Paranormal Paranioa

I walk in the realm of the supernatural.Benny Hinn

As the fire crackles, I relax back into my chair, or as well as I can anyways. I sigh a held breath and stare into the spectral flame that dances in my fireplace. The green flames cast a sickly hue around my study, gleaming off the dust covered bindings of my many books sitting in their shelves, untouched by any living creature for years. The dust of the many years, oh how I've grown to love it, while at the same time I despise it with such a passion. To have my precious belongings riddled with the layers of time and not being able to do a thing about it. Of course I can conjure a small cyclone or whirlwind to clean, but I'm too afraid I may destroy my belongings in the process. I sigh again and stare into my fireplace. The fire continues its dance as I enjoy this moment. Its probably the only moment of peace I'll get today...

Tonight is the dusk of the worst night all year round, even worse than the time of year when the carolers come around and sing all day long. Tonight is Nightmare Night, and like every year, some trickster will toilet paper my house, or ring my doorbell and set off running, or even those accursed Trick-or-Treaters may come by. I can tolerate them to a point, but only to a point.

And if on cue, a jinx I constantly set in motion, the bell rings. The loud noise echoes through the house, and I grumble. The bell rings again and I rise from my seat. I cannot help but say, "There is only one thing I despise more than anything, and that is Trick-or-Treaters!" I go over to the door and summon a small whirlwind outside, hopefully scaring anypony who is out there away. The only bad thing about that is I don't have any windows in the room; only the kitchen and side room of my house have windows which have been boarded up due to the broken glass and whatnot, and the second floor has only one large window overlooking the path that leads past my home to the city which remains warped but intact. But I'm too lazy to go anywhere else than my study.

If anypony hasn't guesses it by now, I'm dead. Literally. I'm a ghost. Plain and simple. I'm transparent, with a light bluish hue and I can float, go through walls, and control some forces of nature... Well, control is a strong word. I suppose, to be more accurate, I can manipulate some forces. I can stir wind and move small objects, but that's pretty much it. I don't sleep, I don't eat, I don't do a lot of things except waiting. I wait. No, not wait. I'm not waiting for anything. I'm simply enjoying the rest of my afterlife. Afterlife... To think I only had fourteen years to live before my life was cut short... oh well, I've been dead for about seven years now, so only the rest of eternity to go.

I begin to float back to my study as I think of what the pony outside was thinking about my little windstorm. My living room, or should I say unliving room, is the largest room in my house. You step into it straight from outside. To the left is the kitchen, complete with a black marble countertop and sink, dual-compartment fridge forward slash freezer, three sets of cabinets, and an exit to the backyard slash garden, which has become overgrown with weeds and self-sustaining pumpkins. I'm surprised that the plants haven't died, but maybe they tapped into my well. Yeah, there's and old stone well in my backyard. Just in case my water goes out, right? Anyway, to the right of the living room is a door leading to the facilities and a staircase leading up to the second floor, where the bedroom is. Literally, the entire second floor is my bedroom. though, at the moment, it's just a giant room of dust. I haven't cleaned anything since I died... The whole property is surrounded but a black iron fence about seven feet high with spiked tops, which is pretty well-sized when everypony is only four feet tall. A large gate at the front is the only way in, and it's been chained up and locked ever since my death.

I suppose being an orphan kind of gives a good lifestyle: any style you want. I chose this style of simple farming when I was still alive. You just water your crops and you have instant money if they grow. I was just a normal earth pony, so no magic for me, just good old hard work. Luckily, my cutie mark was a leaf with a hoe, meaning I can make pretty much anything grow... Well, could make anything grow... I miss my cutie mark. Ponies who die and come back thanks to a doctor or something like that always forget to look at their ass and see if their cutie mark is still there. After you die, it does too. Anyways, I sold a lot of my items, mainly pumpkins and gourds, and bought myself this little shack when I was eight years old. A lot of legal things happened, like I was put in an orphanage until I was ten, but then I was on my own.

With all these memories flooding my mind, I recline back into my chair near the spectral fire and wait... Ghosts can't really sleep, but time does pass by very quickly when we shut our eyes and let go. I "wake" to the sound of my front iron gate screeching on it's rusted hinges. I immediately float upward, awake and alert, and fly to the front door. I render myself invisible and phase through the door. I float on my front porch and look around.

At the iron gate stands a group of unicorns, three of them, and the chain that held my gate closed is broken and laying on the ground. One of the unicorns, the leader apparently, is dressed like some gray and yellow bat thing. Her mane is a bright yellow and her coat a dull pink. The other one to her left is wearing some sort of clownish costume, though it has a lot more... fake blood. And then the one in the back, the one that looks like she doesn't want to be here, is dressed in a white shirt that's knotted at the bottom to show a lot of her barrel and a red plaid skirt that is just an inch too short to be appropriate. Her charcoal mane has a red ribbon tied in it to match her skirt and her coat is a fine dusty gray.

I frown and cross my forelegs as I move closer. More pranksters, I think to myself. I stop myself about five feet from the group and float higher up to avoid them touching me. Real objects pass through me, but it feels weird when a living thing does it.

Batmare speaks first. "Okay, this is it." She moves a foreleg in a snakelike manner. "The spooooooky haunted house! come on!" She and the clown dart to my front door, while Dorothy, heh, I like that, while Dorothy walks toward them, trying to adjust her red skirt. They come to a cluster at my door and I hover closer, a scowl forming on my face.

"So," Batmare says to Dorothy, "are you ready?"

She shakes her head. "Why can't we just walk around the back? I don't really want to go in there."

The clown laughs. "What? Are you scared?"

Batmare chuckles as well. "We came here to get outselves some pumpkins, and this is the only place that they grow big!"

So that's why they were here! They wanted some of the pumpkins in my garden. I swear my vision turned red when I heard this obnoxious mare say that.

Batmare continues. "We have to go through the front and out the back room. The backyard isn't reachable from the front. The dumbass owner of this place built this big fence and it stretches here and there and blocks the backyard."

Not true, actually. The contractor helped me with ideas and it's not a fence, it's a hedge wall that separates the front and back yards.

Dorothy shows her discomfort with the idea. "But this place is kinda spooky."

"And it's haunted!" the clown yells out. She started laughing again and pushes on the door, finding it stuck on rusty hinges. I smile as she pushes some more, but it faded and I turn angry as the door flies open. "There, you see?" she says. Batmare and Clowny walk into my house, and Dorothy follows slowly.

I uncross my forelegs and turn from invisible to transparent again. "So, they think my house is haunted, huh? Oh, I'll show them a haunting all right, I'll show them a haunting they'll never forget!" I fly through my open door and up towards the ceiling where I wait. The three mares have already disappeared, probably in my backyard already. I'll wait for them right here... and then... I chuckle to myself as the devious thoughts of them running home scared with their tails between their legs dash through my mind. They will pay for their trespassing, and I'll make sure they never come near my home again!

I wait up in my corner for about twenty minutes and still nothing. Thoughts flow through my head; did they really make off with some of my gourds? Did they get lost in my jungle of a backyard? Are they just that damn slow? I answer my own thoughts with my eyes, as in I see them walk back into the living room. Batmare and Clowny both are caring two large pumpkins on their backs, while Dorothy is carrying a smaller one, almost half the size of the other two. I sneer at the group below me.

"Why did you pick such a puny pumpkin?" Batmare asks the straggler.

Dorothy lowers her head as if she's ashamed. "I don't really want to be here. Can we just go?"

Clowny chuckles. "You are such a wimp, you know that? Come on, let's go."

Now is my time to shine. As the three head to the front door, I summon a strong gust of wind and slam the door shut. The three mares eep at the action, making me smile. I look toward my study and throw another gust into the other room. The spectral fire in my fireplace blazes to unlife and casts a sickly green throughout the house. I add some more wind to the foundation to make the house shake slightly and creak.

Dorothy puts the pumpkin she's carrying on the floor in a gentle manor, while the other two stand their ground. Batmare stamps her hoof. "It's just some bad construction. Come on, let's-"

I blast her with a strong gust of wind, throwing her off balance. The pumpkin falls off her back and lands on my floor with a thud. I clear my throat and start with a booming voice. "Why have you come to my home?"

Clowny swears, saying something that I'm actually impressed with that she said it with company. "I thought you said this house was abandoned!" she whispers loudly to the leader.

"It is!" Batmare says back. "Um, sorry. We came for some pumpkins, but we didn't know anypony was living here. We thought it was empty, and-

"Empty!" I bark at the trio. "Empty like your heads perhaps? No, this house is filled with things. Books. Furniture. Memories. This house will never be empty. Never, for all eternity, I shall remain here! Now, return my things back to where you found them!"

Batmare cocks her head. "What do you mean for all eternity?"

"Shut up!" Clowny yells. "We're sorry Sir, she doesn't-"

I throw another gust of wind at them, this time hitting them from below. Clowny flies upward about a foot and falls to here stomach, while Batmare just wobbles. Dorothy is just frozen where she is.

"For all eternity, yes," I say back to the leader. "I shall stay here for all eternity, watching my things, watching."

Batmare heads to the door. "Whatever, waste your life watching your chairs."

"I cannot waste," I say as I turn visible, "what I do not have!"

I swoop down between Batmare and the door. She just stares at me with a blank expression, and I smile. I keep smiling, and keep smiling, and just keep smiling until I begin to "feel" my face warp and twist, and by the fear growing in the mare's eyes before me, I must look horrid. I resemble a feral beast in a few moments, and as Batmare begins to back up, I let out a loud roar.

All three of the mares scream in horror and dash to the kitchen. I follow close behind, making small cyclones to pick at their feet and make them fall as the run. Clowny rushes through the back door to find the tendrils of the pumpkin vines snapping towards the house. She screams and runs *smack* right into Dorothy. I duck out of the kitchen and into the Living room as Dorothy falls hard onto the floor, and that makes the cabinets holding all my dining ware fall off the wall. Plates shatter, wood breaks, and the mares scream.

"Ugh! Look at that!" I yell. "Years of age just shattered! Gone!"

Batmare and the clown run back into the living room, and I sneer as they screech to a halt before me. I create an illusion of spectral flames licking up the walls. Surrounded by flames and confronted by a ghost, they both begin to cry.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Batmare pleads. "I didn't mean anything I said! I thought-"

"You thought wrong," I yell at them both. "You have defiled my property, and now, your souls will become mine as payment!" I laugh manically as they weep and scream.

The clown speaks next. "Please! We'll do anything!"

Batmare nods with her. "Yes! Anything!"

I cross my forelegs and hover for a moment. "Anything?" I ask, toying with them.

They both nod quickly. "Yes, anything!" they both say.

I smile "...Alright. I will let you go... But in return, bring two bushels of Poison Joke to my doorstep in two days time." I just said something random, I don't care if they do it or not. I let the illusion of flames fall and the door opens. "And before you go," I say to the clown, "go into that room." I point to my study. "There is an old record player on a small table in the corner. Go crank it up and set the record to play." Clowny runs into my study.

Batmare simply sits where she is. "...Hurry up!"

The clown come back, and a few seconds later a soft melody begins to play. I smile at the sound. "Ah, that takes me back." I look down at the two. "Now drag your friend out of my kitchen and get out, and don't forget to lock the door."

They nod, and I return to my study. I settle into my chair and listen to my music. The melody playing, I believe it is a type of opera or something; a lot of instruments and one singer. After a few seconds of murmuring, I state "Go on, get! Before I change my mind!" That brings the sounds of hoofs on hardwood and the door slams shut, followed by the sound of a lock clicking into place. Something heavy hits my door, which must have been one of the three unicorns stumbling over their hooves.

"Good riddance. Now maybe I can rest for a while. Maybe let a few more days pass..." I sigh and calm the fire in the fireplace, letting it flicker to a smaller fire.

I let go and enter the world of my sub-conscience. I float through the bubbles that perforate my mind, sorting my memories and fantasies. I should have done that, should not have done that, probably should have done that as well. I begin thinking about the unicorns; I could have scared them more. Sure they cried, but I could have done better. It was way too short, their fearful encounter. I should have really kept it going... No, I did the best thing, letting them go. Now they won't come back. But then again... Nah, and besides, one of them may have gotten hurt. Dorothy...

I shake my head and let go of the world again, this time for a long, long time.

By the time I open my eyes, it's morning. A bright one at that. My record player has stopped, which makes me feel a bit empty. I float out of my chair and stretch, even though I can't feel it. My house is creaking as I float into the living room, and I roll my eyes. I phase through the front door and look around. My front gate has been left alone, and I smile at that. But my smile fades when I look down at my porch. The porch floor has caved in and wooden planks are splintered in all directions.

Then the planks bring my attention to my door. I float out of my house completely and gawk at my door. That loud crash I heard last night must have been this; the floorboards have basically attacked my door and punched out my doorknob. The lock is still locked, but there's no way I'll be able to open the door, not without an actual body.

I grumble and head back inside. At least Nightmare Night is over, so I won't have to deal with something like this until next year. I float back to my study and sink into my chair. The fire has gone out since I had "slept", so I start it back up with a flare or spectral energy.

"Why can't parent raise their foals right?" I can't help but ask to my fireplace. "They let them do whatever they want; vandalize property, steal, do drugs. Damn, it's just ridiculous." I stare at the green flames. "...Sometimes, I wish I never fought with Death."

A crash from the kitchen grabs my attention. More plates must be falling from the broken cabinets. I sigh and float out of my study and into the living room. From here, I can see the doorway to the kitchen, and the whole floor is covered in debris; broken plates, wood, silverware from a drawer that must have been pulled out when the cabinets fell. Even a chuck of my marble countertop is on the floor.

"...Tsk... I loved this place... Still do, actually." Silent rage begins to build, but it just simmers in my soul. I sneer and hack at the mess. "Stupid unicorns, nothing but trouble they were... I can't talk today." I float into the kitchen and examine the damage. "Hmm, two cabinets down, all dishes broken, silverware on the floor, cracked countertop, damages cupboards, man, they made such a mess." Yeah, even the cupboards beneath the sink were caved in. I'm surprised the pipes didn't break.

More fragments of dishes fall from their perches on the large pile in the middle of the doorway. I float back into the living room. "Maybe I should have scared them better. Maybe I should have... I don't know anymore. They're gone, my home is in shambles, and," I say as I turn back to the kitchen, "I have to spend eternity staring at-"

My voice stops when I see the pile, and the head of the mare from last night; Dorothy. She looks around the room, then she sees me.

She just stares at me, a paranormal entity right in front of her.

She just stares, and stares...

Then she opens her mouth.

I close my eyes and shake my head.

Then the screaming begins...