Page 24 of The Devil and His Ghost

(Present Day)

AVOIDING XANDER WAS LIKE AVOIDING the plague while someone coughed right into my wide open mouth. The demon always had a knack for following me when I didn’t want him to, and that trait clearly hadn’t dwindled. He followed me now as my ever present shadow as I walked the entirety of Mountview Psychiatric Hospital.

He was quiet at first with only his burning gaze and its silent meaning, yet as we reached the third floor, he’d shed the pensive shroud in favor of his typical self. He hummed happily and chatted away about random topics, even while I ignored him.

“I still can’t believe it,” Xander lamented at the end of one of his many stories. “I mean, who would’ve guessed that Zagan, Perseus, and Dante would fall in love? It’s been fun seeing them get all swept away by their humans and even more fun teasing them about it. I’ll introduce you to the girls at some point. You’d like them.” He sighed dreamily. “Four of the five band members have relationships now. Poor Coldin. That scary guy will be forever alone.”

I glared over my shoulder. “You and I aren’t in a relationship.”

Xander smiled wide at me, and I realized my reaction was exactly what he’d wanted. He knew I wouldn’t be able to resist snapping back at that, which meant I’d finally acknowledge him.

Growling, I faced forward and stomped into the abandoned children’s ward. “You are so annoying.”

“Keep insulting me, and you’ll just turn me on.”

Focus, Kendyll. Focus.

I barely managed to refrain from lashing out at the demon. It would, after all, actually turn him on. Conceding to his presence would’ve been like holding up a bright neon sign that invited him to join me on this three month long investigation, so I went back to my original plan of ignoring him. I could acquaint myself with the building and any potential spirits here while pretending the manifestation of Hell wasn’t here. No problem.

“The children’s ward, hmm?” Xander pondered as we walked into the common room.

The space was an exact copy of every other ward, save for the incorporation of actual color. Unlike the other floors that used white for everything, these walls were painted sky blue, and the padded chairs in the common area were a mix of teal and lime green. Cubbies with stuffed animals were pressed against the wall, and another shelf with children’s books neighbored it.

Xander poked around the stuffed animals, all of which had seen better days. I couldn’t imagine all they’d been through as toys for patients with varying mental impairments. The tall demon dressed all in black froze for a moment, and his carefree grin cracked with a hint of aching longing. He reached into the hoard of fluff to grab a stuffed bat plushie and stared at it with a wistful smile.

I swallowed hard at the sight but refused to acknowledge the feelings that wanted to sweep me away down the stream of nostalgia alongside him.

Instead of replacing the bat, he carried it tenderly with him and asked, “Is this the area you started in when you first came to Mountview?”

I glanced at the small plushie in his hand one more time before looking away to venture down the hall. “Well, considering eleven is a child, yeah. This is where I started out.”

“One would argue that seventeen is an adolescent, yet you were in the adult ward when I found you,” Xander pointed out.

“Thank overpopulation for that,” I said. “It’s one of the reasons this place was shut down. Mountview is old, and the facilities just weren’t good enough to meet the standard of practice today.”

“Which room in this ward was yours?”

“312,” I answered, gesturing to a door down the long hallway.

The hallway had seen better days. The place hadn’t been empty of people for too long, yet dust particles floated in the streams of sunlight that came from the room’s windows. The paint that was once sky blue now had a grayish tint to it. In the middle of the abandoned hallway sat a wheelchair with a gray blanket crumpled over the arm and back, pooling on the floor. It was as though a nurse had been in the middle of rolling a patient to the common room or to a doctor’s office for a visit when they’d gotten the notice to leave.

I wandered over to move the chair and blanket to the side of the hall, but when I grabbed the knitted blanket and lifted it, I froze. Hiding beneath the fabric and right beside the wheel of the chair was a small child. She wore a plain pair of pants and sweatshirt that I recognized as the standard outfit here at Mountview. Her dark hair hung messily around her shoulders, and she stared up at me with wide brown eyes. Her tiny arms were wrapped around her bent knees, and she wore a gray sock on one foot, which sat nervously on top of her other bare toes.

I overcame my surprise quickly and offered her a small smile. “Hi, there.”

The little ghost gasped before quickly fading and disappearing.

I frowned and looked around, even while knowing I wouldn’t find her. She most likely vanished and reappeared elsewhere within the hospital, or maybe I’d frightened her with my abrupt appearance and essentially knocked her limited energy right out of her. If that was the case, she wouldn’t be able to manifest again until she stored up more.

“It’s okay,” Xander said, seemingly reading my mind. “She’s still here. I can faintly feel her energy within the building. She’s probably just not used to being seen or spoken to, so she got scared. I’m sure she’ll come back.”

I nodded slowly. “Hopefully, you’re right.”

I didn’t spot any more ghosts on my exploration of the building. The faint trace of spiritual energy diminished the higher up we went, and it completely vanished once we reached the rooftop. The crisp air carried a promise of rain, and I inhaled deeply while scanning the endless treetops and distant town.

“Five stories, plus a basement,” I started blandly. “Hundreds of rooms. One child spirit who runs at the sight of me. This is going to be a long three months.”

“One demon. You forgot one demon,” Xander said much too happily.