It all started in The Ruins.

Skye was heading there with all of her friends - Jules, Ocean, Brutus, Ollie and even Joe, who insisted in tagging along. The sky was strangely purple, a deep violet that radiated evil subconsciously.

"Is it just me, or do The Ruins look off?" Ocean wondered.

"Everything can be off sometimes. My phone is off right now," Ollie replied.

It was so bizarre. Skye was sure that Ollie didn't even have a phone. But, then again, Ollie did have his own life, and there was a chance that he bought things that Skye did not know of.

"What are we doing here?" Jules asked the group, which was very unlike her. She always knew.

Oddly, Skye found in her mind the answer to Jules's question, which wasn't really an answer, and yet it was.

"Midas said so. That's all I remember," Skye said on autopilot. Speaking of Midas, where on Earth was he? He always came to these kinds of things.

"Wait, what's that?!" Joe cried, pointing into The Ruins.

Skye stared where Joe was pointing, squinting her eyes. And, there it was. A purple ghost, not quite solid, but not like it was made of air either.

And then, it jumped at them! The purple ghost launched itself in their direction, and Jules took initiative and shot it. When the ghost has been hit enough times, purple goo exploded everywhere, coating Ocean and Jules in a thick layer of grime.

"Eww, ectoplasm!" Ocean sighed.

"I think I remember why we're here now," Brutus shuddered.

He didn't expand on this, expecting the others to know. And it appeared that they all did but Skye. It didn't matter though; the fact that her friends knew gave her comfort.

"Look! There's more!" Joe cried.

Indeed, a whole army was heading towards them, backing them against The Ruins.

"Move! Now!" Jules shouted.

They all ran into The Ruins, through it's cobweb strewn corridors and crumbling walls. The hallways were still maze-like, despite falling apart. Eventually, they all reached an empty closet and crammed themselves inside.

There was a moment where they all caught their breaths.

"Is everyone here?" Ollie asked the group.

Skye knew instantly that something was up.

"No! Ocean and Brutus are missing!" Skye gasped.

"I'm sure they're fine. They can take care of themselves. We can find them in a minute, when we can be sure it's safe," Jules instructed.

They waited in the closet for a while, the four of them breathing heavily in the almost complete darkness.

"We have to keep moving. Should we go upstairs? They won't find us there," Joe suggested.

Skye didn't agree. They'd end up being trapped, with no way back down again. She tried to object, but no words came out.

"Good idea," Jules agreed with Joe, much to Skye's dismay. "Let's go - we can't keep sitting around."

Ollie took initiative and peeked out of the door. Not a single ghost was there, so he nodded behind him for the others to follow. They did so, reaching a stairwell and heading up it to a higher floor.

"I'm really worried about Ocean and Brutus," Skye whispered to Ollie.

"Don't worry, Skye. Jules said it - they can look after themselves. Let's worry about ourselves right now, we need to stick out for one another," Ollie replied.

"I am! I'm just... Ok. Keep going, then," Skye huffed.

Then:

"Oh my goodness, Midas!" Jules shouted.

Skye saw him as soon as he reached the top of the stairwell. Today, he wore a purple suit and he must've dyed his hair in the morning, as it was now bright white.

"Dude, now's not the time to dye your hair," Joe remarked, which was odd because Joe wasn't one to judge anyone. He was too afraid of judgement.

What on earth was happening?

"Oh, it's totally the time. It's my time, like it's yours," Midas said dimly.

An image of David Tennant describing time as a big ball of timey wimey stuff was conjured in Skye's mind. But that thought didn't last for long.

A golden bullet from Midas's drum gun sliced through Joe's plastic helmet, putting a perfectly cylindrical whole through his brain. Crimson blood splattered out of the side of the cracked helmet, spraying onto the floor and dribbling down the side of the plastic, useless helmet. Joe's corpse keeled over onto its side, staining the suit that was once white like a clean dinner plate into a dark red, like a cherry, but much more sinister.

The slap of the corpse hitting the stone floor made Skye tremble where she stood. Her eyes widened, she placed her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my God... he's dead. Ollie, he's dead!" Skye cried.

"Midas, what the hell are you doing?!" Jules shouted.

Jules grabbed Midas's drum gun, but he has gained an insane strength and he put a bullet through her stomach before she even had a chance to protest. As she heaved in pain, he touched her chest and turned her into nothing more than a golden statue. It was not Jules anymore.

Skye couldn't believe it. Her boyfriend and one of her best friends, dead within a minute. She felt like she wanted to cry, but it still didn't feel real - she felt disconnected from the whole situation.

"Skye, we need to run!" Ollie cried.

One weedy yellow arm grabbed Skye and pulled her down the stairs, running reluctantly away from her friends' corpses. They ran past ghosts and strange pumpkin-headed Ghost henchmen to a basement deep in The Ruins.

"Ollie, stop!" Skye whined.

She pulled away from Ollie, causing him to skid to a stop.

"Come on Skye! We're not safe here!" Ollie beckoned.

"No! We need to stop! Our friends are dead! Who's to say that Ocean and Brutus aren't too?" Skye moaned.

"...We can't say that they're not, but we have to hope they're alright," Ollie sighed.

"No they're not! They're dead and you know it!"

Skye sat on a crate whilst Ollie looked on at her, lost for words.

"Skye, I'm really sorry, but we need to go," Ollie muttered.

"I... I can't. I can't go on," Skye whimpered.

Skye looked at Ollie, who looked at her with great sympathy, trying to work out what to do and where they could go.

Then, a gunshot echoed around the room.

Ollie keeled over backwards, flopping to the floor in a great pink heap. He didn't get up.

"Ollie? Ollie!" Skye screamed.

She turned to the door.

Midas.

No, not Midas. A shadow of Midas. A ghost of Midas. An impersonator of- it didn't matter. It wasn't him. Not anymore. Midas's lights were on, but someone else was home, pulling the strings.

Skye ran to the door behind her.

Locked.

Damn!

Skye turned to her left and right. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run as the shadow Midas edged closer to her, shuffling towards her like a zombie.

He stretched out one purple hand near her face. She whimpered as the flesh melted off of the fingers, revealing golden bones underneath.

Then, it clicked.

Midas's lights were on, but Oro was home.

"Skye!"

"Skye! Skye!" Ollie shouted, shaking her awake.

Skye jolted upright, safe, in Catty Corner. She took a deep breath as if she had been suffocated and then let go.

"I would say that I had a nightmare, but I think that goes without saying," Skye huffed, her voice wavering.

"Skye, your chest... it was glowing gold!" Ollie shouted.

Skye gave him a look. She jumped out of her bed and headed to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her before taking her shirt off.

"Oh. My. God."

Skye's whole torso was golden. She placed a hand there... it felt so cold. More than that, it felt dead. The skin was dry and saggy like that on a corpse.

"Ollie!" Skye cried.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1328 Words