It took us about ten minutes to get to Arthur's house. As I said, he didn't live too far from me, just down the road a bit. I knocked but got no answer, so I reached for the spare key. [For his sake, I won't say where it was hidden. People might decide to go barging into his house . . . Again.] As soon as I entered the house, I was attacked. A flowerpot shattered on the wall beside me, closely followed by several mugs. I blinked, too surprised to react as Lydia floated ahead of me. I followed once I regained my composure.

Arthur was in the large living room fighting off a tornado of flowerpots, books, cups, and plates with a broomstick. On any other occasion, I probably would have found the situation hilarious, but this time it was all business. Well, mostly. I called out to my cousin. "Having problems, are we?"

He gave me an irritated look from inside the vortex, still partially focusing so nothing hit him. "Not shit!" he yelled, whacking away a book which tried to hit his face, much to my amusement. "You're the ghost expert!" He sent me a glare." Stop laughing and do your thing!"

"I have a thing?" I murmured, glancing towards Lydia. She, unhelpfully, shrugged. I rolled my eyes at my ghost friend, opening the sash I had picked up on my way out. I had an emergency sash which I always kept on me for situations like this one. I took out a certain blue stone. Lydia gave me an encouraging look. I balled my fist before throwing the stone into the vortex, aiming for Arthur's face but sadly missing by inches. My aim was horrid today.

"What the fuck was that supposed to do?" my cousin exclaimed, clearly not impressed by what I did.

I waved a hand at him, not at all concerned. "Just give it a minute." The vortex froze before everything fell. Arthur crouched, his arms over his head for protection out of habit, though nothing fell on him. That was strange since he was as much as a klutz as me. "Happy?" I asked. Lydia giggled at my tone.

"Ecstatic, cousin," he muttered, pulling my hair.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I hissed. "This is the thanks I get?"

"Yes."

I whacked his hand away. "You need to do something about your ghost problem. It will get you killed one of these days."

He raised his eyebrow. "So nice to see your concern." I snorted. "It's not the first time that's happened, space girl. I can handle it."

"And yet, you called me." I braced my hands on my hips.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I was a bit stuck at the time."

"I cannot believe the vortex allowed for you to use a phone." Lydia murmured, a finger resting on her chin in a thoughtful motion. I nodded in agreement. "Did you use it before you were ensnared?"

Arthur blinked. "What?"

"How did you get caught in a vortex?" I asked, poking my cousin's chest. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did anything?" The looks me and Lydia were giving him made Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and laugh nervously. "I wanted to see what this thing was."

"Thing?" Lydia and I asked in unison.

Arthur dug through the mess on the floor until he found a scroll. The paper was yellow with age and looked very fragile. I cringed at the sight of him holding it. "Found it in the attic. Came down here to read is cause the light was better. When I opened it, I was suddenly in a vortex." He turned to Lydia. "My phone was in my pocket so I could use it." She nodded as he gave me the scroll. "If you're planning on opening it, do it outside."

I groaned, but gathered up the scroll, half dragging my cousin towards the door. Lydia came behind us. When we got outside, we sat on the driveway where I opened the scroll. There was a strong gust of wind, but nothing after that. "Good thing we opened it outside," I snickered.

"Do you want to go to the other side early?" Arthur hissed, pulling my hair again.

I stopped laughing, turning my attention to the scroll. There was a bunch of symbols on it that I did not recognise. "Hey, Ly, you recognise this?"

She hovered over my shoulder. "Yes," she said, seeming in a daze. "I have not seen it since I died."

"At least that explains why it looks ancient," I teased, trying to break the tension. Arthur placed a hand on my shoulder, making me go quiet as our ghost friend hovered directly over the scroll. She was in a world of her own as she stared at the symbols.

"Aurora. Arthur." We perked up at our names. Lydia faced us. "Did I ever tell you where I am from?" We shook our heads. She sighed, taking the scroll into her misted hands. I felt my mouth fall open. She had never been able to hold anything in the whole time I'd known her! "I'll tell you everything," Lydia started, "But we have to go home first."