Chapter Text
Just as Skizz finished tidying up the van from the last GIGS investigation, a familiar redhead with antlers popped up behind him.
“Skizz? We've got another case already. Do you wanna take it?” Gem inquired. Skizz and Gem were two of four members of a paranormal investigation group under the company Ghost Huntin’ Distribution. They used to be a group of five, but a tragic accident occurred a few months ago bringing their numbers down one. The other two members, Scar and Grian, were likely lounging about somewhere in the building where they spent their downtime.
Skizz turned to face Gem with a look of mild surprise on his face, his wings picking themselves up from how they were dragging. “Already? Didn't we just wrap up a case? Tell me I'm not going crazy.”.
“You're not. This one's kinda weird, though. Apparently, it's a haunt we've already been to, but when they tried to rebuild it, some crazy spirit killed two construction workers as they were finishing.”.
“Huh, that is weird. Well, go round up the others, we'll go check it out.” As Gem strided away, a photo caught Skizz's eye. Five friends in front of a run down house, celebrating, with the caption “100th case together!” on the bottom of the frame. An achingly familiar demon was next to photo-Skizz. Impulse. Skizz's heart inevitably panged at the sight of his former best friend's and embarrassingly - crush’s face in the photo. They'd lost him to a ghost hunt gone wrong, but they'd continued ghost hunting to honor his memory. A single thought crossed Skizz's mind as he turned back around to get ready for their next case. I miss you, Impy.
----☆----
Impulse paced this newly rebuilt domain of his. After his old haunt had been torn down, several guys had rebuilt it. It felt strange. Impulse remembers killing two of them, but that was the last time the living had been here.
Before that, there had been these- exercisers? exerters? Impulse couldn't remember. They'd gotten rid of the other spirit in this haunt, but when he tried to kill them, he was strangely unable to, and they all escaped alive. But the terms they used… something felt familiar. There was an itch in Impulse’s brain, and he longed to remember.
Before them, though, that's when Impulse remembered dying himself. The “How” felt uncomfortably easy to picture, but everything else was a blur. There were others there, weren't there? Friends? Family? Love? How long ago had it been? Aside from the little events, he had no idea how much time had passed. He remembers falling, the crucifix going through his chest, then afterlife. He didn't want to remember that. Something inside told him the faces he remembered were important, yet they remained so far out of his grasp. Perhaps they were his partner and kids, and he left them. He remembers he used to love one like they were married, and the others like kids, but he just couldn't remember their faces.
He wanted to leave this realm forever, but he simply couldn't go anywhere. Maybe those strange people and their gadgets could get him to leave, but how would he get them to return? They seemed awfully scared of Impulse last time. As he began to fall into a rabbit hole, a long-dormant yet instinctual feeling came over him. The living were here.
----☆----
A strange sort of dread washed over Skizz at the sight of the haunt. Gem had told him they rebuilt it, but something still felt… off. Behind him, his friends steeled themselves for the case. Grian's parrot wings puffed up a bit in fear, but he didn't say anything as he went to unlock the door, giving Scar an opportunity to dump their gear inside. Skizz began to look for the breaker while Scar handled tech and Grian began to try finding the ghost room.
“Breaker's on!” He announced over the radio. A chorus of thank yous met his ears as he made his way back to the house.
Grian’s voice was next over the radio. “I found the ghost room! We've got freezing temps in the master bedroom.”.
Skizz marked off freezing temps in Impulse’s journal his new journal, narrowing the pool slightly. However, just as he passed through the door and into the house, the door slammed shut. Gem's panicked cry of “Hunt!” over the radio was a mess of static as Skizz rushed to find a hiding spot. He managed to slip into the hallway closet as the ghost walked by, Skizz holding his breath as the footsteps paced by. Eventually, they stopped.
“That was fast, dude. I think it might be a demon. We didn't even get time to get the crucie down.” Grian's voice came from one of the other rooms.
Scar came in carrying various things, such as the D.O.T.S. projectors and the ghost book. “What's a demon again? Freezing temps, what else?”.
“Freezing temps, U.V. and ghost writing.” Skizz rattled off. Hours of studying Impulse’s notes after the accident left him like a walking textbook.
Impulse was like a walking textbook.
Skizz shook himself out of the memories and into a room with a burning crucifix and mildly reacting teammates.
Scar was questioning both Skizz and Grian. “That's gotta be a demon, no? Aren't they super aggressive?”
Grian nodded. “The signs are pointing even more towards demon now.” He began setting up salt piles to check for U.V, while Skizz started to look for the inevitable cursed object. After a brief tour of the house, he stumbled upon a withered, demented looking hand.
“There's a monkey paw, guys.” He radioed.
“We’ve also got footprints with U.V, so no need to ask for knowledge.” Came Gem's reply.
Scar radioed that he'd covered the pictures, and Gem and Grian began packing up with the knowledge that they had a demon, but something was tying Skizz to this haunt. A few moments later, it could have been seconds or hours, a voice spoke up behind him.
“You're thinking about him, aren't you?” Gem's voice was quiet but filled with care. “I’m sorry, Skizz, but that can't bring him back. You know that. This isn't where he died.”.
“I know, it's just… I loved him… I don't know why it's hitting harder right now…” Skizz felt tears running down his face.
“I know… you know, it's good that you finally admitted it. It got insufferable after a while. Between you two and Scar and Grian, I was really starting to feel single. Anyways, we're packing up. I can give you a moment, but it's best to get out of here quickly, because we don't want to be in here with a demon.” Gem touched his shoulder gently and left.
Skizz pondered over what she said. Did Impulse have feelings for him before he… tears ran in full sobs by now. If it was really mutual, but Impulse was gone… Skizz grieved. For the life he could've had. If only he'd told Impulse.