Liz shut her eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled and opened them again. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, then stood and picked the apron up off the bed. She tied it over the light brown dress she was so fond of, looking in the mirror as she did so.
"You're getting old, she told herself in her he
"Fifty-three isn't that old,
"No, it's not,
"But it's not young, either.
"Liz, I know you can hear me,
"Stop being ridiculous, Liz snapped at the spirit that had been following her for two weeks. "I'm not becoming senile like my mother did, and I'm not losing my mind if that's what you're getting at.
"It's not like that," it said, speaking in an amused voice. I'm just saying that this is going to take time.
"He already told me that in the first week, Liz
"You don't bother to listen.
"I got news for you, buddy, Liz snapped. "We're going to have to get to know each other again. We're back to square one here, and you're going to have to deal. So if you don't want to make me angry, you're going to listen to me. Got it?
"Got it,
Liz shut up for a moment, examining the streaks of gray in her hair, then looked back into the mirror again. She had to blink her eyes as she did so to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. When she opened them again, she gave an exasperated huff.
"You know, you could look a little bit better," she said to the figure in the mirror.
"I'm fine.
"You're a ghost. You can do better than fine. Liz said, putting both hands on her waist. You can look better than those high-society witches, who long to become your student. You can look like something other than a man in twenty-year-old jeans in a plain white tee.
"I need to look like this, the ghost told her.
"Why? Liz asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You know why,
"No, I don't,
The ghost sighed. Listen," he said, you need to stop focusing on my appearance. Focusing on that for the time being isn't going to get my soul out of me. It will just make me fade away faster.
When we get the soul out of me, I'll have the energy to change if I want to. Right now, I'm not sure I want to. In the meanwhile, we need to focus on the problem at hand. Besides, I'm not exactly sure how I want to look. I can't focus on that and think about what I'm going to look like if I ever get out of this.
"Fine, Liz said, letting her hands drop from her chest. She walked over to the small table by her bed and picked up the box of cigarettes it was sitting on. As she opened the box and pulled out a cigarette, the ghost spoke.
"What are you doing?
"What I do every afternoon, she said, tossing the cigarette back into the box. "I'm going out to have a smoke. It helps me think.
"You should quit.
"Why?
Well, the ghost said, just because you're a medium doesn't mean you shouldn't try to stay healthy.
Liz smiled. Yes, Terence," she said with a chuckle. "Smoking is very unhealthy. So is wearing these 2-inch heals all day. She went to her closet, where her shoes were kept, and slipped off the 5-inch pumps that were on her feet. After putting them in the closet and shutting the door, she went over to the coatrack, pulled down her winter coat, and put it on.
You should wear boots, he said.
"Come on, Liz answered, heading for the door. If I wear boots with my dress it just doesn't look right. Especially since it's not exactly one-hundred degrees out. She opened the door and walked down the hall to the staircase, with the ghost floating behind her.
Maybe it should be, he said.
She ignored his comment as she started down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she peered over the railing at the strange light coming out of the basement door; it was still glowing in the same way it had been the last time she had been close to it.
You shouldn't go down there,
Liz turned to the ghost behind her. Tell me something I don't know, she said.
Terence was silent a moment. "Did you get any sleep last night? he finally asked.
Liz shook her head. Not really, she answered. She'd spent most of the night trying to figure out if there was any way that she could save what little was left of his soul before his body had been cremated.
The man that her family had hired to do the job had told her that he didn't think so, but she knew from experience that the conscious mind would go to odd places when the soul was finally departing.
It was odd that the body had remained intact for two weeks, with very little decay. There was a spirit present in the basement that had taken an interest in her from the day she
Here we go,
I'm fine,
You haven't had any sleep,
I'm not going to go catatonic, Liz
"Liz, Terence said, his voice brooding. "You just don't understand what it's like to be trapped inside another being, forced to see the world through their eyes.
"You'll be fine," she said, about to walk away. "I'm hungry. I'm going to go get something to eat." She yanked open the front door and stepped out onto the porch, before walking down the three steps to the sidewalk and started toward the coffee shop on the other side of the street.
She noticed that the bus that would take her to the nearest mall was coming down the street, and she started toward it as soon as it reached the stop.
"Liz," the ghost said, shifting in the doorway. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into.
"Terence, I've already been through what you're talking about," she told him as she came to the bus stop and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to stop just because you say so." She watched Terence shift in the doorway, from the porch to the living room, then back.
"I'm worried about you, he said.
"Then why don't you try taking care of yourself for a change?" she said. "You never go to practice anymore and you don't do school right now. You spend all day and night just lying on the roof. You never do anything, and now you're telling me that you can't think either.
"I'm not an athlete, he said, and Liz noted that his voice wasn't as strong this time. I needed time to absorb what happened. I can focus now. I don't need to sleep anymore. I'm just trying to make sure you don't make the same mistake.
"I won't, she said. And you keep worrying about me. You could try worrying about yourself.
The door on the basement began to glow a pearly white. I don't think I want to, Terence said, disappearing from view.
Liz rolled her eyes. "Fine, she said. If you want to be so stubborn about it, I'll go down there and do it myself. She started down the stairs, moving so quickly that she nearly kept pace with the bus.