Two Souls: Into the Fire # 149

warning … adult content

***

Steve drove over to the bank, in downtown Raleigh. As he looked for a parking spot, Ghost asked, “How are we gonna do this, Steve…just hand over a handful of cash to Kinsey and Terry?”

“Sure, or maybe we can get a card, and stick the money in there, ya know, like a happy vacation card, or even a thank you one. I’m sure we can find something that would work. We can write in there why we’re giving it to them.”

“Well…you get out how much to give them, then,” Ghost said.

They went into the bank, to open up their safety deposit box. Steve took out two-thousand dollars in cash, to give half to each of them.

“I figure this will take them someplace nice,” Steve said.

“I’ll bet they will be so surprised, too,” Ghost said. His eyes lit up at the thought.

“Okay, where to now?” Steve asked, as they left the bank.

“Well, before the grocery store, can we go by the magic shop, where I got my potions? I want to tell her that it worked.”

“Sure, let’s go,” Steve said. He drove down the street, finding the little shop again.

The lady greeted them with a hug, when they came in.

“We came to tell ya the potions worked real good,” Ghost said.

“Let me look at you,” she said, as she looked into Ghost’s eyes. “Umm-hmm, yes…I can see you encountered the evil spirit, Ghost. And, I can see you and everyone present were strong and united as one, and were able to banish the demon.” She was nodding and smiling. “It was difficult and tiring, but you all are lighter in spirit now, for having rid the world of one more evil.”

“That’s right,” Ghost said, “it happened just like you said.”

“Are you in need of more supplies, today?” she asked.

“Don’t look at me, that’s his department,” Steve said.

“Well, we don’t have any more séances to do, but I need some more sage brooms. I used the others already,” Ghost said.

“Very good, I’ll be right back,” she said, going to get them.

Steve paid for them, when she returned to the counter. “Thanks, and we will be back, if I know Ghost.”

Back in the car, Ghost opened the package. “Hey, look…she put in some free samples, too.” He pulled out several small vials of essential oils. “This here one is for calm…and this one is for energy. They all say stuff on the bottles,” he said.

“What do you do with them?” asked Steve. “Do ya drink ’em?”

“No, you just smell them,” Ghost said. “Here, smell this one.” He held up an opened bottle under Steve’s nose. “It’s the calm one…do you feel calm, now?”

Steve took a big inhale of the aroma. It smelled of oranges. “You know what…I think I do,” he said.

They were pulling into the hospital parking lot, now. Inside, Steve explained his wanting to get the cast off early, but the person behind the counter wouldn’t hear of it. Since it wasn’t an emergency, and he did have an appointment for the coming week, she told him he’d have to wait. His regular doctor would have to examine his leg, as soon as the cast was off. They would have to come back, then.

“Well, guess I’ll have to wait a few more days, Ghost,” Steve said, as they went back to the car. They headed out down the road to the grocery store. “Let’s try to get this done before they close up.” he said.

“Here’s the list,” Ghost said, taking it out of his pocket.

~

As the entered the grocery store, they saw it was already decorated for the upcoming holidays. There were fold out, honey-combed, paper turkeys, hanging from the ceiling. They were all twirling around in the breeze from the store’s fans. One aisle was for left-over Halloween decorations, candy, and costumes. Most of it was haphazardly arranged on the shelves. Items for holiday cooking were stacked up on the end of the aisles.

“I don’t know, Ghost…this is maybe too much for me, even,” Steve said, as he stared at the bright colors.

“There’s too many things to look at,” Ghost said. “I think I’m getting dizzy.”

They hadn’t gone all the way into the store, yet, and the crowds of people were pushing past them, and bumping into them, too.

“Why is it all crazy, today?” Ghost asked.

“I don’t know…I’ve never seen it like this, before. Here, let’s move out of the way,” Steve said, as he led them over by the baskets. “Do ya think we can handle it?”

“Yep, just hang on to me so I don’t get lost from you.”

“Okay, then…here we go.” Steve grabbed hold of a cart, and they headed for the first aisle. Ghost had to push the cart, so Steve could maneuver his crutches around. They managed to get everything they’d come for, plus some extra snacks. Finally, they were ready to check out. The lines were long, and people were getting cranky at the long wait.

“Steve, I think I need to get out of here.”

Steve saw that Ghost had broken out into a cold sweat, and was breathing fast. “Okay, just go wait in the car. It may take awhile, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He handed the keys to Ghost. “See if you can re-arrange those books, so we can get the groceries in there.”

“I’ll try,” Ghost said, and he headed out the door.

Steve watched him go, hoping he wouldn’t have to go looking for him when he got done here. The line inched forward.

Ghost made it to the car ok. He got in and leaned his head back on the seat, letting the panic slowly decrease. After a few minutes, he looked at the back seat full of books. He knew the trunk was full; there was no more room. “How am I supposed to make more room?”

He got out to open the back door. The two boxes took up all the space. He decided to open them, to lay the books flat on the seat. “That’ll have to do,” he said, wiping sweat out of his eyes. He wasn’t clammy anymore, just hot. Looking toward the store, he saw Steve finally coming out, and an employee was pushing the full basket.

“I moved ’em around as best I could, Steve,” he said, when they reached the car.

Steve was relieved to see Ghost was still there. “We’ll make it work…somehow. You might have to hold some of the bags, though.”

In the end, that’s what they did. As Ghost sat in the front seat, he had the bag boy hand him the last four bags. He barely got the door closed, and could hardly see over the top of them. He tried peeking around them, but that didn’t work very well either. Steve started laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?” Ghost asked.

“You…I can hardly see you.”

“So what, you don’t need to see me to drive, do ya?”

“Guess you’re right,” Steve said. He started the car, and drove out to the highway toward home. “We got a lot done after all, today.”

“Uh-huh, and now we got good stuff to eat.”

“Yes…I was getting tired of noodles,” Steve said. When Ghost didn’t say anything, he looked over at him. His head was resting on a box of cereal, and his eyes were closed. “Figures…Ghost gets to sleep, and I get to drive. That’s just the way it is.”

“What is it…what is it?” Ghost said.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.”

~

Back at home, Steve woke Ghost up. “Hey, we’re home. You have to carry all this stuff in.”

Ghost woke, and said, “I’ll be so glad when you get that cast off. Then you can do stuff, again.”

“Me, too…but for now, it’s all on you, so get busy,” Steve said. He got out and went to unlock the front door. Spirit was meowing around, happy to see them again.

Ghost managed to get out of the car, and he carried two bags inside. Then he went back for more, then again, and again. Then he started on the books. After trudging back and forth so many times, he was done. He sat on the porch swing to rest. “Hey, Steve, can you bring me something cold to drink?”

Steve did, and they both sat there, slowly swinging, and relaxing.

“That store was so crowded. I think we did ok, though,” Steve said. “You didn’t wander off, and I didn’t lose my temper. I did see a few thing that weren’t on the list, though. When did you put those Christmas ornaments in there?”

“When you weren’t looking,” Ghost said.

“That’s what I thought. Well, I put in a few extras, too,” Steve said. “Oh, here…I found this on the door, when I unlocked it.” He handed Ghost a sticky note.

“It’s from Trevor,” Ghost said. He started reading it out loud. “It says, Ghost, I need to talk to you. Come to Kinsey’s tonight. Trevor.” He sighed. “Why? Why does he have to talk to me. I got nothing to say.”

“How should I know,” Steve said. “Just go see what he wants. I’ll drive us over there tonight. You know he won’t stop bugging you, until you do go talk to him, so might as well get it over with.”

“Fine, guess we’ll go.”

“Did he say what time to meet over there?” asked Steve.

Ghost gave him a look…”Well, I read the words to ya…did any of that sound like a time?” he asked.

“No, guess it didn’t.” Steve got up from the swing. “You want to eat something before we go?”

“Naw, I’m not hungry, right now,” Ghost said. “They were out here.” He looked around the porch.

“So, they had to be out here to leave that note. What of it?”

“I just don’t like them coming out here, that’s all, and I didn’t even know it.”

Steve had to think a minute, to try to figure out what Ghost was really getting at. “What’s the matter, Ghost? You’ve got something on your mind, I can tell. You’ve been in a pissy mood all day.” He leaned up against the porch railing, watching Ghost. “First you didn’t like the food I fixed, or the guy at the printer’s shop. Then you didn’t gush over the potions lady, and didn’t go wandering off at the store. Now, you’re mad ’cause Trevor happened to drop by. Oh, and you’re not hungry, now…which is a first…you’re always hungry. So, what’s going on?” He waited for Ghost to answer.

***

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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.

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 148

warning … adult content

***

In the kitchen, Steve scrounged around trying to find them something to eat. All he could come up with was ramen noodles, and some cheese that had dried up a little around the edges. Ghost came in, making a face, when he looked at the food, as Steve was dishing it up.

“That’s it?”

“Yep, eat it or not, your choice. We really need to go get some groceries, and soon,” Steve said.

“At the big store?” Ghost asked.

“Yeah, the big store,” Steve said.

“Let’s go today, and we can check if our book is ready to pick up. Oh, something else we need to do is get the money for Kinsey and Terry to take their surprise vacation on, too,” Ghost said. He had to stop talking to shovel in some noodles.

“Well, guess we could,” Steve said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the book is ready,” Ghost said. “Do we have any crackers?” He got up to look in the cabinet.

“Oh, crap…I just remembered…I forgot to turn my phone back on,” Steve said. He went into the living room to get it. “Kinsey said he’d called, but we didn’t know.” As he did turn it on, he saw they’d gotten several voice mails. “Hey, look at this…the printer called. The book is ready,” he said, listening to the message.

“Told ya,” Ghost said, and smiled.

“Why do we even have this thing? You’re a wireless communicator all on your own,” Steve said. He listened to the voice mail that Kinsey had left. “Hey, it says Trevor wants to talk to you, and to see him at the club whenever you can.”

“Maybe later. I don’t want to talk about that stuff, and especially not today, ’cause we’re going to the store.”

Steve shrugged, “Ok, we’ll go to Raleigh as soon as you get ready.”

They finished eating, and left soon after.

~

On the thirty mile drive, they discussed the CD they were in the middle of recording. “We have to decide for sure what songs we want on there, you know…what order, what cover art, any pictures…well, a lot of stuff…oh, and actually singing the songs. It’s gonna take awhile,” Steve said.

“Guess we’ll be pretty busy, then. I kinda wanted to sing them for people first, though. I miss our shows, and it’s been so long,” Ghost said.

“I know, but if we have the CDs ready, then people can buy them at the gig,” Steve said.

“And the book, too,” Ghost said.

“Yeah, that’s the plan.”

Ghost leaned his head back on the headrest, “Steve, do you think we’ll ever be famous?”

“Huh? I thought we already were…at least in Missing Mile,” Steve laughed.

“I know, but anywhere else?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think of stuff like that,” Steve said. “I just do my music because I love it. It’s not for money or fame. I’d do it on the street corner, if I wanted to…and I don’t care if people like it or not, it makes me happy,” he glanced over at Ghost. “Is that what you want? You want to be famous…a big star?”

“Not really, but it would be pretty cool, though,” Ghost said. “Anyway, it don’t really matter, ’cause I sing all the time…’cause I have to, ya know. It’s just something I have to do.”

Steve nodded, “Yeah, and you want everyone to hear you, and like you, and be the center of attention…and with your voice and personality, you do deserve to be heard by millions,” he said.

“Well, yeah, I do like all that, but just me and you at the Yew is what I like best.”

“Me, too…we’ll do it again pretty soon…I’m sure we will.”

Ghost was done talking about it, and he watched the passing scenery go by for awhile, and made up a little song about it. Then, he had another idea.

“Hey, when do you get that cast off, anyway?”

“”Maybe another week or so, I guess. My appointment is in a few days, so maybe they’ll cut it off then. I really am tired of it.”

“Do you want to stop by the hospital, while we’re in town? Maybe they’ll cut it off already,” Ghost asked.

“Well, it is a few days early, but guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask. After we do our other business, we’ll go by, and see what they say,” Steve said.

~

They pulled into the parking lot at the printer’s shop. As they went in, the clerk looked up. He remembered them. “Hi, we have your order ready. Let me call back to the stockroom.”

Steve was on guard for any inappropriate remarks. After the last time, when they placed the order, he didn’t want a repeat.

“They’ll bring your books right up,” the clerk said. “Uh…listen guys…I want to apologize again, for how I acted last time.”

Steve nodded, but didn’t speak.

“Okay, then…there are four boxes. You should take one to check if it’s to your liking.” He glanced over at Ghost, who was looking at pictures of old printing presses, that hung on the wall. “I looked through the sample copy. You’ve got a real interesting book, and I hope you sell a lot,” he said.

Ghost turned and stared at the clerk. “Thank you, but you don’t have to say that. You think it’s the scariest thing you’ve ever seen. You’re scared of us, and you’re thinking you want us out of here as soon as possible, and never come back.”

Steve smiled, hearing that.

“No, no…” the clerk protested. “I really like the book, and y’all can come back any time.”

“Liar,” Ghost said. “Just give us the books, and we’ll leave.” He turned away, staring out the windows.

The clerk frowned. “Excuse me, then…” He went to the back room.

“I don’t like him,” said Ghost.

“I don’t, either,” Steve said, “but, we don’t need to start something…even though I’d like to bash his smug face in.”

Ghost snickered. “Me, too.”

The clerk came back, followed by a workman pushing a dolly. There were four pretty big boxes on it. Handing Ghost a copy, the clerk said, “Look it over. I think it will meet with your approval.” He was all business, now. “I have to say that,” he continued, “but, I really do like your book. It’s really interesting, and I’d be honored if I could be the first to buy one.” He was actually looking hopeful.

Ghost and Steve were looking through the book. Ghost was smiling, now. “It’s a real book, Steve.”

“Yeah, turned out better than I thought,” Steve agreed. “Ya want to sell him one?”

“I guess, but I thought you wanted to wait until we had a show, and sell the CD, too,” Ghost said.

“Oh, well…it wouldn’t hurt to spread the word early, here in Raleigh. Lots of the college kids come out to the club, and this would keep us in their mind for later. If this guy really does like it, he’ll show it to his friends,” Steve said.

“If he has any,” Ghost said.

“I know, but if he really wants one, why not?” Steve said.

“Okay, guess so,” Ghost said, “but I still don’t like him.” He looked over at the clerk. “Ya really want one?”

“Yes, I sure do. Me and some friends got interested in stuff like this, when we started watching those TV shows, you know, where they go hunting for ghosts in haunted places. I can show them this book, and tell them I met y’all, and y’all are real ghost hunters…right here.”

“Fine, then, you can buy the first one. We’re saving the rest for when our CD comes out, and we’ll be selling those too…at the Yew, over in Missing Mile, when we do our show,” Steve said.

“Y’all are in a band, too?” the clerk asked.

“Not in a band, we are the band,” Steve said.

“This gets better and better,” the clerk said. “Let me know when it is, and if you have flyers, I’ll put them up around here…hell, I’ll print them up, if you want…no charge.”

“Yeah, thanks, we’ll be sure to do that,” Steve said.

The clerk took one of the books out of a box. “How much do I owe you?”

Steve looked at Ghost. They hadn’t even thought about how much to charge.

“It’s a real nice book,” Ghost said. “How about…” he looked over at Steve for help.

Steve picked an amount off the top of his head, “Yeah, I think $25.00 ought to do it…but for you, I think we’ll give you first buyers discount, and only charge you twenty. Sound good?”

“Perfect, thanks,” the clerk said, “and listen…I’m really sorry I was so rude the other time. I really like you guys. My boss was giving me grief all that week for being unprofessional, but I’m new to this kind of job, so guess I went too far, when y’all came in. Anyway, sorry…and here’s the twenty,” he said.

“Sure, no problem. I think we’re kinda getting to like you too, dude,” Steve said.

The clerk smiled. “Come back in when you get the dates and all for the flyers.”

“We will. Ya ready, Ghost?”

“Uh-huh, but how are we gonna get all these in the car?” Ghost asked.

“We’ll shove them in any way we can,” Steve said.

The clerk helped trundle the load of boxes out to the car. After loading them, Ghost and Steve got in, and drove over to the bank for their other business in town. On the way over, Ghost kept admiring their book. “It’s a real book, Steve, and we did it all ourselves,” he clutched it to his chest. “It turned out so good, and the pictures, and my writing like I wanted. It’s so cool, don’t ya think so?”

“Yeah, we did good, Ghost,” Steve said, as they both savored the feeling.

***

***

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.