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Micaela nods her head and bops up and down in excitement. “Yes please!”
“Why the fuck do you have a grave?” I ask.
Oz looks at me like I’m dense. “Well, I’m three hundred and eight years old. So at some points I have to fake my death or people start asking questions.”
I guess that makes sense. I can’t imagine being so old you need to fake your own death.
Oz take us to the south side of town, outside the city. There, on top of a hill, is a large, black mansion that’s seen better days.
“If Fredrick has seen the state of his house, it’s probably how he spends Halloween. He was always a freak about his space,” Oz says.
There’s even fog surrounding the place to complete the spooky look.
“So this is the place?” I ask.
“Yup. There are reports of a ghost haunting this place. Walking past windows or scaring kids who dared to break in. I know it’s him.” I start walking towards the door.
“Do you think he will remember you?” I ask.
Oz turns to Micaela. “Do you remember anyone from your old life? I don’t know much about ghosts. Only a select few in the supernatural community study them, including Fredrick.”
“No, I don’t remember anything.” She looks like she’s really trying to concentrate but is coming up short.
For a second I wonder if she’ll be upset, but, of course, she moves on like it’s nothing. She’s always keeping me on my toes.
I knock on the door but there’s not an immediate response.
“Should we go in?” Micaela turns, clearly ready to kick the door down but Oz puts a hand out to stop her.
“He won’t appreciate us breaking in. He might not help us,” he explains. I knock again, louder this time.
“I’m coming!” an older, male voice yells.
Fredrick opens the door, dressed in an old fashioned housecoat. It’s a loose, open-fronted gown closed with a fabric belt. I bet Oz wore something similar back in the day?
“Who is bothering me?”
Not a great start.
“Hello, Fredrick. It’s me, Ozul. We have come to seek your insight on the subject of ghosts. As an expert, we think you can help us.”
It didn’t occur to me until this moment that he may want us to keep him alive as well. But for the information, that may just have to be the price we pay. Oz didn’t seem worried about him being a terrible person before he died, but who knows what hundreds of years as a ghost has done to him.
“Yes, I have dedicated my life to studying the field.”
Yeah, and you are a ghost, but I keep that to myself. Maybe he doesn’t like being reminded.
“Come inside,” he says, backing up to let us in.
We walk into the living room which is covered in cobwebs and dust. Maybe he’s able to just ignore the mess since he can’t do anything about it three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
Micaela is staring curiously at Fredrick, but she stays quiet, letting Oz take the lead.
“If we wanted to allow a ghost to stay permanently, past Halloween, is that possible?” Oz asks.
When we have business deals, Oz always runs the meetings. This is just like that.
He perches on a chair and we follow suit. Fredrick contemplates his answer before saying, “Not that I know of. Why would you want to keep this ghost around? From what I’ve heard, ghosts can be quite pesky. Always focusing on scaring people to get more energy. How tedious.”
