Blue Spirit

Joey yawned, and with a quick stretch, sat up in the hotel bed he was on. The sun peeked through the nearby curtains, making him blink briefly. He sat in a half asleep post nap daze, until he realized where he was now again. Then he attempted to jump up to look out the window. The key word being attempted. His luck was not good, and one foot got caught in the comforter laying partially on the floor. Down he went, landing on his face with a muffled thump, due to the floor being carpeted thankfully.

"Bah...I haven't done that in awhile..."he grumbled after getting back to his feet. He peered out the window and saw only a few clouds here and there in the sky, which was just starting to go dark. That meant investigating the actual battlefield would be done on a clear night hopefully. The state of the sky also meant the others would be there to get him soon, so he rushed himself in getting ready. Which only consisted of a quick brush of his teeth and hair, and a quick change of clothes. Lastly he slipped his self made goggles on, and he was good to go. He sipped at a half full cup of water, and eventually the knock came, along with Zak's familiar voice telling him it was time to go to the battlefield. Doing a quick fist pump and a silent "Finally!" Joey left his hotel room and followed Zak to the rental van outside.

He hopped into the back, next to Nick, and as the van moved towards the battlefield, he began to fidget and even bounce in his seat. This earned him a grin from his fellow backseat passenger, but he paid him no mind. He couldn't help the constant movements, he was extremely excited about this one. Nearby, Bastion watched Joey's movements, which oddly enough were helping to keep him from disappearing while they were here. He'd never seen Joey this excited or happy, and he wanted to be there to see it...plus he had to be in case something went wrong like it did on Povelgia Island. He never wanted to fail like that again. Ever.

It didn't seem like it took long at all for the blue sky to turn dark as night fell, and soon the only lights they had to see by were the moon, and their camera screens. Or in Joey's case he had his self made night vision, heat seeking goggles. They spread out, but still stayed within "sight" of each other, as the field was massive, and it would be easy to lose track of someone, in pitch black darkness at least. The only one to move further away from the others than any of them was Bastion, but he didn't do it more than once. He didn't like this situation, only because he'd actually fought here, and died on the last day of the battle. Being a southern soldier didn't help matters either. He kept expecting Union spirits to pop out with every breath he could see the living people take. It was cooler, so their breath was like steam, and visible in the night air, in a matter of speaking, since all they had was very little night vision after all.

He faintly heard Zak, Nick, and Aaron gently asking questions like they always do, while he watched Joey turn his head slightly from side to side, scanning the field with his unique goggles. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a flash of dark blue, and realized it was a Union spirit. Inwardly asking Joey to forgive him, Bastion instantly faded out of view of anybody, living or not. He still didn't have it in him to show himself when other Civil War spirits were about. If it made him a coward, so be it. When Joey turned around he noticed Bastion's absence, and let out what was half a growl, half a sigh, if that was at all possible.

"...I should have known he wouldn't stick around to.." He cut himself off as he caught a flash of movement with his heat vision turned on now. "What the hell...? Is that..." He quickly lifted his camera to record in the direction of the movement. All he could see was the grass moving with a slight breeze. But he could have sworn he saw someone or something a second ago. "Damn...missed it.." he grumbled. Then came the ridiculously loud gunshot sound, which out of instinct made him duck. He wasn't the only one. Zak, Nick, and Aaron all reacted in a similar manner, their shocked calls ringing out over the massive field. It looks like the spirits had come out to play, briefly. The gunshot was clearly the sound of a very old rifle firing. The kind used back in the Civil War time period. Then there was a second one, almost in response to the first. Joey could hear Zak asking questions after both shots, trying to catch any other sounds they couldn't hear on his recorder.

"Wow...unbelievable.." Joey mumbled, getting up to his feet from where he'd been kneeling after the ghostly shots went off.

"I'm not surprised...I think I brought them out...because if I recall correctly they never do this...not beyond a voice recording here and there" came Bastion's voice from the side. Joey scoffed.

"There you are. I thought you said you'd try to.."

"I know. I know. It's not that easy alright...? I've lived with my guilt for so long after all. Surely you can understand how hard that is..."

"...I can" mumbled Joey walking towards Zak after hearing his name called. Bastion winced, realizing how what he said came out.

"I didn't mean to.." Joey lifted a hand, pretty much silently saying forget it, or that he no longer wanted to talk. Bastion looked at the grass below his see through feet, and exhaled quietly to himself.

"Well done Bastion...be an ass to someone who only tried to help.." He followed Joey to Zak at a distance, sure that he'd be unwelcome now. The two living men talked quietly, then switched places in a sense. Joey went in the same direction Zak had been going, and Zak went to where Joey was before. Faintly one could hear crickets and a dog bark in the distance, but other then that everything was perfectly quiet now. Within a few more hours, the sun began to rise, signaling the end of their visit. Hopefully the gunshots were caught on camera or on a recorder, and hopefully there was something else they missed too. As they were leaving Bastion trailed behind. He looked over one shoulder, and saw a few of the spirits watching, that only he could see. All were in uniform, and one, a confederate like he was in life, lifted a hand up in a sort of salute, before they all disappeared. That wasn't what he expected to happen when he was finally noticed. He expected some sort of angry response, but was wrong. Turning away from where the spirits had been, he blinked, then a sort of smirk made it's way onto his see through face.

"What are you smiling about?" came Joey's voice from next to him suddenly. Bastion jerked out of his thoughts, and looked at the teenager next to him.

"oh..nothing.." he mumbled, slightly embarrassed for some reason. Joey's eyebrows went up, and an "I'm not fooled" sort of expression came onto his face. But he said nothing. He only shrugged and jogged ahead to catch back up with the others. Bastion looked at the clear sky, which was getting lighter by the minute, and shut his eyes briefly, taking an un-needed deep breath of relief and joy. He wasn't as hated as he thought he'd be, even by the Union spirits he'd seen as well.

After driving back to their hotel, the living members of the group took quick naps, before checking over everything they recorded that night. To their immense surprise and happiness, the two gunshots were indeed caught, on Aaron's evp recorder. Joey gave a silent fist pump of victory, and Bastion shook his head with amusement. Literally right after they were done checking the stuff, Joey's cell phone rang, playing "Club Can't Handle Me Now" as the ring tone signalling a text message had come in. He stood and said he'd be right back, before walking out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Bastion quietly walked around, looking at the technology he'd never seen before, being from the time period he was and all. It was all amazing in his long dead eyes. He was startled by a loud bang, like something hitting a wall, then the sound of a slamming door. Zak got up to look outside the room. Joey was gone, but his phone was on the floor where he had been. Zak picked up the device, and Bastion noted a dent in the wall by the door frame, like something hit it hard.

"..oh man..." came the stunned sound of Zak's voice. Bastion spun to find him looking at a text message on Joey's phone. It was unintentional, but it was plain as day. And it wasn't good. Bastion leaned closer to look, and mouthed the words to himself without a sound.

"Son..it's your dad...respond when you can. It's your mother..it's..it's not good...so please..."

End of Chapter 6!