Page 70 of Ghostly

He’d intended to only get the groceries, but then the jewelry shop was on the way, and then Janice waved him in from the bakery and offered him fresh cinnamon rolls and how could he say no to that (he got one extra for Ida to haunt), and while he was there, Marge came in and before he knew, he’d been chatting for twenty minutes. Then Jason stopped him on the way out, and he might as well check on any new books in the library…

He’d lost count of the increments he’d used for his morning venture.

No, wait. He’d neverstartedthe count. And strangely, it didn’t matter.

He stopped humming as the door gave way too easily.

Not locked anymore.

Gabriel listened, blood rushing to his ears. A burglar, somebody worse? He knew they wouldn’t be able to touch Ida, but instinctively—

“Hey! No fair!”

Perry?

“Oh, no, no, auntie. Don’t you GG me. You spawn-camped me for the whole game!”

What the hell?

With light, quiet steps, Gabriel approached the living room.

“Yeah, I’m up for a new one. And I’ll get you this time.”

Not that his stealth mattered. Perry was on the couch, leaning forward as he slammed the buttons on his game controller, headphones over his ears.

Gabriel cleared his throat.

“GLHF to you, too! Ha!” Perry leaned forward still, until Gabriel was certain his center of gravity should’ve shifted and made him fall.

“Excuse me,” he said.

Perry almost dropped the controller. “Shit! Uh, hi, Mr. Buren. I was just, uh…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Gabriel waved at the TV. “I’m glad you came back.” The screen displayed a first-person shooter, with a lot of brown grass and mud.

“You know what, man, your ghostie is cheeky,” Perry said.

“She’s not my ghost, and—what is going on here?”

A chat in the bottom corner blinked. Most of it had faded by now, except one last line:

HuxGirl63: get rekt

“Ghostie and I are playing video games,” Perry explained cheerfully, as if he’d just found out the weather was going to be sunny tomorrow. “She’s got the aim of a pro. Though I still think she’s cheating. I mean, she’s inside the game, right? That’s gotta be an advantage. And she probably has a bunch of supernatural skills to aid her.”

HuxGirl63: u jealous?

“That…” Gabriel pointed at the screen, then, mouth hanging open, looked back to Perry, and again at the screen. “That’s Ida?”

HuxGirl63: Oh, hi, Gabriel! Glad to see you back.

“Yeah, she’s haunting the TV,” Perry said. “Somehow that allows her to play multiplayer with me. But it’s cool, dude. We’re bonding.”

HuxGirl63: We totally are! The average K/D ratio for the Huxleys is now4.

“Kills and deaths ratio,” Perry explained. “In game, of course.”

“Sure.” Gabriel edged toward the kitchen. “I’ll go get some coffee. Let you two finish up.”