Page 93
––ExorSquad Employee Safety Manual and Operational Guidelines (Revised Edition)
Callum
When I get back to the spin classroom, our ghostly friends are still waiting there. I frown.
“Was that enough? Do they have closure now, knowing what happened?”
Beau smiles sadly. “They do. It’s almost time for us to say goodbye.”
Even I experience a twinge of sadness at the prospect of saying farewell for good to these guys. In some ways, they are part of my journey to become secure in my abilities. But working on this case, and trying to help these spirits, has also made me rethink my priorities in life—and be grateful that I’m still here and breathing.
Beau walks over to one corner and turns on the stereo system, using his phone to pull up a disco playlist. Jonathan says something to him and Beau smiles.
“Le Freak” by CHIC starts playing and he holds his hand out to me. “Our friends here want a disco dance-off before departing for the great beyond.”
I bark out a laugh. “Really?”
They all nod in time with Beau.
“This was one of Jonathan’s favorite songs, so we’re starting with it,” Beau adds with a wink.
The lights go out and the room slowly morphs into an ethereal disco dance club, complete with multicolored lights in the floor and a spinning mirror ball above us that refracts rainbow specks along the walls. It’s even more grandiose than the last time. I suppose they pulled out all the stops for this finale.
I join an enthusiastic Beau, who’s already moving along to the beat.
“I’m a terrible dancer, as you learned last time,” I remind him. “This is probably going to end up looking a lot less like Saturday Night Fever and more like that parody scene in the Airplane! movie.”
Beau laughs. “Now that I can’t wait to see. But don’t try spinning me around and letting go, okay, darlin’?” He glances over my shoulder. “Besides, Jonathan’s gonna show us how it’s done.”
We watch as the unofficial leader of the spirits moves to the middle of our phantom dance floor and does a disco point, then drops it diagonally toward his opposite hip, which pops in a sassy little side jut. He repeats the movement in time with the music for a while, then slides smoothly right, taps his foot, and glides back to the left. His shoulders roll loosely as he starts some kind of double arm-swing maneuver.
There’s no way in fucking hell I’m going to be able to copy any of that.
I grin as Beau follows along, trying to emulate Jonathan’s movements as the song transitions to “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate. He’s much better at this than me.
Jonathan moves to Beau’s side and they manage to execute a synchronized bump maneuver that has their hips colliding––well, as much as ghost hips can––on the downbeat. The other spirits join the fun, although none of them seem to be quite as talented as Jonathan. That bloke’s got moves all right. Nevertheless, everyone’s better than my clumsy arse. But I do my best to muddle along, getting into the exuberant spirit of the moment.
For once, all the spirits are smiling and laughing as they dance with us for one last time. It gives me a glimpse into what they must have been like when they were still alive–vivacious and fun, full of energy and a joy for life.
In the face of that, I can’t help but feel a bit ashamed of how I’ve wasted the last five years. But from here on out, I’m going to make the most of what time I have left in this world. I don’t want regrets when my final moment comes. When I need to move on to whatever awaits us after death, I don’t want anything holding me back. I’ve seen how painful that can be.
Beau does a hip-swinging little hustle over to me and takes hold of my hands. “Let’s have our Airplane! moment, darlin’.”
That makes me laugh, but I do my best to match his movements as we dance to the beat. No one else could ever get me disco dancing with a bunch of ghosts. That’s how amazing Beau Montgomery is––and I want to see him happy and smiling with me forever.
If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.
Well, fuuuuuck me.
As I’m trying to recover from this monumental epiphany, Jonathan starts dancing around us, flinging his arm up and—
I blink.
He’s throwing handfuls of glitter in the air.
I hold my arm up and watch the semi-transparent glitter land on my skin, leaving a cold tingle as it disappears.
“Are we getting glitter-bombed by a ghost?” I ask incredulously.
