The Last Dainv

Chapter 267

Old Finch Avenue Bridge side road. 9:47PM. T minus 13 minutes until being hunted by a ghost begins.

Andrew's car pulled up to the side of the road with its screeching brakes. The engine made sputtering sounds that were clearly not normal compared to how Rachel's car sounded like. The 45-minute drive turned into almost an hour due to a crash on the 401. A car had flipped over and two other cars crashed into it. Jacob called it "a sweet sight."

However, Gale begged to differ. Seeing something couldn't be "sweet." What was sweet was the liquid candy from the gas station they gave him to calm him down during the car ride that added another 10 minutes to the drive. The drink was called Starbucks White Chocolate Double Shot.

At first taste, he already knew he wanted more. But alas, they already left before he could get more.

Everyone climbed out. The air was cold, colder than in the city. The Ann Family ring activated immediately, spreading warmth through his body. Dani, still in her passive state on his chest, pressed closer to him.

The bridge was supposed to be beyond the trees. In front of them, a chain linked fence surrounded the area with multiple "NO TRESPASSING" signs.

Presence Between stretched out across the vicinity. It showed him the wooden bridge just a hundred metres into the tree line. It creaked against the wind, a detail that Gale didn't even want.

"So let me get this straight," Mia said, closing the car door. "You got Dani from the Voidal plane, which is basically the in-between. And now she's your emotional comfort pet that can see things that can't be seen?"

"That's right," Gale nodded vigorously.

"And you said she's an overseer, which practically means a being that oversees the void. And then you named her as..."

Gale lowered his voice into a growl, "Diabolical Apocalypse Nether Inquisitor."

"That's so cool!" Jacob said.

"Well, to me, her real name will be Dani. None of that b.s.," Mia said.

"What? The name is cool!"

"Could be worse," Andrew muttered.

"Like what?" Mia replied.

"I dunno. Was never good at names. Dani's a cute sounding name though. Good job on that one," Andrew said.

"Did you come up with that name yourself?" Mia asked.

"Of course I did. It's a great name," Gale smiled, lifting up Dani onto his head like a hat. She stayed there, her body darting everywhere to look at the dark corners of the side of the road they stopped over.

"Great name," Mia said sarcastically. "And what'dya know? The Overseer of the Void is afraid of ghosts, just like our skinwalker-killing friend."

"She'd be less scared if we can actually hit ghosts!" Gale said in a suppressed shout.

"Maybe ghosts are scarier than Voidal beings. You never know," Jacob shrugged.

"That makes no sense," Mia said.

"Alright boys... and girls. Time to hunt some ghost baddies," Andrew said as he popped open the trunk of his car. The equipment bag sat inside, already organized from when he'd packed it at Mia's apartment. He pulled it out, closed the trunk, and set it on the hood. "You guys already got your flashlights. Now time to gear up, soldiers."

Mia took one of the UV flashlights and the thermometer. She skeptically looked at the items in her hand. "You know none of this is scientifically proven, right?"

"And you still came with us," Jacob said.

"That's because you idiots are going to get yourselves hurt."

"That's the whole point!"

"No, it's not!"

Andrew took the second EMF reader and the spirit box. He also grabbed the three cylinders of salt and distributed the remaining two to Mia and Jacob.

Gale already had the crucifix in his storage space. He was ready to materialize it at any time at any sign of danger at any moment he detected.

Suddenly, a rustle in the tree canopy above caused him to snap his eyes in that direction. Crucifix out in his right hand, pointing at the noise, and magic ghost-killing powder in the left.

"Relax, Gale," Mia said. "That was just a bird."

Presence Between's tendrils checked what she just said. True enough, that was just a small bird that would probably only take one bite to eat. Not a threat.

"Yeah, it was. Hahaha." Gale gulped, dematerializing both items back into his space storage. This was going to be another long night.

Walking over to him, Jacob pressed the on button on the GoPro mounted on his chest. "Alright. That's set."

Before continuing to speak, Jacob cleared his throat and then looked into the camera. "Welcome back to Night Encounterers! I'm your host Jacob, and tonight we're investigating one of the most haunted locations in Toronto: the Old Finch Avenue Bridge!"

"Night Encounterers?" Mia said while rolling her eyes. "That's the stupidest name I've ever heard."

"What? It's catchy!"

"No, it's not. That sounds like we're picking up girls at night!"

"What would you call it then?"

Mia smirked. "Science Paranormies."

"No way. That sounds laaaame."

"I like it," Andrew said. "Gale, what do you think?"

"I think we should be Go Home Normies."

"Alright, Gale's vote is thrown in the trash. I vote Science Paranormies," Andrew said.

"Me too," Mia said, grinning at Jacob.

"Fine." Jacob groaned. "Welcome to Science Paranormies, apparently. I'm Jacob, the awesome Jedi incarnate." He pointed to Andrew. "This is Andrew, our chill, go-with-the-flow smart dude who drives us everywhere and never complains about gas money even though he should."

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"Oh shoot. You got a point. I really should."

"This is Mia, our stuck-up science nerd who doesn't believe in anything fun or cool."

Mia grumbled.

"And behind the camera, the reason we're probably going to survive tonight is our cameraman." Jacob pointed at the camera. "The one and only Dark Hunter!"

"What?!" Gale stammered as his face reddened. That was supposed to be a secret! "H-how do you know about that?!"

"Oh. Yeah. Neutral Grounds people talked about it. Said you basically took down the whole drug dust thing ring in Toronto and the G.T.A.," Andrew said.

Gale grumbled, wanting to scrunch up his body again from the cringe. That was one time in Bowmanville, now it came back to bite him. The pain in his heart right now was more painful than being clobbered by a forest beast.

"Yep. Apparently, you're high profile. As expected of the dark hunter," Jacob said.

"Stop saying that!"

"But it's cool! Like the dark Jedis."

"Aren't those Siths?" Andrew asked.

"Pfft. No. They're totally different. The dark Jedi just use the darkness within them to grow stronger, but don't follow the ways of the Sith."

"Sounds lame," Mia said.

"Sounds cool!" Jacob said.

"Whatever. Are we doing this?" Mia asked.

Oddly enough, there were barely any cars that passed by this road. Only one car had passed since they got out of the car.

"Right," Andrew said, walking toward the fence and putting his hand on it. "Let's go over the legend before we head in."

The fence was about two metres tall, with no barbed wire at the top. But Andrew waved them over to a section of the fence that had been cut, probably by previous prey hunted by ghosts.

Holding it open, he waved them in one by one. Jacob went in first, ducking to pass through the gap. Mia easily maneuvered herself through the gap.

"Gale, go on," Andrew said.

Gale shook his head. "You go ahead first."

"Alrighty, hold the fence for me," Andrew said as Gale came over to hold the fence for him. He easily went through the gap and then waved him to come over.

Instead of going through the gap, Gale just phased himself through. Can't get caught lacking while a ghost was out and about.

"Cool phasing," Jacob said.

Then quickly glancing around the dark vicinity, Gale mouthed, Guide, signatures?!

[No Signatures above Awakened Detected. Threat level: Minimal]

Gale sighed in relief.

"You ok there, bud?" Andrew asked.

"Definitely most certainly ok," Gale lied as his eyes still darted around the darkest corners of the treeline.

"Gale, point the camera on your chest to me," Andrew said, waving him to come over as he guided them through the forest.

Turning his body, Andrew began talking in a narration-like voice.

"Old Finch Avenue Bridge. In the beginning, it was just a simple bridge where some kids went hiking for a birthday. It was all good and great until the birthday girl fell down the bridge. Some other versions say that a white woman appears on the bridge at night at exactly 10:34 PM. That's exactly 30 minutes from now," Andrew said, then his voice got lower. "However, all versions of the legend speak of one thing: sing happy birthday in the middle of the bridge, and she'll appear in front of you."

What the hell was he telling them a ghost story for?! This place was already creepy enough. The last thing they heard was a bird flying out of the trees. Oddly enough, there were also no cars passing by, and that made this whole forest dead quiet.

Geeze, Gale. What does a dead quiet forest usually mean? An ambush waiting to happen!

Presence Between scouted the vicinity again. Still no other Awakened other than them or any abnormal entities. Wait. That's stupid too! Awakened themselves are abnormal.

"That's not all, folks. The road was fully closed off in 2044 after multiple car wrecks happened one after another. Seven accidents in three months, all on the same stretch of road. No explanation was given by the police. But everyone knew why.

Mia rolled her eyes again. "This is a sharp curving road. That could just be from the poor visibility and narrow roads."

"There's lots of warning signs, and they even limited speed here to 30 km/h."

"Then driver error."

"Seven times in a row?"

"Whatever."

"In 2046, the bridge collapsed," Andrew continued. "No earthquake, no flood, no structural damage on a bright sunny day. They replaced it with this wooden bridge for pedestrian access only. No more cars allowed."

"Maybe it was old. It was over half a century old at that point," Mia commented.

They reached the edge of the bridge. The wooden planks looked old, as if they were made in a rush by the municipal government. Some had gaps between them where Gale could see the darkness of the ravine below.

"Then in 2051, they fenced off the entire area." Andrew stopped at the bridge entrance, flashlight pointed at the planks ahead. "Pedestrian accidents, city hall said. People tripping, falling, getting injured. Three broken legs in one month. A guy fell into the ravine and broke his spine. A woman almost walked off the edge in broad daylight and swore she spaced out momentarily before her husband dragged her back."

"I actually looked into that one," Mia said. "She was on mental health medication. Besides, look at those planks. Those are safety hazards. It's obviously the city's fault."

"Maybe. But the weird part is, nobody knows why any of it happened."

"Seriously? I just told you she was on meds."

"Folks, our brainiac here is trying to create a pattern where there is none. No common factor. Just accidents, one after another, until they gave up and closed the whole place down." Andrew waved his hands around at the camera to make it feel scarier.

Jacob beside Gale was holding his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

However, to Gale, none of this was funny. Dani on his head was even trembling harder than before. She could probably literally understand all of what Andrew was saying.

The team walked across the bridge in single file. Andrew first, then Jacob, then Mia, and then Gale at the rear. The wooden planks creaked at each of their steps, making the atmosphere even more eerie.

Dani dug into his hair harder, her tiny claw tightly holding onto strands.

"It's ok," Gale whispered to her. "I'm here."

An awful big lie to Dani, who was supposed to be the one comforting him.

Upon reaching the middle of the bridge, Andrew stopped, turned around, and pointed the flashlight at himself.

Looking back at the camera on Gale, he began narrating once more. "This is it, folks. The exact centre of Old Finch Avenue Bridge. According to legend, this is where you must sing 'Happy Birthday' to summon the spirit. Some say she appears immediately. Others say she waits until the stroke of midnight. But all versions agree: sing the song, and she will come."

He turned to Jacob, dramatically gesturing to him. "Jacob, if you would do the honours."

Jacob cleared his throat. He looked at the camera on Gale's chest, put on a serious face, and began.

In the silence of the forest, his voice seemed to sound louder. "Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you... ghost lady..."

Mia snorted. Arms crossed. Foot tapping on the plank.

Gale's body began to shiver. Fists clenched tightly. Eyes darting around rapidly.

Jacob finished the birthday song. Then he straightened up and looked around expectantly.

Again, silence.

Not even the sound of wind could be heard. No leaves rustled. Nothing at all. An ambush waiting to happen... adrenaline spiking.

Half a minute passed.

"Well, folks," Andrew said, "looks like nothing's here tonight. The ghost must've taken the day off."

Mia laughed. "Told you guys. There's no such thing as ghosts. This whole legend is just a story people made up to scare kids. Seven accidents? Bridge collapse? Pedestrian injuries? All of it has rational explanations: bad road design, aging infrastructure, human error. Not some supernatural disaster caused on a woman's birthday."

"Hey, the night's not over yet. It's only like 10:28PM," Jacob said. "Maybe she only responds to certain people."

"Or maybe she doesn't exist."

"Sing it yourself then," Jacob grinned. "If you're so sure nothing will happen."

"F-fine. I will." Mia walked to the fence of the bridge. Moving over a couple of steps to the centre of the bridge where Jacob had been, she looked directly at the GoPro on Gale's chest. "For the record, I'm doing this to prove a point. There is no ghost. There never was a ghost. This was just a bad road."

Then she sang.

"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday, dear nobody that's definitely not a ghost..." Mia finished and spread her arms wide. "See? Nothing. Absolutely noth—"

Then suddenly, a quiet tug at Presence Between's tendrils from above caught Gale's attention. A faint signature, maybe around Mystic, similar to Moura's. Looking up, the others' heads followed his eyes.

A woman in a simple white dress, floating just above the bridge. Her dress flowed against the soft wind. Her face was like that of a porcelain doll. Skin that was pure white. Dark circles covered her eyes as though she hadn't slept in centuries. Her hair was long and dark, also flowing.

And then she smiled.

Her smile looked like she saw something she wanted. A deranged smile, scarier than any forest beast he had encountered.

Her eyes were locked onto Gale. Not any of the other three.

Dani disappeared, unsummoning herself from reality.

Behind him, Gale heard a thud. Mia had stumbled backward and fallen onto the planks.

Andrew grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"RUN!"

Everyone bolted. Gale followed closely behind them. They were now faster than a normal mundane, so that's got to count for something. But as they ran, he heard the ghost behind.

"Don't run... don't run... let's talk..."