Afflicted

Before any of us could respond, Lacey entered the room. She'd managed to find a bright pink pair of pyjamas with a unicorn on the front of them that I hadn't worn in about three years. She smiled widely, clearly pleased with herself and dropped down onto the couch next to Lincoln. Sometimes I loved that girl more than anything in the world. In one quick outfit change, she had managed to make my pyjamas look like a sensible choice. I mouthed ‘thank you’ to her while the others all looked her way and she smiled widely in response.

"What did I miss?" she asked as she grabbed a slice of pizza.

"Linc was telling us about being in the army," Reese said.

"Marines," Lincoln corrected. He slid a finger beneath his collar and pulled a set of dog tags out from under his shirt, letting them fall on top of it so we could see them.

Reese let out an appreciative whistle.

"Oh really?" Lacey asked, her eyes sparkling with interest as she glanced at me. "So should we be calling you Corporal Walsh or something?"

"Staff Sergeant Walsh if you wanna be accurate." A small smile played around his lips as he corrected her.

"Really? How old are you?" Jason asked, sounding impressed.

Military ranks didn't mean much to me so I took another slice of pizza and ate in silence.

"Twenty-Four," Lincoln said.

"Congrats man, that's impressive."

"Military life suits me." Lincoln shrugged but I could tell he was proud of his accomplishments.

"Are you on leave or something then?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how long for yet."

"Do you think you'll be called back to deal with the terrorists?" Lacey asked.

Lincoln looked up at her with a frown. "Which terrorists?"

"The ones who attacked the water treatment plant."

"I don't think that's what happened." Linc took a swig of his soda before continuing. "I wouldn't put too much faith in the news just now if I were you. They're more invested in scare mongering for a good story than they are in uncovering the truth. But believe me, there's no way an attack like that could have been planned and executed without the Monitor catching them out."

"What do you think happened then if it wasn't terrorists?" I asked as I wiped my hands clean and sat back.

"No idea. But they aren't calling me back in are they?" He shot me a smile and my heart thumped a little wildly in my chest. I got the feeling he might know more than he was letting on but his face didn't give anything away. "Anyway kids, thanks for this but I should be getting back." He got to his feet as he prepared to leave.

"Do you wanna take some back for your mom?" I offered, ignoring the sting from the 'kids' comment.

"That's okay, we already ate plus I had pizza for lunch. This was just an extra snack." He laughed as he headed for the door. "Enjoy your slumber party."

"Aww man you're gunna miss the pillow fight," Reese laughed as he followed him out to lock up behind him.

"Just give me a shout if you see the boogie man and I'll be right back." Lincoln laughed with Reese before I heard the door shut and my brother reappeared.

"You get a good enough look then Lacey?" he asked a little coolly. "I thought I'd give you a front row seat so that you can give Demi a full report tomorrow."

"Thanks," Lacey replied. "I got a good, hard look. But I think I probably prefer men my own age." She gave Reese a bright smile and stood up. "Shall we head up?" she asked me.

"Definitely. Night boys." I waved to Jason over my shoulder and hurried after Lacey.

We rushed up the stairs and into my room where I quickly turned the key in the lock to make sure Reese couldn't disturb us. Lacey jumped onto my bed and I climbed in next to her.

"Okay so first things first," she said excitedly. "Your ghost is very much alive and he is insanely hot." She burst into laughter and I couldn't help but join in too.

"Yeah and he doesn't even hate me."