Chapter Text
Seeing and helping ghosts is never easy. Something Melinda Gordon knew from an early age.
Fortunately she didn't go through it alone, as she knew others who shared her gift. One of them was her loving grandmother who helped Melinda channel that power until her last days when it was her time to cross over.
The gift seemed to be inherited as Melinda's mother also saw ghosts. Her mom didn't embrace the gift as Melinda and her grandmother, nor was she supportive of what they did as it was overbearing for her.
However, Melinda promised no matter what, she'd always be supportive of her own child, Aiden, as he could also communicate with them, and even more.
Her gift always had challenges. Whether helping a ghost she just met, loved ones who've died, or helping those affected by ghosts, each encounter affected her in some ways. Sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst.
Regardless, she would always do her best to make sure that each spirit she helped would cross over, into the Light.
What was the Light? No one knows for certain, but Melinda knows it's a place of peace, meant for spirits still lingering here on Earth.
If only she could convince a certain spirit to cross over. If only . . .
The older teen standing before her in the store took a hesitant step forward.
"You CAN see me!" He stated as he moved forward.
Melinda simply held a finger up and walked around him to the entrance to shut the blinds and flip the door sign to "Closed." As she turned around, she saw the teen standing immediately in front of her, making the distance from where he previously stood without actually occupying the space in between them.
"I'll never get use to that." She declared, rolling her eyes before making her way back to the counter, leaving some distance between them. "Yes, I can see you. Now I think you need to leave my employee alone and cross over into the Light." She firmly stated with serious eyes.
He was taken aback by the comment, but continued to respond. "He doesn't mind. I'm not a bother to him." He bitterly replied.
Before Melinda could speak further, she reflected on what had just happened before they began their conversation. She could see the ghost teen, but so could Kai.
"Wait." She said, raising a hand, blinking her eyes. "Kai . . ." She paused.
The teen impatiently looked at her, waiting for her to put the pieces together. After a few moments, he saw it click in her eyes to which he smiled.
"Kai . . . Can see you? He can see ghosts?" She asked, processing her thoughts.
"Uhhh . . . Yeah." He replied, disappearing from where he stood only to reappear next to her at the counter. "You must have been doing this for a while now." He began to ramble. "Do you see ghosts often? Do they, like, visit you or schedule an appointment? Nah that would be stupid . . ." He said, shaking his head at the thought.
Melinda just stood there as he went off on a tangent. Yeah. for a dead kid, the ghost sure could talk.
Before he continued, she cut him off and answered his questions as she cleared the counter of paperwork.
"Ok. First off, easy on the questions. I see ghosts all the time. More than I would like to admit." She sighed, looking at the stack of papers before her. "And I wish ghosts made appointments. It'd be a more courteous approach." She then turned faced him. "Now, you. What's your name?" She asked.
The young teen paused.
"What's it to you?" He asked with a bit of attitude.
"Well, it will help me understand who you are and what happened so I can help you cross over into the Light." She replied.
"Don't need to." He said, hesitantly, with no intention of moving on just yet. He sheepishly looked down for a second, then looked back to her. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good." He said, defensively, crossing his arms.
Melinda gave him a sympathetic look.
"Why are you insistent on crossing me over or whatever? Huh?" He questioned.
The million-dollar question.
It was a question she was asked frequently by Earthbounds. It wasn't right for them to stay in a place they no longer belonged . . . for too long at the very least, as they risked being apprehended by other forces, potentially succumbing to darkness.
"It's just that you don't belong here anymore." She calmly began. "Something is holding you back and I want to help you with that so you can move on and cross over into the Light."
This answer did not suffice for him.
"What makes you think something's holding me back? Maybe I want to stay here." He said with a bit more vigor. "I'm not some kid who needs to be told what to do!"
Melinda could tell he was getting a bit worked up. She did her best to redirect before things escalated.
"Hey. I just need you to relax for a second." She replied, but would soon regret it.
He immediately phased out from the spot next to her only to reappear in in the center of the room, furious.
"DON'T TELL ME TO RELAX!" He screamed, causing some of the merchandise to burst or fall off the shelves and shatter on the ground.
Melinda yelped as she flinched away. The room fell silent.
". . . Or THAT will happen . . ." She whispered under her breath, turning back to where the ghost stood.
The boy stopped after his moment of outburst and observed the damage around him before looking up at Melinda with red, watery eyes.
"I'm . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled." He apologized, brushing his hair back with one hand, then rubbing the back of his neck. "I just . . . I can't leave now. I still feel like I need to stay." He admitted.
Melinda looked at him with pity as the ghost, who seemingly grew a bit exhaused continued to look at the damaged items around him.
"Oh . . . I'm sorry about that. I . . . " He stopped for a second, wanting to help with the damage he caused but knowing he couldn't really pay for or replace the broken items, being dead and all that. "Ummm . . . You can dock that from Kai's next paycheck?" He jokingly asked with a hesitant shrug.
Melinda chuckled at the suggestion. Yes, the spirit did do some damage, but he wasn't a bad spirit. Just a little over-enthusiastic, not showing any true signs of malice.
"It's fine." She says with a subtle wave of her hand, looking around to assess the damage. "Surprisingly, this isn't a first. Plus, I'd have to dock Kai from his next THREE paychecks to cover this." She said, looking back at him with a grin.
A regretful look appeared on the teen's face. Peter didn't want to be the reason why Kai would lose hard-earned money. He, himself, knew how hard it was just to get by from paycheck to paycheck. Well . . . He did know when he was alive.
"Honestly, don't worry. I'll sweep it up later." She reassured, looking around before focusing back to the boy. "Well I won't force you to cross over, but can I at least get the name of the ghost boy who insists on befriending my employee? Otherwise, I'm just calling you Casper." She joked. Pete stayed silent for a bit, seemingly too nervous to answer. She decided to break the ice and began with the introductions. "Well, my name is Melinda Gordon."
"I know that." He replied, plainly. "I've seen you plenty of times whenever Kai comes to work." Melinda gave him an unimpressed look before he continued. "Sorry. Umm . . . My name is Pete. Peter Parker." This made Melinda smile.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Peter Parker, but I think I need to pay our friend, Kai, a visit." She says as she made her way to the back door.
Again, Peter reappeared in front of her Before she could reach the door, seemingly panicked.
"You're not gonna fire him, are you? I swear. I'm sorry about the broken merch. I'll make it up somehow. I . . . I can . . . umm . . . clean the floors. If I really focus, I can make things move, like slightly. So it may take like . . . a week . . . or maybe a month to do it. But I'll do it!" He offered, speeding through his words. Melinda just laughed.
"Relax, Peter. I said it was fine. I'm not gonna fire Kai, and this is far from the biggest loss I had from a 'ghost appointment' as you called it." She tells him, laughing. The boy looked relieved.
"Phew. Well I'm glad to hear. It's just that Kai really needs this job. I mean, he and his uncle are okay since his uncle is a Security Guard, but they're just getting by." He says. "Plus, aside from me, Kai doesn't really have many friends, and he seems to love interacting with the customers."
It really warmed her heart to see how caring and protective he was of Kai. She just looked at the boy in front of her.
"You're a real sweet kid. You know that? Now can you move out of the way, so I can get through?" She asked.
He just stared, dumbfounded. "Can't you just walk through me?"
He remembered how she stepped around him when walking away from the entrance earlier. It was weird when people actually did that to him now, considering almost no one could see him. Now that he thought of it, Kai was also considerate enough to do the same.
"Yeah . . . When I can see the ghost, I tend to be a bit more courteous. It's weird walking through someone. I bet you can imagine the feeling." Pete chuckled. "Now c'mon. I need to go to Kai. I promise he is not in trouble." She said, gesturing for him to move.
He stepped out of the way, and she proceeded to the door before the ghost interrupted.
"Hey, Melinda?" She turned around to see the boy, who now looked more exhausted, as the area around his eyes grew a bit darker. "Can I hitch a ride with you? Feelin' a bit tired." He said with a tired smile.
She knew that ghosts, like people or batteries, had limited energy and when they use up a lot of it, like for causing merch to explode, it can be draining.
"Sure, Sweetie. To be honest, you don't look so good. Lookin' a little grey around the gills." She observed.
"Yeah." The boy coughed out a chuckle. "Honestly, I don't feel so good." He paused. "I'll be fine. Usually I feel better when Kai is around."
Melinda smiled and gestured for him to come along. He looked up with a grin and disappeared from the spot he stood to join Melinda as they got to the car.
On the drive, Pete continued with his questions. "So have you been helping ghosts for a long time, too?"
"Yeah. Ever since I was little." She grinned with pride. "Does Kai do the same?" She asked, glancing over at Pete sitting in the passenger seat.
"Mmhmm." He nodded, staring at the road ahead. "Kai seems to want to help any ghosts who want to move on, crossing over any spirits he can to a place he's never been. He's like a travel agent who's never been on a plane." He chuckled.
This warmed Melinda's heart as those words really resonated with her. It was also great to hear about another person with the gift who wanted to help Earthbounds Spirits.
"Well, what about you? Did he try to help you move on?" She asked.
Pete chuckled. "Yeah. After he realized that I was a ghost."
Confused, Melinda replied, "Wait . . . What do you mean? He couldn't tell that you were a ghost when he first met you?"
Pete just chuckled. "Yeah. Long story."
A long story it was surely going to be.