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“C’mon Jes!” Nina called from a little way down the street.
It was Halloween night and his friend wore a tight devil costume that showcased her lovely curves. Nina had originally wanted to go as Little Red Riding Hood so that her boyfriend Matthias would wear some sexy wolf costume or some shit. He had refused.
“You guys go ahead!” he shouted back, fiddling with the pistol that had come with his pirate costume. His friends looked back, surprised, all except for Kaz, who, God forbid, could ever show emotion.
“What are you planning, Jes?” Inej called back in that chiding, motherly way of hers.
He might as well explain himself.
“You see, the house up there?” he said loudly, pointing up at the creepy old house that stood across the street. It was dreary and dark with cracked windows, a tall fence, and an old, creaky porch swing that swung slowly back and forth in the wind, as if it was the wind. “People say it’s haunted and I want to find out if it’s true.”
“For fuck's sake,” Kaz groaned from down the road.
Matthias rolled his eyes. “I doubt any ghost would associate with you, anyway.”
The group laughed at Matthias’s words.
“How is that funny?” he asked, confused.
Jesper just smiled. “I’ll catch up if you're all too scared to join me!”
“I'm not trespassing on private property, Jes! We promise to visit you in jail though,” Inej — who was dressed as Spiderman — called with a little tinkling laugh. Even from far away, Jesper noticed Kaz perked up a bit at the sound and felt a stab of jealousy, which he instantly regretted. Inej was one of his dearest friends and he wasn't going to let some stupid, brooding boy get in the way of that.
“Maybe you promise,” Kaz mumbled loud enough, so he knew Jesper could hear. Jesper rolled his eyes at the teen. It was harder to take Kaz seriously when he was wearing a vampire Halloween costume (Inej had somehow convinced him to do it). Still, he looked a bit frightening, with fake blood dripping down his chin and paper-white makeup covering his already pale face.
“Nina, what about you?” Jesper shouted. Truthfully, he was a bit scared to go in there alone, even though that was stupid.
“No thanks, Fahey! I'm enjoying myself already,” she answered back as she wrapped her arms around Matthias’s waist. The stoic boy who had been roped into wearing an angel costume just sighed and hid a smile.
Matthias was definitely a lost cause when it came to invading abandoned houses, so Jesper just groaned a bit. If he backed out now, he'd look like a coward, so it was best to venture onward.
“Fine then,” he called back to the others. “I'll do it by myself.”
“Just don't ask for any of my candy!” Nina yelled with a smile. “You’re going to miss a ton of houses!”
That was true, but it was the price Jesper paid for foolish curiosity.
“Bye then. See y’all soon!” Jesper shouted as hurried across the road. After he made it to the house he placed his shoe in a foothold that the twisted black fence formed. Meanwhile, the others rolled their eyes or made small remarks before walking off.
After a minute or so of carefully climbing, Jesper reached the top and jumped down, arriving in the old house’s front yard. Unfortunately, he was not the great wraith, Inej, so his landing consisted of him hitting the ground, tripping, and face-planting.
Getting up, Jesper swore loudly and rubbed his nose, which hurt pretty badly. Thankfully, it didn't seem broken. Then he continued toward the front door.
Eventually, Jesper reached the house porch after making his way through dead gardens and overgrown grass. The old porch swing was still swaying now, despite the lack of a breeze, which put the teen on edge. Still, he hurried to the door and tried its rusty old handle. The entry swung open with a screech of hinges, and Jesper stepped inside.
The floorboards creaked underneath his feet as he looked around from the doorway. There was a large staircase with a wooden banister and many hallways leading off in different directions. All of this was bathed in a delicious, grave darkness.
Jesper crept quietly down a promising-looking hallway lined with doors. In all honesty, he had no idea what he was doing, and he felt stupid. But he would feel even more stupid if he turned around now, so he went on.
There wasn’t much to notice this far down the hall except for a tiny table with a doily on it and the thick dust that covered everything, so Jesper tried one door and went in.
This room was definitely an old bedroom. In one corner lay a grimy, mahogany bed frame with no mattress. Next to it was an ancient-looking nightstand with round wooden handles. Jesper’s curiosity carried him towards it and he opened the drawer. It was empty, although it was splattered with some dried-up, foul looking liquid that Jesper really hoped wasn't old blood.
The teen retreated to the hallway, his heart pounding when suddenly he heard a soft, quiet sound. It wasn't any ear-piercing ghostly shriek like he had expected, but what sounded as if it were the cry of a child.
Against his better judgment, Jesper decided to follow the noise. Listening, he noticed it was coming from upstairs, so he turned around and hurried to the old staircase by the entryway. Then he climbed up it, careful not to let the steps creak too loudly in case the thing up there might discover him.
Jesper’s heart beat loudly in his chest and adrenaline filled his veins as he reached the top of the stairs and stepped onto the landing. The noise sounded nearer and Jesper’s breathing was getting louder.
Following the sound, Jesper turned down another dusty hall and walked before stopping at another door. There seemed to be an odd feeling emanating from the room that he couldn't quite describe, and the sound of crying was definitely coming from there. Not sure what to expect, Jesper opened the door and saw something more shocking than the first time he caught Kaz Brekker smiling at Inej.
A teenage boy was kneeling on the floor with his head in his lap, quietly sobbing. But that wasn't the surprising thing. It was that fact that the boy was see-through with his clear legs sticking halfway into the floor that shook Jesper so deeply.
Slowly, the teen took one fear-filled step back. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten how old the floor was, which let out a loud, creaky groan.
Having heard the noise, the ghostly thing pulled his head quickly from his lap and suddenly caught sight of Jesper.
The scared boy expected demon eyes or sharp teeth or something terrible to be part of the ghoul's face, but he was quite mistaken. The ghost thing looked just like any other crying teen boy (other than his complete clearness), tears flowing down his freckled face looking more pitiful than scary. The only thing about the ghoul that really put him on edge was that his old-fashioned clothes were dripping with murky water.
Slowly, the ghostlike boy got up, hovering gently over the floor. Even so, he was shorter than Jesper, which made Jesper feel much safer as the ghost got close to him, frowning more than he already was.
“Who are you?” the spirit asked quietly, looking confused and upset.
The voice of the ghoul shocked Jesper. It was so enchanting and beautiful, yet so filled with sorrow that he felt melancholic (which was not a common feeling for him).
“My name is Jesper,” he said, wondering if this was a good idea. “Jesper Fahey. Yours?”
The ghost thing looked surprised, but answered.
“Wylan Hendriks.”
“Are you a ghost?” The words poured out of his mouth before he could even think.
Wylan was silent for a moment. Then he spoke again, streaks of tears still covering his face and sarcasm rolling off his clear tongue.
“What does it look like?”
Jesper felt slightly offended by this remark, and as Wylan didn’t seem to be a very dangerous being he argued back.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met a ghost.
Wylan sighed.
“Yes. I am a ghost. Now, is there something you need?”
This ghost’s straightforwardness and passiveness rather shocked Jesper. He certainly wasn’t trying to kill any helpless victims. He just seemed sad and tired.
“No. I just wondered if there was really a ghost here.”
Wylan sighed again.
“Do you want some tea?”
“What?” Jesper asked, surprised, because kind of ghost offers people tea?
“Do you want some tea?” Wylan asked again.
“Why would you offer me tea?”
“If you planned on leaving, you would’ve left already and if I’m having company, there might as well be tea,” the ghost replied, as if this were pure common sense.
“Oh. Um… sure, tea sounds nice.”
“Good,” Wylan said. Then he pulled a see-through hankie from his pocket and quickly wiped his tears off. Afterwards, the ghost floated through the wall past Jesper, who followed him down the staircase and several long halls to a large kitchen.
Soon Jesper stood awkwardly in the room's corner, watching as Wylan rummaged through cabinets for tea. It was surprising when the ghost picked up tea bags and set them in a kettle of water (which he had wrung out of his soaking clothes). Jesper wondered if Wylan could make himself solid at will. He wasn’t sure how else the ghost could pick things up.
Then Wylan beckoned Jesper over to the kitchen table, where they both sat down. There was an awkward silence before Jesper burst out with another question.
“How did you die?”
Wylan's eyes grew big as saucers.
“Why… that’s a very personal question! I…” He trailed off.
“I’m sorry!” Jesper apologized profusely. Of course, a ghost’s death would be a personal subject. What had he been thinking? “I didn’t mean to intrude. As I said, I’ve never met a ghost before.”
“It’s okay. It’s just that I’ve never told anyone before. But… I suppose it can’t hurt. Let’s just wait for the tea to be done. Then I can explain if you’d like.”
Jesper nodded. “Okay.”
After another minute, the teakettle began whistling and Wylan hurriedly glided towards it. Then the ghost quickly found an old gilded teacup and filled it. Afterwards, he carried it to the table and placed it in front of Jesper.
Jesper was confused for a moment why Wylan had poured no tea for himself when he realized that ghosts probably couldn’t drink anything.
“Thank you,” he said.
Wylan simply nodded. Then he spoke again.
“My death was by drowning,” he admitted quietly.
“Oh,” Jesper said, thinking of the water that was slowly dripping off Wylan’s clothes at that very moment. “I’m sorry. Did you not learn how to swim?”
“I knew how to swim, but the land was too far away and I got tired. You see, my father told me he was sending me to a music school in France and I began my travels there by boat with two guards. It turns out the guards were under orders from my father to kill me. They attempted this, but I jumped over the boat’s edge. Sadly, I was too far out from the land and eventually died.”
Wylan said it rather plainly, as if it were some normal story. Despite that, Jesper could see the pain in his eyes and the way he shook slightly.
“Wylan, I’m so, so sorry. That’s awful.”
“We’ll it’s okay. It’s been a long time and I’ve mostly come to terms with it.”
“Is that why you were crying earlier? Because of your death?”
“Not really. It was more about the reason my father hated me.”
“What was that?” Jesper asked carefully, aware he was treading on a fragile subject.
The ghost just shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.”
Jesper stared at his still full cup of tea in silence until he finally took a sip. Then he watched Wylan, who was staring out the window, lost in thought. He was a lovely ghost. He reminded Jesper of some beautiful Shakespearian tragedy.
“Do you ever get lonely here?” Jesper asked, breaking the silence as he drained his teacup.
Wylan turned back to face him.
“Sometimes, but I don't like to leave the house. People might see me and get frightened or try to cause me harm.”
“That makes sense. But I could help you feel less lonely,” Jesper offered.
“How?”
“I could kiss you.”
Wylan's face turned slightly opaque, as if he were blushing.
“Why?”
“That’s something that would make you feel less lonely. It helps me when I feel alone.”
“But I'm a ghost. Don't you think I'm odd or weird or gruesome?”
“No. I think you seem sweet. But I won't do anything you don't want me to do. In fact, I don't even know if you can kiss a ghost.”
“If a ghost goes into their more solid form, you can kiss them,” Wylan answered, his cheeks becoming more opaque by the second. “And I suppose you can kiss me, but only if you promise me something.”
“What?” Jesper asked, intrigued.
“That you'll come back and visit me.”
“Okay. I will.”
“Great.”
After that, Wylan stood up and floated towards Jesper slowly. Then he settled down and waited.
“Should I do it now?” Jesper asked, not sure if Wylan was in his semi-solid form yet.
Wylan simply nodded, so Jesper leaned down and pressed his lips to Wylan’s.
The ghost’s lips were cold and tasted like saltwater. And yet something about the kiss was magical, especially after Jesper’s lips warmed Wylan’s up and the ghost slowly closed his eyes, as if at peace.
Eventually, one of them pulled away.
“That was lovely,” Wylan said honestly, smiling.
“I agree,” Jesper grinned. Then he frowned.
“I have to go now. My friends will be worried about me.”
Wylan nodded somberly, smile fading a bit.
“Okay. You’re sure you’ll come back?”
“Nothing could keep me away,” Jesper said meaningfully as he took Wylan’s hand.
Wylan just nodded.
“Goodbye, Jes.”
“Goodbye, love.”
Then Jesper turnef around and began his departure, but not before catching more of that wonderful opacity on Wylan’s cheeks.