Chapter 7: Misplaced Agression
"What do you want now?" The ghost didn't even turn his head. He'd felt her coming even before she'd blasted the bottle out of his hand.
"I'm gonna make sure you don't ever hurt anyone again!" Danni said, righteousness and anger rising in her chest.
"If it's about the tab, I'm good for it."
"The tab?" Danni asked, confused now.
"Just let me drink in peace, Abigail."
"My name's not Abigail, its Danni."
He finally turned to look at her. Danni was surprised at how young he looked. Aside from the beginnings of a grizzled beard and the dark circles under his eyes, he couldn't have been more than twenty. Under his long, tattered cloak, his clothes were distinctly colonial. He had to be one of the earliest ghosts in Derytown.
"Hmmph. What happened to Abigail?"
"Don't you remember me? We fought a couple of days ago."
"No. Are you replacing Abigail?"
"I don't even know who that is."
"Everyone knows Abigail. Barmaid, kinda scrawny."
"Is she another ghost?"
"A ghost?"
"You know, like you."
"I'm the one drunk, why are you talking nonsense?"
"Jus the other day you were floating around the room and making bottles fly through the air!"
"Go away." He slumped over the table, burying his face in his arms.
Danni floated over to him, landing softly on the ground. He lifted an eye to glare at her.
"So he's touched you too." The Wine ghost stared at the shoulder where The Bishop had grabbed Danni back in the Mansion. She self-consciously lifted a hand to cover it.
"Strange, I've seen so many he's touched, but none like you. Why are you different? What is about you?" The ghost gave her a critical look, like something had awakened in him, then died again. He lowered hs head back into his arms.
"You know the Bishop?"
The ghost sprung from his seat violently, glowing red.
"FALSE PRIEST!!" His voice boomed, causing the remaining bottles to rattle in their cabinets. "Murderer! Liar! Hellhound!"
"WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?" Mrs. Marks voice rang from the upstairs.
"Hide." The ghost warned meekly, turning invisible. Danni did the same just as Mrs. Marks burst in, complete with hair curlers and an oversized flannel nightgown.
"Damn ghosts… Keep it down in here or you'll wake more than the dead!"
The gave the door an authoritative slam and locked it behind her.
The two listened for her footsteps to cease upstairs before turning visible again.
The wine ghost lowered himself back to his stool, staring at the wood grain blankly.
"He's dead. I saw them hang him. I helped them hang him. We buried him at the crossroads- so why- why does he haunt me still?"
Danni suspected he was no longer speaking to her.
She floated down next to the table with him.
"He's a ghost," she told him," That's why he's still here. He's a ghost like you and me."
"A ghost?" The Wine Ghost's brow furrowed, looking at her again. "I wish- no, he's a devil, a demon. He's no mere shade. He's a tormentor, a murderer, a destroyer- he tainted this land- the people- the town- everything grows from the blood he spilled. Sarah, forgive me."
"What happened? What do you have to do with The Bishop?"
"It seems like everyone wants the story these days. I prayed I may die before someone asked again-"
"-You are dead-"
"But it seems god has deemed it my fate to repeat it once more." The Wine Ghost lifted a hand. It glowed red and a bottle of wine floated into his palm. The cork popped off as if by itself and the ghost took a swig. He offered it to Danni, who shook her head no. The ghost shrugged and began his story.
"It was many years ago when my sister and I boarded a ship set for the New World…"
……..
(Yeah, it's pretty short, but it's leading up into some real meat. I'll see y'all after finals."