Page 50 of Aberrant Monsters
I looked about at the houses that stared at me with empty eyes. “You mean to tell me this whole street is occupied by ghosts.”
“Yup,” Archie said. “They tried to house me here. I had to explain to them that just because I can go spectral doesn’t mean I’m dead.”
I followed Nandi to the door and waited while she knocked.
Long seconds passed before it swung open to reveal a dark, empty hallway.
I peered over Nandi’s shoulder. “Because that isn’t creepy at all.”
“Dot says we should go in.”
“Because we trust the ghost who chose a coffee machine as a home,” Archie said.
“Archie…” There was warning in Nandi’s tone. “Ghosts aren’t out to hurt you,” she reminded him. “Not unless they’re twisted or have a specific agenda against you, which in turn makes them twisted, so… Urgh. I’ll go first.”
She stepped over the threshold and vanished.
“What the fuck?” Archie said.
“Wait.” I scanned the hallway, obviously a mirage of some kind. There was a technical necromystic term for it, but I couldn’t recall it off the top of my head.
Nandi’s head appeared floating in mid-air. “It’s fine. Come on.” She vanished again.
I stepped over the threshold and the dark hallway melted away, leaving me standing in a brightly lit one. There was a door to my left and another closed door down the corridor directly in front of me. A set of threadbare carpeted stairs led up to the first floor.
“Nandi?”
“In here,” she called.
I followed her voice into a lounge filled with books and odds and ends. In the center of it all sat a cross-legged young man with shaggy dark hair and woeful eyes that lit up at the sight of me.
“Ah.” He dropped the book he was reading and unfurled his wiry form, coming to stand at over six feet. “A fellow walker.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can see it in your aura.” He leaned in slightly, his face taking on a conspiratorial expression. “Us walkers have special auras. Silver and gold. The dead can see it, so can some New Bloods. It’s very attractive.”
Nandi cleared her throat. “Dot said you could help us.”
He blinked sharply. “You spoke to Dot? Where is she? I’ve been looking everywhere for her.”
“She’s here.” Nandi held out the coffee machine.
The ghost stared at it for a long beat. “Oh…Oh, Dot, what did you do? I can barely see you…No, you shouldn’t have…I explained it to you.”
“What the hell is going on?” Archie appeared beside me.
“Argh!” The ghost jumped, pressing a hand to his chest. “What the fuck?”
Archie giggled. “Ha, I scared the spectral shit out of a ghost.”
“The name is Rake, and you did not scare me. I was merely startled.”
“It looks like he and Dot were a thing,” Nandi said. “They broke up a while back after an argument about…”
“What?” Archie asked.
“It doesn’t matter.” Nandi pressed her lips together.
