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“Look at this! It’s excellent, we hit the bloody jackpot!” The blond boy crowed, The manic grin on his face matched his glee. Phil was somewhat satisfied that someone saw the beauty of his old home. The cottage was once so beautiful and bright. But now the outside was dark and gloomy, moss and vines have made the place look like something out of a cheap child's book. There used to be people who lived in the home years ago, but nobody had lived in the home in over 50 years. Phil blamed the last couple who lived in the house. They wanted to tear it down to make some sort of grand hovel. Wilbur and Techno scared them right out of the home. But it made the place haunted, so the retailers will be able to sell it. Phil felt a little sorry for the last retailers who came back to the property. The Poor group saw Wilbur and ran straight out. Apparently, they have been trying to sell this place for 50 years. Not one buyer. Until today, it looks like.
Phil sighed and looked out the open door to the cottage, at the brown-haired child dragging what seems to be luggage on wheels. As they bickered and unpacked all their items in the drawing-room. Phil floated over them and looked on. Some items Phil could not even describe. 50 years is a long time cut off from the world. And from what he saw in the hallway, Techno seemed to be very interested in everything new. Phil chuckled as he saw his adoptive son Wilbur hold his brother back. He floated over to see what was going on between the two. He stalled by the door and closed it with a heavy thud as he listened to their conversation.
“You CAN NOT scare them!” Techno hissed as he bulled his brother up into the rafters.
“I will not! I just want to see the stuff they have!” Wilbur was doing his very best to get to the boys unpacking. But came to a stalemate every time he started to get close.
Techno started to argue, “You will scare them away!”
“Boys, please play nice.” Phil floated over in an attempt to stop them from doing anything they would regret. He has to admit, it was wonderful to have people in the house again. But he would rather introduce himself to the parents first once they came to join their kids. Usually, if kids see them first, it takes forever to convince the parents otherwise. And Phil does not want to be another “Imaginary Friend” for 25 years.
“I’ll try being nicer if he tries being smarter,” Techno smirked at Wilbur as he made an exaggerated gasp.
“Techno! Why do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you.” Techno shrugged, “I’m just not necessarily excited about your existence.”
Wilbur sputtered and started arguing with Techno. But both were smiling. Wilbur now found something better to do than bug the new kids. Phil left them to bicker in the rafters. It was more than likely that the idea of a family moving in again made everyone, even him, overly excited for things to happen again after 50 years of nothing. He looked in at the boys, unpacking wires and square glass sheets that lit up. And could not wait until the parents came, so they could introduce themselves and find out what the new items were. For the first time in 50 years, Phil was excited for tomorrow.
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It was pouring outside. The boys seemed to not mind that their parents were not with them. It made Phil concerned that the boys did not seem to be concerned that they were alone. In fact, they talked about living alone in the house. As they unpacked, they did not talk much. Unlike before.
But once the sun went down they started setting something up in the dining room. The blond one, Tommy, was talking and explaining the backstory of the cottage. The brown-haired one, Tubbo, seemed to be holding up a small film glowing on a sheet of glass connected to a rig of light. Tubbo followed Tommy around and gave visual cues of delight. As they started talking about Wilbur bleeding out and Techno dying, said ghosts left. More than likely to not do anything they would regret to not scare away the kids. But knowing them, they will have some revenge by some form of haunting later. Being reminded of his death made his soul groan. The pain of losing his only son made his final living day full of despair. He tried not to dwell on it. For even in death the pain was still there. And he knew it was the same for the others.
Once they seemed to finish their film, Tubbo put down the glass piece and started to talk to Tommy. “Why not stay in this room for tonight? The fireplace looks safe enough to light a fire. Plus the beds will not be delivered for another week. This looks like the cosiest room in the place.”
“You just want to kill all the spiders in the bedroom first don’t you?”
“So what if I do?” They argued light-heartedly and laughed as they unpacked their sleeping bags. Once finally curled up and the fire was going, they slept. As Phil looked on, a small thought came to mind. And then it struck him to his core. If he could still breathe, the air would have left his lungs.
The boys were alone.
They were alone in a house in the middle of nowhere with little food and no beds.
He floated to the rafters in the drawing-room and looked down in them as they slept. Their breathing and small snores filled the room with more life than anything that ever stepped foot in the house in the past 50 years. He sat on one of the rafters and stared at the pair. Thinking about what to do.
A few hours later Phil was ripped out of his spiral of thought with a loud slamming in the chimney. He looked up to the sound and found Techno slamming the iron grate to the air vent closed.
“Did you hear that?” Tommy asked bolting up fully awake. His eyes wide and trying to find something in the darkroom lit up by the smouldering embers of the fire.
“Probably just an animal. Maybe a rat or something.” Tubbo answered, trying to keep his voice level. Even though from what Phil could see, his eyes were as wide as Tommy’s.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
Wilbur suddenly started clanging the old chains in the chimney. Scaring the kids even more. Phil was tempted to step in but decided to let them get it out of their system. Lest they do something worse.
He looked on as Tommy jumped to his feet. “That was definitely not a rat. That sounds like someone is banging on the pipes upstairs! Oh my god, we’re going to get ghosts on film!” He began pacing around the room becoming more and more agitated as his breathing increased. He started digging through his stuff for his glass piece. So the boy wanted to get ghosts on film eh? Maybe he should let Techno and Wilbur continue in their shenanigans.
“Hey. Tommy.” Tubbo got up. Sleeping bag falling off his shoulders as he joined his friend. “Tommy! Stop. It is 12:48 PM. we can do an all-nighter stream tomorrow. As I said, it was probably an animal.”
He glared at his sons as they gleefully made more noise, not caring if the kids seemed to be out of their minds with fear. Phil just rolled his eyes at their antics and huffed in annoyance. But smiled at them as they continued to make sounds and noises. This was the happiest he had seen them in a long, long time.
The kids seemed to still be bickering about animals in pipes before a sudden CLANG by Techno made Tubbo fall silent. Making Tommy finally notice his brothers’ distress he put his hands over Tubbo’s shoulders. Phil floated closer as Tommy calmed his brother. “Tubbo.” He said softly. “Stop and look at me. We are OK, breathe and relax a bit.”
The noises by Wilbur and Techno suddenly increased in both volume and frequency, causing Tubbo to begin freaking out, raising his voice. CLANG. “Fuck. Oh my god, this is it.” CLANG. “This is how I die, isn’t it? I am going to die, in this stupid, freaky haunted house-” Phil knew he had to step in NOW.
“BOYS STOP IT”
Everything stopped.
The clanging stopped.
Wilbur stopped.
Techno stopped.
His voice seemed to be heard by Tommy and Tubbo. Tommy let go of his brother and ran out of the room as if trying to find someone. As he went back into the room he saw Tubbo’s face. It was pale and he was shaking. Phil swooped up into the chimney and cornered his boys.
“What do you think you were doing?”
“We just wanted to help prove there are ghosts,” Wilbur shrugged.
Techno nodded in agreement “it is what they wanted, so it is what they are getting.”
“Well, we are now proven.” Phil crossed his arms and glared at them, “So stop it.”
Wilbur groaned, “But I wanted to keep going until their parents arrived!”
Techno nodded his head “Yeah! I have a chain that I can-“ Phil cut him off.
“Wilbur, Techno, the kids are alone. They do not seem to have any parents with them.” That stopped the two. They seemed to be shocked at the ideas and floated out of the chimney. They looked down at the two boys as they held onto each other. Their makeshift blanket falling off their shoulders as they drifted off to sleep once more.
Wilbur broke the silence “are they orphans Phil? Why would they be alone?” He floated down to the kids and started to wrap the surrounding blanket a bit tighter. His brows furrowed in concentration as he studied the kids.
“I have no idea,” Phil replied, for once he had no answer. He floated up to the rafters once more and resumed his watch over the kids.
Techno floated up and joined him on the beam. His voice but a whisper. “They are alone Phil. What are we going to do?” Phil shrugged, still unable to answer.
“I have no idea”
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A plan was hatched that night between the ghosts. Their voices only a whisper far above the sleeping boys. With the storm still raging outside, it would be impossible for the kids to get more food on their own. Techno volunteered to go to his secret potato farm and grab a few for them. Wilbur seemed determined to clean up every single spiderweb in the cottage. Phil agreed to help him once the boys awoke.
“Should we tell them we are here?” Techno asked once the initial plan was set, his eyes locked onto the waking boys down below. “at least let them know that they are not alone.”
“I do not think we should.” Wilbur said, his voice oddly sombre. “we did frighten them last night. They might not want to meet us yet.” That shocked Phil, Wilbur was usually the first to appear and introduce themselves. But he saw the logic in his words. Wilbur must be as worried as he was for the brothers. A crack of lightning was heard outside, making Tubbo almost drop some sort of item he was hanging up in the kitchen. Phil had no idea what was being put up in the rooms. But from his experience, it more than likely was some sort of decoration. And by God, what happened in the past 50 years that medal triangles with a metal square on a pole on it make for pleasant home décor?
He brushed off these thoughts as he laid out the plan again. “Look boys, we have a plan. Techno you get the food. Drop it off in the kitchen by Tubbo. Wilbur lets follow Tommy. He seems to be in his way to clean some rooms.” Both ghosts nodded and swooped off in separate directions. Phil and Wilbur watched as Tommy walked to the main bedroom. Wanting to be one step ahead they both phased past the wall and started to pick at the cobwebs. When Phil noticed that Tommy was not in the room yet, he poked his head out the door. Seeing as Tommy was not there, he grabbed the broom and wiggled it through a crack in the door. Once the broom was in his possession, he started to sweep as much dust as he could.
“Phil”
“Yes, Wilbur?”
“Did we…” He paused as he reconsidered his words. “… Did I do a bad thing?
“What do you mean?”
“I scared them, Phil. There are alone and I scared them.” Wilbur started to ball up the spiderweb in his hands, making the ball smaller and smaller. The ghost seemed to curl up around the ball as well, his face twisted with guilt.
“I do not think you did the bad thing Wil. They wanted to catch a ghost on camera, so I guess they knew what they were getting into.” He gave the man a small smile as the ball was freed from the vine-like grip Wilbur had it in. “But if they see you, just be chill about it. Do not scare them again Wilbur.” Phil sighed and continued sweeping, “I honestly don't know how we are going to introduce ourselves-”
The door to the bedroom was opened and Tommy stood there. Staring at the broom as it swept on its own in his eyes. Another lightning strike lit up the room. As soon as Tommy met his eyes, he knew that the kid could see him. Phil just dropped the broom in his grip. Having no idea what to do next. Wilbur seemed to take Phil's advice to heart as he swooped down and dropped the ball of spiders in the pile of dust and flew up into the rafters.
Tommy stood in the doorway for a solid minute before he tore out of the room. More than likely to find Tubbo. And tell his brother all about the ghost he saw.
Wilbur floated down and locked eyes with Phil. a small smile was on his lips.“ Well that answers that question then”
“Quiet Wil.”
They both flew down to follow Tommy into the Kitchen. They hovered by Techno in the hallway hearing the end of Tubbo explaining to Tommy how HE saw a ghost.
“- I turned around and saw a ghost floating above the table in the kitchen. He dropped something and vanished!” Tubbo seemed to have some shock and joy in his eye as he finished his tale, “The ghost, he had a mask on his face, Tommy, it was one of the ghosts!” Techno raised a hand to his face. His red leather mask followed him in death. Phil knew that his son had some problems with it when they first became ghosts. He had a slight tinge of worry that all their wounds would be reopened when talking to the kids before him.
“I don't think we have to worry about food tonight,” Tommy said, looking at the potatoes on the table. Phil felt a flash of relief flow through him. Calmed in the knowledge that the kids would be fed for a while longer.
Tubbo poked at one of the potatoes.“How do we cook these?” Phil sighed, kids these days.
Phil heard a book fell off the bookshelf in the drawing-room. The boys looked at each other and walked into the room. Wilbur was hovering over the fallen book. A happy smile on his face as he watched the boys crowd around the fallen book. Phil recognized the book as his favourite cookbook from when he was alive. When he drifted over, he saw that it was open to a recipe for baked potatoes.
After a moment of silence Tommy declared, “Tubbo, I think we are getting this house for free.”
It dawned on Phil that the world had changed a lot more than he thought in the past 50 years.