7. Aster
Chapter 7
Aster
I t’s impossible to take my eyes off the eerie being glowing behind Hudson. He’s not fully formed like Crash, but he’s visible. At least to me.
“It can take some time for them to manifest fully when they’re new to it all,” Crash says.
“What the fuck do you mean I have a ghost?” Hudson asks, his voice trembling.
“I… I’m here to help you. I was assigned to your case.”
Hudson steps away from me until his back is against the fridge. “First you talk to me about damage and now you’re saying there’s a ghost here?”
I step forward, but he flinches so I freeze in place. “I’m sorry. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I’m not doing it right,” I murmur under my breath.
“Smooth it over before he kicks you out,” Crash says. “Lie if you must.”
“What did you say?” Hudson asks.
“Uh…” How would I want to hear this information if it were me? How do I get him to let me stay? Maybe I should start with the basics. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
His brow creases but he nods. “Sort of. I don’t want to but there’s been some weird stuff in my life I couldn’t explain.”
“That’s a start.” I chew on my thumbnail for a second. “Is this a need-to-know situation?” I ask Crash.
“What?” Hudson asks again. “You’re mumbling.”
“Ease him in slowly,” Crash says.
“I’m here to learn more about the incident. There are some loose ends in the investigation.” It’s not a complete lie but it still tastes bitter on my tongue. “But I happen to be… sensitive to things we can’t always see. With the traumatic event that happened here, it’s um, possible that Chester’s spirit is still hanging around.”
Hudson visibly pales. “No.” He shakes his head. “No. He can’t hurt me anymore. They promised me.” His voice cracks, and I feel like an asshole for causing it. “He’s dead. I saw him. They cremated him and everything.”
“All true, but that was just his physical body.”
Hudson stares at me with wide, terrified eyes.
“Like I said, I know it sounds ridiculous, but have you noticed anything off? Maybe things moved or?—”
“No. This is ridiculous. You probably saw something on the internet about what happened and now you’re here to do an exorcism or whatever for a fee. You’re taking advantage of me.”
“Taking advan—” I stop myself, pausing for a moment to realize how I might react in his shoes. “Sorry. I get that this is weird. The last thing I’m here to do is take advantage of you. I’m not asking for money or anything else. I’m here for my job, and I just noticed… something.”
“Your job?” He tilts his head as he narrows his eyes. “With the state? How exactly did you get hired?”
“Super long weird story.”
“He’s not ready,” Crash says, appearing beside me. “Good news is the Horror hasn’t completely manifested yet, but he will. Leave your card. Hudson will call.”
Nodding, I dig in my pocket and produce a business card. I have no idea where I got it. Just another soul chasing perk, I guess.
“I’ll leave my card for you.” I lay it down on the counter. “I’d like to come back and continue the assessment.” That sounds legit, right?
Hudson twists his lips but responds with a curt nod.
“I’ll see myself out.”
I brush past him with a quick glance at the glowing entity lurking behind him, but when I reach the living room, I’m faced with a group of spirits, all hovering in various parts of the room, from the coffered ceiling to the banister to standing beside pieces of furniture. There’s a purple aura around each one.
“Benign entities?” I ask, hoping Crash is still with me.
“Yep,” he says. “They’ve been here a long time.”
I watch him interact with a mixture of fascination and fear. The spirits glance at me more than once as they say things I can’t hear. The front door opens as if inviting me to leave, so I step outside, quickly joined by my ghostly companion.
“Okay, I’ve got the drink,” Crash says.
“What?” I unlock the car door and slide inside.
“The drink. No. Wait. The coffee?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Spirits can’t drink still, right?”
Crash huffs, appearing beside me. “Information. What do young people call it now?”
“The tea?”
His face lights up. “Ah, yes. Wrong hot beverage. The tea. I have it.”
“What did you call it in the eighties?”
“The 411.”
“Why?”
“That was the information line. You called it when you needed to know something.”
“Fascinating.” I start the car.
“Yes, well, now you all have little computers in your pockets.”
“Right. What do I need to know?”
“Obviously, you saw with your own eyes that Hudson has an uninvited guest.”
“Yeah.”
“The whole house is filled with spirits who have been there for a couple of centuries, give or take. It’s a peaceful home and they want to keep it that way.”
“How long until Chester can manifest?”
“Depends how smart he is. Or how motivated. He hasn’t been dead long and he’s already escaped, so that’s not good.”
I rub my forehead before shifting gears and pulling out of Hudson’s driveway. “I feel weird about leaving him.”
“You’re doing the right thing. He’s not open to it yet and he hasn’t had any evidence that he needs you. Sadly, he’ll get it soon enough.”
“What if he gets hurt?”
Crash shrugs. “He’ll call sooner then. Hopefully, his Horror will take a bit of time to ramp up. That’s usually how it goes. It took me ages to move an object. Now I can speak and be seen by the living who have gifts.”
His answer makes me feel slightly better. “Thanks, Crash. So those other spirits, because they’re benign, they can just stay there?”
“Basically. There’s not enough Afterlife resources to chase after every spirit. Very few qualify to be in the society. Consider yourself a rare breed.”
“Do you know how many Soul Chasers there are?”
“No. Hundreds. Maybe thousands.”
“That seems like a lot.”
“The world is a big place. Do you know how many people die per day? On average, 150,000 souls enter the Afterlife every single day. Imagine the percentage of those that go to the Below. They have the advantage.”
I nod, focusing my attention on the road. “That’s sobering.”
“You’re going to do just fine.”
I hope he’s right. For Hudson’s sake.