Everything swirled around us as we went from the dark cave, only illuminated by the small stone tied to Shadara’s head, to a blinding display. My eyes adjusted nearly instantly, forcing me to suffer the briefest moments of discomfort. Shadara wasn’t so lucky. She kept rubbing at her eyes and moaning as if she had only just woken up.

Above me was a gargantuan chandelier made of crystals shaped to look like an upside-down rose. The crystals even had a slight pink hue to them. In each of the pedals was a mesmerizing spinning light that filtered through the crystals, leaving me speechless. The ceiling holding up the chandelier sparkled with the same prismatic lights from the chandelier.

“Gets them every time,” a velvety soft voice said.

My attention snapped as I looked around for the source of the voice. We were standing in a massive entry room with white marble floors and a long red rug leading to a pair of stairs that each led to the same balcony. The railing of the steps and balcony were carved waterspouts and made of the same marble as the floor.

All over the walls were large paintings of various oceans. Some were calm and pristine, with a beautiful sunrise, while others were from raging storms. But all of their frames were the same reflective silver.

The source was nowhere to be seen. I spun around to look at where we came from and saw the gateway wasn’t there. A rich, glossy mahogany set of double doors stood behind us. Each door was made of a solid piece and stood a solid seven feet. I magnified my vision and saw tiny silver veins running up and down with the grains. Strangely, there weren’t any handles or locks on the doors either. But more importantly, in front of the doors was a woman.

The woman looked human, but because I could see through her, I took a step back. Her skin, hair, and clothes were the same light blue. As her entire body emanated a subtle glow, her soft expression and face calmed me down. Her hair cascaded down to her shoulders and waved as if there was a breeze in the room that I couldn’t feel. Her dress hugged her body, showing off an unnaturally thin waist that then flowed outward impractically wide, flowing in ruffles down over her feet and pooling on the surrounding floor.

She extended a gloved hand before sweeping in into a deep bow. “Welcome. Please forgive my earlier lack of decorum. I have been doing this for a long time, and seeing the faces of new arrivals is always a special moment.”

Shadara stumbled, still rubbing her eyes. “Ugh. Why is it so bright? Don’t you know that we came from a pitch-dark cave?”

The semi-transparent woman straightened up and folded her hands in front of her. “That is the most common criticism new arrivals have. But we very much like the brightness. And since your eyes will adjust, we see no reason to ask to have it changed. Not that anyone actually has that power anyway.”

The woman glided over, but I took a small hop backwards, mindful of my new capacity. “Hold up.” I raised my hands and signaled for her to stop. “Who, and what, are you?”

She kept her smile as she tilted her head and gave me another bow, though not as deep as the first one she gave. “My name is Elara. I’m a simple maid here. For your stay here, I will be your personal attendant, performing any task that would enrich your stay.” She stood up again and held out her hand. “If you have questions or need guidance on where to find someone or something, I will be happy to assist you. It’s what I live for.”

The condescending tone in the last sentence seemed off. Her smile also seemed more strained than before.

Shadara squinted as she finally stopped rubbing her eyes. She looked at Elara and then back at me. “Oh, a ghost maid, how lovely. What’s wrong? Haven’t you seen a ghost before?”

My eyebrow arched. “A gah, gah, ghost?”

Elara tapped her chin with a finger. “What? Is there something on my face?”

I turned and sprinted towards the stairs. Everything turned into a blur as I suddenly slammed my face into the steps. Okay, still too fast. I looked down and saw a small splatter of blood as my nose then exploded in pain as the nanites hurried to fix any damage. My nose shifted, and I felt and heard a crack as something shifted back into place by the time I pushed myself up.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You’d think she’s never seen a ghost before.” Elara’s soft voice sparked more panic.

I don’t want to get possessed. I’ve seen the horror movies. Ghosts kill people in horrible ways. And nothing works against them. Only an exorcist can stop them.

I rolled over and pointed at Shadara. “Can you exercise it?”

Shadara’s eyes went wide as she turned to Elara and back to me several times before ending on me. “Yeah, she hasn’t seen a ghost before.” She held out her hands, attempting to calm me down with a softer voice of her own. “It’s okay. Ghosts are mostly friendly. What you need to look out for are specters and wraiths. Also, I have no idea what ‘exercising her’ means.”

I scrambled up a few more steps on my back. “Wait, she isn’t going to kill me or possess me?”

Elara started laughing. She moved like she was wiping away a tear, but I could see she wasn’t crying. “Oh, now that’s a new one. But no. You don’t have to worry about any possessions here. I can only manipulate objects that are left untended.” She recomposed herself. “What kind of world did you come from where there are no ghosts?”

I sat on a step and took a deep breath. “A world without magic, monsters, elves, slimes, nanites, teleportation, or any of this.” I raised my hands and waved at the whole scenery around me. “What is all this? Why does it look like we are in a mansion?”

“Because you are,” Elara answered flatly. “This entire floor is full of nearly infinite rooms with equally ever-shifting hallways. If you want to go to a specific room, I can help guide you there. Otherwise, you could wander this floor for an eternity.” She flicked her wrist dismissively. “As interesting as that can get, my job is to mitigate that. I hope you will allow me assist you.”

Shadara walked closer to me. “Relax. She’s harmless. And by the sounds of what she said, a guide sounds pretty useful to me.” She gave me a toothy smile, as if to encourage me to accept Elara’s company.

I wiped my face. “Sorry. I may have overreacted.” Elara crossed her arms and hummed in agreement. “My world had mentioned ghosts, but they were capable of horrible things, and since you are the first real ghost I’ve seen, I thought you were dangerous.”

The ghostly maid looked up to the ceiling and tapped her cheek while crossing her arms. “Well, that does sound plausible. And a world where someone as innocent as me is seen in such a dark light could be a problem.” She pointed to me. “I will forgive you if you can tell me about that word you said earlier. It was one I’d never heard before. I believe you said, ‘nanites.’”

I shrugged. With a sigh, I stood up and scratched the back of my head. “That’s complicated. Simply think of really small robots inside my body that help me out.”

Elara tilted her head. “Robots?”

We suggest using the word golem.

Okay. I didn’t ask, but sure, I’ll try that. “Really small golems.”

The ghost nodded. “Fair enough.” She then floated over and past me onto the balcony. Two more mahogany doors matching the ones by which we entered, only smaller, stood behind her. “Is there anywhere you wish to go first? Are you tired? Do you require a bed? Food? A warm bath? We do have massages, if you are interested. They're always a visitor favorite.”

Shadara’s eyes lit up at the mention of a massage. She pointed with her thumb. “I’d totally be willing to try one of those. It’s been ages since I’ve had a good massage.” Her eyes glazed over. “There was this one guy who tried to convince me he was some master masseuse. But his hands were far too rough, and when he did touch me, it was like he thought I was a piece of dough that needed to be manhandled.” She shuddered. “You know what? Let’s go for the massages, and afterward, we could take another bath and get something to eat when we’re done.”

I stared at the panther woman. “I didn’t need to know any of that.” She chuckled as she shrugged. “But whatever. We can do that. But actually, there was something I wanted to do.” I headed up the stairs.

Wait. Orange, is there a way I can ask about this access point in a way she’ll understand?

Ask for Gary.

I blinked. There’s a reason for that, isn’t there? Nevermind. We need to have another one of our little talks after I go to bed.

“Where can I find Gary?” I ask.

Elara flinched. “You know Gary?” I nodded. “Well, I can take you to him. But…” She sucked on her bottom lip as she placed a hand on the doors behind her.

“But?” I waved a hand for her to continue.

She inhaled sharply. “It’s dangerous. Wouldn’t you rather do something happy and peaceful?”

Shadara, who had followed me, leaned in closer to the maid. “How dangerous?”

Elara’s eyes darted around as she turned her head away from us. “He’s at the bottom of a dungeon room. It’s full of monsters. Scary, dangerous monsters.” She cowered against the doors.

Shadara and I exchanged a glance and a nod before returning to look at the scared woman. “Okay, we’ll try out those massages you mentioned earlier,” I said, extending a hand to the door. “Please, lead the way.”

Elara snapped straight up and looked at us with eyes beaming with happiness. “Really? Oh, thank you, thankyouthankyou.” She pushed the door, revealing a white portal. “This way, ladies.”

We followed in after her.