"Are you about done yet? Because this is all very impressive, but it's a school night and I've got homework to get back to. "
The flames winked out of existence, leaving the room as pristine and empty as before. "I'll kill you," the voice croaked, and something about it triggered a memory.
"Steve?"
The air shimmered in front of me to reveal the translucent image of-yup, Steve the vampire. Or at least, what used to be Steve the vampire. Considering he was dead dead now, instead of undead, he wasn't technically a vampire.
He scowled at me. "You aren't any fun. "
"Party pooper extraordinaire, that's me. What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He raised his hands and they burst into flame.
"Looks like cheap parlor tricks to me. Seriously though, the last time I saw you-" The last time I saw him, he was so wigged out over being brought into the Center that he bit Raquel, knowing it would trigger an injection of holy water and kill him. Again. But permanently.
His eyes flashed with anger. "Glad to see you remember me. "
"Of course. But why are you still here?"
"I'm going to make them pay. All of them. They'll rue the day they ever brought me into this prison. " Steve had always had a flair for the dramatic. He should have raised one ghostly fist in the air as he said it, though, for the full effect.
I sat back down, settling against the door. "I guess that's fair enough. "
"Aren't you going to try and exorcise me?"
"Nah. Not my department. "
"Oh. " He bit his lip-or at least tried to, but failed due to the whole incorporeal thing. "Well, what now, then?"
"Ooh, can you make it look like bugs are exploding out of my skin?"
He dropped a few inches in his hovering. "Seriously?"
"Could be cool, right? If you want, I'll even pretend to be scared. "
"It's not the same if you're faking. " He dropped down to my eye level; this left about half of him beneath the floor, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Sorry. I can't help it. "
We sat there for a while, Steve shifting position like he couldn't quite get his ethereal body comfortable.
"I have a question," I asked, finally breaking the silence.
He perked up. "What?"
"I don't get it. I mean, you hated the idea of this place, right? You committed hari-kari just to avoid being locked up here for even a few days. "
"Yes. And?"
"I don't understand why, after all that, you'd choose to spend eternity here. "
His eyes went out of focus, the outline of his body fuzzing ever so slightly. "I- They need to- I'm making them pay. "
"Sure, I get that. But aside from giving them nightmares and being a nuisance, you can't do anything, can you? All you've done is trapped yourself more effectively than they ever could. "
His shoulders slumped. Man, poor guy. I kept ruining his afterlives. I reached out to pat him on the shoulder but stopped short. It'd probably make him feel worse if I went straight through him. "Umm, don't worry about it. You're not really stuck, after all. " I waved my hand near his arm in a way I hoped was comforting.
He was already starting to lose definition. It's not easy hanging on once you're dead, and if you take the will to haunt out of them, they usually poof right on to where they're supposed to be.