The Dead Are Online

Eugene Ramsey had been one of the last to give up his disbelief. Even when the President did his State of the Union, declaring there was definitely life after death, Eugene's response was that he had voted for the wrong guy. "Has the world gone mad?"

His fiancé gave him a dirty look, piercing him with the brown eyes he used to find attractive.

Anna believed. She had been one of the first to get a message from the Great Beyond. Although she hadn’t become a believer right then. She had thought she was losing her mind.

Eugene learned about Anna’s message weeks later when other people started getting messages.

One day, last May, they had been watching TV.

Eugene had laughed at the fools talking about their messages from the dead. Anna gave him a look of wrath; then told him she was one of them. He thought she was joking at first. Then he wished she was joking. Then they had a huge fight, because she "didn't like his tone."

Was it really condescending to say,"I believe that you believe it, Sweetheart. But that doesn't mean it's reality"?

"No, I don't think you're crazy. I just think maybe you're tired, and maybe you misinterpreted what you saw."

He finally relented and said, "Maybe it's true. I don't have proof that it's not. So if you believe it, that's fine. We'll say it's true. We'll leave it at that."

But no. That wasn’t enough for Anna. She wanted him to believe as fervently as she did. She could be an annoying bitch at times.

He still loved her, though.

If only she wasn't so damn pig-headed.

Well, it was all a moot point anyway. He now believed as much as she did. It had been hard not too once the OS's (OtherSiders) and EB's (EarthBounders) started using Skype and FaceTime.

One day, he had been sitting there typing out a review of a new Filipino restaurant. He got a Skype call and was suddenly face to face with a ten-year-old. Not just any ten-year-old. Sebastian King. The kid on his street who had fallen off a balcony while doing not-allowed gymnastics.

Sebastian had been a brat. But when he died, he was spoken of as if a perfect angel. Such is the way of mourners.

On their first computer chat, Sebastian had said,"Hi, Eugene. Long time no see. Hey, your girl is right. You're wrong. Get over it. Apologize.”

Then he disappeared.

Eugene had just sat there staring at the screen. Then Sebastian returned. "Hey. One more thing. It's fine to pick your nose. But it's not okay to not wash the booger off your hands before making dinner."

Sebastian disappeared before Eugene could defend himself. That was okay, though, because he hadn’t really been sure how to defend himself.

Eugene thought he should be happy that there was no end. Death wasn't the end! Life goes on! The heart does go on! Celine Dion was right all along!

But Eugene hadn't been happy after his visit with Sebastian. He was annoyed that his fiancé had won this battle. He'd have to admit he was wrong. He’d likely have to grovel. No, wrong. He'd definitely have to grovel. And every time he was in doubt of something, Anna would remind him of all of this.

On top of that, now he would have to be paranoid. Did Sebastian watch him all the time? Were there other ghosts with him? Did he have any privacy? Was he ever really alone?

***

On his way to Shake Shack, Eugene passed a woman with a table set up, selling her wares. Herbal crap.

Keep the Dead away! Restore your privacy!

The stuff didn’t work. Eugene knew that for a fact. Desperate, he had tried it out last week. He hadn’t told Anna. Though she was quick to believe in the afterlife, she was skeptical when it came to any type of alternative medicine.

He made tea with the stuff which was a bit of a mess. He didn’t usually drink tea; and the few times he had, he used tea bags.

He had gone online for loose tea instructions.

It might have been easier with a strainer. Although some websites said they were unnecessary.

The drink actually tasted fairly decent. He had expected to react like a character in a movie after drinking a hangover cure—spitting it out dramatically.

But no. The tea had a nice taste— kind of like red bean with a hint of chocolate.

There had been little chunks of herb that got stuck between his teeth. That was a bit annoying.

What was much more annoying? Sebastian re-appeared while Eugene was writing an article about city pigeons and whether they too had an after-life.

"They do," Sebastian had said.

Eugene glared at him.

"And those herbs don't work. Sorry."

Eugene refused to give up hope so easily. Maybe it took time. He had drunk the tea only an hour ago.

But no. He learned through the week and seven more cups of tea. It really didn't work.

He was stuck with the annoying ten-year-old. The one who wore an Iron Man t-shirt. Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man.

Once Eugene had asked him about that. "Shouldn't you be wearing clothes from the 80’s?"

"I died in 1990," Sebastian replied, looking hurt and annoyed that Eugene didn't remember that.

"Yes. Whatever. But it's not like 80’s fashion immediately changed once 1990 arrived."

"I can wear what I want," Sebastian said; then with a look of disgust: "You're in no position to give fashion advice."

Eugene woke up from the memory of the annoying conversation to see a teenager buying the herbal remedy. He knew he should mind his own business. Yet he couldn’t. "It doesn't work," he said.

"It works for me," she replied. Defensive. She reminded him of Anna.

"Fine," he said. It was no use fighting with her about it.

The woman selling the herbs jumped in. "It works for most people. I have people coming here all the time to thank me."

Yeah. Whatever. "Okay," he said.

"Do you still feel haunted?"

"I AM haunted."

She nodded with a theatrical level of concern. "I see."

He took a step in the direction of Madison Square Park. Bye bye Tea. Hello Black and White Shake.

And a Shackburger. Of course.

Maybe fries as well.

The Herb-Lady loudly sighed.

"What?" he said.

"It's probably a very powerful spirit."

"And…." He waited.

"You might need something a little stronger than the usual tea."

He decided to be polite and skip the eye-rolling. He really wasn’t in the mood for this. And he had a feeling Sebastian was with him at the moment. Watching. He'd probably tease him later about the whole thing, so it was best to make it a short scene. Give Sebastian less material to work with.

"I'll think about it," Eugene said;. then he continued on with his journey to Shake Shack.

***

Eugene should have been writing but instead he lay on the couch watching Ugly Betty on Netflix. He had gas and lying in this position made him feel better. Mainly because it made him fart, and he needed that right now.

He let out a really loud one and figured he'd be hearing about it from Sebastian in the near future.

Eugene tried to put his mind back on the show. He wondered how Clare Meade would have reacted to a deceased Bradford Meade talking to her on FaceTime. And how would things have changed for Betty if she could chat with her dead mom?

Would TV shows start including deceased characters? What about The Walking Dead? Where were the souls of the zombies? Were they off in OS land while their bodies roamed the earth? Or did you have to lose your zombie life before gaining entry into the afterlife?

Eugene heard noises from the bedroom. They upstaged the performance coming out of his ass.

Laughing.

Two voices.

Anna and someone he didn’t recognize.

Eugene hoped it was someone alive.

He paused Betty, Amanda, and Mark.

He listened

A woman’s voice.

He didn’t recognize it.

Maybe it was a cousin. A living one.

Maybe an old college friend?

"Eugene, you have to come in here!" Anna called out. I want you to meet someone.

"I'm busy," he called back. He hated being rude like this. Especially since Sebastian was sure to criticize him about it later.

"Eugene, come here"!

He stretched, sat up; then stood up.

As he stood, he farted again. Loudly. He hoped it was the last. He wasn’t interested in farting in front of Anna’s friend. Dead or alive. He wasn’t even really comfortable farting in front of Anna yet. Maybe that level of familiarity came after the wedding?

He walked in the room and peered at the screen. A beautiful woman with black hair stared back at him. She looked like an actress—the kind who'd be on some type of cult TV show; the kind who'd sign photographs at a ComicCon.

"Hi! You must be Eugene!" She was bubbly and flirtatious. Intimidating. Maybe condescending. She made him feel twelve-years-old.

"This is Melinda," Anna said. Then the two women giggled.

Great.

Eugene's ass wanted to join in the party. He squirmed, trying to keep it quiet.

Melinda winked at him. What did that mean?

Could she tell he was trying to hold in his fart?

And he still didn’t know. Was she dead or alive? How did you ask that politely?

"So…uh…how do you guys know each other?"

"She dated my brother in college." Oh. Okay. She was alive. This was all totally normal.

Two old friends reminiscing.

"But I was a mess back then," Melinda said; then laughed.

"She was a total mess," Anna giggled.

What was with this giggling? He had never seen Anna act so childish before. It was like she had suddenly regressed.

Melinda looked serious for a second. Then she batted her long eyelashes. "I was majorly depressed."

"Sorry," he said.

She and Anna burst into more giggling.

"This is fantastic," Anna said. "I love the new you."

"I love the new me too!" Melinda glowed with her self-love." She jumped up and down and clapped. "You should join me! It's awesome here."

Here? Where was here?

Anna laughed. "I totally should. But not today." More giggling. I'm such a klutz when I cross the street, though. It could be any day now."

Melinda laughed. Then stopped. "Oh, Eugene. Don't worry. We're just joking. Relax."

He farted; a quiet one, fortunately. Did they hear it?

"Ha," he said. Melinda was an OS. Right? Did he get that right? It gave him the creeps that his wife was having so much fun with one of them. Like this ghost was a normal, everyday living person.

He didn’t like himself for feeling this way. Why did he have to be such a tight ass? He should be more open-minded. Was he being any different than a racist or homophobe?

"Eugene," Melinda said. "I want Anna to visit my brother. He lives on Staten Island. They haven't seen each other in years."

"Fine," Eugene said.

"You're okay with it even though they used to be madly in love?"

Eugene wasn’t sure how to reply to that.

"You're awesome," Melinda said. "Very cool."

"Well, he doesn't know you're trying to get us back together."

"You guys were so wonderful together!" Melinda said. "I think he's still totally in love with you."

How was he supposed to react to all of this? Cool? Jealous? Very jealous? Should he yell? Make threats? Beg? Shrug his shoulders and give Anna his blessing?

Was he jealous?

Maybe.

He wasn’t sure.

He did know that he was annoyed and uncomfortable (gas-wise) And he was also tired of the giggling.

***

Eugene lay in bed. Alone.

Anna was still talking to her dead friend. She had been kind enough to take her laptop into the living room area, so he could have the bedroom.

Eugene had always thought that lovers were supposed to go to bed together. Sex. Yes. There was that. But also just togetherness.

Anna almost always stayed up later than him. On rare nights that he stayed up later than usual, she went to bed even later than (her) usual. It was like she was allergic to going to bed with someone at the same time.

Or maybe it wasn’t every someone.

Maybe it was just him specifically.

***

He slept and had a weird dream. Maybe a fun one.

But then he woke up and couldn’t remember what it was.

Anne came into the room.

Eugene sat up and looked at the clock. 1:30. She had to get up at 6:30 for work.

"You need more sleep," he said.

"Yeah," she said.. After a pause she added. "I'll be alright."

"Sleep’s important," he said. "I wrote an article about it once."

"Yes, you've told me." She climbed into bed. "I'll catch up on sleep tomorrow. It's not a big deal."

"Okay," He shouldn't get into a big discussion about it. Then she'd lose even more sleep. He closed his eyes and waited to get back to sleep.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"After work, I'm going to meet with Kevin."

Who the hell was Kevin? Was he supposed to know that name?

"Melinda's brother," she answered without him even vocalizing the question.

"Oh." Was he okay with this? He didn’t think he was especially jealous. Maybe just annoyed. It was bad enough that she spent all evening talking to a dead girl. Now she had to hang out with the brother?

"You're fine with that? Right?"

"Fine."

"Good. Because I hate controlling, jealous men."

Now she was being an unreasonable bitch. He was suddenly less interested in sleeping and more interested in fighting. "So you'd be okay with me going out with an ex-girlfriend?"

"Totally," Anna said without hesitation.

"Really?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I trust you."

He laughed. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe he had caught Anna's giggling bug from before.

"Go out with an ex. It's fine. I won't mind."

He had two significant exes. One was lost somewhere in the world, and he had no contact with her. The other was his Facebook friend and annoyed Eugene with overly frequent updates about her pet rat. Plus, she lived in Utah.

Would Eugene have to invest in a plane ticket out west just to prove Anna was wrong about her lack of jealousy?

And he, himself, wasn’t even really jealous. He didn’t feel threatened. He just felt that Anna was being rude…bitchy. Disrespectful.

Fiancés weren’t supposed to announce they’re going out with an ex and then declare jealousy’s not allowed.

He decided to take the route of pretending to be asleep. He hoped she'd play along. She did for about five minutes. Then she broke the silence. "You don't have to worry, Eugene." She spoke in a gossipy whisper.

"Why's that?" he asked.

Again, the gossipy whisper. "He's gotten fat. Really fat."

How would she know that?

Again, she answered an unvocalized question. "He's my Facebook friend. I've seen photos." She laughed.

Eugene knew she wanted him to feel relieved and laugh along with her. But it made him angry. Why did she have to be such a bitch about this? "So the guy’s gained some weight. It happens sometimes."

"Sure," she said. "I'm not judging him."

"You laughed at him."

"No…."

"You did."

"Whatever. Forget I said anything. I'm just saying you don't have to worry about me dumping him for you."

"Because he's fat?"

"I didn't say that."

"What if I get fat? Are you going to leave me?"

"No," she said. "But it wouldn't hurt to watch what you eat a little bit."

“Thanks for the advice,” he said. Deadpan. Then he switched to exaggerated gratitude. “You’re so kind and helpful. My Darling.”

"I'm going to sleep," she said. "As you say. It's important for my health.

"Fine," he said.. And he actually felt guilty for keeping her up. Even though it was really her fault for bringing up the whole jealousy subject. Plus, why did she have to go to bed so late in the first place?

***

He tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t

He realized he had to pee.

He got up to do that; the light stinging his eyes.

Afterward, he considered keeping the toilet seat up. Anna hated when men did that, probably as much as she hated jealous and controlling men. It would be a good act of defiance.

He left the seat up.

He washed and dried his hands. He started to turn the knob.

Then he stopped and put the toilet seat down.

He opened the door and found Anna standing there. Their relationship was on the rocks, but at least their bladders were in sync.

He let her have the bathroom and went back to bed. He thought of something and decided to bring it up when she came back. Even if it kept them up even longer.

"How’s Melinda going to feel about you laughing at her brother?" he asked

"What? How would she know?"

"She could be watching. She could be here right now."

"No, she's not. She's an OS."

How dumb was she?

"Yes, she's an OS. She's a ghost. She can watch everything you do."

"Like your Sebastian?" He hated how she said “your Sebastian”. He didn’t want Sebastian to be his.

"Yes," he said after a moment.

"Sebastian’s not an OS. He's an EB. Earth Bound. They're the ones who hang out here and spy on us.

“Melinda’s on the Other Side. She's not with us. She can only see us or communicate with us via a computer. If I close the laptop, she can't get through”.

Why hadn't he known this? Eugene felt stupid.

It turned out Anna agreed with Eugene's self-assessment. "How could you not know that? I thought that's what you did all day. Research."

"Whatever," he said in his pouty voice. He hated when that voice slipped out.

“Be that way," Anna said. "I'm used to it."

Eugene decided whoever advised people not to go to bed angry lived in la- la land.

Plus. Really. What did it matter anymore if one of them should die?

Continue to Chapter Two

Go to Table of Contents

The Ghost Characters (Boo!)

The Living Characters

Note: In the first eight chapters, a living character from each chapter is somehow connected to a living character in the preceding chapter.

Characters By Geography:

Note: Character images may change if/when I get better results on NightCafe

Dedication

To: The Unseen. Past, Present, and Future

Continue to: A note about the time period.

Epilogue

It was hot in Manhattan, even for August.

Eugene carried food from Shake Shack that he couldn’t really afford. But he was treating himself anyway, because he had been good lately.

He was watching his money carefully. He was writing a lot, and he had even gotten himself a second job at a comic book store.

He actually had Sebastian to thank for that. Sebastian's parents knew someone who knew someone and…well, there you go.

He entered his building; greeted the doorman; then took the elevator up.

He unlocked the door and saw Anna sitting there on the couch. She was surrounded by papers and had his laptop in her lap.

"Hi!" she said, very casually.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "And what are you doing?"

"Reading everything you've ever written," she said."Fascinating stuff."

He laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Very," she said. "But I'm going to take a break. And you're going to share all that food with me." She took the papers and put them neatly in a pile. Then she gently placed them on the coffee table next to the Titanic book.

He sat down next to her.

She took the Jelly Donut Frozen Custard from him and started drinking.

"Save some for me," he said.

"We'll see," she said.

***

Dennis sat on his couch between two little girls—his granddaughter Kayla and her little Australian friend Mia.

The three of them each had a laptop. They played Minecraft.

Dennis built a tower of cobblestone in his world.

Kayla fought zombies with a sword made of stone.

Mia sheared a flock of multi-colored sheep.

In the other room, his daughter was drinking tea while chatting with Mia's mother.

"Grandpa, look! Look!"

Dennis looked over at Kayla's screen. Another zombie slayed.

Kayla picked up the zombie flesh.

"Look at mine!" Mia said.. The two had been competing for his attention the last hour. It was a miracle he's got any of his own work done. And he had only a little bit of time left before the meeting.

"When are your friends getting here?" Kayla asked.

"Soon," he said.

"One of my friends has gone away," Kayla said sadly. "My daddy too. They're gone now. To the Other Side. I can still talk to them, but it's not the same. My mommy says I shouldn't talk to you about that, but—"

"It's fine," Dennis said. And it sort of was."

"My Daddy's in Australia," Mia said.

"That's not as far away as the Other Side," Kayla said.

"It's pretty damn far," Mia said.

The doorbell rang.

"Is that your friends?" Kayla asked.

"I think so," Dennis said. "Remember when they're here, you're to play in your mom's old room. Or go outside."

"I know," Kayla said. "It's your grown-up meeting."

"Yes," Dennis said. He stood up and put his laptop on the table.

He went to the door and opened it.

"Hi!" He said to his five friends.

"Your hair is purple," Mia said to one of them.

Rachel laughed. "So it is," she said. "You're very observant."

"That's a bit sarcastic," Mia replied. "Come on, Kayla. Let's go play."

Dennis and Rachel laughed as the kids left the room.

***

Zoe sat in her apartment eating s'mores with a fantastic crowd.

Arthur and Bernard.

Taylor and Jesse.

Jessica and Frankie.

Her mother and her father.

Mickey and her old pediatrician.

Sarah Jessica Parker and that guy who used to do the voice of Elmo.

They all roasted marshmallows in a fire in the center of the room.

"Let's eat something healthy too," Taylor said.

"Sure!" Zoe got up and went to the refrigerator.

She opened the produce bin and found the raspberries she had bought for the party. They were covered in mold.

She turned around and saw Keith standing right behind her. He looked at her with sadness.

She burst into tears.

He kissed her on the chin; then on each cheek.

He kissed her on the forehead and then gently on the lips. "I love you," he said.

"I'm scared," she said.

She looked out to the living room. Everyone else was gone. It was just the two of them now.

"I was wondering if you want to go on a walk," he said, almost shyly. "Maybe we can have a picnic."

"Yes," she said, wiping away her tears. "But maybe later. I'm going to wake up now. I need to visit Taylor."

"Okay," he said quietly.

Before waking up, she gave him one passionate kiss. "I'll see you tonight," she said.

She opened her eyes and found herself in her bedroom. The sun was shining through the blinds.

The End

Go Back to Chapter 53

Other Things

About the author

Chapter 53

ZOE sat in the hospital waiting room. She looked around and saw that everyone else had been turned into ivory statues.

The door opened and Keith stepped inside.

She stood to greet him.

He took her hand. "I need you to wake up."

She nodded.

"You and Arthur need to get to the hospital."

She opened her eyes and climbed out of bed.

She went into the living room and stepped over Jessica and Frankie.

Jessica opened her eyes, groaning a bit.

Zoe put her finger to her lips. "Sssshhh. Go back to sleep."

Arthur opened his eyes.

"We need to get to the hospital," she told him.

***

They left the college kids in the apartment with the uneaten bags and boxes of goodies.

Zoe drove to the hospital with Arthur.

Her phone rang.

"Get that please," she said to Arthur.

She expected it to be Keith, but it was Jesse. They talked to him via FaceTime. He was a mess; seemed close to catatonic himself.

"There's been no change," he said. "And they won't let me talk to her." He started to cry.

"It's going to be okay," Zoe said, but she worried it wouldn't be.

Arthur's phone made a noise. He looked at it.

"Bernard," he said. "He just bought plane tickets." His voice cracked with emotion.

"He's a good guy," Zoe said.

Arthur nodded.

***

When they got to the hospital, they went to the ICU.

Their mother was waiting for them. She didn’t look scared or devastated. She looked happy and triumphant.

"Mom?" Zoe said.

"Hi, Zoe," She didn’t even look at Arthur as if she was pretending he wasn’t there.

"Hi mom." He tried.

She continued to ignore him. "I just wanted to give you a chance to say good-bye to your father." She laughed. "Well, good-bye to your father the way he is now."

Zoe's heart pounded. Oh shit. She and Arthur looked at each other.

"He's dead?"

"Not yet," Jennifer said. "Not officially. But we're going to…well, there's no point in letting this go on."

Oh no. How was she going to tell her mother?

Arthur started the process, which probably wasn't the best choice. "He can't die," he said.

"Shut up," their mother said to him. "I don't want to hear from you."

"You're going to have to hear it from somebody," Zoe said. She then told her mother about the Arcide. She told her mother that their father could never die or the world as they knew it would be destroyed. She told her mother that yes, their father was going to have to live in this limbo state.

How long?

As long as it was possible.

When she finished the whole explanation, her mother slapped her hard across the face. "It's not fair," she said quietly.

Then she started screaming. "It's not fair! It's not fair!" She clawed at her own face, drawing blood.

Zoe watched helplessly.

Arthur took her hand.

She squeezed his.

"Get out of here," their mother hissed. "Both of you."

Continue to Epilogue

Go back to Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter 52

JENNIFER sat in the waiting room, waiting.

Because that's what you were supposed to do in a waiting room.

The room WAS packed with other people waiting. Crying. Pacing. Shaking.

A doctor came in and asked one of the waiting to come with him.

She left, and from the hall, Jennifer heard a devastating scream.

Zoe walked in.

Jennifer met her eyes but didn’t say anything.

"Arthur's downstairs with Taylor," Zoe said.

Really. She never wanted to hear those names again.

"Taylor's a mess," Zoe said.

"His heart stopped in the ambulance," Jennifer said. "He died."

Zoe looked terrified. Good. At least she cared. They had one decent daughter. "But he's okay now?"

"No," Jennifer said. "He's in surgery. The doctor's don't know if they can save him. He might have severe brain damage."

"But he's alive," Zoe said.

"He's alive," Jennifer said; then realized it didn’t matter all that much. And with that thought, she felt a small bit of relief.

It was going to be okay.

***

ARTHUR sat in the waiting room of the psychiatric floor.

Emergency had sent them up there after a brief physical examination.

Taylor's examination showed no sign of strangulation.

His phone vibrated in his hand.

He looked.

It was Bernard.

He couldn’t answer. He wasn’t ready to tell his husband that he might have killed his own father.

"Hi."

Arthur looked up and saw Zoe.

She sat down next to him and took his hand.

He broke down, weeping.

She rested her head against his arm.

After some time, he pulled himself together.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I thought he was trying to kill her."

Zoe sighed. "It might have been the opposite."

He shook his head. "She wouldn't."

"It's all over his body. She stabbed him with the scissors. And there were bite marks." Zoe wiped away a tear. "He was trying to protect himself."

Arthur started crying again. "I don't get it. What is it? Schizophrenia? I thought she just had an eating disorder. And she was getting better."

Zoe shook her head. "No, she's not mentally ill. You know that stuff Grandma Cornelia was talking about? The Arcide?" And then Zoe told him everything. It was just as she got to the end of the story that the police officer arrived.

"Arthur Jenson."

"That's me," he said quietly.

"You need to come with us," she said, rather gently for the circumstances. "We have some questions for you."

***

JENNIFER hardly felt any sorrow when the doctor called her into the hallway.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"He's dead?"

"No. But there's little hope of recovery. There was too much bleeding. His brain. We did what we could. But the blunt trauma…."

She started giggling. It was all so silly and ironic. The other day. Phillip had complained about romantic relationships between the living and dead. She doubted he'd complain now.

"Mrs. Jenson? Are you okay?"

He didn’t seem too shocked by the giggling. Jennifer realized he had probably become used to this type of reaction. There wasn’t much reason to cry these days.

It was all going to be okay.

***

Zoe didn’t recognize the crying girl, with the boy, who headed towards her. But she knew who they were.

She stood up and hugged Jessica. Then she started crying too.

"Jesse's with her," Frankie said. "I mean he's with Taylor."

Jessica sniffled. "He'll watch out for her." "

Keith is here too," she said, wishing she could actually feel his presence.

***

The police station was crowded with people who looked terrified and depressed.

The officer, who brought Arthur in, asked him to sit on a bench.

He squeezed in between a crying woman and a teenager nervously biting her nails.

He waited and waited.

It seemed like forever before he was called into a room. An interrogation room.

He expected to be bombarded with angry questions. Accused.

It was nothing like that. The police officer seemed actually sympathetic. The good cop.

But then where was the bad cop?

Maybe he would come later.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I heard screaming. I came into the room. And I thought my dad was attacking my sister. I tried to get him to stop. Then I hit him over the head."

The police officer sighed. "That stopped him."

Arthur nodded; then started crying.

The police officer reached behind her and grabbed a box of Kleenex. She handed it to Arthur.

He took a tissue and wiped his nose.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I guess you'll have to arrest me."

"Not exactly," she said. She sighed again. "Look. It's all a mess. We're completely swamped. Your family is one of many that…well, we've never seen anything like it. It's like the world has gone to hell."

Arthur looked down at his trembling hands.

"How's your sister?"

"She's catatonic," he said.

"I'm sorry." She looked at him a moment; then said, "Okay. So, you're free to go. But I'm going to have to ask you to stay in town…at least for a while. We're going to have further questions. Eventually."

"Okay," he said.

Continue to Chapter Fifty-Three

Go Back to Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter 51

JESSICA glimpsed something in the rearview mirror and screamed.

"What's wrong?" Jesse and Frankie asked at the same time.

She turned around and faced her cousin in the back seat. "I can see you!"

Frankie turned around and saw too.

They went through a red light and almost hit a truck. All three of them screamed.

***

CHRISTINA finished up on the toilet, flushed and then washed her hands.

When she turned off the water, she heard three voices: Kayla, Albert, and Lenora. It made no sense, because only one at a time could appear on their iPad.

Unless…. Maybe one of them was on the phone?

Why was Kayla using FaceTime to talk to them anyway?

She didn’t do that unless Christina was there. Why should she? She could see and hear them without any devices.

Christina walked out of the bathroom and gasped.

Her husband was right there, racing with Lenora. Kayla cheered them on. "Go Daddy!"

"What about me?" Lenora said.

"Go Lenora," Christina whispered.

Lenora stopped "You can see me?" She didn’t sound all that amazed.

Christina nodded.

Albert stopped. "You can see us?"

Christina nodded again. Their eyes met..

"Yay!" Kayla said. "Now you're not left out anymore!"

Albert walked over to her.

She reached out to touch him. Her arms went right through him.

"You can't touch him!" Kayla laughed.

"Sorry!" Christina said. "I'm new to all of this."

"I can't believe it!" Arthur said. Then he looked at her with so much love. And it wasn’t as if this was their big reunion. That had happened months ago. They'd been together every day since then. Truth be told, she had probably spent more time with him these past few weeks than she did when he was alive. But there was something different about seeing him in front of her without the help of a video screen.

"Do you want to race with us?" Lenora asked, as if nothing here was really that big of a deal. Then she made a face of disgust.

Albert and Kayla did the same.

"Do you smell it, Mommy?" Kayla asked.

Her heart thumped against her chest. But no. She couldn’t smell it. She saw it, though. And they were right; it looked a little like Alfred E. Newman. It grinned wildly, and it floated towards them.

Kayla screamed.

Christina reached out to her daughter and pulled her close. She tried to grab Lenora, forgetting that she couldn’t. She felt the nothingness.

Then another dark thing appears. This one didn’t look like Alfred E Newman.

Lenora and Kayla screamed as more and more of these figures appeared out of nowhere.

"Run!" Albert said.

She grabbed Kayla's hand; then shouted out to Lenora. "Come on!"

She opened the door to their house and ran outside with Kayla.

Albert and Lenora followed.

So did the dark things. The Arcide. They surrounded Lenora, swirling round and around her.

Kayla screamed and Christina joined in.

"Help me!" Lenora said. Blood gushed out of her nose. Then she opened her mouth to scream and blood poured out. It ran down her chin. Christina tried to shield Kayla's eyes.

Then she watched helplessly as Albert ran right into the mass of darkness. He grabbed Lenora. "Come on," he shouted. "We have to go!"

Then, without a good-bye, the two of them disappeared.

"Daddy?" Kayla whimpered.

***

Eugene sat on the couch writing an article about chimpanzee intelligence.

He saw something in his peripheral vision.

He looked up and saw a monster. It was dark and ugly—a slimy smoky phantom thing.

The memory of Cornelia O'Keefe's voice echoed in his head. The Arcide.

Fucking shit.

And he had no doubts that this was what he was seeing.

It came closer and closer.

He wanted to run, but instead he sat there.

When it was right at the edge of the couch, it whispered in a language Eugene didn’t know, a language he had never heard before. But still. He understands what it was saying.

"Come and join us." The dark thing rose up and then dived into his abdomen.

He had this fantasy then.

Anna is in the shower. He enters without knocking, holding a knife. She smiles at him with that nasty, bitchy, fake smile, and he stabs her. She screams. He keeps stabbing. He watches her blood swish down the drain. It's all so wonderful.

Then it was not.

Eugene saw the dark thing swim out of his stomach. It swirled around; then exploded into nothingness. The room was clear.

Eugene tried to forget the stuff about the shower. That wasn't me, he told himself.

He tried to get back to writing about chimpanzees. His hands were shaking too much.

He couldn’t type.

Continue to Chapter Fifty-Two

Go Back to Chapter Fifty

Chapter 50

JESSICA and Jesse sang as she packed her small suitcase.

Dancing Queen

Neither of them knew the lyrics.

They were being completely silly.

As she closed her suitcase, Jesse stopped singing and asked, "Is it crazy for me to be dating a living girl?"

"As crazy as me being in love with my gay best friend." Best friend. She threw the words around in her head. Could they really be best friends? Their friendship really didn't begin until a few weeks ago. But now they spent almost all their free time together. It was almost like they were married.

She sighed.

"You'll find someone one day," Jesse said.

"Yeah," she said with a small smile. But actually she didn’t care. For now, she was happy with the way things were.

She was also happy for Taylor and Jesse. Her favorite uncle and her favorite roommate dating each other. It was really weird, but fuck it. So was life in general.

She was really excited about going back to Atlanta. It was going to be great to be with Taylor, Frankie, and Jesse. Then on top of that…well, okay, she was kind of excited to be doing a sleepover with Bernard Kennedy's husband.

She was tempted to do a vague-post on Twitter about it.

But A) she didn’t really do Twitter much and B) it would be cheesy.

Maybe though...maybe Arthur would FaceTime Bernard while they were all there. How awesome would that be?

Okay, but most of all, it wasn’t the celebrity thing. Jessica was homesick. She had been homesick for a long time. She was tired of sleeping alone in the apartment. A good old-fashioned American sleepover sounded fantastic.

Hey! Maybe they could make s'mores! That would be super American.

***

ZOE read Little Blue and Little Yellow to the kids.

Then little Jonathan farted. Loudly.

Carla, who sat next to him, started giggling.

Jonathan just sat there, trying to pretend it didn't happen.

To Zoe's horror, she started laughing.

The kids stared at her. Some giggled...maybe because they had heard the fart too.

Or maybe it was just funny for them to see their teacher laughing.

She took a deep breath and tried to go back to reading.

She couldn’t. She kept laughing.

Finally she managed to say. "Enough reading! Let's go play."

She hoped that the kids wouldn’t tell their parents; though she couldn’t imagine a universe where that wouldn’t happen.

***

JENNIFER read an email from her husband.

He had gone out...somewhere. This morning.

Since the kids are gone tonight, I thought we'd go to a nice hotel. We'll have a romantic evening, just the two of us. Go out and buy yourself something nice! No better yet. Buy yourself a lot of nice things. You deserve it. I love you more than anything.

Jennifer did a little jump of excitement. Then she started singing, "Eye of the Tiger".

Why that song?

She didn’t know. Songs just popped into her head sometimes. Maybe tonight she'd sing for Phillip. And….She'd do a lot more besides that.

***

ARTHUR talked to Bernard on FaceTime. He was home early from the set today.

"When are you coming home?" Bernard asked, whining a bit.

Arthur loved being missed. "Soon," he said. "Maybe Wednesday."

"But you're having fun?"

"Yeah. I actually am."

Bernard pouted. "Without me."

Arthur laughed. "I wish you were here."

"Me too. But seriously. I'm glad you're having fun. Don't think of me too much sitting here alone on the weekend in the flat."

"I'll think about you a lot," Arthur said.

Bernard sighed. "I have a confession."

"What?"

"I cheated." Arthur knew right away what he was referring to. "Not meat, I assume."

Bernard shook his head.

"Was it cheese or ice-cream?"

"Both."

"Oh no,"

"I need you around to stop me from messing up."

"That's kind of emotional blackmail," Arthur joked.

"Yeah. So be it."

"I'll be home soon."

"I might eat more ice-cream tonight."

"The cows will forgive you."

"No, they won't, actually." Bernard said.

"No, you're right. They won't. But I still love you."

"Kisses."

Arthur kissed the screen.

They said good-bye.

***

JESSICA heard Frankie's footsteps and then his knock.

She opened the door and saw his adorable face. She so wanted to kiss it, but she had great self control.

"Ready?" he asked

"Yes," she said and moved back so he could come in.

He went into the small kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He grabbed two bottles of water.

"Just help yourself," she said.

"Thanks," he said.

"Hey, my uncle wants to remind you to drive safely."

"I'll do my best," Frankie said. He looked at her small suitcase near the door. "So, is it against your book of rules for me to offer to carry that for you?"

Jessica smiled. "No. It's fine. You can offer."

He walked over to it and pretended to have a hard time picking it up. "Is it against the rules for me to refuse to carry it?"

"Definitely."

"Ah!" Frankie said; then smiled. "Well, then I'm going to be a rebel."

"Excuse me?"

"You carry it."

"Fine!" Jessica said.

"Go ahead."

"I need to use the toilet before we go."

"Me too," he said. "You go first."

"Ladies first?"

"No, you called it first."

She gave him a look; then headed to the toilet.

She took her turn.

Then he took his.

When he came out, she picked up the suitcase and then her backpack which was on the couch.

They headed out. She put the suitcase down outside, so she could get her key out of her backpack to lock the door.

He picked up the suitcase and started carrying it down the stairs.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It turns out I'm too much of a coward to rebel."

He gave her a sad look, and she laughed.

***

ZOE stopped at the grocery store, on the way home from work, to get goodies for the sleepover.

From the cookie aisle, she picked up Oreos and something called Tim Tams, because the package said it was Australia's favorite cookie. Maybe Jessica would appreciate that.

In the snack aisle, she struggled to decide between cheese puffs and Doritos. Usually, she was more of a Doritos girl, but right now she sort of had a craving for the puffs.

She went with the puffs.

She headed to the candy aisle and picked up black licorice.

She, Arthur, and Taylor used to love that.

Oh, and there was Australian black licorice. Great! Another way they could honor their Aussie guests. She picked up a package of that.

Zoe then remembered that Keith once told her that one of their most early lives were as Aboriginal Australians.

Was he being serious? She still wasn’t sure.

He probably had been.

Okay. What else should she get?

Definitely something chocolate.

She looked at all the choices.

Then she thought of Taylor. Should she get something healthy for her…just in case? Like fruit? She might not appreciate all this junk.

Zoe thought about it for a few minutes; then decided against it. What if Taylor felt pressured by the healthy stuff and decided she should eat only that? She pictured the rest of them (living, at least) eating cheese puffs and Oreos while Taylor slowly nibbled apple slices.

Thinking of apple slices made Zoe actually crave apples. Grapes too.

Screw it.

She'd buy some, and if Taylor went all health crazy, Zoe would force feed her the cheese puffs.

She grabbed a big bag of plain M&M's and some Reese's Pieces. Then she headed to produce, deciding to skip the apples and got summer fruit instead. She grabbed purple grapes and a package of raspberries.

Then she got a text.

She took her phone out of her purse.

It's from Taylor. Hey! Jessica wants s'mores. Can you please get GC, marshmallows, and Hershey's. Thanx!

Zoe headed back to the candy aisle; then the cookie aisle; and then struggled to find marshmallows.

She found them eventually.

***

JENNIFER tried on the third dress she had brought into the dressing room. It wasn’t the type of thing she usually wore. It showed a bit of cleavage.

She wondered if Phillip would like it.

For now, she stepped out of the dressing room where Trisha was supposedly waiting.

She looked at herself in the full length mirror; then texted Trisha. What do you think?

Trisha texted back. You look beautiful!

Thank you.

Jennifer went back into the dressing room and started to try on the more intimate items she brought in. She didn’t plan on showing these to Trisha.

First, she tried on the pink.

Yikes.

It made her look like a seventy-year-old trying to look sixteen.

She tried on the turquoise next. It was sweet but maybe too sweet. There was nothing sexy about it.

The black made her look old.

Jennifer began to feel pathetic and hopeless. Maybe she should forget it.

Though she had one more thing to try on. It was purple and somewhat majestic.

When she put it on, she looked at herself in the mirror.

She looked fairly all right.

Her legs looked good, at least.

She would buy it.

***

ARTHUR headed to his old bedroom—the one he had been sleeping in the past few days.

He passed Taylor's room and heard an Aussie accent along with his sister's giggling.

He smiled. He liked seeing (and hearing) his sisters being happy.

He didn’t listen in for long but did hear something about s'mores and the food that ghosts eat.

He walked to his room, went in, and shut the door.

He looked at his bookshelf.

Some of his old books were still there. Maybe he'd read one.

He decided on Interview with a Vampire—an old favorite.

He started to read but after a few pages, he began to get sleepy.

He decided a nap wouldn’t hurt.

They probably wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.

***

Zoe talked to Keith while she did some basic dusting in the apartment.

"I'm going to EB tonight if it's okay with you," he said.

"I wish EB's could help wash dishes."

"Sorry," he said. "I guess there are downsides to all of this."

She stopped dusting and looked at the computer screen. She thought of making a joke but instead just said, "I love you, and it's worth it."

***

JENNIFER closed the garage door with the remote.

She got out of the car, opened the trunk, and took out her two shopping bags.

She walked in and found Phillip lying flat on the living room floor again.

She tiptoed past him.

They'd talk later. It wasn’t good to bother him when he was doing this work.

"Jennifer?"

She turned around. Phillip slowly climbed out of his lying down position.

"So, you went shopping?" he said.

"Yeah. You told me I should?"

"Good!" he said. "I can't wait to see what you bought."

He motioned for her to come closer.

She did.

He sat on the couch and took her hand. He looked up at her. "You're beautiful," he said.

She blushed. "Do you really think so?"

"I do."

"I'm getting old."

"So are we all," he said. “You're as beautiful today as you were when we first met."

Jennifer loved it when he was nice like this.

Then he made a face. Not nice. He looked disgusted. Was it her?

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Do you smell that?"

She didn’t smell anything.

"It's horrible."

"What is it?"

"It's like that smell…the one that some of the EB's have. But it's worse. Stronger." He gagged a bit. It's awful."

Jennifer sniffed the air, trying to smell it.

Nothing.

Phillip used her hand to pull himself up. Then he gently dropped it. He sniffed around and, like a dog, followed the scent.

She followed him.

"I think it's coming from upstairs." He started climbing the stairs.

She followed.

He turned around. "Stay down here," he said with sternness.

She obeyed.

Then she remembered she left her purse in the car.

She headed out to get it.

***

JESSICA, Frankie, and Jesse played twenty questions in the car.

Jesse interrupted the flow of the game. "After this round, I'm going back to Taylor."

"You love going back and forth," Jessica said.

"I do," Jesse agreed; then returned to the game. "Is it made of wood?"

"It's an animal!" Jessica laughed. "How would it be made of wood?"

"Sorry. I missed that." Then to Frankie he said. "I saw that."

"Saw what?" Jessica asked

"He forgot to use his blinkers again."

"Bad Frankie!" she said.

"Sorry!"

"Now keep guessing," Jessica said.

***

ARTHUR was a sailboat with Bernard.

They were having a serious discussion about Full House, and then they started arguing about whether or not Bob Saget also starred on How I Met Your Mother.

Then Arthur heard yelling.

He woke up and when the yelling didn’t vanish, his heart pounded frantically.

He heard his sister and their dad.

This wasn’t normal.

Taylor didn’t fight with their parents. That was Arthur's job.

It sounded like they were trying to kill each other.

He jumped out of bed and ran to her room.

The door was opened.

Arthur stepped in and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Taylor was on the floor, and their father straddled her.

She was screaming. He was yelling.

Was he strangling her?

Arthur couldn’t really see. He could only see the back of his father.

"Dad!" he yelled. "Stop it! Let go of her!"

"I hate you!" Taylor screamed. "You're a disgusting pig! You should rot in hell. You're a pathetic piece of shit!"

"Shut up!" Phillip said. "You can't talk to me like that! I'm your father!"

She growled. Arthur heard a slap. Then he heard a horrible rasping noise. He was trying to strangle her!

Arthur started to cry. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. It was all going to hell.

"Stop it!" he yelled..

Neither of them listened. He grabbed on to his dad and tried to drag him off his sister.

His dad wouldn’t budge.

The horrible rasping noise continued.

Arthur looked around the room. He saw the heavy medicine ball, and he had to save his sister.

He grabbed the ball and crashed it onto his father's head.

His dad crumpled to the side, and Arthur could see Taylor now. Vomit was flowing out of her mouth and she gagged on it.

He pushed his father out of the way and picked up Taylor.

She vomited all over his shoes.

***

JENNIFER came into the house with her purse and the mail.

She heard crying and rushed upstairs to Taylor's room.

She saw her husband lying on the ground.

He was covered in blood.

Jennifer screamed.

Then she saw her son and daughter. Neither of them cared about their father.

Arthur sat, leaning against the bed. Taylor leaned against him as he stroked her hair. There was blood all over her face.

"He tried to kill her," Arthur said.

Her son was insane. He was lying. Jennifer had no doubt about that. With fury she said, "What did you two do?"

She didn’t wait for their answer. She dropped down and checked his pulse. She couldn’t find one but then she looked at his chest. It was moving.

From here, though, she could see he had cuts all over his arms.

"He was trying to kill her," Arthur said. Then he started sobbing.

"Daddy," Taylor whimpered.

"Shut up!" Jennifer snapped at her. Then she noticed the scissors lying on the floor. The tips were covered in blood.

"I didn't mean to do it," Taylor said. She pulled away from Arthur and touched Phillip. "I'm so sorry." She shook him gently but fervently.

"Don't. Touch. Him," Jennifer said. And then she called the paramedics.

***

After the ambulance left with their father and mother, Arthur began cleaning up the mess. The blood and the vomit.

He took a shower. But not wanting to leave Taylor alone, he made her go into the bathroom with him. He sat her on the floor.

When he was done, he quickly got dressed. Then he undressed Taylor.

She offered no resistance. She was in her own world.

He had to help her step into the shower. She stood there, and he scrubbed her gently with the wash cloth.

Continue to Chapter Fifty-One

Go Back to Chapter Forty-Nine

Start at the beginning

Chapter 49

ATLANTA, Jennifer had the idea that with Taylor and Arthur out of the house, she and Phillip might have some special time together.

There was something about being in a house alone.

So much freedom.

Why not take advantage?

She saw Phillip in the living room working on something and was about to go up to him and ask if he'd like to take a break; but then she decided, why not put a little more effort into it?

She went into the master bedroom and rummaged through the drawers in her closet.

She found a red negligee. It had been forever since she’d worn it.

Would it still fit?

***

She tried it on and looked at herself in the mirror.

She wished she looked twenty years younger and was the same size as Taylor. But it wasn’t all bad.

She brushed her hair a bit and sprayed a bit of perfume on her wrist.

She walked out of the closet but then returned.

She had an idea.

She put on black high heels. Men liked that. Didn’t they?

Walking down the hall, she imagined she was younger and thinner than the mirror said.

When she got to the living room, she changed her walk to what she hoped was a sexy one.

Apparently, she wasn’t succeeding. Phillip didn’t even up at her. He stared at the floor as if in a trance.

"Hi Sweetie," she said in a breathy voice.

"Hi." He didn’t look up.

She took a step closer.

He still didn’t look up.

It was fine.

She wasn’t going to be one of those pathetic women who whine when their busy husbands didn’t drop everything at the first request for romance. He was busy. That was okay. It didn’t mean he didn’t love her. She'd just work a little harder. Sometimes it took effort.

She remembered something she saw on television. "Did you drop your pen?" She bent down with her bottom facing Phillip. She wiggled it a little bit.

She wiggled it more.

She gave up… on at least that tactic.

She stood. Then she began to dance, cobra-inspired. Kind of Indian, maybe. She danced up to Phillip. Her legs touched his legs.

He still didn’t notice her.

She knelt down, got on her knees, bent forward and grabbed his pants zipper with her teeth. She was pretty impressed with herself. She had never done this kind of thing, but despite the lack of training and practice, she was doing a pretty damn good job.

"Jennifer!" Phillip snapped. He pushed her off his pants. "Get up."

She stood up and looked at him. Okay, now she did feel rejected.

"Did you forget we have people here? We're working on something very important."

Oh no.

She felt completely pathetic. She didn't know. Or maybe she forgot. It was hard to remember you had guests when you couldn’t even see them. How many people were here? Did they see everything?

"Sorry," she said and quickly rushed back to their room. She pulled off the red negligee, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash. She went into the bathroom naked, sat on the toilet, and burst into tears.

***

After a short period of crying, she pulled herself together and put on a respectable type of nightgown.

No. She was not going to be one of those women. She made a mistake. It wasn’t the end of the world.

She wasn’t mad at Phillip. His reaction was what one should expect from someone who was interrupted in the middle of an important meeting by an attempted blow job.

She brushed her teeth; then remembered she hadn’t had dessert yet and would like some.

She wouldn't mind a Girl Scout cookie. They had some Samosas in the freezer.

Maybe she should forget it and just go to bed.

Her phone vibrated.

She picked it up off her nightstand and saw that it was Trisha wanting to FaceTime.

Jennifer wasn’t in the mood. She'd talk to her tomorrow.

***

She tried to sleep but couldn’t.

She kept feeling the humiliation of the aborted blow job.

And she still craved the Samosas.

She headed to the kitchen. Phillip lay flat on his stomach, the same way he had the other day.

She quickly bypassed him and whoever else was with him and went into the kitchen.

She took a samosa out of the freezer and took a bite. It was too cold. She would let it defrost for a while.

There were some dishes in the sink. She'd do some washing, and by the time she was done, the cookie would be ready.

She turned on the water and squeezed some soap onto the sponge.

She began washing, and it was rather soothing. Kind of meditative.

Then she heard footsteps behind her.

She decided not to turn around. Phillip had his busy time, and now it was her busy time.. If she turned around, she might look desperate and that was a turn off.

He slapped her on the behind. Hard. She wasn't expecting that. It wasn’t something he had done before. But you know what? She liked it. Jennifer started to turn around to tell him. Thank him.

"Face the sink," he said in a stern voice. Kind of harsh. To her surprise, she liked that too.

With his leg, he roughly spread her legs apart. She was so wet. He pulled up her nightgown. "Don't turn around," he whispered. She heard him unbuckling his pants. Instinctively, she spreads her legs even farther apart. She felt him enter, and as soon as he began thrusting, she felt the beginning of the orgasm. It embarrassed her to some degree. They had just started.

"I love you," he whispered in her ears. "I want to…"

He was interrupted by the front door.

Immediately, he pulled out of her. Then he quickly pulled his pants back up. He patted her on the bottom again. "The kids are home. Oh well."

She had the urge to grab him and force him to continue but figured that wouldn't be attractive.

***

In bed that night, they had quiet, unexciting sex. But it was still nice. Jennifer appreciated it.

She felt loved, and she felt lucky to be in bed with the man she loved with all her heart.

Now he was sitting up reading something on his laptop. She thought about getting her own laptop, but it was in the office, and she didn’t feel like getting it.

Her phone was on her nightstand. She'd look at that instead.

There was a text from Trisha: There were more of those foul-smelling EB's today.

Trisha could be a pest sometimes. Jennifer had already told her not-living friend that it was all fine.

Still. She thought of mentioning it to Phillip but then changed her mind. It would annoy him.

She clicked on her email.

Phillip reached under the covers and stroked her thigh.

She smiled at him.

He smiled back. Then he went back to his reading, and she returned to her emails.

There was one from Loretta.

G'Day Sis!

I hope you and Phillip are doing well. I heard from Brenda that Arthur's in town.

(How in the hell did Brenda know that!)

I imagine you and Phillip are very happy. He has some kind of audition? I'm not sure if I understood Brenda correctly. I wish him luck; though I don't think he needs it. He has so much talent. It's only time before we see him accepting one of those Oscar statues.

On to other things. I have big news! We're coming to visit! Well, just Mia and I. Or Mia and me. Why is it that bad grammar sounds better than correct grammar?

Anyway, Yes, we're coming to visit. William still has to work, so he's going to stay behind. We're actually going to stop in San Francisco first; then we'll come to Atlanta. We have friends (actually from Hawaii), but they'll be visiting family in SF. So we thought we'd meet there. We bought tickets for August 1-20. We'll be in Atlanta on the 11th. I hope you guys will be in town! I can't wait to see you! It's been so long! How are you doing? How's Phillip? Is he still working on that huge project? How's Zoe and Taylor? Well, I'll talk to you soon, and I'll actually SEE you soon!!!

Love, Loretta

Jennifer thought her sister's email was annoying. Something about it seemed...maybe fake? Still, she loved her sister and was actually excited that she was coming to visit.

"Phillip?"

"Uh huh."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course." He turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh. Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that Loretta's coming to visit. In August."

"Great," he said. "That's good. It's about time they did. I really don't understand people who flee the country."

"Yeah," she said. It did bother her that Arthur moved all the way to London; though maybe not as much as it bothered Phillip.

"I guess it's better than dating a dead person," Phillip said. "I still can't believe it."

"It probably won't last," Jennifer said, trying to make him feel better.

"I'm guessing your sister's going to need help with the plane tickets."

"No," Jennifer said, surprised that he assumed this. "You know their restaurant's doing really well."

He scoffed. "We'll see how long that lasts."

"Yeah," she said.

"I'm willing to help if they need help."

"You're very generous," Jennifer said.

He smiled at her. "Let's get to sleep."

He closed his laptop, got out of bed, and put it on his dresser.

She watched him as he walked back to the bed. He was very handsome.

She was so lucky.

Continue to Chapter Fifty

Go Back to Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter 48

ATLANTA, Zoe had a hard time driving home. She wouldn’t be surprised if their party tonight included five ghosts instead of just two.

It was just so hard for her to concentrate. She was terrified.

It had looked like Arthur was having some type of seizure in there. He kept saying he was okay, but she didn't believe it.

What if he had a brain tumor?

Oh, well. He'd die maybe and become a ghost.

But poor Bernard.

Then again, she was dating a dead guy. If it worked for her and Keith, why not Arthur and Bernard?

"Zoe, are you okay? You're a million miles away."

"I'm fine," she said to Arthur. "I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine."

"What was going on with you? Do you think it was a seizure?"

"I don't know," Arthur said. "I do think it was something. But maybe more emotional. I felt all this hatred."

Hatred. No…. She looked at him, and then turned around to check on Taylor. It was a sudden instinctive type thing—the need to check on her sister. "Have you heard of the Arcide?" she asked.

"No," Arthur said. Then: “Wait. Oh yeah. Grandma Cornelia's thing."

"Well, it's not just Grandma's thing. It's real."

"I've heard of it," Taylor piped up.

"Well, it goes into people and fills them with hatred."

"Shit," Arthur said. "You don't think—"

"I don't know," Zoe said. Then a creepy, horrible sound came from the back seat. Holy crap! Was that—

No, it was just Taylor's phone. What the hell did she have for her Ringtone? "What is that?"

Taylor misunderstood the question. "Just Jesse. Hi! Where have you been?"

"Hi everyone!" Jesse said.

"What's your ringtone?" Zoe asked.

"Mine?" Jesse said.

"No, Taylor's."

"American Horror Story."

"What's that?" Zoe asked.

"It's a show...from the people who make Glee," Arthur said.

She was feeling very out of touch with popular culture.

"So guess what," Jesse said.

"What?" the three living people said together.

"I told Jessica about us."

"Who's Jessica?"Arthur asked.

"My niece," Jesse said.

"Taylor's roommate" Zoe added. Ah! She might be out of touch with TV shows, but at least she knew who their sister lived with in Florida."

"Oh yeah. I forgot," Arthur said.

Memory problems? Was that an Arcide symptom?

"What did she say? Taylor asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Jesse said. "I mean she's fine with it. The poor girl's really homesick. I invited her to come here next weekend. Is that okay?"

Taylor laughed. "Sure." Zoe sneaked a look back at Taylor to see her reaction. She looked happy which made Zoe happy.

"Keep your eyes on the road," Arthur said.

"Sorry," Zoe said. "Are you going to still be here?" she asked her brother, hoping strongly that he planned to stay awhile.

"Sure," he said. "I'll probably go home next week sometime. But definitely after the weekend."

"Well, we should have a party," Zoe said. "How about a massive sleepover?"

"I'm so excited," Jesse said in a falsetto voice. "Can we braid each other's hair and do each other's nails?"

Ha. He could laugh. But Zoe was excited. The six of them hanging out in her living room. They'd make popcorn and pig out on other stuff.

"We'll make sundaes," Taylor said. It was like she read Zoe's mind. Maybe she should worry. Was mind-reading an Arcide symptom as well?

"Jessica’s bringing one of her friends too," Jesse said.

Okay…so it would be seven of them.

"Frankie?" Taylor asked.

"That's the one," Jesse said. "And he's gay, Arthur. So you don't have to feel left out among us heteros."

Arthur laughed.. "Thanks." Then he asked. "Is this gay friend of the living or dead persuasion?"

"Living now," Jesse said. "But with the way he drives, probably not for long."

Continue to Chapter Forty-Nine

Go Back to Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter 47

ATLANTA, Arthur was in a great mood on the way to their parent's house to pick up Taylor.

He could care less now about the audition.

He wouldn’t forgive his dad, but it was only another thing to add to all his father-grievances.

Despite that, though, he was glad he came home. It was funny. He had never really missed his sisters when he was in London, but now that he was with them….

Well, he was just really happy to be with them. He should visit more.

Or better yet. What if the two of them moved to London?

Their father would have a stroke. That's the first thing that would happen.

The other thing that lifted Arthur's mood was talking to Keith. Truth be told, it was the first substantial conversation he had had with one of the ghosts. Prior to that, he didn't have much to brag about. There was the cold, awkward conversation with Grandma Cornelia. Then sometimes Bernard's sister would briefly chat with him.

But with Keith....

Well, it was the first time he had actually connected with a ghost. Joked with one.

It was all kinds of thrilling.

He had been brave enough to share his pathetic feelings with Zoe. To his sort-of surprise, she was very understanding. "You know what's funny. I felt the same way about gay people. I kept reading about them and seeing them on TV. But I never knew any in real life."

Arthur laughed.

"Then this guy in my class admitted to all of us he was gay. I was so excited—like I was meeting a celebrity."

Arthur decided to toy with her. "That's a bit offensive, Zoe."

She looked at him, stung. "I'm sorry."

He felt bad. He couldn’t go on with it. "I'm joking."

"Oh," she sighed with relief.

"So was this before I came out?"

"A few years before."

"So I bet you were thrilled when you got a gay in your own family."

She smiled. "Totally."

They turned down their parent's street.

"Did you ever suspect?"

"No. You were always going on and on about Alyssa Milano."

"Overcompensating," he explained. "But I do find her attractive."

"I do too," Zoe said. "And I'm not a lesbian."

"It's not always black and white," he said as she pulled into the driveway.

***

They rang the doorbell.

Their father answered. He greeted them with his usual charming enthusiasm. "Taylor's getting ready. She'll be down soon. Why don't you guys come in and sit down."

Arthur and Zoe followed their dad into the living room.

He offered them drinks.

No, thanks.

Their mother appeared. She gave Zoe and him kisses on the cheek.

"Are you going out tonight?" Zoe asked.

"Just out to dinner," she said.

"Have a seat," their father said."I want to know about the big audition."

Zoe gave Arthur a quick look. He wasn’t sure how to interpret it. Was she saying, Don't start a fight? Or was she saying, I give you my full permission to attack?

He decided to be calm yet honest. "The part I thought I was auditioning for was already cast." He wanted his father to be apologetic and/or surprised.

Instead his father provided a wry smile, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "That's the acting business for you. It's incredibly competitive."

Arthur realized then that he absolutely hated his father, and he always would no matter how many lifetimes they had together. If the roles were reversed, and Arthur was the dad in their relationship, he would drown the hideous piece of infant shit in the bathtub.

He started remembering their past. He could actually see Bessie. She was an annoying know-it-all who took every opportunity to show off."

"Arthur, are you okay?" It was his mother. He looked at her. He hated her as well. She had never been a good mother to him, always taking their father's side. And why? She couldn’t love him. It was all about the money. She liked getting expensive gifts."

"Arthur?" Now it was Zoe getting up his ass. She was no better than their father when it came down to it. How many times had he wanted her on his side? She could never stand up for herself. She could never stand up for him. And she just sat there watching Taylor starve herself to death."

"Arthur!"

He suddenly felt very dizzy. He might be sick.

"What's going on?" It was Taylor. He looked up and started trembling.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked."Why’s his nose bleeding?"

He reached up and touched the skin underneath his nose. He felt the wetness and then looked at his hand. It was full of blood.

"Oh my God, Arthur."

"I'll go get some Kleenex," their mother said. She rushed to the bathroom and came back with a handful of tissues.

He thanked her and held them to his nose.

"Pinch your nose and lean forward," Zoe said.

"Are you okay?" their dad asked. "You looked like you were about to pass out."

"I'm fine," Arthur said. But he wasn’t sure if he was."

Continue to Chapter Forty-Eight

Go Back to Chapter Forty-Six

Note: In the first eight chapters, a living character from each chapter is somehow connected to a living character in the preceding chapter.

New York

Gainesville

Atlanta

London

Sydney

Oahu

San Francisco