Dead Endings Book 2: Chapter 1

The excitement over, Cailen lazily stirred the most recent of Jason’s creations–a lavish cocktail–and listened to the steady chirp of Everett’s interview with the guy. It sounded like the little “ghost book” discussion was winding down, which timed nicely with her own descent into drunken sleepiness.

She’d long since shaken Red Ben’s hand and sent him on his way with an Old Fashioned bought with her own card before demolishing the limit on his.

When it came time to leave, though, and Jason tried to disentangle himself from Everett’s farewell back-patting over the bar, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Gabriella!” the bartender said, pulling back. “I almost forgot–I wanted to tell you about something I saw the other day.”

“Mmmm?”

“Ghost stuff. Never seen anything like it.”

“Oh, yeah? Hit me,” Gabriella said, leaning back against the bar.

Everett copied her. Cailen was more preoccupied with coaxing the last fruity dregs of her drink down the side of her glass, but she listened with half an ear.

“I was walking down Third near Seventy-Ninth, and I happened to look up at one of the bank windows and see these…balloons.”

“Balloons…?”

“Well, not balloons exactly, but they were kinda round, and they had to be spirits. They were just floating there.”

“I don’t follow,” Gabriella said.

Jason smiled apologetically. “Yeah, I know. It’s really hard to describe. They were these balloon-like things, but they were ghosts, too.”

Everett whipped out his notepad. “Ghost balloons… Can you describe them more? Were they doing anything?”

“Uh, there were two of them, and they were floating up around the second floor level of the building. You could kind of see features, I guess, but the windows made the angle really weird. I could just about tell they were people, but the reflection was super blurry.”

Gabriella’s forehead wrinkled. “They were outside?”

“Yeah.”

“That is weird,” she agreed. “And you’ve never seen them before?”

Jason shook his head. “I go by there all the time. I mean, it’s not like I look up every day, but I’d notice something like this. When I see ghosts, they glow a little–it’s hard to miss. But that’s not even the weirdest part.”

“Go on…”

“They were attached to ‘strings.’”

Cailen crunched on her ice. “Total death balloons. Creepy.”

Jason nodded at her. “No kidding. I followed the string things down, but they ended somewhere between the windows on the ground level where the walls are, and the only thing there was a churros truck and a line of people. A couple of kids and some suits. Nothing weird about any of them, but that’s definitely where the strings stopped.”

“You think it’s an ability, then,” Gabriella said. “That someone was at the other end of the lines?”

He shrugged. “No idea, really, but when I looked back up I could see those spirits just bobbing around like something was holding them there. Up and down like they were being yanked.”

“Did you track them to see if they went anywhere or did anything else?” Everett asked.

“Sorry. I was hella late for a meet-up, so I just logged it away to ask Gabriella and took off.”

Gabriella let out a slow breath. “Well, I wish I could explain it, but that honestly might be the weirdest thing I’ve heard all year. It’s not unheard of for ghosts to kind of lose their shape, especially the really old ones, but ‘round’? Unless those two died in some really bizarre way, I don’t know what would make them look like that.

“As for the floating and being attached… I have heard of ‘strings,’ but not like that, and I’ve never seen them myself. I might have to do some asking around on this one. ”

Jason waved it off. “Nah, no worries. I was just curious, and I know you’re interested in that kind of stuff.”

“Well, I’d like to know!” Everett chimed in. “It sounds really, really interesting. You have to let me come with you when you ask around! Pleeeeeeease?”

Cailen put down her empty glass and grabbed a fistful of Everett’s shirt.

“Time for bed, kids,” she said as she dragged him off his stool and toward the door.

Gabriella shot her a grateful look over Everett’s protesting head. She turned back to Jason.

“Thanks for the info, J. And thanks for humoring our friend there. If I find anything out, I’ll let you know.”

“I’ll have a Cuba Libre waiting for you when you come back,” he said with a smile. “And come back soon. Something interesting always happens when you do!”

“Never a dull moment,” Gabriella agreed, and with a wave, followed Cailen out the door.

Once out of the chilled bar and enveloped by the warm syrup of the summer night, Cailen paused to suck in a mouthful of the heavy air. Everett pulled free from her as his shoes clacked on the sidewalk.

He opened his mouth to protest, then seemed to lose the train of thought. “Thanks,” he said instead, turning to Gabriella. “For introducing me to that guy.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Keep me posted, will you?”

She smiled. “On what?” she asked. “What other sensitives I can introduce you to, or what exactly Jason saw?”

Cailen interrupted before Everett could answer. “Despite the excellent drinking tonight courtesy of Ben What’s-His-Face,” she said with finality, “it’s been a long evening, filled with reminiscing about the last time we chased weird ghosts and I got stabbed. Let’s save it for another day.”

Everett closed his mouth. Gabriella, sighing, adjusted the strap of her bag and clapped Cailen on the back.

“I’m proud of you.”

“For what? Meeting another ghost-whisperer? Or scoring us a bunch of magical cocktails?” Cailen slurred happily, brushing aside Gabriella’s motherly approval.

She was enjoying the sloshy aftereffects of Jason’s alcohol artistry, and it was sweeter when not weighed down with the baggage of spiritual powers and the people who wielded them. All of that could wait. Right then, she just wanted nothing more than a lazy night time stroll followed by diving into the cool, comforting embrace of her rumpled bed sheets.

She rubbed her face.

Still, damn it all, she knew she’d dream of ghost balloons.

To be continued in Chapter 2.