Limbo

ASHLEY:

"So how do you like the way it sounds so far?" I ask Rachel as we walk into my room.

"It's great!" she enthuses. "Especially that one that you were doing this morning, I loved the groove you had going. What did you say it's called?"

"You mean 'Last Rites'? Yeah, that should be a blast to play live. I think it may end up being my favorite, too."

We've spent the entire day in the studio working on some tracks to make up for the time we lost a few days ago because of the squirrels, and because we were all too hung over to get anything done the next day, after our club-hopping trip. I actually had a fairly good time with Melissa that night, and I may ask her out again, I haven't really decided yet. She's very outgoing, with a rather quirky sense of humor, but not the best at carrying on a serious conversation. Or, as Bob put it when she went to the ladies room at one point, "Nice girl, but maybe just a teeny bit of a ditz."

Rachel moves closer to me, running the tip of a finger along my jaw and murmurs into my ear, "So, do you think you have time for a shower before you guys go out to eat?"

I feel myself starting to get turned on, and almost say yes, but manage to stop myself as I look at the clock. "No, unfortunately I don't. One of the guys will probably be busting in here any second now, wanting me to hurry up. But after dinner..."

"All right then, you know where you'll be able to find me." She leans in, and I drop a brief kiss on those beautiful, insubstantial lips. And then, almost the second she steps back from me, CC proves me right by flinging open my door.

"Dude, come on, let's go! Jake called down to the cafe, and they've got fajitas tonight," he announces, then turns and practically jogs down the stairs.

"Okay, be right there!" I yell back. Then I turn back to Rachel, give her another quick kiss, and say, "Gotta go, babe. I'll be hearing about it for days if I keep them from their Mexican-food fix. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You guys enjoy your dinner. I might hang out with Charlie and Susan for a bit while you're gone, but as soon as you get back, I'm all yours."

I start downstairs, and as I go, I'm thinking to myself, "If only that could actually happen." I'm going to have to talk to the guys at dinner, because we've been slacking off on keeping our promise the last few days. We gave our word that we'd try to help her, and we need to do something, even if it's just spending a couple of hours on the computer.

But, if I'm totally honest with myself, I'm the one who's been stalling the most, because I really don't want her to go. I enjoy spending time with her, sexual or otherwise, and I already know that it's gonna be a major adjustment when we head back home. Over the last couple of days, I've even been wondering what might happen if I took the medallion back to LA with me if we don't find her body before then. Would she come with it, or would I just be taking away her ability to communicate with people again, and to actually leave the house? I'm going to have to think about that one a bit more.

I catch up with the guys at the front door, and we say goodbye to Charlie and Susan before piling back into the cars to go down to the cafe. As we pull into the lot, everybody is happy to see that we've beaten the dinner crowd, so we'll be able to get a good table, and won't have to wait around forever. We go in, and find out that Melissa isn't working tonight, so we're shown to our table by the other hostess. Her name is Allison, and she explains that Melissa is always off on Thursday nights, because she babysits for her little nephews while her sister goes to some kind of class.

We order our food, then just sit around shooting the shit for a bit while we wait. As we talk, the door opens and Jimmy walks in. He stops to talk to a couple of women sitting by the front window for a minute while he waits to get seated, and then Allison leads him to one of the smaller tables, just across from ours. He waves, and says, "Hey, guys. Thanks for passing on my info to your friends. They're apparently not interested in having the place checked out, unfortunately, but at least now I know I can go on to something else without having to wait around for an answer."

"You mean that there are other 'haunted' places around here?" Jinxx quizzes him.

"Not in this exact area, at least not that I'm aware of," Jimmy responds. "But there are several places I can check out in Edmonton itself. I'm going to have a look at one of them tomorrow, from what I've heard it sounds like that one has an agenda. Those are some of the ones you have to be careful of, they can be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Andy interjects. "You mean, like demons or something?"

"No, not that bad. An actual demon will fuck your world, so I won't go anywhere near a place by myself if I suspect something like that. What I'm talking about is your basic, used-to-be-human ghost," he clarifies. "One who has something they want, or need, to accomplish before they can go on. Or maybe they don't like the idea of where they think they might wind up, or just don't want to accept that they're dead, so they try to come up with ways to stick around. And I have to be honest with you, I can't say for sure since I haven't seen anything myself, but I kind of suspect that might be what you guys have."

I lean forward in my seat, to be able to hear him better, "Would you mind explaining why you think that?"

"Because there have been three people who have disappeared from that house, and are presumed dead, and two others killed just down the road, which means that it could be any, or even all of them. They might want their remains to be found, or hoping to get some sort of revenge on the people that did it. Or, the one that would be the worst-case scenario, they're simply angry because their lives got cut short, and they just want to stir up some trouble, or even hurt someone. I've even come across a couple who didn't want to go on, but seemed to want to have someone join them, and that's when a lot of people can get themselves killed. The ghost might engineer some kind of accident, or even convince the person to commit suicide, just so they don't have to be alone anymore."

Allison shows up with our food and catches this last statement. Her eyes get big, and she almost squeaks, "Who do you think it is?"

Jimmy gives her a grin, and replies, "Like I told them a minute ago, it could be any of them. If I had to say who's least likely, I'd have to pick the Native fella, because the tribes usually have some sort of ceremonies they do to make sure their dead stay in their graves, and I'd just about bet money that his family made sure they were done. But any of the others are equally likely, and with the circumstances surrounding their deaths, I honestly couldn't blame them for being a bit pissed off. I know I sure as hell would be, under those circumstances."

When Allison finishes handing out the food, we all dig in, which causes the conversation to lag for a bit. But as she brings our checks, Jimmy looks up from his meal and says, "Maybe I was making too much of that earlier, since you said you haven't had any trouble yet. Maybe the ghost, or ghosts, at the B and B will stick to just moving the odd hairbrush or TV remote, or running up the light bill. But just be cautious, okay? And you might tell your friends to do the same."

We just sort of nod as we leave the table to go to the register to pay, and he goes back to his dinner. We drive back to the house and spend a little while chatting with Susan and Charlie before I excuse myself to go upstairs. Rachel had apparently excused herself before we got back, so she's sitting on the end of the bed, waiting for me, and follows as I head for the bathroom.

After a very entertaining session in the shower, I spend a little while working on a couple of designs, as she watches, and when I start dozing over the sketchpad, I haul myself to bed. Rachel joins me again, sitting curled up next to my head, stroking my hair and whispering to me as I drift off to sleep.

When I wake up in the morning, she waits on the bed while I go to the bathroom and get myself together for the day. Then, as I'm brushing my teeth, I nearly strangle on the toothpaste as my brain finally processes what she said last night, when my brain was too close to sleep to catch it:

"It's going to be so lonely when you leave, Ash. I'm going to miss you so much, I wish you could stay longer."

Then I sort of shake it off, because it's really not much different than what I've been thinking myself, and I finish getting ready. But, as we head down to breakfast, the thought sort of sticks in the back of my mind, tickling: Is this what Jimmy was warning us about last night? And should I be worried?

Is there something that sweet, beautiful Rachel hasn't been telling me? Does she have an agenda?

Have I gotten myself into something that I may not be able to get out of?

Notes