Chapter 7
Pete
As soon as Jackson was out the door, I called Daisy, my medium partner.
“Hi Petey, what’s up?”
“Hey, so I have less than an hour and I need to dump a lot of information on you. Do you have a pen and paper ready?” This was normal for what we did, we couldn’t always talk about ghosts out in the open and we weren’t allowed too either.
What we did was a big secret, unless someone hired an exorcist or just a medium to test if their home was haunted.
But we weren’t allowed to speak of it otherwise.
“Shoot,” she ordered.
“I was in a BSDM club yesterday, no, stop laughing, this is important! Now, a man had three ghosts trailing him. Yes, his victims. Yes, I freed them. I um, sadly got his attention after it and he, well…” I sighed before admitting the next part.
Doing what we did wasn’t always safe, and more often than not we got hurt during an assignment.
But it still wasn’t easy to admit how close I’d been to dying.
“He strangled me and I almost died there. Yes, I’m fine now.
But the bruises… Daisy, I can’t come into work until they’ve healed. ”
“You’re safe?” she asked.
“I am. I’m staying with Jackson.”
“Ooooh, Jackson, huh?” she teased knowingly.
“Yes, him. He still can’t know about me being a medium, so if we talk for the next week, it can’t be about that.”
“Of course. Do you have your card on you?” We all had cards that said we worked for the FBI. It wasn’t exactly a lie and we were given permission by the FBI to wear them for protection and to gain access. Sometimes the FBI even called us in if a ghost was causing havoc somewhere.
“I always have it on me.” Even in the tightest and shortest leather shorts ever.
“Good. Then show Jackson if he asks questions.”
I sighed. “I will. Listen, the man who strangled me seemed like a regular, and the ghosts are now bound to the location. I didn’t really have time for much else, so……”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries. Take care. And Pete?”
“Yes?”
“Let me know if you need me, okay?”
“Okay.” I smiled and hung up. Now that I knew Daisy would help the ghosts, I was free to snoop—
“You’re a medium?” The female ghost from yesterday stood in front of me with a scowl that matched that of the male ghost next to her.
Fuck.
“I am. But Jackson can’t know,” I quickly replied, eyeing the door in fear of Jackson walking in on the conversation.
“We get that. Poor man has been through something regarding ghosts, can’t even watch tv shows with ghosts in them,” the woman said. “I’m Berlina, and this grump is Sven.”
“Nice to meet you both. My name is Pete. I’m a friend of Jackson’s.”
“Oh, we know,” Berlina grinned. “Poor guy watched you sleep for hours last night.”
“Don’t tell him that!” Sven scolded. “Jackson doesn’t need you blabbing out his secrets like that.”
Berlina rolled her eyes. “I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m playing matchmaker.”
This time it was Sven who rolled his eyes. “Semantics.”
“So, you’re okay with not speaking to me while Jackson is here? I don’t want to freak him out.”
“Of course, of course. We were mediums ourselves once. We know how it all works.”
“You were?”
“Oh yes. Sven and I were partners, but this one ghost took things too far.”
“Killed us, you mean,” Sven grunted.
“Yes,” Berlina replied solemnly. “He left right after. He likely knew we wouldn’t treat him well after killing us.”
I had no idea how mediums worked once they were dead, since it was rare we remained here once dead. It seemed pointless when we all knew how boring the ghosts found it even after only a few years. “You can still remove ghosts from locations? Even in death?”
“Sure, we just have to touch them,” Berlina replied easily. “That’s why we’ve stayed for this long. We still help out those who have trouble passing on. Just from one location only.”
“I haven’t thought about that,” I admitted. “You must have at least one ghost a year from people who die in this building.”
“More than that,” Sven said. “We have around sixty-four people living here within our reach, many of them doctors.” Understanding dawned on me.
Every patient the doctors had worked on who’d died with their hands on them…
“Yes, you get it now. The hospital is ten minutes away. This location is ideal for hospital employees.”
“But the ghosts that are stuck to people are always more hesitant to move on,” I argued. I knew this from experience. I might’ve only worked as a medium for two years, but I knew those ghosts felt more alive since they still got around with their person. Unlike the ghosts stuck to locations.
“That’s true, and many are still here. But when they’re ready, we can help them,” Berlina replied.
It was harder for the ghosts stuck to a person to move into the afterlife to get reborn.
With their person so often on the move, they tended to have trouble leaving when they weren’t always standing still.
“I’m glad to know the ghosts in this building have your help,” I said, smiling at them both. Just then the door opened and a beaming Jackson walked inside carrying bags of takeout.
“Hope you’re hungry.”