I wasn’t ready to release mine yet either.Some of the women ghosts moved around Hawk and Vargas with anadmiring gleam in their eyes; the soldiers paid them no attention.“How come we can see them now?” I asked Corson.
“Because when Hell was ripped open, all theintricately woven tapestries keeping the worlds separate and hiddenfrom each other were torn apart. Ghosts are no longer hidden behindtheir veil and are now visible to humans.”
“Why haven’t we seen them until now then?” Iasked. “It’s been thirteen years.”
“Because we much prefer not to watch lifecontinuing on,” Gray Uniform replied. “It has become much morepeaceful and pleasant for us out here.”
“Plus, all that screaming.” Pompadour shookhis head. “It gets tiring after a while, so most of us stay wherethe humans aren’t.”
“Are these some of the souls the demons feedfrom?” I asked Corson.
The ghosts closest to us swiftly moved back,a few of them went straight through the wall and vanished. “No.They may be annoying little pissants, but they’re serving theirpunishment. We have nothing to do with them.”
“Oh,” I said as I watched some of the ghostsmove closer again. They smiled as they bobbed in the air. “Whereexactly are we?”
“Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.”
That much of my history lessons I didremember. A chill ran up my spine as I stared at the man in thegray uniform before looking at where the other man in a uniform haddeparted out the side of the building.
“Oh,” Erin breathed.
“Makes sense,” Hawk murmured.
“So humans don’t come to this place becauseit’s inside the disaster area and because now they’d be confrontedwith dozens of ghosts floating around yelling at them to get out,”I said. “But why don’t demons come here?”
“Because, with so many ghosts gathered in oneplace, there’s a good chance there will be an opening for one ofthem at some point and they will be accepted into Heaven. Theopening isn’t going to take a demon, or anyone else who doesn’tbelong in it, with them, and no angel is going to come out, butbeing so close to something leading into Heaven isn’t our idea of afun time. Plus, ghosts are annoying.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“So are demons,” Pompadour said and floatedcloser. “And ugly.”
“I do better with the ladies than you do,spectral boy,” Corson replied.
“Don’t taunt the ghosts,” was never asentence I’d ever imagined saying, but I did.
I rubbed at my temples as the ghosts huddledcloser to us once more.
“Canyouhelpus?” a young woman asked me. Her hair was tucked beneath a bonnetand an apron covered her dress. “I gave up my chance to pass onbecause I wanted to see that my child and husband were well aftermy death, but they left the earth years ago and so did theiroffspring, yet I’ve remained.”
The beseeching look in what I thought wereeyes that had once been brown tugged at my heart. “I can’t helpyou,” I whispered around the lump in my throat.
The woman crowded closer to me until her icyform brushed against my arm. “But you could speak with the angelsfor us.”
“My God,” Vargas muttered.
I scowled at him when he gawked at me andcrossed himself. “I can’t speak to angels,” I told him. Spinning onthe stool, I faced her again. “Ican’t. It’s not something I’m capable of. I’msorry.”
She went to grasp my hands, but her fog-likeflesh passed directly through mine. The cool breeze and chillpermeating my skin were the only indication she’d managed to touchme in some small way. Yet, I felt her anguish as if it were my own.My head bowed as I inhaled a jerky breath. I hadn’t had this typeof response to the other ghost who had brushed against me. I didn’tknow why I reacted so strongly to her, but I had to help her,although I had absolutely no idea how to do that.
“Ignore them,” Corson said. “They’ll followus to the gateway of Hell if they think you can do anything forthem.”
“She needs help,” I whispered.
“Too bad,” he replied and rose from thestool.
The ghosts fluttered away from him as hestrode forward. They filled in behind him after he walked by. Theywere all see-through, but looking at Corson through the thick crowdof ghosts gave him a wavy, slightly distorted appearance. Corsonmade his way around the back of the counter to explore the contentsthere. More ghosts glided closer to me, floating around to twisttheir heads in order to peer up at me.
“Have you ever tried talking to the angels?”Ethel inquired.
