Adelie

The hotel was high enough in the hills to stretch the sunset out, the sun lingering on the horizon like a friend reluctant to leave long after its warmth had fled. Adelie pulled her jacket tighter, slouching as she shuffled her way along the path through the half-wild hotel grounds. Down on the plain, the roads were already picked out as ribbons of light gridding the farmland and towns.

It was very quiet, only occasional chirps of sleepy birds for company. After the frantic pace of the day at the race venue, higher up the valley, Adelie felt less than fully real, like her meandering was at the behest of some other being.

At least with no-one else around, she didn't have to watch faces so carefully to try to figure out what was wrong. Some unintelligible strain had boiled out of Petunia all day, and she'd flinched a couple of times when people had mentioned Brynna arriving on race day morning. Adelie had thought Petunia got on well with Phoebe's new PR manager, but maybe she'd been wrong. Brynna's predecessor had put Petunia's back up right from the start.

Petunia's mood had bled out through the team despite the day's practice sessions going well. By the time they'd left the Stables, the atmosphere had been a cold, damp, dirty rag. For twenty minutes on the shuttle bus ride back to the hotel, no-one had done more than grumble quietly to themselves at the uncomfortable seats.

At the hotel, Petunia had quickly disappeared, and Adelie had missed the chance to check on her. She'd forced herself to eat something, but in the end it had been more out of not wanting to offend the hotel's excellent chef than knowing she needed nourishment. The walk outside had seemed like a good idea, but the hillside was oddly stark, the trees much thinner than the forest that lined the race course.

Adelie checked the time, surprised that it wasn't even 7PM yet. Ten in the morning back home. She was starting to get used to thinking about the time difference, which was sad in its own right. Home felt a long way away. She could call her mother, maybe, if she wasn't out at the shops or something.

If talking to family could give her the kind of support she was craving right now. It was hard to talk to a friend when your best friends were both your bosses and the people you were most worried about. It wasn't like she could phone Marisa.

Although… She took out her phone. The ghost had admitted to messing with her electronics. Maybe she could use a phone? If Adelie could find a way to get one delivered to her. Maybe Purity, the witch who'd convinced her to give Marisa a chance, could advise?

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She still had the phone number for Purity's shop in her contacts. And it was Friday morning over there, presumably the shop would be open. Marvelling at how little she hesitated, Adelie thumbed the call button.

The line buzzed a few times, then, "Hello, this is Perfect Darkness, how can I help you?"

Adelie blinked at the name for a moment, but the shop really was just called that. And the voice was familiar. "Hi, is that Purity? It's Adelie from Tenebrae, you helped me with a ghost a few months ago?"

"How could I forget after…" The faltering of the witch's voice sent a chill through Adelie's gut that had nothing to do with the night air. The thought hadn't even occurred to her, but her last contact with Purity had been when they found the dead mobster at the farm. Still subdued, Purity said, "I don't know if I was a lot of help with the other thing."

"No, it was, it really was, actually," Adelie said, trying to sound reassuring. "Eventually I went back and tried talking to her and, um, you were right."

"I was?"

"Yeah, she was friendly! I actually really like talking to her."

"Oh, uh, good." There was a pause. "So what did you call about?"

"Um, maybe this is silly to ask, but, do you think a ghost could use a phone? If I had one delivered to her?" Adelie felt herself cringing as she finished asking. It sounded stupid now she said it out loud.

"Sure, the phone's not a problem, if you can teach her how to use it – remember she might be pretty old." The Witch didn't sound like she thought it was a silly idea. "The problem you have is keeping it charged, unless someone's still paying the electric bill for that house."

"Oh."

"What's going to happen to that place, anyway? It could be hard to sell it, right?"

That was another thing Adelie hadn't thought about at all. "What will happen to her… if it gets abandoned again? Or knocked down?"

"Difficult to say. Ghosts do eventually dissipate, but it can take centuries."

"Oh," Adelie said again, feeling freshly hollow. How long had Marisa been clinging on to that old house already?

"If you want, there are some things we could try." Purity's tone was pensive. "If you ask her, and she wants to, we could try to free her from that place. There are ways to help her stick around without haunting."

"What would I need to do?" The words were out of Adelie's mouth before she could even realise she wanted to say them.

"Come by the shop sometime when you're free, it's easier to talk about in person, no?"

"Ok. Um, I'm not going to be back in Occidens for a few weeks, is that ok?"

"Should be! Hope you have a safe trip."

"Thank you, you too."

Adelie ended the call and immediately kicked herself. You too? What trip was the witch going on? She looked up at the hotel, feeling a bit warmer if only from the blush, and laughed gently at herself. At least she had something to look forward to back home now.