Dakota stopped in her tracks as she saw the... thing... hovering in front of her after reaching the top of the staircase.
It looked like a middle-aged man, dressed in a heavy coat and trousers - the kind of clothing one wore when they were expecting to be standing around in cold weather. He was also transparent, glowing a faint blue color, floating in midair, and had what appeared to be a heavy chain looped around his shoulders like some kind of metal scarf. As she got a better look at it, Dakota also noted at its skin seemed wrong somehow, like it had been submerged in salt water for too long. Both Dakota and the ghost looked at each other for a moment, before they opened their mouths at the same time and screamed. Dakota's was a scream of terror, while the ghost sounded angry.
Dakota could hear people shouting from inside the lighthouse, but put them out of her mind. She backed away from the ghost, around the perimeter of the lighthouse's upper platform. The ghost didn't move, but its head swiveled about on its neck unnaturally, tracking her movement. Just as Piper got to the top of the stairs, the ghost screamed and lunged at Dakota. Dakota screamed one more time as the horrifying thing got close to her, before everything went black.
- - - - -
When Dakota came around, it was still nighttime. She could still smell salty air and heard the wind blowing overhead, but it took her a moment to remember that she had been at the lighthouse. As she roused herself, she heard Piper say from nearby, "I think she's waking up!"
"Thank goodness," she heard Zack murmur.
A third voice that she didn't recognize said, "Thank God."
Piper helped Dakota sit up. "Easy there. You're, uh, okay?"
"I... I think so..." Dakota responded. "Last thing I remember, there was this ghost..."
"I must apologize for what occurred there. I wasn't in control of myself, but the fault is mine nonetheless," the third voice said. Dakota looked up to see the ghost who had flown at her floating there. A part of her wanted to scream again, but a bigger part of her was so tired that it felt like too much energy to do so. Dakota noted that the chain she had seen on the ghost was now gone.
Since she didn't seem to be in any immediate peril, Dakota asked, "What happened?"
"I got up just in time to see Floats-a-Lot over there rush you," Piper explained. "He flew into you and out of you and... then it was like he was an entirely different ghost."
"It was like a haze had been lifted from my mind," the ghost added.
"You had collapsed over there. Lucky for us, Mr. Spooky was able to tell me and Zack how to check if you were in real trouble. So, we've just been waiting up her for... uh..."
"One hour exactly," Zack said, checking his watch. "Any longer than that, and we were going to call an ambulance."
"So, how you feeling, Dakota? Think you can stand up?" Piper asked.
It took some help from her friends, but Dakota was able to regain her feet. After that happened, the ghost looked at her. "I am glad you are fine, Young Miss. I apologize again for scaring you like that, and I thank you for what you did for me. I feel like a heavy burden has been lifted from me. I let her die so many years ago, but... I think now I'm ready to move on."
"What I did for you? What do you-" Dakota began to asked, but as she spoke the ghost faded away in front of her eyes and was gone in a matter of seconds. Dakota looked over at Piper and Zack, who were only able to return her confused look with confused looks of their own. Finally, they decided to get out of the lighthouse. Even though Dakota started feeling stronger as time went by, both Piper and Zack escorted her back home. Dakota appreciated that more than she was able to express to them.
- - - - -
The next day, Dakota awoke to a text from Zack to meet her at the library. It was nearly noon, and she still felt like she hadn't slept enough. Nevertheless, she showered, got dressed, grabbed a Yeng Breakfast BarTM from the pantry, and headed over to the library. She met Parker outside, who had received a similar text from Zack. Neither of them were sure what their friend wanted them there for, so they headed inside. They found Zack at a table with a few books piled near him. Dakota noted from their titles that they all dealt with occult and paranormal things.
"I couldn't really sleep last night, so I came over here as soon as the library opened," Zack explained. "I did some research, and I think I know what happened last night."
"Really?" Dakota asked, a little apprehensive. A part of her was very curious, but another part of her wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
"Well don't keep us in suspense," Piper growled. "You know I don't like coming in here."
Brushing off Piper's comment, Zack said, "I think that Dakota is a sin-eater. Someone who can eat the sins of people who have died in order to help them move on."
"Wait..." Dakota said, holding up a hand. Her mind was racing now. "That ghost had a chain on him when I first saw him... But after I woke up, the chain was gone."
Zack nodded. "That chain symbolized the regrets and sins that kept him bound to Earth. After you, um, ate them, he could move on to whatever comes next."
"But how did that happen? I didn't even know I could eat sins!" Dakota protested.
"That, I still can't figure out," Zack admitted. "Some of the books say that the sin-eater ability is inherited from your parents, some say it just shows up randomly. I can't figure out what's real and what isn't."
"I think the both of you are missing the big picture," Piper said, interrupting them both. "So, if I understand what you're saying, Zack, Dakota is some kind of exorcist who has to eat ghosts to save them, right?"
"Well, basically, but-" Zack began, but Piper cut him off.
"So, we can work with this! There are more places that are haunted in Daven's Port than you can shake a stick at! We can be like the Ghostbusters, making the city safe from the supernatural!" Piper gestured with her hands as she spoke.
"This is a get-rich-quick scheme, isn't it?" Zack asked in a deadpan manner.
"The money is only secondary to making sure that our fair city can sleep at night!" Piper responded. She was shushed by a nearby librarian who was putting some returned books onto the shelves.
"Well... regardless of what I think, it's up to Dakota, isn't it?" Zack asked. "After all, she's the sin-eater here."
Piper turned to Dakota, her eyes glittering. "Well, what do you say, Dakota? Ready to be a hero?"
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