"I didn't think such a high-class neighborhood could be haunted." Glacia's chin rested in her hand, her elbow propped on the door to the horse-drawn carriage she and Gadalik were riding in. The pearls stringed around her shoulders were blown against the finely-stitched fabric of her blue kimono-like outfit's sleeve by the passing breeze.
Complex buildings towered over them from either side of the street as they passed.
"Is this the right area?" the coachman asked for clarification.
"Yes, it isn't much farther. It should be just around the corner," the blue-eyed teen answered, matching the return address on an envelope in his hand to the street signs. It led them to an elegant two-story mansion.
The purple-haired woman retrieved her two-tone leather pocketbook from the smaller of the two bags they had packed. It was overflowing with cash, but she paid the coach the exact amount he charged, gathered her bags, and casually leapt out, tapping her foot impatiently when her companion didn't join her right away.
"Thanks for the ride. And, uh... Please excuse her," Gadalik apologized, rubbing a hand through his striped green bangs with embarrassment before tipping him half of what little there was in his worn-down wallet. He returned it to his green robe’s inner pocket, then grabbed his staff and followed Glacia as the coachman drove off.
A middle-aged pudgy man in a business suit and tie paced on the sidewalk out front of the mansion, frantically checking his watch. He beamed when he saw the two approaching. "Well, lookie here! The little lad with a robe and a staff! Might you be that cheap--err, affordable spook I've read such wonderful reports on?"
"Gadalik, at your service," he confirmed somewhat sheepishly.
"I told you that you should charge more," Glacia offhandedly remarked.
"Why? You're already rich," he lightheartedly pointed out.
"But he doesn't know that!" She winked.
He laughed and gently elbowed her.
"The name's Albert," the man greeted them, tipping his hat to Glacia and offering his gloved hand to the teen. Gadalik reached for it, and Albert's sudden grip was unpredictably tight; the two rough shakes following it nearly dislocated the younger male's shoulder. "I own this house now that my, uh, lovely mother Karen unfortunately passed away from sickness."
"I'm...sorry to hear that," Gadalik condoled, moving his staff to the crook of his arm to rub his aching knuckles.
"So am I," Albert said genuinely, "but, more importantly, so are my potential buyers. Her spirit never lets them hear the end of it."
"Wait," Glacia interrupted. "Is that the problem: a ghost talking to your homebuyers?"
"Yes! She has run out five potential buyers since she died a few weeks ago."
"Is she threatening them?" Gadalik inquired.
"No, she's just...talking."
The woman’s red irises stared expectantly at Albert. "...What's so bad about that?"
"Ah, uh, forgive me; I forgot you're not from around here.” The older man cleared his throat. “I don't mean to speak ill of my late mother, but...well, maybe she should speak for herself and then you'll understand. Please, come inside." He unlocked the double doors and held one open for them.
They entered, Glacia setting down her pack by the door. Gadalik paused and turned around to see his client was still outside. "What's wrong? Aren't you coming with us?"
"Heavens, no!" Albert exclaimed. "Eh, I… I mean...it grieves me to see her in such an unlively state. I'll simply wait for you on the porch. But, then again, it might be a while... Perhaps I should meet you back here at sundown?"
Glacia recoiled. "Sundown? But it's barely noon!"
"Hm, yes, well in that case... Tomorrow it is."
"But that's even longer--"
"You charge by the task, not the hour," he tutted.
"That's not what I--"
"Make yourselves at home, and I'll see you then, my good fellows!" He promptly slammed the door in her face.
The woman stared at it, dumbfounded for a moment. "Geez... What a kook."
Gadalik nodded, but his focus was on his job. This place is huge... Where do I even start…?
He didn't have to wonder for long. His striped blue eyes saw the ghost before she became visible as she drifted down from the second floor.
"My, oh, my, what a pleasant surprise! Two new visitors," rang out a delighted voice as an older female's spirit descended to hover in front of them. She had grayed hair held in a bun by a braid, and was wearing a pink dress, although all of her colors were translucent. "A family, might you be? And a happy one, at that! I wish I could say the same for myself. Will you be moving in?"
"W-we don't intend to stay here for long," Gadalik said so as not to mislead her into targeting them, given her negative history with past housemates.
"Is that so? How dreadful... It's been so lonely here. I haven't had good company in weeks!"
Glacia raised an eyebrow. "What about the five people before us?"
"Oh, they were just as bad as my son. Not good listeners at all! Very disrespectful, the lot of them. Thank goodness they decided to leave."
The traveling pair exchanged a subtle, uncertain glance.
"Ah, but while you're here, let me give you a tour of my home! To your right is the kitchen, and on the left is the library--judging by your adorable little ascot, boy, I assume you're the scholarly type. I think you and your sister would like it here, if you decide to stay."
"Sister?" Glacia echoed, somewhat flattered. "I'm actually his mother."
Karen looked her over, unconvinced, then grinned with forced politeness. "You seem hardly a decade older than him."
"That's because I am. Nine years older, to be exact." With horror, the purple-haired woman realized what that implied. "H-he's adopted!" she quickly explained.
Gadalik chuckled a bit at her reddening face, which she then attempted to hide with one hand while pushing him away with the other.
"How sweet," Karen giggled. "Now, let me show you the rest of the house." She flew to the second floor while the others took the stairs. "This was my bedroom. My good-for-nothing son jumped at the chance to take everything in it after I died--but at least he waited until then. Now, my sister Riley was always begging for my share of our parents' possessions, going on about how she was entitled to our family heirlooms. And I always told her, she would have inherited some if she didn't plan on selling them like everything else she got her hands on!"
Gadalik listened intently; Karen's relationship with Albert seemed strained even before her death, but Riley sounded more problematic.
"That reminds me of the time she came over with my nephew Cody, trying to use that child as an excuse to bum money from me, but I wasn't gonna fall for her little schemes. I bought Cody everything he needed instead, so she didn't get a penny from me. But, would you believe it, he grew up to be just like her! After everything I've done for him, too. Shameful, the both of them are."
Gadalik swallowed. Albert, Riley, and now Cody?
"Sheesh. They sound like the kind who would steal from you even after asking first," Glacia muttered.
"Oh, Riley has stolen from me before. Countless times. I can't tell you how many things went missing whenever she came around!"
"Despicable."
"Absolutely." Karen led them past a bathroom and to the end of the hall. "Here is my son Albert's old room. Even as a child he had issues with greediness and listening to me... He takes after his father, you know. I can't imagine why; my husband Carl was never there to help me raise him, let alone influence him!"
"It seems like you've had a hard life," Gadalik sympathized. "Is Carl still with us?”
"No; the one good thing he did for me was die," she sneered.
The spook winced. She means it... Her own husband...!
"How could so many people have the nerve to treat you like that?" Glacia said, angry on the ghost's behalf. "If I had family like yours, I'd knock some sense into them!"
"Really?" the teen teased her, stopping to let Karen drift ahead out of earshot. "I find that hard to believe. The worst punishment you ever gave me was putting childproof locks on my bedroom windows."
"That's because the worst you ever did was sneak outside and waste half of your tenth birthday cake--that I spent so much time baking for you--on a 'lost boy' who turned out to be a spirit."
He chuckled. "I thought he was alive."
"Point is, I can be stern if the situation calls for it." She crossed her arms with mock-indignance when he couldn't help laughing. "W-what? I can!"
Karen looked back and smiled at the two. "Unfortunately, they are who they are, and I just had to accept that not everyone will behave how I want."
That was a word that always got Gadalik's attention. Acceptance was usually the final key to passing on, but there were instances where it had the opposite effect: if a spirit was content with being stuck in the living world, coaxing them into leaving proved to be difficult, especially if they had no interest in resolving what they knew to be their unfinished business. He hoped the latter wasn't Karen's case.
The tour continued, going on brief holds for the older woman to introduce more family members and friends and even neighbors...who have all mistreated her.
"...And when I told Morgan he should help me out while I let him stay in the guest room, he just up and left me all alone!" "...I took a walk to cool down after Jenny and I got into an argument, and when I came back, she had gone into the kitchen and broken my favorite saucer, just to spite me!" "My other nephew Bailey stayed with us for a few years through it all. He spent most of his time in the library. He was always the nice one I could count on... But then he tried to say all of these problems were my fault. We had a little bicker over it, nothing serious, then he moved out and hasn't spoken to me since."
This continued, the list of problematic people lengthening until she slid open the door to the balcony to show them the cityscape from their vantage point, only to find that night had fallen.
"My, is it that late already?" Karen said. "I'll let you be for now. Please consider staying longer; the house is wonderful!"
"Yes, it is," Gadalik agreed. “Mind if we stay the night?”
“Be my guest! You know where the bathrooms are if you’d like to shower. Did you bring anything to change into?”
“Yes, I’ll go get them,” Glacia said, heading back to the entrance for her pack.
After the two had bathed and put on their night clothes, Karen invited them into a guest bedroom with two beds on either side of it, a nightstand between them, and a writing desk against the wall across from it. "Goodnight! I'll talk to you tomorrow." Karen turned invisible, but the spook could still see her as she drifted through the ceiling.
"I hope she won't talk with us tomorrow," Glacia groaned. She tucked in her yellow gown and plopped onto one of the mattresses.
Gadalik sat at a desk and withdrew some letter paper from the drawer the ghost had welcomed him to earlier. He took out a pen, wrote down the countless names, relationships, and interactions she had spoken of before he could forget them, then tapped the utensil in a light, quick rhythm against the paper as he read them over.
"Is it bad that I'm starting to get numb to her problems?" his adoptive mother continued.
"No," Gadalik assured her, his gaze not leaving the desktop. Then he brought a hand to his forehead, the other still fidgeting with the pen. "But it's bad that I am."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm supposed to be one who gives her closure. But there are so many outside factors, I can hardly keep track of it all. And who knows how many more are involved that she didn't have time to mention? Maybe if I could narrow it down to who caused her the greatest amount of grief...but that's subjective, and she made them all sound as bad as each other..."
She hated seeing him so frustrated. "I say we just leave her for the next spook. You're not getting paid enough to deal with her drama, anyway."
"For the last time, it's not about the money, Glacia...! I only care about helping her--and from what I've heard and seen of Albert, I don't think he would be willing to pay the average price for any other spook."
"Hey, don't use that tone with me, young man," she huffed.
He took a breath, and the fidgeting came to a stop. "I'm sorry... Really; I-I didn't mean to snap. It's just..." He let the pen drop to bury his eyes in both palms, then sniffed and dragged his hands down his cheeks, holding that pose for a second as he breathed. Then he faced his mother, looking into her red irises with determination. "I can't just give up on her."
Glacia's gaze softened. "Hm. Well, if they're mostly horrible, maybe you should look for who caused her the least amount of trouble."
He was speechless at the solution being so simple. "...You're right." He went over the list one more time before he folded the paper, put it in the pocket of his robe hanging on the rack by the door, and turned off the lights...but he was too bothered to sleep right away. Karen did say Bailey was someone she could count on until he moved, which was better than how everyone else ended with her. Maybe getting in touch with him could help. He eventually dozed.
Gadalik heard the drumming of raindrops on the roof of the disheveled log cabin he found himself in. Blood was splattered on the walls, and a smeared trail of it led to the outside, the crimson color mixed in the mud but guiding him toward a makeshift gravesite. The rain had let up at this point, but water continued to drip down his face.
He woke up with a gasp, wiping the tears from his eyes as if that would also eradicate the horrible ache in his chest, and although the dream was instantly forgotten, the feeling lingered. The spook turned over and tried to go back to sleep. When he again dozed, the dream continued where it left off and this time he jolted himself awake, refusing to go through that again.
The rest of the night consisted of changing sleep positions and staring at the wall.
No sooner than his eyes fell shut, it seemed, a harsh knocking echoed through the nearly-unfurnished mansion, loud enough to wake the dead. Literally. The ghost shot down from the roof to check on the duo, then took off toward the front doors before Gadalik could drag himself out of bed. Glacia gripped her pillow and rolled onto her belly, tugging it down over her ears to block out the noise. The sound ceased for a moment, to their relief. Gadalik fetched his dark green robe, moving carefully since the lack of sleep had left him lightheaded. Then it resumed even louder.
"What on Earth--?" she complained. Anger willed her to hop up and, still in just her yellow nightgown, march out toward the staircase. "What's the meaning of this?! It's, like, five in the morning!"
Alone in the room, Gadalik swiftly changed into his usual green standing-collared shirt and matching pants, followed by this robe, before pulling his shoulder-length striped green hair back into a ponytail with a red hair-tie the same color as his ascot, which was just lighter than his shoes. He grabbed his staff, and went after them.
In the foyer Glacia was struggling to remove the wooden chair that was wedged underneath the handles of the double-doors, which were being pounded on from the outside. Karen floated unhelpfully above her.
"What's wrong with you?! Get this chair out of the way! Now!" Glacia demanded the spirit.
The ghost defiantly crossed her arms. "I'd die before I let that no-good son of mine in."
"You did die! You're a ghost!"
Gadalik sighed, joining his mother. "Here... Take the bottom chair-leg and lift it toward you," he said, demonstrating with the other side of the chair.
They pulled both hind chair-legs simultaneously and it slid onto its back on the floor--then was immediately flung across the room when the doors burst open.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Albert was on the other side, rather disheveled at first, though he was quick to gain his composure. "Hmm...I take it you didn't succeed," he commented upon seeing the mess in front of him, straightening up to look more professional.
"No... Not yet, sir. But I'm working on it," Gadalik promised.
"I should hope so. This isn't the first time my dear mother has blocked me out."
"And it won't be the last!" his dear mother huffed. She vanished but Gadalik's eyes could still see her.
Albert ran his hand down his forehead, pinching the ridge of his nose. "Mr. Spook, please tell me you've at least made some progress."
Glacia set the chair upright and sat in it backward, folding her arms on the back of it to use as a makeshift pillow while she grumbled to herself about waking up so early.
"I think I have an idea of how to help, thanks to Glacia." Gadalik paused, remembering how tired he'd been when he decided on who to talk to. He pulled out the folded sheet with the list of names and their corresponding conflicts with Karen to ensure he wouldn't get the person wrong. "I was hoping you could contact Bailey for me--"
"Is that my name written there?" Albert interrupted. Before giving the teen a chance to reply, the man swiped the paper from him.
"W-wait!"
Too late. "...Is this all she told you?" Albert asked, disgusted. He neatly refolded the paper and handed it back to him. "Nonsense. Utter nonsense!"
"Are you calling me a liar?" Karen, who had been reading it over his shoulder, became visible to confront him.
"Well this certainly isn't how I remember things!"
The two talked over themselves, neither one hearing the other.
Glacia rolled her eyes. "Great. Now we don't know who to believe."
Gadalik tried to keep up with what each of them was saying, quickly getting overwhelmed. "Excuse me..."
Their accusations devolved into a name-calling screaming match.
"Grr... Enough!" The normally calm and quiet boy now irritably raised his voice above theirs. This caught them by surprise and they stopped to hear him out. He steadied his breathing. Not getting enough sleep tended to make him more grouchy. "Let's go over each point and discuss them. Now, does that sound fair?"
"No!" The spirit and her son cried at once.
"Everything I told you was true! He's not even denying it!" she said.
"But it's not the whole truth!" Albert threw his hands up with exasperation. "Ugh! I had to deal with this too many times when she was alive. I shouldn't be subjected to it now that she's dead!"
"Then stay away from me and my house!"
"It's my house! Why, I never--" He stopped himself, taking a moment to calm down. He faced the spook. "You wanted to contact Bailey? You're in luck; I don't think he left yet after coming here for the funeral. He should be staying with our aunt Riley here in town." He scribbled the address on the back of a business card and offered it to him.
Gadalik accepted it. "...Thank you."
"Whatever it takes. And, uh, good luck to you and your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?!" Glacia stood so fast the chair fell again. "Why would you think I'm--? H-he's only seventeen--"
Albert slammed the door between them.
Gadalik released a breath, his tension ebbing. He just wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, but dismissed the idea. Then he examined the card.
"Don't bother getting Bailey involved," Karen murmured. "He wants nothing to do with me."
"I doubt that. He came to your funeral, after all," the teen reminded her.
"That's only because he thought I was gone."
Gadalik flinched. "Don't sell yourself so short..."
Karen looked down, as if ashamed.
He wanted to change the subject. "What was your son saying about the list being nonsense? Did I get some details wrong?"
"No, you were spot-on. I only wish that more people were as good at listening as you are. I do hope you two decide to stay here after all."
"I don't know about staying, but I'll be back later. Maybe Bailey won't want to return with me...but, maybe he will. The worst he can do is decline."
Karen seemed unsure, but let him go.
The duo had gone out for a quick breakfast before going on the way to see Bailey. "I get that Albert's high-strung, but Karen blocking the doors from him was a bit much," Glacia was saying as they walked.
"She's avoiding the people she's had bad experiences with," Gadalik assumed, half to himself. "Understandable as that is, it isn't helping her."
"You think that's the root of the problem? She's just lonely?"
"The problem is she's not over any of the arguments she's had with them. And if Albert is to be believed--"
"I still think he's a kook!"
"--she may not be telling us the whole story."
"About how she's been the target of everyone all her life?"
"Right. I took her word for it, too...as we should. But after her exchange with Albert this morning, I realize we only heard what they've done to her… And...I doubt that every single one of them acted without a reason--whether or not that reason excuses their actions."
"I just thought they were all nuts, like Albert."
"That could still be the case. Well, hopefully we'll find out now." Gadalik double-checked the address, then walked up the steps and knocked on the door to a house that seemed to have been partially rebuilt countless times; mismatched paint colors and shoddy brickwork overlayed the base of the decayed wooden walls. Despite the attempts to repair it, the house was still in shambles.
Nobody answered. After a couple more tries, he uncertainly triple-checked the card. Usually he had a good sense of direction, but...
"Who is it?" A husky female's voice sounded sharply.
"Uh, Gadalik... I'm a spook, trying to help Karen's spirit. Albert sent me."
The door cracked ajar as the lady peered out, then quickly shut it. "Who's she?"
"I'm his mother. Just looking out for him," Glacia said.
She reopened it and let them in. "That Albert never sleeps in, does he? Sorry he's dragged you into this mess so early. Watch your feet--"
Gadalik jumped up the extra step that the front of the house had been built over, turning quickly to catch Glacia who tripped over it in the dim lighting. The floorboards were flimsy, bending under their weight and even splintering in some areas. She gestured to a ripped up couch before taking a seat in the reclining chair across from it.
"Gadalik, you said? That's an odd name. I'm Riley." She reached her hand out to shake.
He instinctively did the same, then hesitated. She took it--thankfully at a reasonable grip. "You're Karen's sister?"
"Yes. She's still lingering in this world? No wonder Albert wouldn't let us in that mansion. I thought it was just to keep my parents' heirlooms for himself... Eh, it was probably both. Anyway... How can I help?"
"Could you tell me more about your relationship with her, and the heirlooms?"
"Certainly. Karen was always the favorite child. We didn't have much growing up, but she still had more than me and our brother--and she also received more than us after our parents passed. She married that rich man Carl and got everything he owned after he died, too! But what am I left with? Nothing but our old house ready to fall apart at any second. What problem could she possibly have with me?"
"Karen said you've tried to steal from her..."
"Stealing? Such a harsh term. No, it's just taking what's rightfully mine. You can see I'm not well-off. I had to raise my son Cody by myself with little money. She helped buy him clothes and food, but that doesn't keep the house standing. Just look at it!"
As if on cue, a rat scuttled across the room.
"Has it always been in this bad of shape?" he wondered.
"It's only gotten worse over the years... But my sister wouldn't understand that. She had a successful husband and a fancy mansion, why--she wouldn't miss a few material objects if I took them."
"I don't know about that," Glacia said. "Just because she's rich doesn't mean she can replace sentimental items. And it certainly doesn't give you the right to steal from her, even if she could."
"Pfft. Of course you would defend her. Look at those pearls on your outfit! You're obviously as wealthy as she is."
"Well excuse me for thinking that robbing someone is still a crime regardless of their financial status," Glacia shot back.
"I wouldn't need to steal if she'd just let me have them!"
"Why? So you can sell those priceless family treasures?" she huffed.
"Of course! My son is worth more than any of the junk my parents hoarded!"
Glacia fell silent at that.
"Karen knew how bad this environment is for a young boy to grow up in, and she still refused to fund the repairs necessary for the house. That's more messed up than swiping a few little trinkets, if you ask me."
"Speaking of your son... Cody... Is he home?" Gadalik wondered. “And if Bailey’s still here, I’d like to hear from him as well.”
"Yes, but they’re both still asleep. Let me try to wake them."
Glacia sat back and crossed her legs as Riley left. "She's so entitled. She didn't have to steal things for her son; they both said Karen bought Cody everything he needed. No wonder Karen has nothing to do with her."
"Even so, just look around... Nobody deserves to live in this state. If Karen could afford to, she should've helped them find a better house, or at least remodel this one," Gadalik sided with Riley.
"It's not Karen's responsibility to! Riley is his mother. She's the one who's supposed to provide a house for him--like I did for you. She can't steal from everyone and then expect them to fork over everything they have!"
"I'm grateful for everything you do for me," Gadalik said wholeheartedly. "But she only stole so that she could provide a home for him..." He gestured to the obvious attempts at replacing the walls. "Yes, stealing isn’t the way to go about it, and Riley should be held responsible for that... But everyone needs help once in a while. And if Karen had the means to help her family with something as important as shelter, I think she should have."
"She did help us," said a blonde man entering the living room. "Karen let us move in with her. She and my mother started fighting about what belonged to who, though, and when things started going missing she kicked my mom out. But she let me stay."
"Cody, right?" Gadalik guessed, and the man nodded. "So what happened after Riley left?"
"I know how my mother is when it comes to valuable items… Aunt Karen was always spoiling me, and we were close because of it. When she blamed herself for letting things get stolen, I convinced her it wasn't her fault; it was my mom's."
Glacia nodded in agreement.
"And then something got between you..." Gadalik said. "Something about money?"
Cody narrowed his eyes. "I've never asked her anything--especially not money--until that day, mainly because she gave me everything I could I ask for before that. But my friend got sick and he couldn't afford his medicine, so I thought Karen would give me the money for it, like she gave me everything else. But she flipped out on me, saying I'm an ingrate and a con-man 'like my mother.' She kicked me out after that."
"She didn't believe your friend needed help?"
"She denied he even existed," he affirmed. "She thought I made him up as an excuse--perhaps she even thought that friend was my mother. That is something my mom would do, if I'm honest...so maybe Aunt Karen was justified for suspecting me. But... She wouldn't give me a chance to make it up to her after that. She would put furniture against the doors to keep me out, call me names, and everything. Eventually I gave up trying to contact her altogether..."
"So it's a typical misunderstanding. You'll explain this to her and she'll move on," Glacia summarized. "Easy."
"I wish," said a dark-haired man who leaned against the wall of the hallway. "Cody wasn't the only one she had misunderstandings with."
Gadalik's hold on the list in his pocket strengthened, crumpling the folded corners. "Bailey?"
"Yes. My parents were also troublesome, so I stayed with Aunt Karen just to have some peace... And let me tell you, there wasn't much of it around her. Cody was the first of many people she fought with while I was there. I kept to myself in the library, so our relationship was fine. But a family friend Morgan lost his job and then his house and Karen moved him in with us. The second he got a new job, Karen demanded he pay her back for all of the food and shelter she had provided him. He couldn't afford it so he found somewhere else to crash. She was very upset by him 'abandoning' her and 'freeloading,' ranting about how he had 'used' her--even when Jenny came along."
"Jenny..." Gadalik remembered. "Did they fight often?"
"Yes, mainly since Jenny got sick of hearing about Morgan and Cody, so she always argued with Karen when she brought them up. But Jenny always earned her keep and surprised her with a home-made treat after each of their fights to make up for it."
"Breaking her favorite dish doesn't sound like a good surprise," Glacia stated.
"It was an accident. She slipped and dropped it. But Karen thought it was done on purpose, and refused to believe otherwise, so that was the last we saw of Jenny," Bailey clarified.
"And you?" Gadalik pressed.
"Karen's inability to see things from anyone else's viewpoint always bothered me. I finally called her out on it when Jenny was gone, and I left on my own volition before she could turn on me too."
"Right... She did say you were the only one who hadn't wronged her until the confrontation." Gadalik stood. "Thanks for your time. You all were a big help. I was wondering if either of you would come back with me to tell her this, yourself?"
"I did... We did. She doesn't listen to anything that goes against what she believes happened, even if it's the truth. She probably won't even let me in if I go."
"But she might listen to you, Gadalik. After all, you're an outsider so she doesn't have any dirt on you," Cody said.
"...Yet," Bailey added, pessimistic.
"Dirt on you?" Glacia echoed as they were headed back to the mansion. "I don't even have dirt on you, and I've known you for eight years."
Gadalik said nothing. He remembered the literal dirt, turned mud by the rain, splattered on his hands and clothing as he had trudged back toward the log cabin with a rusted shovel in-hand. He presently clasped his staff tighter until his knuckles turned white.
"Gadalik?"
Her voice snapped him out of it. "Oh... S-sorry. Guess I spaced out for a moment..."
They reached the mansion and Glacia knocked. Gadalik saw the invisible ghost's head phase through the door before the handles jiggled and they opened.
She turned visible to welcome their return. "What happened with Bailey?"
"He said you helped a lot of people by letting them stay with you," he answered, giving her a reassuring smile.
"That I did," she confirmed with pride. "But just look how he repaid me... He left me for dead!"
Gadalik felt his chest suddenly tighten. The memory of leaving the shallow graves suddenly invaded his mind. No… It wasn’t my fault. I was a child; there was nothing I could do to save them.
"Literally!" she added upon seeing his reaction, as if to lighten the mood some.
“I know you feel like Bailey left you. But maybe he felt that he didn’t have a choice,” he tried again. “Do you remember anything he told you before he left?”
“All I remember is how everyone hurt me and tried to come back to hurt me some more.”
“But how can you be so sure that they intended to hurt you?”
“Because hurting me is all they’ve ever done! Why else would they come back?”
“To reconcile with you.”
“Well the damage has already been done. And if Bailey were really sorry, he wouldn’t have left in the first place!”
“He felt like they didn’t have a choice…” Gadalik’s voice faded. This was going in circles. He struggled to rephrase things in his mind when the memory interrupted it again and his chest ached. I didn’t have a choice…! He tried to dismiss it although it lingered in the back of his thoughts. Focus…! I’m here to save Karen. But...what if I can’t save her…? Like I couldn’t save my parents… He shook his head ever so slightly. No--stop thinking like this! I’m not a helpless kid anymore. I can help! I just...need to think of how to…
"Sounded to me like you're the one who made everyone leave," Glacia said when her adoptive son remained silent.
"Well of course! I refused to tolerate their mistreatment of me."
"Define 'mistreatment' and then reevaluate yourself," she muttered.
"Excuse me? Did you read the page your son wrote? Don't tell me you didn't listen to a word I said since you came here."
"Maybe more people would listen to you if you weren't so negative all the time," Glacia yawned, casually stretching her back for a few seconds. "Just saying. I mean, I started tuning you out halfway through your rant on Morgan, because it was just more of the same problems, with the same unsatisfactory ending of 'never speaking again.'"
"How rude! You should be more considerate, like Gadalik."
"Sorry, but I don't recall hearing you say a single nice thing about anyone you mentioned yesterday. You had a decent relationship with these people at one point in your life, right? It sounds like you're only focusing on the bad parts."
"Because the bad parts are the most recent, ma'am," Karen said haughtily.
"They wouldn't be if you hadn't cut ties with them afterward," Glacia argued, fed up with the situation.
"That's it. Get out of my house."
"Pfft--what? Are you seriously proving my point right now?" she laughed.
"Out!" Karen wailed. "I allowed you into my home, let you spend the night, and you repay me with such disrespect?! You're just as bad as the rest of them! So ungrateful, so judgemental! Get out! Out, out, out!"
"Gladly," Glacia complied, her hands raised in mock-surrender as she left to get her belongings from the guest room.
Gadalik had found it difficult to process their conversation but had tuned in just in time to hear the end of it loud and clear. He started following his mother.
"Oh, not you, sweetie--you can stay as long as you want," Karen said to the blue-eyed teen. "If I learned anything from my nephew Cody, it's that no matter how nice you treat someone, they might turn out as bad as their parent. But you're nothing like that ill-mannered mother of yours... Probably since she's not your actual mother."
Gadalik's staff abruptly dropped, the sound of hardwood clacking against tile reminiscent of thunder echoing across the empty home.
Glacia came back to inspect the noise, finding that he had fallen to one knee, his staff on the ground, and one hand clutching his chest. He was fighting to breathe deeply despite his lungs feeling too constricted to hold that much.
"H-hey! Are you alright?" She rushed to his side and rubbed his back. Karen circled around him worriedly from above.
He found speaking between breaths to be too difficult but managed to weakly hold his trembling index finger up to imply he just needed a moment. They backed off some to give him space. Then he puked.
Karen took some paper towels from the kitchen and handed it to him, then turned to Glacia, her voice hushed when asking, "What's wrong with him...?"
"I-I have no idea; he's never been like this before." Glacia dragged the chair over to him, then stood the staff upright, holding it in place if needed for support.
Gadalik used it to pull himself up and into the chair. The tension in his chest was easing up gradually, eventually allowing his breathing to normalize enough to say, "I'm alright…”
"Are you sure? What happened?"
"I don't know... Just...stress." He'd felt more stressed in the past, but this was new. He swallowed dryly. "I'm alright," he repeated, his stronger voice proving it.
"You've been acting a little off ever since we left Mount Thaed last week. Maybe you need a break."
That was a week ago...? Feels like a lot longer… Gadalik finally could get a full breath in. "Yeah... You're probably right." He hadn't been able to sleep very well for the past week, but he hadn't considered that what happened on their trip could be the cause of it.
"You should lie down and rest," Karen recommended. At his approving nod she moved to pick him up, but he stopped her.
"I can make it," he said, standing up with his staff in hand. Aside from how tired he was, he was back to normal. Glacia and Karen both kept an eye on him until he closed the guest room door and collapsed onto his temporary bed, instantly feeling better upon doing so.
Minutes passed. Maybe even a quarter-hour before he turned over to stare at the ceiling. What am I doing? I shouldn't sleep now, even if I were able to. My purpose is to help that spirit, yet...I'm making this all about me. Gadalik looked at the staff propped against the nightstand between the beds. It's not about me.
"...You're lucky to have someone who cares so much about you," Karen remarked to Glacia back in the foyer. "I envy your kinship. It must be nice, never fighting with each other."
"...Are you kidding?" Glacia laughed. "We argue all the time. Not to the extent of you and Albert, but still."
"How can you say you care about each other if you fight so often?"
"Because arguing is normal. Even the closest people in the world don't get along every day of their lives."
Karen cocked her head skeptically.
"But every time we talk to each other, we both learn from the conclusion and we compromise. They’re more like debates or discussions, but there’s not much of a difference when you boil it down." She faced the ghost. "If you don't finish an argument, nobody learns anything, and you both walk away miserable."
"Is that so..."
"She's right," Gadalik agreed as he descended the stairs. "And if you keep cutting ties with people you care about just because they disagree with you, or do something you disagree with, then you'll end up with nobody left." He stopped at the base of the staircase.
"So I should just welcome them back after everything they’ve done?”
“It’s not as cut and dry as that. If someone continues to hurt you after you’ve told them to stop, like Riley, then you have every right to cut them off. But with everyone else, it seems like they truly want to make peace with you. They can’t do that if you won’t let them.”
“What if they hurt me again after we make up? How many chances do they deserve?"
“If you have a relationship of any kind, hurting each other once in a while is unavoidable," he pointed out. "If they aren’t making an effort to fix what they’ve done, like Riley, then you should keep your distance from them until they change. But you shouldn’t let your bad experiences with her make you lose faith in everyone else. What happened with Jenny was an accident, and as for Cody, Morgan, and Bailey, the problem stemmed from poor communication. They heard what you had to say, and they still care about you--even Albert does! They want to be a part of your life...! All you have to do...is listen to them."
Karen landed for the first time, the fog around her ghostly figure died down some. Standing there, she seemed almost alive. "Alright. I'll hear them out."
That evening, Gadalik and Glacia waited outside of the small rundown home after watching Karen and Albert go inside. It had been nearly two hours when the latter finally exited.
"She's gone," he reported, although he didn't sound as happy about it as Gadalik expected, given how desperately the older man had pleaded for him to get rid of her the previous day.
His change of heart is a good thing, the spook determined.
"We all reached an agreement before that. I'll use part of the money I receive from the homebuyer to make sure everyone has what they need," Albert continued. "They finally made up, forgave each other, and then...she disappeared."
"Well, why wouldn't she? There was no more reason for her to stick around," Glacia replied.
"Yeah... Guess you're right." He sniffed. Then he turned to the spook and extended a closed hand. "Here."
Gadalik did the same with an open palm, and his eyes widened when he saw the amount of money placed in his hand. "Th-that's way more than we agreed on...!"
"And you're complaining?" Glacia nudged her son. "You deserve it."
Gadalik glanced between her and his client, then reluctantly accepted it.
"You're welcome to stay another night," Albert offered.
The teen subtly shook his head when his mother looked to him for an answer. "Nah, we should be getting home. Thanks anyway, though," she responded.
They parted ways and flagged down another coachman. Night was upon them soon after they left the town behind.
"I think we need a vacation," Glacia commented, if only to break the silence. "Gale might want one too. What do you say?"
The only answer she received was the sound of hooves and squeaking wheels over a bumpy dirt road.
"Gadalik?” She inched closer in the dark to see him more clearly. To her relief, he'd fallen asleep.