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Sliding his hands in his pockets, he continued. “Even when I learned that people were scared of ghosts and the afterlife, I didn’t see it any differently. Death and what comes after just felt…natural.”
“Technically, deathisnatural,” I added. “But that doesn’t mean things aren’t mysterious or unexplainable.”
“Unexplainable?” He looked to me as he cocked an eyebrow. “There is only one thing I can’t explain to you, Celeste, and that’s how my family came into this position in the first place. Everything else has an answer.”
I took his words as a challenge as I followed his guided walk down the path. “Okay,” I began, inhaling deeply. Just as I was about to speak, a light, shadowed figure found its way to the path. As it came closer, I saw that it was an elderly man who walked at a slow pace.
I held my breath, squeezing myself closer to Caius and away from the spirit.
I could sense Caius grinning as he pulled me closer, his arm snaking around my waist. It wasn’t a romantic gesture, but a protective one.
And, I guess, that in itself was romantic.
The ghost continued on without paying us any mind.
“Can they see us?” I whispered.
“No.”
“Can they hear us?”
“No.”
“Do they know they’re here?”
“Yes.”
“Can they see at all? Can they see each other?”
“Considering the fact that they walk the paths, yes, they can see.”
His arm left my waist, leaving the spot cold in its wake.
He continued. “But they never interact with each other. They don’t even look at each other. So, no, they can’t see one another.”
I frowned. “Isn’t that lonely?”
“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “But you’re looking at it the wrong way. It’s peaceful.”
Peaceful. I thought about what it would be like to be here, to live here, to exist here in life after death. Everything was either a shade of grey or green, and everything was always wet.
But it was also quiet. And serene.
And relaxing.
But the thought of being alone for the rest of eternity felt worse than having peace.
“Can they do anything?”
Caius shook his head. “They can’t. They can walk, and they can rest. That’s it. They can’t feel anything, touch anything, move anything. They only exist.”
Caius took a left turn, and I followed, still with no idea where we were going. But at this point, we were far away from the house, with only the moonlight to illuminate the dampened path. I took in another breath as I spoke. “Why is it always raining here?”
“It’s not,” he said. “It’s not raining right now, is it?”
My expression filled with annoyance, and he smiled.
“You mean, why is it always raining during the day?” he corrected. “Because that’s how my family made Purgatory. There’s no sun, there’s no snow. There’s no heat, there’s no freezing temperatures. No summer, no winter, no seasons at all, actually. There’s only the middle of it all. The between.”
