Chapter Text
“Crowley, I remember you told me you wanted to get out of the city for a while,” Aziraphale started, pressing his phone receiver to his ear with his shoulder while simultaneously rifling through a brochure of sorts.
“ When have I ever said that, Angel ?” Crowley groaned through the phone line, presumably sprawled awkwardly over his chair.
“Well, I was the one that brought it up,” Aziraphale admitted, shrugging his head, “However, I have found a rather nice B&B we could visit?”
“ Why would we do that when we have everything we need here? ” The demon drawled, somewhat childishly.
Aziraphale continued, ignoring the other man’s comment. “ You see , there’s a very rural area of New York with a quaint mansion, and the owners have decided to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. Shall we go?”
“ It’s in… New York? ” Aziraphale could feel Crowley’s condescending demeanor through the phone.
“Yes, but a quick miracle would get us there in no time!”
“ Fine, but this is a one-time thing, ” Crowley caved, “ I’ll meet you in 10. ”
-
“Here we are,” Aziraphale started, “Woodstone Mansion! Now, all we need to do is evade Heaven, because if that miracle was too large and they detected it, then…” His voice quieted before trailing off.
Crowley folded his arms, his loud posture obvious as he judged the building.
“This old wreck is a B&B ?” Crowley scowled, “ ‘Looks like it’s falling apart at the seams.”
“Hush now,” Aziraphale scolded quietly, before ushering himself and the demon to the front door. “It will be nice.”
The angel knocked gingerly on the front door, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited for a reply. A man opened the door for them shortly after.
“Hello! Welcome!” He greeted, “My name is Jay, I can check you into your room!” He motioned for the two others to follow him, before making his way to what appeared to be a front desk.
He moved behind the table, folding open a laptop and examining it quickly.
“Can I get your names?” He nodded to Aziraphale.
“Right,” The angel nodded, “I am A.Z. Fell, and this is Mr. Crowley. I believe we’ve booked the Maple suite.”
Jay furrowed his eyebrows as he typed on the laptop, before his expression changed as he’d found the pair’s reservation.
“Could we explore the building a bit, before we head to our room?” Aziraphale asked, tentative.
“Of course!” Jay exclaimed, “Here – I’ll take your bags to your room.” He reached out to take Crowley and Aziraphale’s suitcase which- unbeknownst to him- was empty, and he made his way upstairs.
Crowley watched as the other man had walked out of earshot, before he turned to Aziraphale.
“Right, spit it out,” He barked, “Why did you really take me here?”
“It was a simple trip I planned!” Aziraphale argued, “Nothing malicious behind it.” His tone ended a note too high. “Now, shall we check out the library? We passed it as we entered, and it looked marvelous.”
Despite his annoyed grunt, Crowley complied and quietly followed Aziraphale to the library.
Alberta, Isaac and Pete stood in the library and watched as the two guests wandered inside.
“So, what do we think?” Isaac mused, his eyes followed the pair to the ‘poetry’ section.
As if he had heard the soldier, Aziraphale’s head whipped around to face Isaac.
Isaac stared back, his curious demeanor lifting immediately. He shared the man’s worried eyes. “You can see me?” He asked.
“What was that?” Aziraphale asked, to which the red-head replied by lazily turning his head to where the angel’s eyes were fixated.
“What?” Crowley asked, his focus switching to Aziraphale.
“I thought I…” The angel hesitated, inhaling, “...Nevermind.”
Crowley hummed a response, shrugging slightly and returning his gaze to the small terrarium that sat as a book divider.
Aziraphale, still unsettled, quickly set down the book he’d picked up and promptly made his way out of the library. Crowley, slightly confused, followed the angel. He took one last glance around the room, attempting to see what his friend was so unsettled by, but left when he came up short.
“They can see us?” Pete asked for confirmation, moving to watch the guests make their way up the stairs.
“I don’t think so,” Alberta pitched in, “He looked scared, but not scared enough to have seen a ghost.”
“He heard me though,” Isaac argued, “He wouldn’t- He can see us. I’m certain.”
“Maybe it’s just… some new ghost power?” Pete offered, “Livings can hear your voice, like Alberta?”
The singer hummed in disapproval. “No. My power is unique, and you can't take that away from me!”
“Well, I would like to have a different ghost power,” Isaac commented, with an accompanying hand gesture.
“Shouldn’t we tell Sam about this?” Pete continued, “I mean, if there’s more like her, she should know, right?”
The other two ghosts nodded in agreement, before the group ultimately decided to find the woman.
-
“Hey-hey! What are we all looking at?” Trevor phased through the door into the Maple suite, greeting Thorfinn and Sasappis.
“New guests. We see what they’re like.” Thor explained, with grand hand gestures.
“Alberta told us they can see ghosts.” Sass continued, “I don’t believe her. They haven’t noticed us.”
Trevor acknowledged Sass’s reply, watching the two guests explore their room. He nodded loudly and waited for something else to happen.
“We should prank them,” He finally said.
Sass turned to face the other ghost. “We could have Thor flicker the lights?”
“Yeah, good idea.” Trevor grinned and, to the best of his ability, clapped Thor on the back.
Thor looked at the other two. “Now?”
Trevor nodded, to which the viking shrugged. He lifted his hands, aiming all of his focus and energy to the lights in the room. After a brief few seconds, the strong light emitting from the lamps and chandeliers faltered and flickered for a good 4 seconds.
Aziraphale looked up to the lamp that sat next to him. His eyes stayed on it after it flickered, waiting for something else to happen, but it never did.
“Did you see that?” He asked to Crowley, not averting his stare.
Crowley hummed. “ ‘S an old house. ‘Bound to be old lights.”
“Well, yes, but…” Aziraphale trailed off.
Just then, the demon seemed to have an idea. He grinned mischievously, turning to face the angel.
“You know, it could be… ghosts ,” Crowley offered, his voice taunting and his eyebrow raised.
“Ghosts?” Aziraphale repeated, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Ghosts,” Crowley grinned. “This is an old mansion, and… well, you know what they say about old mansions.”
Aziraphale laughed, trying to break his nerves. “Right, but, well, that can’t be true. We’d need proof, right?”
“I can prove it,” Crowley challenged. He turned to the rest of the room and began to speak louder. “Ghosts, if you’re here, prove yourself!”
Seeing his chance, Trevor made his way to a small wooden decoration that sat on a bookshelf and attempted to push it over. He held his outstretched pointer finger against the object, gripping his arm with his other hand and pressing into the decor with all of his strength.
The decor shifted slightly. Crowley and Aziraphale’s eyes turned to look at the object, and the demon suddenly felt hesitation for the first time since the start of his lie.
Despite his unease, he decided to continue.
“You saw that, Angel, right?” He asked, “There are ghosts here! If you’re a ghost, knock over that-”
His sentence was interrupted by the small figurine falling to the floor. Upon contact, a horrible split sounded and the decor revealed to have snapped cleanly in half.
Crowley wanted to react with a laugh or a jeer, but he had to admit to himself that this was freaking him out.
He turned around to see Aziraphale looking utterly terrified, which debunked his suspicion that the angel had somehow tied a string around the object and was pulling it.
“ ‘You saw that, Angel?” The demon asked again, however all taunt from his voice was gone.
Aziraphale nodded timidly. “Perhaps… it’s best if we leave.”
“Well, ” Crowley argued, “This is the first time we’ve been able to interact with ghosts. After being alive for so long, wouldn’t it be fun to, I dunno, explore this opportunity?”
“I thought you didn’t want to come here,” Aziraphale questioned.
“But now that I’m here, I want to stay,” Crowley admitted, his smile returning to his face, “Maybe we could speak to them somehow?”
-
“Sam!”
A cacophony of voices boomed for Sam as three ghosts ran through the halls, and they found the woman in her bedroom.
She looked up, alarmed, and asked for the three to quiet down!
“What do you need?” She asked.
“Sam, he heard me,” Isaac breathed, “One of the guests heard me speak.”
Sam slammed her laptop shut, bolting upright. “Which one?”
“The blonde one,” The soldier confirmed, “He heard me, but he couldn’t see me.”
“How do you know?”
“He looked straight at Isaac,” Alberta interrupted, “but didn’t say anything.”
“Maybe it’s a new ghost power?” Sam suggested.
“Hey, that’s what I said!” Pete griped.
“I tried speaking again, to Jay," Isaac explained, "But he didn't hear me. It's only the guest."
Samantha paused. She set her laptop to the side, standing up and rushing out of the room with the three ghosts following her.
She promptly knocked on the closed door of the Maple suite, before swinging it open. “Hi, you two! Can I get you anything?”
Crowley and Aziraphale shared a confused glance.
“No,” The demon replied.
Sam nodded slightly, before her eyes turned to the broken decoration lying on the floor. Her smile faded to concern.
“Oh, did this fall? I’ll grab it for you,” She offered, running into the room and rushing to pick up the item.
“Oh, we’re deeply sorry,” Aziraphale stuttered out an apology, “You see, the item just fell . I don’t believe we pushed it over, however-”
“No worries,” Sam assured, “It wasn’t your fault.” She gave a glare to Trevor, who shrugged comically and left the room.
“Listen, um…” She started as she stood up, “Has anything- how do I put this- has anything weird happened? Flickering lights, or- or humming that seems to come from nowhere?”
“Yeah,” Crowley nodded, “Your lights are broken. And that bloody decor fell, which we didn’t knock over.”
“But- but we’re not complaining!” Aziraphale continued to Sam, glaring at Crowley briefly, “Really, this building is magnificent.”
Sam nodded, giving a quick smile, before she took the broken item out of the room with her.
-
Crowley walked down the stairs after night had fallen, careful to avoid all the creaks in the steps. His ability to see in the dark was finally coming in useful, he thought, as for the first time in years he was in an unfamiliar house and he couldn’t rely on his muscle memory. He walked into the kitchen, flinching slightly when the door croaked open. He was curious to see what types of food these people bought.
Upon stepping into the room, he was met with a very victorian-style lady standing next to the window. She wore an emerald green dress with a wide skirt, and her hair was styled like she came straight from the 1850’s.
He first thought he’d been caught, however, he didn’t recognise the woman as any of the two others he saw that day.
“ You’d win a costume contest,” He commented, a small laugh in his voice.
The woman whipped around and stared at Crowley, skeptical. “Are you talking to me, young man?”
Crowley nodded. “I haven’t seen anyone dress like you since the 19th century.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “You can see me?”
“Yeah,” Now it was Crowley’s turn to be skeptical. “It’s dark, but I can still see you. ‘S hard not to.”
The woman gasped. “You… are you a ghost?”
“No,” Crowley shook his head, “What, did I summon you when I pulled that prank today?”
The woman paused, before muttering something under her breath and running off.
As Crowley watched the woman pass through the door like it was made of air, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had somehow summoned her. He’d had no proof that ghosts existed until now, but after what had happened that day he couldn’t deny the fact that something supernatural was going on here.
He’d never had the ability to see ghosts since before today, and he likely will never see them again, but for now, he can have some fun.