Rosa sat up with a gasp, hair flying around her face. She brushed it out of the way, eyes wide. Everything was red. Bright red, like she was looking through the red half of a pair of 3D glasses. She took her own glasses off, just in case, but that didn't do anything other than make everything a slightly blurrier red. Great.
Joey was still asleep, turned away from her, and she grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. "Joey."
He barely stirred, mumbling something unintelligible, so she tried again, a little more forcefully. "Joey!"
"Huh?" He sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. "What is it?" He blinked, looking around. "Ah. Yeah, that's not quite right."
"No. It's not."
He got up, stretching his back. "Guess we'd better head back up to the roof and talk to that dragon."
"How are you so nonchalant about this?" she questioned as she walked to the door.
A shrug. "Well, there's no use screaming about it, is there?"
She sighed, reaching for the handle, only for her hand to bounce straight off of it. "Um. Joey?"
He walked over, curious, as she tried it again. Nope. She couldn't even touch the door itself. It was like there was a force field preventing the contact.
Behind her, she could hear him start chuckling, before he was full out laughing, hands on his knees.
"This isn't funny."
"You should've seen your face!" he exclaimed, completely beside himself.
Rosa tried touching a few other things in the room, all to the same result. She couldn't touch any of it. Her chest tightened as a horrible realization gradually set in. "Joey, we're not dead, are we?"
He stopped laughing nearly instantly. "No. I don't think so," he said, walking up to the door. "Not exactly."
"'Not exactly'?" Well, that wasn't comforting in the least. For all she knew, the tea could've been poison after all, and now she owed him twenty dollars.
"The world wasn't monochromatic when I was dead, for one thing. But I think I can..." He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the door as he raised a hand. And as he did so, Rosa could see a faint blue glow start emanating from his tie. The way it'd always looked when he'd handed it to her before. When he was... The glow grew brighter, light reflecting off his face as he stepped forward.
"Joey?" she called out, but he either didn't hear or didn't react, because he kept moving forward, phasing through the door entirely. Rosa walked back to it, hand getting deflected away once again as she slammed her palm into the wood. "Joey!" He wasn't seriously going to leave her here, was he?
It was another moment before she saw his hand stick through offering the end of his tie, still glowing.
"Grab on."
When she obliged, he pulled it and she went flying through to the other side of the door, breathless. "How did you...?"
He was already tying it back around his neck, shrugging. "You know, I have no idea."
"Are you sure you're not dead?"
He tilted his head as he finished tucking the tie in. "Do I look dead?"
At the request, she examined him more closely. He looked about the same as he had earlier, albeit, with the same red tint as everything else in the world, herself included. And now that he'd replaced the tie, nothing about him was glowing, or even remotely ethereal-like. "No," she answered honestly. "You don't."
"Yeah, that's about what I figured." He was shifting around a little, clearly bothered by this development. But, in typical Joey fashion, he refused to acknowledge it, instead turning away to walk to the stairs. Rosa sighed yet again, following him. It wasn't like she had another choice, did she?
Halfway up the flight of stairs, he stopped suddenly, Rosa bumping straight into him. "Joey!"
But he might've been a stone slab blocking the doorway, frozen in place. She had to nudge him another two times before he even said anything.
"Jesus..." He finally stumbled forward, giving Rosa enough room to squeeze past and be met by the glistening teeth of a 60-foot dragon.
Her eyes shone like orange coals, gleaming under the unnaturally red sky. Long, golden whiskers trembled delicately as she breathed, her pitch-black snakelike body coiling around the building like a boa about to strike. As she lowered her head toward them, great clouds of steam escaped her nostrils, the glow in her eyes brightening.
Why couldn't it have been a cute, pocket-sized dragon? It was just their luck, wasn't it? Rosa cleared her throat, trying to stifle the sudden dryness in her mouth. "Um... hi?"
Next to her, Joey snorted. "Is that really the best you could come up with? 'Hi'?"
Seriously? Was now really the best time for this? "What, do you have something better?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe something like 'please don't eat us', or-"
"Silence!" the dragon roared, clouds of vapor escaping her gaping maw as the door slammed shut behind them. "Why have you summoned me here? Is there no end to you humans' greed?"
Joey stepped forward. "We just wanted to have a little chat."
The dragon narrowed her eyes, leaning in. "There is no reason for idle conversation, human."
"On the contrary, I think there's plenty reason. You see," he continued, shoving his hands in his pockets, "we're chasing a ghost."
How on earth was he so calm about this? Rosa looked back and forth between them, dumbfounded. That was a dragon. That snout could probably swallow her whole. And he was just standing there. Chattering away. Like they weren't in mortal danger.
The dragon blinked. "A ghost."
"Yeah, that's what I said. A spirit guide. Trying to bend the rules of reality." He examined the dragon closely, refusing to back down. "But I get it, yeah? I should play to my audience. Don't think you're the moral type." He tipped his hat at her, grinning.
Okay, now she was getting concerned. He didn't have a clue what he was doing, did he?
"You are one to speak of rules," the dragon hissed, a low growl in her voice. "I can sense it, human."
Joey's smile no longer reached his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, sweetheart."
But Rosa might've had an idea. Whatever brought him back didn't seem to have been seamless. 'Residual dead' sounded stupid in her head, but...
The growl in the dragon's throat grew louder. "There is something wrong about you. Something... unacceptable."
Joey wasn't smiling at all, now. "This isn't about me. We came here looking for help. Either you're with us, or you're not."
This wasn't going well. This wasn't going well at all . Rosa was nearly convinced she was going to see him get snapped in two, and then his stupid ghost would be stuck haunting this roof for the rest of eternity.
"I really don't think you should be trying to give an ultimatum to a dragon," she said, inching closer to him.
"Relax, Red, I've got this," he insisted.
He definitely did not have it. If it was possible, the dragon only looked more agitated. "She's going to eat you."
Joey shrugged. "It's nothing we can't handle."
Hang on, now. 'We'? "You are not dragging me into this. I don't know about you, but I like being alive."
He blinked, his air of confidence fading. "Yeah, I..." He was distracted suddenly, looking away. When he turned back to the dragon, he was hardly making eye contact. "I don't really know what you are, or what you can even do. But we're up against something big, and I don't know how to stop it. So, I'm asking for help. If you want to eat me or smite me on the spot, so be it. Just... leave Red out of it."
What? This wasn't like him. "Joey-"
His eyes were burning with intensity when he looked back at her. "I'm not backing down on this one."
"Well, I'm not letting you do this alone," she shot back. "We're supposed to be a team."
"You just said-"
"I was joking . What the hell is up with you?"
"I'm trying to protect you." He looked so small uttering those words, a quiver in his voice. She wished she knew what he was thinking. The next thing she knew, he might... relapse again, and this was neither the time nor place for that.
She walked closer, shaking her head. "And who's supposed to protect you?"
He turned away, pained. "I'll manage."
He really wasn't managing anything well either. He wasn't looking at her, or the dragon, or anything, really. Rosa was honestly surprised they hadn't been eaten yet. Standing here bickering in front of an ancient being.
She looked back at the dragon, whose eyes flickered with a morbid curiosity like she was watching rats in a glass cage.
"How fascinating," she eventually hissed, lips pulled back to show off her rows of razor-sharp teeth. "I have no interest in intervening in your... situation. You will have to seek aid elsewhere."
Rosa glanced back at Joey a moment, but he seemed to have gone practically catatonic, unmoving from the corner he'd situated himself in. So much for protecting her. But as soon as the thought appeared in her head, she heard him speak.
"No." He walked back up to the dragon, trembling with rage. His tie was glowing again, brighter this time. "We didn't come this far for nothing. We-" His gaze caught on the tie, expression darkening. "Damn it!" He ripped it off, throwing it to the ground as he stormed away. Rosa could briefly see it snap back around his neck before he phased through the door, disappearing from view.
She'd have to deal with him later. "I'm sorry," she said, honestly taken aback by the absurdity of it all. She was apologizing to a dragon. A dragon. "He isn't usually like this."
"Then bother me no further," the dragon growled. "I long to rid myself of this dead place."
"... dead place?" So they were dead?
"You do not sense it, mortal? Surely something feels wrong to you."
Uh. Besides the fact that after they leave her vision was going to be blue-shifted for hours? If they even could leave now. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."
The dragon was not amused, smoke trailing from her nostrils. "Foolish human. We are both trapped. Between the realms of the living and that of the spiritual."
Okay. So they weren't dead. That was good.
"I wish to return to my realm if you would allow it."
Uh. Her? Rosa wasn't about to argue, lest the dragon suddenly change her mind about eating her, but the request did come off as a little odd. "You're free to go."
"Thank you." At those words, the dragon faded from view, black smoke trailing around her shape as she disappeared.
Congratulations, Rosa. You're not dead. She sighed, moving her glasses to rub her eyes. Was that really how low the bar was these days? God, she could really go for a coffee right about now. And yet, there was still the matter of... Her gaze trailed back to the door. A door she couldn't touch. She walked up to it, trying to see if she could hear anything.
"Joey? Are you there?" If he was, he didn't respond. And she knew him well enough to know that it was probably no use to try again. Well, then. It looked like it was just her and this rooftop. For the next forever. She sat on the curb, gazing at the neon red of the sky, little specks of white falling from it. Letting the dragon leave hadn't changed that one bit.
At least now she had the chance to reflect on things a little. Okay. So they'd summoned a dragon, were somehow trapped between the living and the dead, Joey had ghost powers somehow, and he was also currently incredibly upset. He'd turned on a dime back then, his usual cocky demeanor shedding in an instant. And she'd been doing what she always did. Trying to keep him in check. It was a little harder now that he could actually get hurt. And die. She glanced back at the door.
First, he'd caught hypothermia nearly bad enough for her to take him to the hospital. Then, he'd gotten shot and had needed to go to the hospital anyway, and now he was flaunting his life around like an offering. Like he didn't care in the least whether he lived or not. For someone who'd been dead for so long...
Everything would be fine once they sorted things with Madeline, right? She ran a hand through her hair, a few defiant locks falling back over her face. Right? The snow kept falling in all vigor, and she brushed a collection of flakes off her shoulder absentmindedly. Strange. She didn't feel nearly as cold as she should have. It was probably for the better. Otherwise, she'd have to worry about freezing before Joey got back.
He was coming back, right? It's not like he had any better of an idea on how to leave this realm. Rosa sighed, her breath a wispy puff in the cold air. Maybe it was better to not think about it at all. Maybe she could just think about her next coffee order. Vanilla latte? Was vanilla too plain after what they'd just gone through? Maybe peppermint. The holiday specials hadn't ended yet, had they? Honestly, anything warm would've been nice right about now. Not freezing to death didn't mean she didn't feel the cold at all.
They'd been lucky the dragon hadn't been angrier. Joey had really shut down- and she was thinking about him again. Damn it.
A hot shower, and a nice cup of coffee. She still had some instant packets somewhere in the kitchen. They probably hadn't gone bad. Did that kind of stuff even go bad? She'd curl up in front of the TV with a blanket, and put on a meaningless drama. Yeah. And Joey would be normal. Just normal. They'd bicker about how stupid the main character was, and which love interest would be better for her in the end. He'd scowl the entire time, pretending to not be having a good time. But Rosa knew better. She always knew.
A piece of fabric was dangling in her face. It took her a second to recognize it as the limp end of Joey's tie. Her gaze followed it up, looking up at him. He wasn't looking back, the only acknowledgment of her presence being his outstretched arm offering the tie.
His face was flushed, eyes puffy, cheeks wet. She didn't really have to guess why he wasn't making eye contact. He was probably barely holding it together as it was.
The end of the tie dangled loosely in the slight breeze, but she decided to set her sights just a little higher. Standing up, she grabbed his hand.
His face twitched in surprised, eyes darting back to look at her for a moment before looking away again.
"I can touch your hands now, remember?" she said, offering a smile.
He didn't respond, fingers silently curling around her hand, squeezing just a bit tighter than he probably should be. She wasn't about to mention it, though. He led her back through the door, into the bedroom they'd started in. She glanced briefly at the bed. Maybe they just had to go back to-
"I tried that already," he said, voice sounding a little worse for wear.
"Right." She looked back at him, hands shoved back into his pockets, in an unsuccessful attempt to look more collected. Or maybe it was just a comforting habit. Rosa didn't know at this point. She wished she knew the right thing to say. Instead, the only thing that came out of her mouth was "I was starting to think you weren't coming back."
He didn't respond immediately, body half turned away. "You needed me."
She'd been out there for nearly an hour. But she wasn't exactly about to say that, either. Cautiously, she took a seat on the bed, surprised it didn't try to repel her like everything else in the world at the moment. And everyone , she noted, looking back at Joey.
He was shifting around a little, expression clouded. "Are you... holding up okay? I know I left you hanging for a while there."
Was he seriously...? "I'm fine. Are you?"
"I-" He put a hand to his forehead, pushing his hat up a bit. "I'll..."
"You can talk to me, you know."
He was still staring at the floor. "I appreciate the offer, Red, but... I'll be okay."
She knew it had likely been a futile attempt, but for a second there she had genuinely thought he was going to say something of actual content, for once. Did he seriously still believe the nonsense he was saying?
"Not at the rate you're going."
He flinched but otherwise didn't respond.
"Joey, you've got to stop acting like you're still dead, or you'll end up killing yourself."
"You don't think I know that?" he snapped, looking up suddenly. "I'm-" He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "We've got a job to finish, and I'm sure as hell not going to let you do it alone. I'm with you, Red. To the end, I'm with you."
"And after?"
He was silent again for a moment at that. "I don't know what happens after."
Well, that made two of them. She still didn't know what they were supposed to be doing at the moment, as it was. There had to be a way back. Otherwise, replicating the ritual wouldn't be worth the cost, and she was pretty sure she'd seen Kevin's father show up more than once on that parchment, not to mention the fact they'd seen him in person.
Joey was still silent. It was eerie, the way he was standing there, like a melodramatic Renaissance painting. She almost wanted to beg him to say something, anything. The only thing his silence did was remind her that things weren't how they usually were. She shook the thoughts away. Just focus on the case, Rosa. The way back had to be obvious, right? If it wasn't, it wouldn't make sense to send them in without any instructions. Unless Kevin's dad intended on trapping them here for the rest of eternity. No, that didn't make sense either. They'd seemed genuine.
"What've you got rattling around in that head of yours?"
She looked up to see Joey only inches away, and she yelped, leaping back. "You scared me."
"Hey, I'm a ghost -" His eye twitched, mouth quirking up. "Actually, scratch that one." He grinned, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "I think it's just part of my infallible charm."
Infallible charm, eh? She chuckled and grabbed his tie, pulling him closer. The expression of a deer in headlights crossed his face briefly before he raised an eyebrow, grin growing wider.
"Oh, now you want it, huh?" he teased.
"No," she replied, looking up at his face, blue eyes so close to her own, and for a moment she considered- she really considered... "I want this." With one last tug on his tie for momentum, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.
He returned the embrace, holding her close. "You're not even trying to find a way out, are you?"
"You interrupted me," she protested, nuzzling a little deeper.
His chest vibrated in laughter. "Well then, Miss Interrupted, what did you have before I so rudely cut off your train of thought?"
"Not yet," she murmured. She wanted to savor this just a little longer.
He nudged her. "Come on, we've got a job to do."
"You let go first, then."
That shut him up. She could feel him finally settling into the embrace, a sigh escaping his lips. "I don't know how I put up with you."
Oh, really? Like she was the one who was trying to set a record for near-death incidents. But she didn't bother giving a rebuttal, closing her eyes. "Whatever we're looking for probably isn't in this room."
"What makes you say that?"
"For one thing, I've already tried touching just about everything in here."
He lowered his voice, leaning close to her ear. "...Everything?"
What, was there something- Oh. Oh . She scowled, shoving him back. "Get off me."
And he looked so damn pleased with himself, too. "Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands out. "Let's think." He looked back at her, a sly smile spreading across his face. "You know, your aunt..."
"Would've figured this out already?" she huffed, trying to get her hair back together. She would've considered tying it up if it wasn't so darn cold outside.
"...was never this much fun."
Rosa's hands froze in place. Joey never, and she meant never , compared her to Auntie Lauren in a favorable light. And now he'd done it twice. "Joey..."
He walked over, picking one of her hands off her head and holding it in his own. "Come on. If it's not in this room, then there's no use staying here."
She followed him back to the living room, looking around for anything that might be a hint. The encyclopedia. It was still resting on the dresser where Kevin had left it. She reached for it, hand getting uselessly deflected to the side. Damn it.
There was a chuckle behind her and she turned around, glaring at Joey.
"Nothing, Red," he said, grinning. "I saw nothing."
So, that was out of the question. Was it just something specific, then? No, if that was the case, they'd for sure have been told about it. It had to be something else. Something general. Something like...
The frame that held the fishing photo almost seemed to glow with an unnatural light, a vibrant yellow and orange against the red that drowned everything else. And she had a feeling that if she just reached out her hand...
As soon as her fingers grazed the metal, the red tint snapped away, reality resuming as if they'd never left. She looked down at herself, stunned. "Joey, I think I-"
He wasn't there anymore. Not a trace. She knew he'd been standing right there, but...
"Joey?"
The frame. She looked back at it again, younger Kevin in the photo it held grinning gleefully back. There didn't seem to be anything special about it. The metal frame was nicely polished, though, to the point it was gleaming. But she wondered if she just touched it again...
Snap. The world was once again sheeted in red. Pretty neat, actually , she thought, turning around to face Joey.
His face had gone pale, eyes wide as saucers as he stared at her. "You just- I thought you-"
"You disappeared too," she reassured. But she couldn't help thinking that he had been about to say something else. Whatever it had been, she wouldn't know now. The crack in his composure had already been paved over, hands back in his pockets.
"Yeah. Just get on with it. I'll follow you."
She turned back to the frame, reaching out to touch its surface, and he did the same. Like someone letting go of a rubber band under tension, everything snapped back into full color.
"Neat little trick," Joey muttered, studying the frame in the same way she had just seconds ago. "You think it's just the frame, or anything shiny?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But we're back."
He smiled. "That we are." He walked past her, starting down the stairs. "Come on. Let's grab dinner before we go."
A/N: Well, that was a bit long (almost 4000 words!). But, it was one scene, and I couldn't break it up, so... And yes, I couldn't resist naming the chapter the way I did. Sue me. (Please don't).
One of my favorite exchanges between our lovely protagonists happens this chapter. :)