Chapter Text
Family dinner… what could be better? I had mixed emotions about Ryan living with us. Lunch I was ready for— but full on domestic living with a man who leaves a bathroom looking like a toxic waste zone of hair gel and beard oil? No one could have prepared me for that. It was more like living with an older brother until I came home late and I was reminded that he was most definitely a second father. Late nights didn’t happen with half of my dads sleeping on the couch in full view of the front door.
It had been Bess’s idea for a family dinner. She had been moved to a blowup mattress on my bedroom floor and she declared that if she had to sleep on a temporary surface, the least we could do was deescalate the chaos peacefully before she summoned a ghost that could scare Ryan into learning to clean up after himself.
Unfortunately, when the four of us sat down for dinner, it was clear that my dad and Ryan had come with their own agenda.
The Lu Chang’s takeout containers were spread across the table, completely empty, surrounded by silence. We exchanged casual small talk throughout the meal but no one really knew what to say or how to bring up what we wanted to talk about and afterwards, none of us wanted to be the first to leave— or so I thought as I braced myself to stand up and caught Ryan look at my dad with a meaningful glance.
Carson Drew folded his hands together, his elbows propped up on the table, ready to talk, finally. “Look Nancy… Ryan and I have been talking, and we think it might be time that you should consider going to school.”
Ryan turned to him with a guilty expression.
“Oh, Ryan and you have been talking?”
“It’s not like that Nancy,” Ryan leaned in. He was extra fidgety now, of course. He didn’t really like being the target of negativity. “I just mentioned to Carson that now that you have access to some of the Hudson money, you should consider it. You can’t keep working at The Claw forever.”
“Why not?” I asked dryly. “Is there a problem with working at The Claw?”
“No, of course not,” my dad said, “but you always dreamed about college. We both want that for you. We’re just asking you to think about it.”
Bess’s chair scraped against the floor. She paused, mouth open, finger in the air. “You know… I don’t think this really concerns me, so I’m just gonna—“ It was then that the lights flickered and then went out completely. Bess squeaked and jumped out of her chair.
“Great… another ghost.” I flung my arm around the back of the chair “Okay, whoever you are, I’m really not in the mood.”
The lights flickered again and this time, in the darkness, two figures appeared, sitting at either end of the dining room table. Two women, one in a robe, hair disheveled and stringy, copper hair like mine, the other in her pink sea queen dress, decay rotting her flesh. The smell of sea air floated through the room, a cool breeze accompanying it. I shivered at the chill running down my spine.
I looked around at Ryan, my dad, and Bess who had all stood and backed away slowly from the table. “Tell me you see this.”
Bess puckered her lips nervously and inched closer to me. “What? Your mom and dead Lucy at our dinner table?” said Bess, “Definitely seeing it!”
I turned between them. They both should have been long gone to the other side or wherever spirits go when they’re at rest. Neither of them should have been able to show up in any physical form at least based on everything I’d learned about ghosts in the past few months.
I didn’t know why they were here or what they wanted and the only way to figure that out was to ask. I began to pace, thinking about what a person asked their dead ghost moms when they show up uninvited to family dinner.
“What’s going on Nancy?” My dad asking questions like I knew the answer. When did I become the go to for everything supernatural?
“Why are you here?” I asked the ghosts, ignoring my dad.
No response came but the lights flickered.
“Alright, no talking, cool. Can you maybe flash the lights once for yes and twice for no?”
The lights flashed once.
“Okay, are you here for me?”
Flashed once.
“Are you here because of what Ryan and dad were just talking about?” I didn’t think it was likely, but who knows? Maybe my moms were as strongly opinionated about my education as my fathers.
Two flashes. If they were here for me but not to join in on the pressure Nancy to start college chat, that meant they were there for something else and based on my skillsets, I could think of only a few other things.
“Are you here because you need something?”
Flash once. I was getting closer to the answers.
“Something to do with moving on.”
The light flashed on and off repeatedly not stopping until it was clear that there was no yes or no answer to that question.
“Is something wrong?”
One flash.
“Is it because of something I did.”
There was a pause before the lights flashed a singular time. What I needed more than anything was to be able to talk to them but there was clearly no way that was happening. I thought about what had happened recently. I had killed the wraith, I had pissed off The Road Back, and I had gotten that note… that very strange note…
“Does this have to do with the note someone left me in my bag?”
One singular light flashed so brightly that the bulb blew. Bess yelped again and we all jumped. Ryan who had been across from me at the table put an arm over my head to stop sparks from falling down on me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“What note, Nancy?” My dad had his hands on his hips. I didn’t think I needed to explain that this was not the time for him to dadsplain staying out of trouble or the dangers of keeping secrets to me.
I ignored him again. I didn’t know how much time I had left with them and I had to keep going.
“Are you in danger? Your souls, are your souls in danger?”
The light flashed a resounding yes.
“What do you mean, in danger?” Ryan looked between the two ghosts and focused on Lucy. He put his hand on the table next to her cold, blue hand.
“Okay, okay, okay,” I thought to myself, “how do we help you? Is there something… I don’t know… what can we do? Do we have time?”
The lights began to flicker and flicker on and off and on and off. There was no time left. I knew they were on their way out. “No… wait!” I called to them. “Just hold on!” But it was too late. The lights— save the one that blew— were back on and my mothers were gone. They hadn’t gone completely though. In one chair there lay a strip of dirty taffeta, the other was a small paper. I picked up the fabric first and looked it over, held it my hand. It wasn’t like the Aglaeca’s gifts which had dissipated to sand, but stable, and real. Then I went to the paper. A folded up map to the northeast corner of heaven.
“I can save them,” I said, an idea clicking. "I think I know how."