surrounded her and studied her. 

"So, what's the plan?" 

Xenna noticed the hazmat suits nearby and came up with a great idea. 

————————————————————-

Meanwhile, the scientists were still studying Destiny. She drew back in fear as the scientists were about to take a picture of her. Before they could, Mason and Finn burst through the doors, wearing the hazmat suits. 

"Stop where you are!"

"Do not dare take that picture!"

"Who are you?" said one scientist.

"Have you not heard? We are a famous ghost protection agency."

"Yes. We work for the Department of the Protection for the Rights of the Supernatural." Mason glares at Finn. Finn responds with a shrug.

"The DPRS? I've never heard of that."

"Of course. We've just opened up."

"Yes, and so far, business is smooth as a ship on water."

"But why-"

"No time for questions! Is this the ghost we've heard about?"

"Yes. We've received a call earlier stating that it was terrorizing a hotel."

"Interesting....'cause we got that same call as well."

"You did?"

"Yes, and they told us to pick up the ghost that you caught!"

"You? But I-"

"You stole our ghost??"

"Wha-? I didn't know that-"

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW?!" Finn yelled. "ISN'T IT YOUR JOB, AS A WORKER OF THE FBI, TO KNOW ABOUT THESE RULES?!" The scientist was a stuttering mess. "Well, I guess we just have to speak to whoever's in charge of your duties."

"Indeed, we should."

"Now, wait! Wait a minute. Gentlemen, I really don't think that will be necessary. Please, feel free to take your ghost and, once again, our apologies."

Finn and Mason look at each other and then at the man. "Alright. Since we're in a good mood, we won't mention this to your superior."

The boys walk over to Destiny's chamber. Suddenly, the scientist noticed something familiar about their suits. "Question, if I may," he began. "If you work for a ghost protection agency...why is there an FBI symbol on your suit?"

Finn looks on his chest and sees the symbol. He begins to sweat nervously. "Uhh...sometimes, I work undercover. Am I doing pretty good?"

The scientist removes the mask, revealing Finn to his colleagues. "Children?"

"Actually, we're teenagers but you were close."

The scientist presses a red button, alerting security. The other scientists were scrambling, desperately trying to cover up their equipment.

"Dude, let's go!" Mason and Finn ran over to Destiny's chamber. They removed the device from its socket and began to carry it out of the lab. 

The boys ran down the hallway until their path was blocked by multiple guards. They turned around and tried the other direction, but more guards showed up. They turned and ran back into the lab. Mason closed the door and used a lab table as a barricade. 

"What do we do? We're totally exposed, man!" 

"I don't know. Where's Xenna?"

"She said she was gonna get something."

"Like what?"

Suddenly, an FBI truck crashed through the wall of the lab. Xenna rolled down her window and shouted, "Climb in through the back!"

"That answered it?" Finn and Mason placed Destiny in the back of the truck and climbed in. They drove away before the guards could catch them. As she drove the vehicle, Xenna turned on her digitalwatch. 

"MIRV, contact the APSPA and tell them to meet us at the McCarran International with the jet."

"I'm on it, Ms. Woods.”

—————————————————————

It was 4:00 am when Mason, Finn, and Xenna arrived at Stan Hywet. Finn opened the chamber, and Destiny flew out excitedly. 

"Alright. Let's hope that we don't become America's most wanted for trespassing on Area 51," Finn points out.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Destiny," said Mason. "But I don't think New York is ready for ghosts just yet." 

Destiny looked away, forlorn. She didn't want to go back home, but Mason was right. New York was not a place for her. Xenna walked over and grabbed her hand. "We'll make sure to visit you every fall," she said. 

The ghost girl then hugged and said her first word: "Friend." After that, Destiny flew back into the manor and reunited with her ghost family.