Something lodged in Kay's throat, and it wasn't a song. She took a step toward the ghost, inhaling every detail.

He was dressed to the nines in a pressed black suit, darker than his normalwear, but perfectly in line with his penchant for formal attire. Sharp, menacing ribs hugged the outside of the suit, painting accusatory lines toward where the coroner had said he'd been impaled. A crisp white shirt with a high collar showed under the suit, his usual ascot hung tie-style, knotted at a neck that wasn't there. Just above the suit floated a jawless human skull with burning pink eyes and flames styled back in the usual pompadour. A cracked blue heart pulsed dimly where a breast pocket would have been.

Her eyes dropped down to his feet and she gave a choked giggle. "Baby feet. Still. Y'know, you could have done something about that. Maybe. I don't know how it works." Her vision blurred. "They had a tag on them. A blank tag hanging from your toe and purple hair sticking out from the other end."

Silence.

Her heart beat low and heavy. "I tried to forget how much I missed you. It didn't really work." She stumbled forward a step, her hands instinctively clasping her arms. "Everything just reminded me of you. Dulcie wore your clothes every day for weeks." Another step. "Aji's been raging every day. The customers keep bringing you up. I couldn't get away from you, even at the sycamore. I kept thinking, maybe you'd…" She stopped, eye-level with those tiny boots, shined to a gleaming polish. "I wanted you to leave and never come back when you were first here. I thought they might keep you, and you weren't the oldest, it was me. I was the oldest, and nobody else could be the oldest. But then I was so glad when you stayed because I could tell you everything. You always understood me."

Silence.

She raised her eyes to meet his. The pink stare drilled through her and all his outlines went swimming and spinning. "When they said you were back, I believed them. But you can't really be sure until…" there were too many tears in the way of her words. She let out a sob and lunged forward, flinging her arms wide to hug his ankles.

She passed through, tilting off-balance to crash knees-first to the hardwood floor. She stared at the floor, blank, until her mind caught up. Of course. He was a ghost. She couldn't hold him. Laughing, she stood, wiping her eyes. "That was silly. I should know better. But I'm not as experienced as the Skulls, I'm sorry." She hesitated. He hadn't turned around, the back of his suit seeming to reprimand her lapse. "I'll get the hang of it. I'm just so glad." She circled her arms around his feet, but not too far. Just enough to give the illusion of an embrace. She shut her eyes, feeling the ache in her chest ease a little.

"Dulcie will be so happy," she whispered. "Maybe you can get her to talk again. And calm Aji down, and remind Vivi how wonderful you are, and everything can go back to normal."

His boots withdrew abruptly, pulling several feet higher, and her heart seized at what she'd said. "I, I didn't mean normal. I'm sorry. I know it can't be completely." She trailed off. He hadn't said one word to her. Why hadn't he said anything? "Lewis?"

He had turned away from her, crossing the room to Arthur. Arthur, who was barely standing as Lewis approached, crossed his prosthetic over the front of his body like a shield.

"Don't hurt him, Lewis!" Kay staggered forward. "It's not what you think! Dad told us things-"

"Not a single burn." Lewis grabbed Arthur's shoulder, spinning him around and inspecting the back of him. "Not one hair singed. Not even the smell of smoke. Tell me, Arthur. Picked up a protection spell since the graveyard? Figures you'd still be hiding behind Vivi. She always was the real talent. What's your secret to full recovery? Was that her too?"

The heaviness recollected itself in her chest. He was touching Arthur, prodding and shoving him around. He was able to touch. Why did she pass through?

Arthur pressed himself against the wall, lifting his hands and making motions. Lewis immediately turned away, his smooth hair prickling into little flamelets. "Don't bother. I'm not interested." He walked toward Kay, staring just over her head as he approached.

"Lewis-!" He passed through her without so much as a flinch, and she dropped to her knees, hugging her arms. Why? Could he not see her? No, he had been looking at her earlier. Why, then? She turned on her knees as he strode through the air toward the back of the room. "Lewis?"

He stopped in front of the grand piano, running a hand along the top of it. "I hoped to learn this someday. I didn't start early enough to be a master, but I probably could have played a decent melody within a few years. Funny, isn't it, the things you think you'll have time for. Things, say for example, like a musical career. Or a life spent with the one you love." Lewis' skull swiveled around completely, still staring past Kay to Arthur. "Funny how things like that can just vanish, isn't it?"

Arthur stopped shaking. His jaw was working and his brows had pulled together, and Kay felt sick. Something didn't fit and she couldn't put it together like it was supposed to go.

"Kay."

Her heart leaped. He'd said her name. He'd spoken to her. "Lewis?"

"I hadn't finished the composition for your birthday piece. I was going to finish it later that evening and show you the sheet music." He reached for the violin, pulling it from its stand. "I've finished it now."

White flashed at the edges of her vision as terror struck hard and deep, twisting in her chest until she could hardly breathe. "No."

He set the violin against his chin, flourishing the bow. "It's a good thing Arthur is here. I wouldn't want him to miss your special present."

….

Arthur's mouth hung open as Lewis set the bow against the strings. You can't be serious, he signed. Don't do this. Don't hurt her like this.

"You can't hurt someone who never really cared." Lewis drew the bow down slow, releasing a deep, sonorous note. Kay gave a low cry, doubling over. Tips of gold poked through her skin, and Arthur's mind began to churn.

What is the setup? Lew can't hurt me, so he's going to use Kay as the murder weapon. Kay is fated to lose her mind. If Kay kills me, that could well be the tipping point, and if my little backup plan fails, Vivi's on her own, but she doesn't even care anymore.

What are the rules? Lewis can't burn me. Kay can control or murder me at this point. Music is a compulsion. Resistance level unknown, but Lewis won't stop. At some point she has to crack. End result is death.

Not strong enough to stop Lewis. Vivi or Mystery might. Have to stall for time. Try breaking through.

Lewis listen to me! His fingers worked frantically. Your Dad told us things. Your sisters are in danger. All of them. There's a curse he never told- His hands dropped. Lewis had turned his skull away from Arthur, focusing on Kay as he began the concerto in earnest, a little pink ghost swooping in to snatch up the flute.

His face burned. No time for anger. Kay. Blood dripped to the floor as her talons dug through skin. He couldn't see past the golden plumes that grew longer by the second, straining against her shirtsleeves at the shoulders and crowding along her arms. Cords stood out in her neck as she clenched her teeth, tears streaming down her face.

Can the compulsion be redirected?

It's all he had. He sprang forward, diving to his knees in front of Kay. He took her face in her hands, drawing her focus to himself, then moved his hands down to hers. Standing, he pulled hard, drawing her to unsteady feet. He took one step back, then gave a low bow, sweeping one arm out to the side and then extending it to her.

She shook her head, drawing her hands up to her mouth and biting a knuckle hard. The cello joined the swelling orchestra as a second pink ghost appeared and Kay's knees buckled. Arthur caught her arms, his own hands vanishing into the golden plumage. He held her steady, nodding his head hard.

Come on, Kay. You can do this. One, two. One, two. He stepped forward, out of sync with the music, and she stepped back. He stepped forward again, and she retreated. Then he moved back one-two, his feet finding the rhythm, and she followed. One, two, three-side-side. The tempo increased, and Arthur set his jaw. His right hand settled on her waist, his left clasping her hand. No need to worry about the talons with a metal hand. He pressed his right hand firmly. Come on, Kay. The learning curve is sharp, but you can do this. Follow my lead.

Gasping for air, she moved with his hand. He led her across the room at a fast clip, his feet keeping time with the sweeping song filling the room. Leading her around, he released her waist, twirling her by the hand and catching her again, continuing on.

"Even now," Lewis rumbled, the temperature in the room rising. "Even now you're mocking me!" The music pulled up into a crescendo. Arthur all but pulled Kay off her feet leading her around the room, lifting and twirling as fast as he could.

Look at me, he mouthed. Focus.

Kay had her eyes locked on his, only breaking contact for a twirl or turn. Her shirtsleeves bulged and the lengthier feathers made turns more difficult, but Arthur led her through.

Hurry, Vivi.

Sweat dripped down his back, and Kay still gasped for every breath. The crescendo softened, the music fading down to a slow waltz, and Arthur fumbled a step.

This time it was Kay who caught him, pulling him back into step as they slowed the pace. The song ground to a halt as the final notes faded, and Kay slumped into Arthur's arms.

"Well. That was your birthday present. I hope you enjoyed it. But I don't think you heard it properly. After all, we forgot the piano arrangement." Lewis snapped his fingers, and a third ghost appeared at the piano.

Arthur lifted his head, staring straight at Lewis in disbelief. She's. Your. Sister. he mouthed.

"Not anymore," Lewis snarled, lifting his bow again.

A loud crash and chunks of flying wall drew Arthur's attention to the door, now a gaping hole. Mystery crouched there in all his six-tailed glory, lips drawn back from his teeth. Vivi slipped down from his neck, surveying the scene before her with a grim expression.

…..

There he was. That stupid skeleton floating in his stupid mansion with that stupid expression. She'd punt his stupid skull to another stupid country if he hadn't picked that stupid height to hover at. Lines of the last five exorcism chants she'd read up on spun through her head.

"As a token of whatever we used to have," she said, her voice flat, "You have exactly five seconds."

Immediately the mansion walls began to dissolve.

"Four."

Pink ghosts fled in every direction, but Lewis stayed right where he was.

"Three."

Nothing remained of the mansion. Lewis reached into his suit and pulled out a small gray box.

Vivi stiffened. "One."

Lewis vanished, leaving the box to clatter to the concrete.

Arthur sagged to the ground, still holding Kay. Mystery turned to the alley's entrance, growling something unintelligible. The air around them shimmered, and Mystery turned his attention to Kay. "We have some cover, no one can see."

Kay trembled like a leaf in Arthur's arms, choking on sobs and clawing at her arms. He grabbed her wrists, holding them away with one hand as he pressed his face into the crook of her neck. "Shhhhhhhhhhh."

"Mystery, we're gonna need visual cover on the way back to the hotel." Ignoring the gray box, Vivi squatted, grabbing one of Kay's arms and hooking it over her shoulder. "I don't think she can get rid of the wings right now, and we all need to regroup."

…...

Note: Thanks to Vicky for helping me out with suggestions about the music.