"You can stay here. Um, the couch is second-hand, so if it smells funny, it wasn't us." Kyle had led me to the basement and shown me a rather ragtag "guest room", complete with the boiler, some old cardboard boxes, and a secondhand sofa.
I eyed the ratty pullout warily. That better not be a white stain on one of the cushions…
But it was better than nothing. Kyle left me to get situated and I had finally pulled out the bed and put sheets on it when the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
I spun around; too quickly in fact, because I lost my balance and fell back onto the springy bed. Not used to my immaterial form, I accidentally fell through the pullout and landed on the hard concrete.
"Ow!" I cried, picking myself up and lying back on the bed. All that for nothing. No one was there after all.
I had just gotten to my feet when all of a sudden I saw someone standing on the other side of the room. Shocked, I lost my balance yet again and fell back onto the mattress.
"Holy hell," I cursed, lucky to catch myself from falling to the floor again and just resting on the bed.
It was the first ghost. Endri? That jerk; he'd been the one who'd freaked me out. "You scared me half to-…"
Instantly, I caught myself in the laughable cliché. Chuckling to myself, I took in the sight of this rather dark spirit.
He was leaning against the brick wall, arms crossed and eyes staring. He was wearing a military-style white tank top and black-oriented camo pants. His softly tinted purple skin glowed in the dim light, and his light blonde hair hung past his shoulders, wild and untamed. A pair of sunglasses were pushed back over his brow.
"Um, hi…again," I began. "Thanks for letting us stay here. Me and Beetle-…"
He cut me off. "Yeah. You 'really appreciate it'. I'll tell you what, I don't. Hiding a Neitherworld's Most Wanted in my basement isn't the best career move for Kyle and me."
"Oh. By the way, how long have you been living together?" I asked, resting my head on the armrest.
He shrugged. "Few years. It's been a long haul. War stories I can't even remember."
"But you're proud."
"Oh yeah. It was kind of hard going; he's got commitment issues and I've got my own deal, but it's good. We get along just fine."
Lira sighed. "See? That's sweet. Thank God the afterlife doesn't have stupid rules banning free expression like homosexuality."
Endri did a double take. "What?"
"Well…um…"
"We're not gay," he laughed. "Just best friends."
I was thoroughly embarrassed. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry! I thought-…"
"Nah, no offense taken," he said; now much more relaxed. "People get the wrong idea when they see me around with a breather."
"Huh?"
"Didn't you notice? Kyle's still alive. Got a pulse and everything. He just looks dead 'cause he's spent so much time here."
I considered this. "I guess you're right. I didn't really take the time to notice. And Beetlejuice said there was a Kyle who got in here alive. I just didn't match it up."
"Well. Now you know."
"Yep."
An awkward silence reigned. I looked at the fabric on the couch, and he looked at the dusty floor.
"Well, thanks again," I said just to break the quiet. "I promise; if we get caught, I'll take all the blame. Say I forced you to let us stay here."
He threw his head back and laughed out loud. "You? A little graveling like you, force two fully-grown, long-dead guys like Kyle and me? Oh! That's great…" He stumbled upstairs, rather undignified, cackling with mirth.
