Page 84 of Ghostly

“This thing looks like something out of Beauty and the Beast,” Jason said to Mark as the two pushed the stove into place. “I keep expecting it to start talking.”

“Be our guest,” Mark replied, and laughing, the two left the kitchen.

Gabriel was fully occupied by organizing everyone who wanted to help, all to escape the fact that for once, he had no idea what he intended to do in the future.

Soon you’ll go back to the city, your real job,the voice of reason whispered to him. Another voice fought against it—whether they succeeded or not, he couldn’t leave Ida, and didn’t want to.Especiallyif they succeeded. This would be a new world to her and she’d need help. But it seemed she didn’t want, or need, him.

Then the third voice (it was getting quite crowded in his head) reasoned that Perry could help her, or any of the townspeople, and Ida herself wasn’t helpless.

One minute, he was 100% certain he’d stick to his original plan—then it all flipped and he imagined staying here, if he could clear things up with Ida, and a strange sense of coziness overcame him—and then it was 96% for one plan, and then 89% for the other, and then 73% and 84% and—

He didn’t know what the hell was going on with him.

Two days remained before the ritual. The squad was putting on the finishing touches: Dina was double-checking the garden sketches, Marge and Janice were cleaning up the area, Jason was polishing the new stone bench they’d installed in place of the decaying old one, and Mark and Perry were finishing off Gabriel’s job on the facade.

Gabriel walked around, double-checking Dina’s double-checking, leafing through pages of notes he’d made for the renovation. The garden would need until summer, when the flowers would bloom, to be truly stunning, but the grounds already looked much better.

As he rounded the corner, Ida glided toward him. “I need Perry,” she said.

Gabriel pretended he didn’t feel that pang of jealousy. “He’s busy.”

“It’s urgent.”

So he called for Perry, and Ida explained, as if in a round of telephone, “I need to create the anger-imbued object. I’d like to have Perry there, just in case.”

“I gotta finish the facade,” Perry said.

“You can do that later. Go with Ida,” Gabriel said.

“What? Man, no. This is finicky work. I can’t leave in the middle.” Perry crossed his hands over his chest. “Never heard of the ‘watch paint dry’ saying?”

“I don’t think that means what you think it means.”

Unaffected, Perry continued, “You go. You’re better for it, anyway—you can see and hear Ida. If something bad happens, it’ll be way easier for you to help.”

“But I have things to control—”

“I’ll be in my bedroom,” Ida said. “Figure it out.” She stomped away, creating a comical effect with her otherwise smooth glide.

“What did she say?” Perry asked.

Gabriel sighed. “Go back to painting. I’ll take care of it.”

Upstairs, he waited for a moment, composing himself, then pushed the door in. Ida sat on the bed, and her eyes widened at his arrival.

“What can I say? Surprise has always been my tactic.” He joined her, keeping a foot of distance. “Opponents never knew what hit them.”

Ida remained silent.

“What do I need to do?”

“Nothing. Just stand guard.”

“Is it wise we’re doing this here?” She didn’t have the best history with this room.

“This locket needs to be filled with everything I felt as I… as I went out that window.” Her hands trembled. “There isn’t a better placethanthis.”

Gabriel did what she asked: stayed silent, but vigilant. The locket lay between them, garish against the pristine white sheet. Ida should’ve disappeared as she possessed it, but the seconds trickled away, and nothing happened.