Two Souls: Into the Fire # 152

Warning … adult content

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Sometime before dawn, Steve and Ghost had made their way to bed. Now, as the sun rose, Steve did wake, and went out to the kitchen, to make the morning coffee. Coming back to the bedroom, he watched Ghost trying to wake up. He always had a hard time breaking away from his dreams of the night. Ghost almost always dreamed…sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always fantastic and magical. He’d dream so vividly, that he sometimes thought they were real…and sometimes they were. He’d tell Steve, in detail, what he did during those dream escapes from his awake self. Sometimes, Steve even believed it, too.

As he watched, Steve wanted Ghost. He carefully untangled the blankets, pushing them off to the side of the bed. He then helped Ghost out of his clothes, while Ghost lay there, his eyes blinking up at him, totally relaxed.

“You’re beautiful,” Steve said in a whisper, his throat closing up with emotion. He continued to look at Ghost, taking in the whole of his body, fully exposed in front of his eyes. Every scar was a reminder of Ghost’s strong spirit, his endurance, to keep a positive light to his very soul.

From the scars on his skull from the fractures, his damaged eye, that still gave him pain, the cigarette burns, from long ago, the missing toe, and even his brain was scarred…Steve took it all in with his gaze. Now, Ghost had the scars from Nothing’s fangs, on his neck, and the scratch marks from the evil demon, on him. He still had a slight crook in his left hand, too, from Steve smashing it during the hurricane. And, the invisible scars to Ghost’s heart and mind…the emotional scars that he’d dished out on him…were the worst of all.

And still, he was the most beautiful thing Steve had ever seen. “You’re beautiful,” Steve had to whisper, again.

Ghost had heard everything Steve had been thinking, and now he shook his head no, and his eyes squeezed shut, as tears fell down his face.

“I’m not, Steve…I’m not…” he cried.

“Yes, you are, Ghost. You’ve got the pure light of your soul shining through. You give me your unconditional love, when I don’t deserve it. You have tamed me and claimed me, and I can only try to keep pleasing you…because if I fail, and you deserted me, I’d have nothing. I would not live a day without you. So yes, you are beautiful, and I love you.”

Steve leaned close, and kissed Ghost’s tears away. “I want to please you, now…” he said.

Ghost nodded. “Yes…”

~

That afternoon, Ghost got out his markers to create a card for Kinsey, and one for Terry. He didn’t consider himself an artist, but he loved to draw and make designs. Of course words and lettering were his favorite.

“Hey, Steve, how’s this look?” He held up the folded cardstock.

“It’s, well…it’s very colorful. Here, let me get a closer look,” Steve said. He reached over for the card.

Ghost had written Kinsey’s name in calligraphy on the front, in black ink. Curling around the name, in brown ink, was an exact replica of the Yew tree that was carved into the club’s wooden door. He’d done it from memory. In between the branches, were different colors, making it look like stained glass.

Inside, he’d written: Kinsey, we appreciate everything you do…from helping us when we’re in trouble, for being a shoulder to cry on, and most of all for being our friend. Please accept this as a small way of saying thank you. Have a wonderful vacation! We love you!

There were lots of hearts drawn on the card’s inside, too. “Now, we both have to sign it,” Ghost said. “Oh, and put the money in it…don’t forget that part.”

This is amazing, Ghost. It’s better than any card we could have bought. He’ll love it,” Steve said.

Ghost smiled, then said, “Now I gotta do one for Terry.”

They both signed Kinsey’s card, and Steve put in the $1,000, and sealed the envelope. Ghost took a break for some snacks, and to rest his hand. Steve went back to his guitar, and song list for the CD.

“Hey, I’ve just about got the list done,” Steve said. “We should get back to the studio, maybe tomorrow? And, we can deliver the surprise. Sound good?”

“Yeah, guess we could. I’m really ready to get to sing again, and get a show planned. Maybe when they get back from their trip,” Ghost said. “We can do a welcome back show,” he said, as he munched on potato chips.

“Let’s call it a plan, then,” Steve said, and reached for a handful of chips.

After Ghost washed the grease from his fingers, he asked, “What should Terry’s card look like?”

Steve shrugged. “That’s your department. Think of something he likes or…hell, I don’t know…things he likes could get a little tricky, if ya know what I mean.” Laughing, he pretended to smoke a joint.

“Yeah, guess that wouldn’t work. Well, I’ll figure something out,” Ghost said. He lay down on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Steve went back to playing a song.

After a few minutes, Ghost got up and got some water, bringing it back to the living room. He tried out a few ideas with his markers. “Ok, I think I got it,” he said. This time he colored his finger tips with several colors, and stamped them on the card front. Then he took his fingers and dipped them in the water, then smeared them around on the card. The effect looked like tie-dye. When it dried, he wrote Terry’s name in black calligraphy.

“Hmm, not very fancy, but guess it’s ok,” he said.

“He’ll treasure it, Ghost,” Steve said, and snickered.

“Shut up,” Ghost said, then wrote on the inside of the card: Terry, we want to thank you for being our friend for so long. You show you care in so many ways…from sticking with us in hard times, to sharing your music on stage with us. And, for giving Steve a job, and for letting us use your studio, and for sharing laughs, and “more”. We want to show you our appreciation by gifting you with this small token. Enjoy your vacation! Love, from both of us.

“Okay, I’m done…read it, Steve.” Ghost handed him the card.

Steve smiled, as he read. “This is perfect.”

They signed it, and Steve put Terry’s money inside, and sealed it.

They sat quietly for a few minutes. Steve leaned back on the couch, resting his eyes, and he massaged his calloused finger tips. Ghost gathered his markers, remembering to put the caps back on. Taking the cup of water back to the kitchen, he noticed that Steve was almost asleep. As he came back through, he gently kissed the top of Steve’s head.

“I’m going outside for awhile. The stars are shining, now.” And, he went out the front door, the screen squeaking, as he opened it.

***

Next part coming soon!

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2021 BS

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This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 151

Warning … adult content

***

“You remember how to do it, don’t ya?” Ghost asked, as he handed Steve his gun.

“Sure I do,” Steve said. “What are you going to do, pitch a plate up in the air?”

“Yep, I’ll throw it up, and you shoot it.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

They went outside, and Ghost threw up the first plate, as high as he could. As it came down, Steve aimed and fired, shattering it.

“Wow, that was great,” Ghost said. “My turn, now.”

Steve threw the next plate up, and Ghost shot and broke it with no problem.

“Good shot,” Steve said.

“That’s all the plates we used, though,” Ghost said. “But, we could just get some out of the cabinet, ya know…want to?”

“If we’re gonna get more at the thrift store, anyway, we might as well shoot what we have.”

So they kept tossing plates and shooting them down, until there were no more left.

“That was so much fun,” Ghost said. “When we get more, let’s get a bunch so we can do it again.”

“Yeah, need to keep in practice,” Steve said.

Just then, they heard a car pull up out in the driveway.

“Wonder who that is?” Steve asked.

They heard someone knocking on the front screen door. As they went inside, and through the living room, they could see a uniformed man standing there. It was the sheriff of Missing Mile. Steve opened the screen for him.

“Hey, Jimmy, come on in,” he said, letting the officer in.

“Hey, Steve…y’all okay out here? There was a report of someone hearing gunshots in this area,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, we’re fine…just doing some plate shooting,” Steve said.

“Plate shooting?”

“Yeah, me and Ghost were just practicing.”

“Steve, I’ve known you and Ghost for a long time, and y’all hardly ever cause any trouble, but it’s my job to ask to see those guns, and see if they’re registered, and to see y’all’s carry license,” Jimmy said.

Steve swallowed hard. “Um, well, we don’t exactly have that, and…”

“Steve, it’s the law. I don’t care one way or another…hell, most everybody around here has one. But, now it’s been reported, that y’all are firing off weapons, I gotta do my job. I can’t afford to lose it.”

“You wouldn’t turn us in, would you? I mean, we go way back, Jimmy. We just have them here for protection, out here, ya know. Sometimes we do target practice…”

Ghost came into the living room just then, and immediately sensed the situation. “Hey, Jimmy, what’s up?” he asked, anyway.

“Hey, Ghost, I was just asking about the guns y’all have. Someone heard ya shooting out here, and reported it. So…” Jimmy said.

Ghost knew the sheriff didn’t want to be here having this talk with them. “The guns were my grandmother’s. She left them to me, when she died. She had them registered, and had a license or permit, and all; we just shoot ’em once in awhile,” Ghost said.

“Do you still have the paperwork on them?” Jimmy asked.

Ghost thought a minute. “No, all of the papers we had, got ruined in the flood from the hurricane. Sorry…”

“Hmm, well, nothing to be done about that, then,” Jimmy said. He narrowed his eyes, feeling like he’d been manipulated, but not sure how. “Guess I’ll file my report as everything checked out ok. Sorry to bother y’all, tonight. Just be careful using them, from now on,” he said. He headed for the door.

“Sure thing, Jimmy,” Steve said. When Jimmy had left, Steve turned to Ghost, giving him a look. “What did you just do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Ghost said.

“Yeah, ya did, ya got us out of trouble. That stuff about your grandmother leaving both guns to you…and paperwork getting lost?”

Ghost shrugged. “So, she did, and they did.”

“But, not mine. I got that one on my own, from some guy Terry sent me to. You left that part out,” Steve said.

“Oh, guess I did, huh?” He grinned.

“You’re bad, dude,” Steve said, shaking his head.

“I am when I have to be. Didn’t want you to be hauled off to jail.”

~

As they continued to enjoy their evening at home, Steve forgot all about calling Kinsey and Trevor, again. So, when their phone rang, it surprised them. When he answered, it was Kinsey on the line.

“Where are y’all?” Kinsey asked. “We were supposed to have a meeting tonight.”

“A meeting?” Steve asked, “I never heard about a meeting. What for?”

“Well, that’s just great…I thought Trevor went out there to let y’all know,” Kinsey said, then hollered over to Trevor, who was now at the club. “Hey, thought you told ’em.”

“I didn’t see them. I left a note,” Trevor said.

“Hey, Steve, Trevor said he left a note. Didn’t you get it?”

“Well, we got a note, but it didn’t say anything about some big meeting. Just that he wanted to talk to Ghost about something. I meant to call, and I tried to, but nobody answered,” Steve said. “Why are you calling a meeting with the Séance Six?”

Ghost snickered at the label.

“So, what’s the problem?” asked Steve.

“No problem, Steve, we just wanted to go over everything…closure, you know,” Kinsey said. “Oh, and Trevor has an issue, and wanted to see if Ghost was having it, too.”

“Well, Kinsey, sorry about the mix-up, and not being there. We’ll do it another time. We’re just exhausted, and want to stay home, and relax for a few days. We’re fine…and as far as me and Ghost, the whole thing is over. We don’t want to talk about it, anymore. So, we’ll be in to town in a few days. Don’t worry,” said Steve. “Oh, Ghost has a surprise in the works for you, so…anyway, we’ll talk soon.”

“Fine, I’ll let them know. Y’all be careful out there, ok? The sheriff came by here, and said somebody was shooting guns out your way.”

“Really? Okay, we’ll be careful, then,” Steve said.

They ended the call. “Sheesh, Kinsey seemed all put out that we didn’t show up to some big meeting. Give us a break.” Steve sighed.

“What did you call us…the Séance Six?” Ghost laughed. “That’s a great name for us.”

“Yeah, well it just popped outta my mouth,” Steve said.

~

Before Kinsey’s phone call, they had been watching a movie. Settling back down on the couch, they tried to get back into the story. “Let’s finish this, then I’m going to bed,” Steve said.

Ghost lay his head in Steve’s lap, while Steve absentmindedly played with his hair, braiding and unbraiding the long strands. They’d turned out all the lights, except for the small, salt crystal lamp in the hallway. The movie ended, turning the screen to blue, but neither of them noticed; they’d fallen asleep.

***

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Next part coming soon!

***

Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2021 BS

***

***

This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.