Mostly just Kat and Stretch in this chapter, guys. Finding their feet beyond the portal. Er, metaphorically speaking in Stretch’s case. =P

For HowSentimental mainly, since their lovely review reminded me I had this chapter to post! Sorry guys!

Chapter 5

Kat’s head felt like it was swimming in a hot fuzz, and her vision matched it; with bright colours streaming and dotting her eyes like some crazy psychedelic spiral. Then she realised her whole body was spinning, and the overwhelming urge to throw up struck her for what seemed an age.

Then the next moment she met what passed for the ground with a hard, sharp thump, and suddenly all the bright swirling colours had been replaced with monochrome and her mind felt like it had been forced into darkness.

She opened her eyes and shook her head, unable to contain a groan of confusion.

Not that there was anything to be confused about, but therein lay the problem.

Slowly sitting upright, Kat blinked round at her new surroundings, where everything was unbearably white and not much else.

There were no walls, no sky, nothing to signal she was outside or inside, nor what time of day or night it was. It was just a vast, blank whiteness.

Kat rubbed her arm, feeling the ghost of a familiar sensation there; something cold and hard. Then, as her mind began to gather itself together, she remembered Stretch and the rest of the trio.

She looked doubtfully around the whiteness and slowly stood up. Her senses were taking their time about coming together, certainly, and she teetered giddily about on her bare feet.

“Hello?” she mostly whispered. Her voice seemed to spread off into nothingness, so that it almost felt as though she had only thought it. She cleared her throat and spoke louder; “hello? Stretch, Stinkie? Fatso? Are you guys here?”

She walked lightly, almost afraid that the ground beneath her might give way. It didn’t feel like any sensation she could relate to. It was just white, like everything else. She peered about, although there were no corners for the trio to hide behind so it seemed rather redundant. If the trio were near, they should be in full view...

She frowned, trying not to let nerves get the better of her; “you guys, if this is your idea of another invisibility prank, you’ve got the worst timing ever, and I hate you, just so you know,”

Again, it mostly felt like her voice was being absorbed back into her mind, almost as though her vocal chords had been muffled somehow, and her throat was dry like cotton wool.

She raked a hand through her hair. Perhaps this was death, then.

The thought did not come to her in a panic, as she might have expected when meeting death for the first time.

It was more a strange sort of idea, a possibility that she could accept if it happened she actually was dead.

It couldn’t be so bad, her disjointed mind reasoned. If it was true, then her dad was dead too, and she’d see him again. And Casper too. Maybe then Casper would crossover properly? And the trio?

Kat bit her lip, another thought, always poking at the back of her mind, finally rose up.

“Mom...” she said it aloud, her voice cracking with emotion. “Mom,” she repeated, and looked around, as though expecting her to appear, all beautiful and angelic as she was in all the photos.

Kat was shocked by her own disappointment when her mother did not appear, to the point where her eyes hurt with tears.

“I’m dead, and I’m alone,” she brushed an arm over her face, the realisation seeming to hit her all at once.

“You’re not dead, fleshie,”

Something touched her head, like a cold shower, and Kat peered up to see Stretch hovering there, face set in his usual frown. It was somewhat softened by the curious look in his eyes. “You’re not alone either,” he added, his grin slight.

Kat stepped back as she composed herself, the scowl reaching her own face was instinctual now whenever she was greeted with one of the trio; Stretch especially.

“You’re here,” she said neutrally. She was a little relieved. Only a little.

“Looks like we survived the weird, spirally thing,”

“Survived?” Kat quirked an eyebrow at the ghost.

“You know what I mean,” Stretch snorted, and hovered a bit lower.

Kat considered him; “Do you know where we are? This could be death,”

Stretch shook his head and looked quite certain; “nah, nah, this ain’t death. Don’t worry your fleshie head about that yet,” he looked around; “where’s Stinkie and Fatso?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen them,” Kat looked about them again, the white surroundings were getting to be annoying, not just for the fact that Stretch was practically invisible against it.

“Hey, don’t you ghosts have a seventh sense? That tells you where other ghosts are, or something?”

Stretch blinked at her and rolled his eyes; “you’ve been listening to too many of the Docs lectures, ain’t you?”

Kat rolled her eyes back at him, and folded her arms; “I don’t know where I heard it, but anything’s worth a try, right?”

Stretch lowered a little more to her level; “I don’t know anything about a seventh sense, bone bag. If anyone should be having seventh senses its you, you having all the rest intact, n’ all,” he made a good point, but it wasn’t very helpful.

“Well I don’t sense anything,” Kat sighed, a little frustrated. “All I know is we’ve landed in this big...white thing, and now we’re stuck and we’re lost the others,”

Stretch nodded; “Amazing, fleshie, amazing. Your observational skills are definitely up there with Sherlock,”

Kat glared at him; “well what do you know then, huh?” she challenged the ghost. “Do you have any idea where we are? And how can you be sure this isn’t the afterlife, anyway?”

“Because I’m sure,” Stretch told her, and looked mainly distracted with his search for the rest of the trio. “Maybe Fatso got stuck in the hole? I always knew the belly would be his downfall...”

“You don’t know, just like I don’t,” Kat snapped.

“I know you’re freakin’ out like a stupid bone bag right now,” Stretch said in a prickly voice.

Kat glowered up at him, infuriated that he dare consider floating away as nonchalant as he liked. “Look, as far as I can see we’re trapped in...in nothing! How else would you describe this? Wherever we are, it’s not earth, is it? And the only other place is death! Or...or heaven, or whatever that place is! We all went in this stupid portal and now we’re all dead!”

Kat hadn’t realised she had started to yell; high and panicked, till she heard her own voice bouncing around the nothingness and echoing back into her ears.

Then she felt cold, hard hands grasping her shoulders, and Stretch’s entire form was in close proximity. He was glaring at her;

“Wanna know how I know?” he snapped, “Here’s a hint; I’m already dead. You think I wouldn’t remember a little detail like how I died? I know death, and believe me, this ain’t it,”

Kat found herself beaten by such straightforward logic, and it felt strange but deserved that she should feel sympathetic to Stretch and all the trio actually in that moment.

She often forgot that they had died at some point. And how ridiculous that was, too. Them being ghosts should have served as a constant reminder, after all.

Kat looked at the white nothing which was the ground.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, “I guess you’re right,”

She felt the coldness leave her shoulders suddenly, and when she looked up she saw that Stretch had flown a little way away, and was looking contemplatively around him.

“Wherever we are, we lost Stinkie and Fatso in the process,”

“Maybe everyone gets separated when they enter the portal,” Kat suggested, her thoughts of apology carried off in her meek voice.

“If that’s the case how come we’re still together?”

Kat looked at her arm, where she could still feel the faint coldness of him; “you were holding me as we went through, I felt it all through the journey,”

“Yeah,” Stretch nodded, and looked at her briefly.

Kat shrugged; “maybe that’s why,”

“Seems like the only explanation,” Stretch grimaced, “just my luck, stuck with the whiny bone bag for the trip,”

Kat blew out a sigh; for some reason unable to conjure the usual irritation for the trio leader. Instead she was compelled just to follow him, although at a short distance, through their strange new environment.

Since nothing was a proper form, because nothing was there to be formed, it did seem rather pointless.

“Don’t go too far,” she called, when Stretch seemed to pick up speed. “You’re disappearing into the whiteness,”

Stretch slowed grudgingly to a halt, and lowered himself to about her level; “well, incase you didn’t notice, my complexion does tend to blend pretty well with this wonderful backdrop we got going on here,”

Kat ignored his sarcasm; “we need to figure this place out,” she felt in her nightdress pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Her dads untidy explanation of the portal and the equation itself was there. She didn’t know why she’d thought to bring it with her, it just seemed the sensible thing to do. Unfortunately it meant as little to her now as it had the first time she’d read it.

“Oh great, the docs notes. We’re in safe hands,” Stretch drawled.

“It’s better than nothing,” Kat blinked about, somehow hoping the whiteness would change into something logical.

When it didn’t she felt unreasonably upset. Stretch seemed to notice.

“Here, give me that,” he took the paper from her, and seemed to feign seriousness as he read it. “Beyond earth..yadda...yadda...this doesn’t tell us anything new, fleshie,” he moved to toss it aside but Kat grabbed it off him.

“Don’t! You don’t know, it might be helpful,”

“Helpful? Look around,” Stretch gestured about them, “what could possibly be of help?”

Kat shook her head, she didn’t want to argue, although her patience was rapidly thinning, and mingling with her panic too. It wasn’t a good combination.

She gritted her teeth and started to walk. “Never mind, lets just look for the others,”

It was silent, but not really in the nothingness. Kat could not detect Stretch’s usual breezy sound as he floated, and as all the other ghosts did, whilst she was in this place. Nor could she hear her own feet on the floor which wasn’t really there.

It was like everything had been cushioned, like tissue. Like a padded cell. Kat heard herself laugh, humourless and cold.

Stretch turned and gave her a funny look.

“What?” the nasty snap that left her mouth was barely recognisable, even to Kat. It was hoarse and backed up with a deep hotness inside of her. It was like a block of emotion, her anger, was suddenly allowed to fill Kat’s mind properly, personified and frightening. And as it did, all she saw was a flash of dark, dark red behind her eyes.

Then she realised it wasn’t just in her mind, it was all around her, all around them.

“Is it just me, or did things get a little, um, colourful round here?” Stretch’s voice was close to her.

“What’s happening?” Kat whispered.

The deep red around them seemed to swirl and mix in strange directions, like a melting oil painting.

Kat moved back, but slipped off a step. No, that wasn’t right, the ground, or whatever it was beneath her that had acted as ground, had no steps to slip from. A rush of air was suddenly buzzing around her ears, and her limbs felt loose and helpless.

“You’re falling!” Stretch sounded more incredulous than concerned as he zoomed to follow her.

“What...where am I falling!” Kat reached out without thought, and grabbed Stretch’s thankfully corporal form with white knuckled hands. But the air was still whizzing past her ears, and then she realised they were both falling; “why are we still falling?!”

“You got me,” Stretch said, and looked mostly put out by her tight grip. “It’s some kinda...pull...like gravity,”

Kat glared at him; “you’re a ghost! Gravity doesn’t affect you! Fly up!”

Stretch glared back; “don’t you think I tried that?”

Kat looked at him desperately for a few seconds; they were picking up speed now, whatever they hit beneath them wouldn’t come softly...

Kat squeezed her eyes tight shut, completely overcome in her own terror.

And as it flashed in her mind, suddenly there was silence. No longer was the wind brushing numbly past her ears. Instead there was a strange buzzing in it’s place, and nothing else.

“Looks like the rides over,” Stretch’s voice echoed about curiously, and Kat hardly dared open her eyes to see what would come next.

But as she did she found she was still clinging to Stretch like her life depended on it. He was doing a good job of pretending not to notice, which was a nice relief. Kat quickly jumped away and ignored the faint blush that rushed to her cheeks, their surroundings proving a good enough distraction.

They were on a street that Kat didn’t really recognise, and the weather was chilly and dim, leaving something to be desired.

“It’s an upgrade, to be sure,” Stretch looked mildly intrigued. “At least there’s...stuff here,”

Kat nodded slowly, and then squinted into the distance; “yeah...and, and people,” she pointed ahead and Stretch followed her gaze.

The moving figures looked ominous for only a tiny second, before both Kat and Stretch recognised them all; her dad, Casper, Stinkie and Fatso, all waving and grinning enthusiastically.

Kat and Stretch exchanged glances and headed towards them.

&

“So, did you guys get to experience the swirly red ride of doom too?” Stretch wove between Stinkie and Fatso with happy interest.

Fatso looked vaguely thoughtful; “swirly? I don’t remember that,”

“The only thing that got swirly was his belly!” Stinkie grinned.

Fatso pouted melodramatically and then looked down at his stomach; “they don’t mean it,”he patted it fondly.

“It was frightening,” Kat retold the experience to Dr Harvey and Casper, who remained quiet throughout. “First the whiteness, then it all went red...”

Dr Harvey tapped his glasses, as he tended to do when he was thinking hard. He looked between Kat and Stretch; “this happened to both of you? At the same time?”

“Sure,” Stretch said, with little interest in being detailed about it. “I guess it’s cos we were linked as the portal opened, so we landed in the same place, that weird white place,”

“I didn’t land in a white place,” Casper said. “I was just here, in this street,”

“Me too,” Stinkie nodded.

“Yeah, and me,” said Fatso.

Kat blinked between them all, confused. Stretch looked annoyed;

“Why’d we get the weird trip? I hope I don’t have to pay extra for that bit,”

“Maybe you guys got stuck in another loop for a bit? Didn’t you say you fell quite a way?” Casper said.

Kat frowned; “I don’t know, it wasn’t really like falling. Not normal falling, anyway.” now she recalled it, it seemed more like a dream fall, something she’d experience when she was just upon the cusp of sleep, and the strange sensation of falling would wake her with a sudden bolt of surprise. “It was like waking from a dream,” she decided. Then she looked at Stretch, somehow hoping he might provide her with some support.

Stretch raised a brow at her, but didn’t say anything.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Dr Harvey said, and he squeezed Kat’s hand, smiling softly. “We’ve found each other now,”

“Yeah,” the strange dryness in Kat’s throat had returned faintly, although it felt stupid to mention it. “I guess we just need to find the way out again, right?”

“Yeah, that reminds me,” Stretch looked at Casper, face set; “don’t ever do that again, short sheet,” he whacked the little ghost about the head. “Next time you want to go jumping through holes, choose the washer; its good entertainment for us without all the freaky stuff,”

Casper smiled benignly; “I’ll try to remember,”

Kat looked at Casper, wanting to smile at him, but he wasn’t even looking at her. He wasn’t really looking at anyone, and if she looked closer she could hardly see reflection in his big blue eyes. It would have been cause for concern if she wasn’t so preoccupied with their current situation.

She pulled the note from her night dress again, and waved it before Dr Harvey.

“Is this any help now we’re stuck in here?”

Dr Harvey’s eyes seemed to flash something, and he took it from her with surprising sharpness.

“Wow, I take it it’s still important then,”

“More so than you’d think,” Dr Harvey’s soft voice sounded a bit muffled as he turned round, hunching over a bit, like he was studying the note very hard. “It’s good you brought this with you, Kat,”

“Oh?” Kat felt herself shrug, “well, it was all we had to go on,” she looked at Casper, expecting him to agree, but still Casper wasn’t looking at her.

Kat suddenly realised he hadn’t looked at her since they’d found each other.

“dad?” Kat felt the dryness in her throat crawling about, becoming worse. “Didn’t Casper tell you how we managed to get through the portal?”

Dr Harvey didn’t turn round, his form still hunched and now unmoving. As Kat turned to Casper she saw that he had turned round too. In fact, the only one still facing her way, and actually at her side, looking rather worried, was Stretch.

An odd rumbling noise, not at all human, seemed to emit from Dr Harvey, and his shoulders shook with it. The noise seemed to carry on over to Casper, Fatso and Stinkie, their bodies all shaking along with it.

Stretch tugged Kat back rather awkwardly by the arm; “Um, I think we might have got the wrong guys, here,”

&&

Notes: hey guys I am worried, I think I might have to rewatch Casper, since I’m not sure this is all very IC and it’s been a while since I updated the fic. Please leave feedback, and tell me if you think I’m getting a bit skewed with this. I take it all into consideration. Thanks to everyone whose still interested in reading too. I know it’s been a while. You’re a patient, wonderful lot! =)

Can’t promise an update soon, but I’ll do my best. The story is not abandoned!