“You don’t know what it’s like to be stuck inthe in-between,” Pompadour said as he floated around Hawk. “Thedarkness there is absolute, unending. You wake up not knowing whatis going on with you, but knowing that youdied. Then, finally, you see light again andrealize you are a ghost stuck in between. You wouldn’t like thedark either if you’d ever gone through it.”
I imagined the feeling of panic theyexperienced would be like waking up in a casket, six feet under theground. Chilled by the thought, I rubbed at my arms as I turnedaway from him.
“Before everything changed for us, manyghosts would go from place to place to stay in the light withoutanyone ever knowing they were there. Now, we can no longer do thatwithout being seen, and there isn’t enough electricity to always beable to stay in the light. Besides, those of us who have been herelonger usually overcome our fear of the dark,” Ethel saiddefensively.
“That must be why you’re at this amazinglybright truck stop then,” Corson replied.
Ethel flew at him with a screech, stoppingjust inches short of where he stood. Corson lifted an eyebrow ather before turning away.
“It’s true!” she snapped before turning tome. “We overcome our fear after a while, or at least some of us do,but where else would we go, if not here?”
I had no answer for her. Helplessly, I liftedmy hands and shrugged. I would have stayed around other ghosts too,rather than wandering off on my own. Misery loves company afterall.
Pompadour hovered by my shoulder, as I movedaround the kitchen. I turned to find his hazy eyes focused on me.“I can’t help you,” I said in exasperation.
“You’ve been marked,” he replied.
Corson stopped walking and turned to face us.“I told you to leave her alone.”
His gaze shot to Corson. “Not by you.”
Pompadour moved so close to me that, if he’dbeen human, he’d be on top of me. I took a step away only to havehim crowd me once more. Yep, I disliked ghosts, or at least thepushy, annoying one staring at my neck.
“An angel marked by a demon,” Pompadourmurmured.
“I’m not an angel!” I retorted.
“You look like one with your eyes.”
“How do you even know what an angel lookslike?” I demanded.
“We may not be allowed to enter Heaven orHell, but sometimes we can see through the veil, and all of theangels have your eyes.”
So I’d been told. “Leave me alone.”
“Hey, back off, man,” Hawk said. He steppedforward and tried to push Pompadour away. His arm only wentstraight through him, causing Hawk to shiver.
Pompadour danced away and started back towardme, but Corson came at us. His claws extended, his eyes burningwith citrine fire. Corson may not be able to touch them, butPompadour floated back a few feet from me anyway.
“I said back off of her!” Corson spat.
“You can talk to the angels, even if you’veallowed yourself to be tainted by a demon, they’ll still answeryou,” Pompadour pressed.
“I’m not tainted!” I snapped. “And the onlythings I talk to are inourdimension.”
I turned away from him, but he moved to floatin front of me. I was pissed and tempted to punch him, but I’d lookridiculous swinging away at mist.
Before I could say anything, Corson liftedhis hand, stretching his palm out. I saw only a hint of somethingwhite in his palm before he blew it at Pompadour. The ghost shotback and kept on going as Corson approached.
“Back off,” Corson growled at him.
Pompadour turned and fled back into thedining area.
“What was that?” Erin asked from the doorway.I hadn’t realized she and Vargas had walked over to stand therewith the doors open. “He’s sulking over in the corner rightnow.”
“Salt,” Corson replied and placed a bluecontainer on the counter. “They don’t like that either, do you,Eth?”
She scowled at him before fleeing into theother room.
