Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

11PM, in the town square. It's time for Barns' date.

He waits nervously, looking around for Haima, but he hasn't seen her yet. The nature of this date felt less 'romantic' than their last, so Barns didn't dress up. It's a chilly night, so he wears a hoodie and slacks.

Finally, a few minutes past 11, Haima appears. Barn's mouth hangs open as he sees her.

Haima wears a tight black dress with an open back, and she's styled her medium-length black hair with some curls. Her bangs are tucked with a scarlet flower hairpin, and she's wearing cherry-red lipstick. She's gorgeous. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Barns looks her up and down, his jaw practically on the floor. "That's, uh...kind of hot," Barns says, adding quickly: "For ghost-hunting, I mean."

Haima smirks. "I'm not dressing for the ghosts. I'm dressing for you, silly."

"So where are we heading?"

"Oh, out of town. Quite a ways away," she muses. "There's an old mansion in the northeast. The place is oozing with ghosts."

"You're not gonna sacrifice me, are you?" he laughs playfully as they begin walking.

Haima darts her eyes sharply. "And what would make you say that?" Her voice is curt and accusatory.

"N-nothing," Barns responds quickly. He wasn't ready for that level of intensity - not for his casual remark.

It's nearly midnight when they reach the dilapidated manor. It must have been over a hundred years old - and abandoned long before the apocalypse. It's a wonder the front door remains - most of the glass windows facing the front of the house are shattered.

Barns lingers outside the mansion, even as Haima steps toward it. "Is the legendary hero scared?" Haima taunts him.

"A little bit?"

Barns stares up at one of the broken windows, and for a second he swears he sees the visage of an elderly woman glaring down at him. But when he blinks, the figure is gone.

"So...are ghosts, like...homicidal at all?"

Haima shakes her head. "Surprisingly not," she smiles. "At the end of the day, ghosts are memories of the past that haven't 'gone away'. They can't hurt you. I've heard of people being scared to death, though - think you can handle a little fright?"

"I've soloed hordes of monsters, fought vampires and demons, even defeated a Medusa once," Barns says. "Surely a little ghost or two won't do me in."

"One or two? There's about thirteen in this mansion," she chuckles. "Come along, Mr. Barns."

She says his nickname with extra emphasis, teasing him. He gives her a playful push as they laugh together and walk up to the front door.

"Okay," she says, collecting herself and making a straight face. "They won't like it if we barge in there laughing, so let's just take it easy and let them come to us. Deal?"

"Deal," Barns replies, but the thought of him acting as a sitting duck for ghosts to come haunt him gives him little comfort.

She swings open the door, and it creaks so loudly that anything in the mansion would be able to hear it. 'Guess there's no chance of stealth when dealing with ghosts', Barns thinks.

"Have you been here before, Haima?" he whispers.

"Oh yeah. I was living here when I died and became a monster. You could say these ghosts are...old friends of mine," she murmurs. "They kept me company when I was one of the last people alive in this world."

Barns looks around the shadowy foyer. No ghosts yet, at least.

"Come," she says. "I need to introduce you to grandpa first. Once he acknowledges you, the others should come on out."

Barns has a sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe he was regretting this 'date', which has seemingly turned more into a family reunion with the dead.

"Have a seat," Haima commands, ushering to a dusty, ripped couch in the living room. Overhead swings a rusted chandelier, which creaks over and over in the blackness.

"Oh, not there!" Haima exclaims right as Barns begins to sit. "That's Olive's seat. She'll HATE you if you sit there. Try sitting here." She pats the cushion next to where Barns is. He plops on the couch, surrounded by a thick fog of terror.

Haima flits around the back of the room, taking a lighter out of her pocket. Slowly, she goes around and lights the waxy candles on the mantle of the mansion's fireplace. Once she lights all thirteen candles, she joins Barns on the couch, leaving the middle seat open between them.

"Now what?" he asks quietly.

"Now we wait for grandpa."

"Is this YOUR grandpa?"

"No, no," she giggles. "He's their grandpa. I never learned his name, they all just refer to him as 'Gramps'."

They chat quietly for about two minutes when both suddenly stop - the sound of a loud thud from upstairs startles them both to silence.

And again. A loud thud. Creaking wood on the stairs. It sounds like someone is walking down, slowly.

The sounds continue until it sounds like whoever - or whatever - it is has reached the bottom of the stairs. And then, complete silence.

"Close your eyes," Haima says quietly.

"That's even worse!" Barns frets.

"He won't come in if you're looking."

Barns closes his eyes. His whole body is quivering, and the cool air that drafts through the cracked window is spine-tingling.

Suddenly, he feels warm breath on the back of his neck, and a distorted voice.

"Hello, Barnacles."

The hero screams, flying up out off the couch and swatting his arms around. He lands on his knees on the floor, turning around in a frenzy.

As he looks up, he sees what was behind him - it was only Haima, doing a silly, deep voice. She bursts into laughter.

"I got you!" she exclaims, pointing with glee. "Ahh, that was SO good!"

Barns looks up at her, his face deep red and his heart beating so fast it could explode. "What!?" He can barely think.

"It was just a little prank. I wanted to see how scared you'd be!" she giggles.

Barns scans every square inch of the living room. No old man ghosts, not that he could see.

"You brought me all the way here just for a prank?" Barns's voice is still unsteady. His chest heaves up and down as he tries to regulate his breathing.

Haima winks. "Not just for a prank. Turn around! Gramps is ready to say hello."