"Wake up, sweetheart, we need to talk to you," a deep, familiar voice says. I open my eyes and peer down at the foot of the bed towards the voice. It's still dark out. Theo's standing there, I can tell it's him because he's glowing slightly in the dark.

I sit bolt upright and turn to wake Rune, overjoyed to share my great uncle is back from the dead. It's a miracle.

"He won't hear you, darling," Theo says a little sadly, "we're in not in the physical realm."

This seems to make perfect sense. I scoot down the bed to get close to my beloved uncle. Now that I'm close, I realize this isn't Theo as I remember him. He's not an elderly man on the brink of death. The man standing before me is in the prime of his life.

Although he was always a snappy dresser, Theo looks ready for a night out on the town. He's wearing the brown velvet suit jacket Rune wore to the mid-summer fundraiser, a natty bright blue and green striped shirt, and bell-bottom jeans. His face is already a bit craggy, but it's so full of charm and character.

I slowly stand and reach my hand out to touch him, to find out if I can. His hand meets mine and grips it strongly. It's not warm, but not cold either and it's reassuring solid. I throw my arms around him.

"I miss you so terribly," I sob, then pull back so I won't mess up his lovely jacket, "Why don't you talk to me as much now?"

"You don't need me darling," he says, cupping my face in his hands tenderly, "You're doing so much better. And it's about my time to move on."

"Oh no, don't go," I beg, clutching his hand with both of mine, and crying harder.

"Don't worry, I can still check in occasionally like this," Theo tells me reassuringly, "It's much nicer than my voice echoing around in your head, isn't it? But you need to be feeling really good and well-grounded to allow this to happen Shelby. Can you try and keep that up?"

"Yes, of course, I'll do my best," I agree, I like the idea of him being able to visit like this, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, there are so many wonderous things to experience and see, darling," he laughs, "Truly, death is only a doorway. Unfortunately, duty calls right now. We have other things we need to discuss."

"Like what?" I ask wanting to get the duty over with quickly, so I can ask a million questions.

"Franklin has asked my permission to speak with you," Theo tells me, glancing to the side and behind him, "He needs your help."

"Franklin?" I stammer in shock. Sure enough, closer to the French doors stands Franklin Haus. He, too, is younger. I recognize this version of him from my mom's polaroids and snapshots she took while they were making One More Midnight with You.

Franklin's beautifully dressed in 40s vintage charcoal three-piece suit, but his whole countenance is one of misery. His shoulders are so hunched, and his head is so low and slung forward that he looks like a turtle. He's also surrounded by an ugly mottled gray-green mist the color of a bruise.

"I can't stay stuck here like this. I need you to convince Asher to forgive me so I can come back," Franklin says rapidly, in a whining, demanding voice that sets my teeth on edge.

"Franklin, we went over this," Theo says sternly, "this isn't the right approach. I warned you to face reality when I agreed to bring you here."

"But I'm not ready!" Frankly retorts hotly, "I'm not old old like you! I'm not even sixty-five yet. I still have so much to do!" He starts pacing back and forth in front of the French doors, like an animal caged in a zoo. This makes the ugly mist swirl around him nauseatingly. I have to look away, so it doesn't make me sick.

"You're in danger of making things worse for yourself," Theo warns, "don't continue to be such an arrogant fool."

"I'll take everything back," Franklin stops and says pleadingly and pointedly to me, ignoring Theo.

"You destroyed Rune's acting career and made his life miserable," I glare at Franklin, "Why should I listen to you?"

"I gave him that career. He'd never would have gotten anything but kid's roles without my coaching," Franklin scoffs, brushing my words aside dismissively with a wave of his hand and steps towards the foot of the bed, looking at Rune's sleeping form with blatant hunger.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I cross my arms over my chest and step towards Franklin to warn him away. He steps back and paces back and forth again.

"I'll make it right. But first you've got to get him to forgive me," he says as he paces, and then more to himself he goes on, "I'm sure he's the key to getting out of here. Asher's the one with the real talent. It was a waste to make him so beautiful on top of all of that brainpower," he stops at the foot of the bed next to me again. He gazes at Rune with an almost wistful look, "Look at him. Really, who wouldn't be tempted? Obviously, you can't keep your hands off him."

"Stay away from him, you monster," I growl, dropping my hands into clenched fists. If Franklin didn't step quickly away, I would have decked him. I still might. I'm so angry I can barely see straight.

"This isn't helping at all, Franklin," Theo sighs, "You're digging yourself in deeper."

I'm not sure what this means, but it seems like the mist surrounding Franklin has gotten denser as he's returned to pacing in front of the French doors. Now, an ugly purple tone has been added to the mist. It's hideous. I'm extremely creeped out.

"If this is so important, why don't you call him and ask for forgiveness yourself?" I ask Franklin, glancing at Theo, but his gaze is steadily on Franklin. He looks sad and disappointed. "Are you too much of a coward?"

"I can't in this hell hole limbo!" Franklin shouts, motioning to the fog around him, "I don't have your family's weird voodoo skills."

"What weird voodoo skills?" I ask, confused, but a sneaking suspicion is creeping up my spine.

"This, this ability to talk to people in other realms," Franklin waves his hands about the room and then immediately crosses his arms again, hunching even more into himself, "Your mother's sixth sense of knowing which projects were right for me," he says, and starts to say something else but decides against it, "Just tell Asher I'll find him the right star vehicle, no more power games. I promise. But I need him to forgive me first so I can get out of here. Getting out of here is the main thing."

"Are you even a bit sorry for the heartache you've caused Rune or any of those other men?" I ask angrily, stepping towards him. He shrinks a little in size as I do. We're now the same height.

"You have no right to judge me you spoiled brat," Franklin deflects angrily, backing closer to the open doors, "You've had everything handed to you your whole life, a present father who loved you, family attention and support, the love of the boy you wanted if only you'd been smart enough to realize it…"

This fills me with such rage I slam both hands onto Franklin's chest and push him out onto the deck. He's now shorter than me.

"I won't let you near him; you're not sorry at all," I snarl, grabbing the lapels of his fancy suit.

"You think he's going to stay with you here in this boring bucolic wonderland?" Franklin sneers up at me, trying in vain to push me off, "As soon as the gossip dies down, he'll leave. If it's not back to Julia, it'll be some other equally exotically gorgeous girl."

"You're lying just to be horrible," I shake Franklin so hard that I lift him off his feet. He's now shrunk to the size of a five-year-old child, hanging in my hands.

"Franklin," Theo warns from behind right me but not physically interfering, "You're in real danger here. Look to your soul. Apologize to both of them. Be sincere, man. Own up."

"Do you think I'd be here groveling to you both if I could talk directly to Asher?" Franklin wheezes, now looking like a giant, well-dressed rag doll.

"I hate you, and I wish you were dead!" I scream and fling Franklin away from me over the balcony railing.

I wake with a start. Rune's gazing at me in low light with concern, his warm hand on my shoulder.

"You're having a nightmare," he tells me, his voice extra deep and gravely with sleep.

"No, it was real," I scrambled out of bed in a panic, "I killed Franklin Haus."

"He's here?" Rune jumps out of bed after me, dressed only in his boxers, "He got into the house?"

"Yes, he was right here with me and Theo," I say, opening the screen door of the French doors and stepping onto the deck.

The damp wood is icy against my bare feet, the light breeze too chilly for my light cotton pajamas. I clench my teeth and start to shiver as I peer over the edge of the railing, looking for a body on the patio below.

It's dawning on me that it might really have been a dream. But I have to make sure. It was all too horrible and real.

"Get the flashlight," I tell Rune, "I can't see well enough."

"It was a dream, Shells," Rune says but obligingly brings me the big yellow flashlight we keep under the bed.

Yes, reality hits me, Theo is dead and not younger than I've ever personally known him. If Franklin had been here, he wouldn't be in his early twenties. But my heart's still racing, so I need to make sure. I turn the flashlight on, and we both peer down below us over the railing. Nothing's down there except the empty, wet patio.

******

Back in the cozy, reassuring warmth of our bed, with my head resting against Rune's bare chest, I recount the dream from the beginning.

"That sounds like Franklin all right, the bastard," Rune says against my hair. One of his hands cradles mine over his heart; the other has been tracing slow, comforting circles down my back.

We lie in silence, listening to the occasional bird call as the dawn begins to brighten the sky. I think he'll drift back to sleep now, but Rune has other ideas.

"You know, it's now officially my birthday Seashell," his voice has turned to the low honey silk he uses whenever he wants to seduce me. He kisses the top of my head and then my forehead softly, "It's quite a turn on how fierce you are."

"Seriously?" I ask, tilting my face up so he can kiss me properly, "you like my Nordic Valkyrie side?"

"Absolutely," he purrs against my ear, and then rolls me onto my back, "First hearing how you went after Jenna and now Franklin. What a warrior you are," he says before kissing me soundly, pressing his hips into me suggestively.

"Isn't this just the way you wake up?" I tease, running my fingers over the soft scruff on his jaw, letting my body catch up to the heat in his cat green eyes.

"No," he scoffs, "that erection is still hours away," he kisses me again so passionately that I wrap my legs around his hips and rock against him.