“Maureen. Who is she? Is she at the asylum?”
Knight let the sigils on his hands go aflame in warning. “She’s a ghost, a very horny one too. And the asylum’s been closed many years ago.”
Elliot walked up to Knight and grabbed his arm. “She was a patient, my Maureen. You’re saying she’s still there?”
Gray licked his lips. “Um... I don’t see her, but those two said only people who made a pact with Baal can stay there after death. Did—?”
“It must be her then!” Roger explained, pacing around the room in long, somewhat awkward steps. “Blond hair, full cheeks and green eyes. Small, with a boyish figure?”
Knight cleared his throat, and his face became sterner. “That’s her.”
Roger clutched at Elliot’s hair and once more sat down on the bed. “Oh, no… She did make the pact after all. Why did she kill herself then? I don’t understand…”
Knight shrugged. “She seems fine now.”
Roger’s expression full of hope. “Really? You think she’s not angry with me anymore?”
Knight rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know, man. You’d have to ask her.”
“But I’m anchored here. God, if I knew, I’d have died at the asylum!” lamented Roger, sinking his head deeper between his knees with each passing moment.
Gray walked up to him, resting his hands on his hips. “I thought the ghosts could only live within Baals domain?”
Knight shrugged, but Roger was already bursting with angry words.
“I’m still here only because of the ruby. You can’t have it!”
Shadow ran his fingers through his hair. “So… the ruby is your anchor here?”
“I suppose you could call it that,” Roger mumbled, sitting back on the bed.
Shadow crouched in front of Roger. “What if we take it with us to the asylum, so that you two could meet again?”
“Ha! What a cheap trick. You just want to take what is left of my sorry existence,” he spat and pushed at Shadow’s shoulder, but Shadow wouldn’t budge.
“So the ruby might give you another few years. What then? Would they be worth living without her? Stuck in this house, fighting off intruders?” Shadow asked in that soft, deep voice that made Gray melt. “Would you not give that up to see her again? I know my existence would have been worthless if I were to live apart from my love.”
An electric jolt went through Gray’s heart, and he stepped closer, eager to touch him as soon as this was done.
Roger chewed on his lip, staring back at Shadow. “I…”
Knight stepped in and squeezed Roger’s shoulder. “Come on, don’t be a pussy. How long do you plan on scaring people away from here when the love of your life is still around and the only ghost lady in that asylum?”
Roger blinked, sucking in air. “What?”
Knight shrugged. “I’m just saying. She doesn’t know you’re still here.”
“Did she…? I was like you.” Roger pointed at Knight’s hands. “I had to bury the stones, feed them if I wanted to keep our child alive. I thought it was safe, that I would make Maureen happy, because in the worst circumstances, if I couldn’t make it to the stones, Baal would just take the energy he needed from me, but I didn’t know others could see Baal too. That patient who chopped my hands off was in the asylum because of paranoia, but he hadn’t been wrong about me. I was stuck in the hospital for weeks.” Roger took a deep breath, clutching at his pants. “And when I got out, they were both dead—both she and the baby. I never knew she’d made a pact of her own in the end.”
Gray chewed on his lips, crossing his arms on his chest. “I know how you feel. My twin died not that long ago. But you know this already, don’t you?”
Roger flinched. “I’m sorry. I might have become too much of a recluse. And the ruby… it’s what allows me to look into people’s minds and create illusions made of their fears.”
As if that excused using a loved one to encourage someone to hurt themselves. But ghosts likely didn’t think the way humans did, so maybe Roger should be excused. “My point is that I would have done anything in my power to speak to him once more. The real him. I didn’t get that chance, but we are offering it to you.” Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Gray looked deep into Roger’s eye. “You can be with her again if you offer us the ruby in return.”
“I want to spend the day with her. From dusk till dawn. Then you can take the ruby, and I’ll see what happens to me. I need to explain to her why I disappeared.”
Gray’s skin tingled with electricity at how close they were to their goal. To a new life for Shadow. Sure, he pitied the ghost—he wasn’t a monster—but at the end of the day, his lover’s continuous existence was Gray’s priority.