[Freezair]

Honey looked outside the window. A thick curtain of water slid down the window, blurring the streets.  "I don't see any other Malphas. What do you suppose...?"

The cab driver snarled to himself. "Blasted rain," he said. "Can't see where I'm going."

"Maybe you should slow down," Honey suggested.

The cab driver went quiet. There was a squealing sound.

Honey looked at him in the rearview mirror.

"...No need to panic now," he said, his voice low and grumbly. "The rain is making my breaks malfunction slightly. But, no need to worry--I can take my foot off the accelerator and we can coast to a stop... No need to worry..."

His voice wasn't listening to his own suggestion.

[23]

[GrayGriffin]

Skull gulped. "Grapeshot, can you lessen the cold here?" she asked.

"Not if it's normal," he replied grimly. "All we can do is hope that this works." He wrapped his wings around Skull, hoping to protect her from any crashes.

"Honey, will you be okay? And you, sir?" he asked the driver.

[23, 23]

[Freezair]

"I'll be alright," Honey nodded. "After all, I'm metal-plated!"

"And you, sir?" Along with Skull, Honey turned to look expectantly at the driver.

He didn't answer.

Honey tilted her head; her many eyes flung open to their full size when she saw his face in the rearview mirror. His hands were shaking free of the wheel, and his eyes were dilated wide.

"They... Them! They're everywhere! They're on the car! Get them off the car!" He clamped back down on the wheel and swerved wildly. Honey gasped and slid into her shopping bag.

"S-S-Skull!" she stuttered. "I hear... strange sounds! Do you see any ghosts or anything unusual like that?"

[23]

[GrayGriffin]

Skull focused, then shook her head. "If they are here, I can't see or sense anything. They might be some other form of supernatural creature."

Grapeshot paused, then rifled around in one of his skull eyeholes. "Sorry, I keep things in there sometimes. But they should be fine," he added. He finally pulled out a pouch. "This herbal medicine should calm him a little. First, let him smell it." He passed it to Honey.

[24, 24]

[Freezair]

"Y-y-yes!" Honey trembled. The Scorpinch speared the little sack of herbs on the end of her tail, and crept toward the edge of the seat. She tried not to get thrown around in the swerving. Lifting her tail, she brought the bag up to the cabbie's face, waving it in front of his nose while trying not to jab him.

In the mirror, his eyes suddenly shrunk. "Wuh...? WAH!" He jerked the wheel powerfully to the left, and the car squealed and screeched back on track.

"Oh, man!" he said. "My head feels tend kinds of wrong! Something's giving me the crawling creeps, too. Let's get outta this street!" He turned down the nearest lane, heading for the Nabias countryside.

Honey put a claw over one of her aural receptors. "I keep hearing something! It's like someone's shouting at me, but they're whispering! It's terrible... They sound so angry!"

[24]

[GrayGriffin]

Skull frowned and closed her eyes, blinking several times. It didn't seem right that she couldn't see whatever spirits were plaguing this cab. There was obviously something, but she didn't know what. And not knowing was dangerous, always so dangerous. She had to concentrate, but it was hard to do from the shelter of Grapeshot's wings. So warm...so comfortable.

[25, 25]

[Freezair]

The cab jostled and jumped down the lane as the street dissolved away, the road becoming dirty and countryish. The shoulders of the cabbie were visibly shaking. One of his hands went to something beside the wheel. There was a futile clicking.

He swore under his breath. "The teleport isn't working! Rassafrackin'..."

Honey's body suddenly went alert. She seemed to have an idea. "Can someone--anyone--make it get very warm in here?"

Another empty click. "Heater's on the fritz..." the cabbie growled.

"Oh, Skull, Grapeshot, is there anything you can do to make it warm? I have an idea, but it needs to get a bit hotter in here for it to work..."

[25]

[GrayGriffin]

Grapeshot frowned, then concentrated. A small rise in temperature happened, then seemed to drop again. Skull wriggled out from underneath his wings, frowning as well. She thought she could see a few mists hovering around in the cab, but couldn't tell if they were actual ghosts.

"Come on, Grapeshot, you can do it," she hissed.

[26, 26]

[Freezair]

Honey's eyes clicked; the lights in them went deep red. If Honey didn't look so at ease, it would have been frigthening. Her body did tense, but it was obviously in concentration.

"I think... I think I can see...! A few darker spots outside the cab in my infrared vision! But it's still so cold in here... Hard to tell. Come on, Grapeshot! I know you can do it, dearie! Just like the sun!"

[25]

[GrayGriffin]

Grapeshot gasped, concentrating again. "Skull, I'll have to get you off me," he said gently. "Will you be alright?"

"I will, don't worry," she replied, slipping off him immediately. She backed off, closing her eyes and willing it to work. In her mind, she also prayed to the spirits, begging them to leave the cab alone. She felt the temperature rising more, as Grapeshot was able to work with less distraction. About to encourage him, she suddenly fell silent, realizing that it could have the opposite effect.

[26, 26]

[Freezair]

"Oh my!"

With her infrared vision activated, Honey swung her head about. All around the cab were frightening, amorphous dark shapes, sucking the heat away from the inside of the cab. Some of them had twisted features that almost resembled limbs, but they were thin and bent the wrong way and stuck out from the wrong places and were misbalanced with their thick, corpulent bodies. Dark stains of cold besmirched their bodies in ways that almost resembled faces.

"This cab is covered in... spirit-things! And they don't look friendly, not a mite." As she said it, one of them scraped out the window.

She brought her claws in close. "And they're moaning at me! They want... someone. I can't tell who. One of us..."

"Certainly hope not me," the cabbie quivered.

[27]

[GrayGriffin]

Skull shuddered. "Could they be...after me?" she whispered softly. "Perhaps these are the spirits that actually want revenge on me for not saving them, only kept away by the rest." She walked towards the window and laid a paw on the button, preparing to roll down the glass. Grapeshot pulled her back, horrified.

"What are you doing?"

"Offering myself...I can't let innocents die!"

"But we don't even know if it's you!"

[28, 28]

[Freezair]

"Don't be rash now, Skull!" Honey said. She jumped a little as she said it--she didn't think she could sound so harsh. She thought it was impossible for her to sound severe at all, really.

She laid low to the seat and let the moans of the spirits fill her ears. "T-T-They say... They say..." She let out a deep, low sound. It was almost like a sigh.

"...They want... someone... to... lead them... Somewhere. I can't tell. They want to go someplace...? I think that's what they're implying..."

[28]

[GrayGriffin]

Skull closed her eyes. "I release you, I release you!" she murmured. "Are you also victims of my inactivity? Please, if you are, leave us alone! We don't mean you harm!"

"But they may mean us harm..." replied Grapeshot worriedly. "Do they? Can you hear them, Honey?" The temperature fell for a moment, then rose again.

[29, 29]

[Freezair]

"They say... they say..."

Honey's eyes slowly closed shut, and her tail went limp. Her body looked relaxed, but was stiff. She seemed to be in a kind of trance.

Delicate, distant voices filtered into her ears. She didn't notice as the car gently trundled to a stop, the cabbie taking his foot off the accelerator.

"...Home," Honey said. "They spirits say they want you to... take them home, Skull. They want to follow you to... somewhere." She opened her eyes. "I can't say I know what it means. Perhaps it's like the myth of Charon? They need you to get into the afterlife."

[30]