Page 15 of Ghost

“F rancis?” Mason had gone all the way upstairs and was now standing in the largest bedroom towards the front of the house. “Francis, I need to talk to you.”

The handsome ghost slowly materialized in front of him.

To Mason it seemed to take a very long time, but he began to realize that Francis looked.

.. real. He could no longer see through him, and his coloring appeared like any living human being.

He also noticed quite quickly that Francis had tears running down his cheeks into his full, dark beard.

“My mother killed me.”

“Are you sure that’s what happened?” Mason asked quietly.

“Yes.” Francis seemed to clear his throat, his eyes sharp and sad all at the same time. “I remember everything now.”

“Oh, Francis, I’m sorry.”

Out of instinct, Mason went to hug him, only to nearly fall on his face when he stepped through the ghost. Regaining his balance, he shivered.

Not from being cold, though. It felt as if he had been cold but now wasn’t.

It was like the first real warm day of spring.

The air was warm but not hot and there were the most amazing smells around him.

He also realized that he had a huge erection.

When Mason turned around to face Francis, the ghost’s mouth was hanging open and he was looking down at himself. He also seemed to have an erection. Of course, Mason couldn’t help but see that his ghost was very well endowed.

“How?” Francis asked as he looked at Mason, with his obvious hardon, then back to his own.

“I don’t know.” Mason wanted to reach out and touch Francis again but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He didn’t know why that was, but something in his gut told him not to.

Frankly, he was afraid of what might happen if he did.

He was actually afraid he might just orgasm in his shorts. Talk about embarrassing !

The pair stood staring at each other for a moment before Francis began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Mason asked, he also started to giggle.

“I do not understand what is happening, but it feels... good. Do you not understand that I have not felt anything in so long, much less anything like this?”

“You didn’t feel... like a dead, rotten animal.” Mason stopped abruptly, his right hand covering his mouth. “I didn’t mean for that to sound... like that. Oh, Francis, I’m sorry.” Mason couldn’t help but start laughing.

Francis looked confused, but also began laughing again. “I should hope not.”

After they’d calmed down a bit, Mason tried to explain. “When your mother flew through me it was awful.” Mason shivered just thinking about it. “It was like something cold and dead wrapped itself all around me and it... there was a taste in my mouth like spoiled meat. It was really bad.”

“Mr. Montgomery?” It was Detective Stafford calling up from the foot of the main staircase.

“Listen, I need to go for now. I hope I’ll be able to come back tomorrow. The police have to do their thing, and I can’t be here for some reason.” Mason reached out but didn’t touch Francis.

“I understand.” Francis smiled brightly. “Thank you, Mason. I will see you when you are able to return.”

“Mr. Montgomery, are you up there?”

Mason smiled at Francis, turned and left the room. “I’m coming, Detective. I needed to check and make sure there weren’t any plumbing issues upstairs.”

Mason smiled to himself. O h, there were plenty of plumbing issues alright, just not the kind the detective would assume.

* * * * *

“W ell, this totally sucks,” Mitch griped before draining the last of his beer. “Only a few days left, and they kick us out. For what? Some ol’ body that’s been sitting there for what? A century or more?”

“Detective Stafford said he would try and hurry things along. He said they might even be able to get whatever it is they do finished up tonight.” Mason stood up and got the three of them another beer.

Paul took the beer but didn’t open it. He looked at Mason. “Do... do you know who it is, Mas?”

Mason sighed. “Yeah. It’s Francis.”

“Who?” Mitch asked, frowning. “Like that name in the dust?”

“Yeah, that would be him.” Mason took a long draw on his beer, drinking almost half of it down.

Mitch looked at Mason and then at Paul. “Are you guys trying to pull something over on me. Did you plan this whole charade?”

Mason rolled his eyes. “No. I’ve been telling you for the last week or so that I’ve seen ghosts, but you don’t want to believe me.”

“Seriously? You expect me to believe that you can see ghosts?”

“I have.” Mason sat down on the floor, his normal spot, only now looking at his two friends sitting on the sofa. “Ever since I fell off that ladder.”

Mitch looked at Paul. “You believin’ this?”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Mitch looked at Mason again. “You’re serious.”

“I am.” Mason wiped his forehead with the cold beer bottle.

“Man, you can make a fortune from this!” Mitch bounded up and started pacing. “You could be like a... an honest-to-God ghostbuster or something!”

Paul’s mouth fell open and Mason started laughing.

“I’m serious, man!” Mitch downed most of his beer before he started pacing back and forth again. “I mean, think about it. You could be on the Tonight Show and everything!”

Paul had started laughing as well.

Mitch stopped and looked at his two friends. “What’s so funny?”

“Mitch, buddy, I can’t get rid of ghosts. I can only see them. If I could get rid of them then I would have gotten rid of that old woman, trust me. She is disgusting,” Mason said trying his best to stop laughing.

“Okay, that could pose a problem, I guess.” Mitch finished his beer. “Y’all ready for another?” He opened the door of the ancient looking refrigerator.

Paul and Mason both answered yes. Mitch opened the three beers. “Think about it: You could maybe, like, do interviews with famous dead people or some shit.”

That set both Paul and Mason off laughing again.

“Come on, guys. Think about it.” Mitch glared at both of them. “Fine. See if I offer up anymore brilliant ideas.” He sat down heavily next to Paul, his bottom lip stuck out like a petulant child.

“Oh, come on, Mitch.” Mason wiped the tears from his face, holding his stomach. “ You think about it. Do you honestly think for one minute that anyone in their right mind would believe me? Do you know how ridiculous I’d look?”

Mitch didn’t say anything for a minute. “There’s gotta be a way to capitalize on this shit.”

“Thanks for thinking of me,” Mason said. “How about we just focus on getting done what we can with what time we have left.”

“What if they don’t let us back in before Mitch and I have to leave?” Paul asked.

Mason shrugged. “Then I say we party like it’s 1999!”

“Oh, yeah!” Mitch yelled, jumping up again doing some little dance. “That’s what I’m talking about. ”

Paul rolled his eyes.

Mitch stopped and glowered at Paul.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Mitch stuck his tongue out as he turned to answer the door.

“Is Mr. Montgomery here?”

Mason stood up. “Back here, Detective Stafford.”

The policeman entered the small apartment. “Hello. I thought I’d bring you up to date on where things were.”

“Thank you. Would you like a beer?” Mason offered.

“No, I wish I could but I’m still on duty.

I’ll take a raincheck.” The detective pulled out his notebook.

“As best as we can determine, the body we found was indeed male, but from the clothing, we kind of figured that out. Unfortunately, there is no obvious way to determine the cause of death. The Medical Examiner is thinking that the body has been there not quite a hundred years.” He looked up from his notebook, looking at Mason.

“There didn’t seem to be any sense in trying to look for fingerprints or any other type of forensic evidence either.

We did get a lot of photographs. They are about to remove the remains and after that, there doesn’t seem to be any reason why you can’t go back into your house. ”

“What will become of the remains?” Mason asked.

“I’m not really sure.” Stafford scratched the back of his head. “I’ve never encountered anything like this before.”

“Would you find out for me, please?” Mason asked. “I kinda feel responsible for him. I mean, he was found in my house after all.”

Detective Stafford looked curiously at Mason. “You know, that’s really kind of you. I don’t know that anyone else would even have considered that. I’ll see what I can find out and let you know.”

“Thanks for all your help, Detective Stafford.”

“It’s my job. I wish all my cases were this easy.” He nodded to Paul and Mitch. “You gentlemen have a good rest of the evening. Don’t go driving now.”

Mason chuckled. “No sir, we won’t. Good night.”

Mitch closed the door behind the detective. When he turned back to the other two, he said, “Does this mean no party?”