Ghosts

Chapter Three: Nightmares, Fountains and Demanding Ghosts.

Cassie awoke the next morning with a yawn. She felt the area beside her but felt no one there. She shot up, wondering where Damien was, and felt something fall off of her shoulders. Cassie looked down to see that her favourite cream white blanket had been placed upon her. She didn't remember putting this on and smiled, thinking that Damien must have put it over her. She flopped back onto the bed with a huge smile plastered on her face, then turned around, coming face to face with one of the ghosts. This caused her to scream and fall off of the other side of the bed due to jumping back in shock. She peered up over the bed before grabbing onto the side and climbing back onto the part of the bed she slept on last night. She blew a piece of her hair out of her face and glared at the ghost in front of her. "WHAT!!!!!!!" She yelled, not at all happy for the rude awakening.

"I saw you last night." Trevor taunted, smirking at the angered teen.

"Talking? Cool, didn't need the jumpscare, though."

"No. I'm talking about the spooning and blushing."

"You were spying on me?!"

"Your boyfriend basically gave his permission."

"Not my boyfriend!" Cassie defended.

"Whatever. I won't tell but...."

"But what?!"

"You two have talked to each other before, huh?" Trevor asked rhetorically. "Kind of a love at first sight situation? Blink once if I'm right." Trevor and Cassie stared at each other, neither daring to blink. However, Trevor quickly grew bored and blew in Cassie's eyes, causing the girl to squirm and blink. "That was just gross!! WHY??!!"

"Because you don't like the fact that I'm right."

"Get out." Cassie demanded, pointing to the door.

"Fine. Just let me know when you're ready to say you love him." Trevor teased as he backed out of the room. Cassie grabbed one of the pillows from her bed and launched it at Trevor. It hit the door before sadly falling to the ground as it phased right through him. "Okay, OW!" Trevor said. He turned back to Cassie to see her hugging another pillow, and anrgy frown on her face as she was sound asleep again. Which made sense to him due to previous events.

******Flashback********

Last night, Trevor wandered about, not in the mood to sleep, when he heard shuffling from Cassie’s room. He entered cautiously, thinking the worst had happened, but his heart sank when he saw her tossing and turning, face tight with tension. Damien, not yet noticing Trevor's presence, quickly grabbed a blanket and placed it over her. This had not worked as Cassie was still squirming . He saw Trevor standing in the doorway and silently begged for help. Trevor, noticing the teen's distress, came up with a plan and quickly mimed the plan out to him, glad that Damien caught on. They gently guided Cassie to the centre of the bed before they each lay at either side of her, arms wrapping around her, a silent shield against whatever nightmare had gripped her. Slowly, her thrashing eased, and she drifted into a peaceful sleep, the tension in her shoulders finally softening. Damien's own tension eased, and he began about to fall asleep, not before giving a grateful nod to the ghost. Trevor was last to fall asleep. As he did, he brushed a small kiss to Cassie's forehead, a final way to reassure her that someone was there for her. A faint smile creeped onto the young girl's face — a tiny sign of safety returned.

Trevor had wanted to say something when she woke up about the nightmare but decided against it, thinking that Cassie probably didn't want to talk about it.

*****End********

*A little while later.*

Cassie had swapped her red Marauders PJs for a red turtle neck, black leggings, and brown ankle boots, then headed downstairs. As she walked, she could hear her parent's voices coming from the kitchen. "You're not even listening to me." Her dad said.

"Babe, you're not listening to me!" Her mom argued. Thorfinn exited the kitchen and yelled to Isacc, Pete, and Alberta, "The livings! They are fighting! Ah, good morning, Little One!"

"Morning Thor."

"Ooh! Nothing better than watching a good husband wife argument. What's the beef?" Alberta asked as Cassie stood between her and Isacc.

"Yeah, give us the deets!" Cassie exclaimed.

"That's your parents fighting in there, you know?" Pete asked, to which Cassie shrugged and mumbled, "I like drama."

"He wants to fix the roof, and she wants to fix the fountain." Thor informed them.

"Ah, home renovation. A classic of the genre. Shall we go, spectate?" Isacc proposed with giddiness.

"I mean, we're literally watching paint dry." Alberta pointed out. The group turned to the wall she was referring to, seeing two different shades of blue. "These new glosses are fantastic, but yeah. Fight's probably more interesting." Pete agreed. And so, the four entered the kitchen to join the couple and the other ghosts already there, three going through the door, one opening the door very carefully as to avoid noise that would alert her parents.

*******************

"So, imagine you're a guest driving up to the B&B, and the first thing you see is this giant gleaming fountain." Sam said.

"Look, babe, nobody loves a fancy fountain more than I do." Jay admitted . "But,"

"He's gonna pivot back to the roof." Alberta predicted.

"I think we need to focus on the bigger picture, which is the roof." Jay finished, just as Alberta predicted. The ghosts began cheering for Alberta and how she got the answer perfectly.

"Can you please be quiet?" Sam asked the ghosts. However, Jay took offence as he thought that she was addressing him. "Excuse me, am I not allowed to have an opinion?"

"I was talking to the ghosts!" Sam said while glaring at the group.

"Right because ghosts are a real thing, and my wife and daughter see them." Jay let out a short laugh before realising, "Wait, are they in here?"

"Yes, they are, and they are very annoying!"

"Well, that's uncalled for!" Hetty spoke.

"Little harsh." Trevor agreed. The others all shared their feelings on this insult before quieting down under Cassie's glare as she wanted to listen to which of her parents would win the fight, not who would win between her Mom and the ghosts. "I didn't want to bring this up, but I did give in on moving here for you." Jay reminded Sam.

"Somebody's playing card of guilt." Thor commented.

"Gave up my job. I gave up my friends." Jay continued, trying to make his point.

"I know, and I appreciate you. But... we're gonna have to fix the fountain eventually, and just so you know," Sam said as she sat back down, grabbing her coffee mug, "The ghosts agree with me." Jay blinked, shocked ast the support she had. The ghosts all gasped in surprise and pride at the lie Sam easily told Jay. "She making things up!" Alberta cheered.

"Ruthless!" Hetty said, stunned.

"So hot!" Trevor commented, being slapped on his arm by Cassie, which then caused Damien to chuckle.

"So, shall I talk to the contractor?" Sam asked as Jay sat.

"Sure. Why not?"Jay gave in as the ghosts applauded Sam's win. Sam got up and walked away to talk to the contractor outside. "Alright... love you." Jay called.

"So..........back to the paint?" Alberta asked.

"Oh, I wonder if it dried lighter." Pete said as the ghosts started exiting one by one.

***********************

"Sam! Quick favour. Could you look up all the Mets scores for me for the last 37 years?" Pete asked politely.

"And I'd like to know how all my stocks performed after I died." Trevor said, leaning over the back of the couch where the Arondekar girls were sat on their laptops. "My big three were Circuit City, Eneron, and Blockbuster."

"Oh, easy. They all failed at some point or another." Cassie answered.

"WHAT?"

"This Spotify thing." Alberta said as she entered the room. "Am I on there? Oh, I'd love to hear some of my old recordings, none of that racket Jay's been listening to."

"Guys! Could you just give me a minute? I really have to finish this article." Sam begged just as Sassapis walked in.

"Sam, I would love to smell some pizza. Any chance you're throwing one in the oven?" He asked hopefully.

"I actually already ate."

"Yeah, a salad. What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Smell it." Cassie responded.

"So, again, the Mets?"

"Uh, Uh, Pete, you got to take a number." Alberta told him.

"You're in line behind us."

"Trevor, I already answered yours. They all flopped."

"Guys!"

"Just tell me how many RBI'S Keith Hernandez had in '87. Give me something." Pete begged. Soon, chaos commenced as the ghosts fought over each other for Sam to hear their demands, which drove the two women on the couch insane. Slamming down their screens of their laptops, they yelled, "GUYS!" The ghosts heard the edge of anger in their voices and quieted down in an instant. "Guys." Sam continued, much calmer now. "I get that it's cool that you have access to a living now, but you can not just bombard me or Cass with questions all day.So, why don't you choose a representative and that person, and that person only, can come to me with requests." As Sam was talking, Cassie noticed that Mark the contractor had walked in and her face paled, knowing how insane her Mom was gonna look. "Uh, Mom?"

"One sec, sweetie."

"How are we supposed to pick who does that?" Alberta asked Sam.

"I don't know! Have an election!"

"Mom!"

"You okay ma'am?" The contractor asked Sam. Her head swivelled to the door as her face also paled. She looked at her daughter for help on what she could say. 'Bluetooth!' Cassie mouthed.

"Yeah, just - just on Bluetooth." Sam responded before turning back to the 'Bluetooth'. "And in summary, do the election." Sam concluded.

"I don't even know what she pretend to be doin'." Alberta said.

"There's something with the fountain I need to show you and Jay." Mark informed her.

"Oh, Uh OK." Sam said as she and Cassie put their laptops on the table and stood up. "That's not gonna be good news." Sassapis spoke.

"Probably should've done the roof."

"Shut up, Pete!" Sam snapped.

"My name's Mark."

"Yeah. Course it is. Bye, Pete." Sam bid as she once again put her hand to her ear and acted as though she was ending a call. Cassie laughed awkwardly as she and Sam walked out with their heads hung in embarrassment behind Mark.