Two Souls: Into the Fire # 264

Warning … adult content

***

Ghost and Melody walked a few blocks down, then over to the next street. The sidewalk was shady, and they were in no hurry.

“I’m really excited,” Melody said. “When I woke up this morning, I had no idea this would happen…did you?”

“Um…kinda. Well, not that I’d find a sister, but I knew I had to find something. I dreamed it. I told Steve we had to go to these two little towns. I mean, we had to. Something was guiding me here,” Ghost said.

“And just like that, he agreed?”

“Yeah, when I see things, he knows to pay attention.”

“That must be nice to have someone believe in you. I had a feeling you two were together, more than just friends.” She looked over at Ghost, and smiled. “I can tell he loves you, Ghost,” Melody said. “You’re so lucky.”

Ghost shrugged. “I guess you’re right. Sometimes I don’t think so, though. It’s been so hard to get where we are. I’ll tell you someday…”

Melody looked harder at Ghost, and could see the sadness just below the surface. “It’s okay…when you’re ready. I have things to say, too. I know how hard it is.”

She stopped in front of a two story house. “Well, here we are at my place, but not for long. Come help me pack.” She led the way to an upstairs apartment. It was very small, and sparsely furnished. “Just start grabbing everything and put it all on the bed. What do y’all have room for me to take?”

“We got lots of room. We have a U-Haul truck, so you can take it all.” He looked around the room. “Is the furniture yours?” Ghost asked.

“No, it stays. Just get everything out of the closet and dresser. I’ll do the kitchen,” Melody said, then went to get started.

Ghost opened a dresser drawer. “This is weird, Melody, getting your stuff.”

“No, it’s fine, go on.”

So, he did, putting clothes, shoes, papers, games, music, and videos all on the bed, and floor, until everything was cleaned out. She came in to the main room, carrying grocery bags, and a big box of items from the kitchen, adding them to the growing pile.

“Shit, I didn’t know I had so much,” she said. “Now, just my make-up and bathroom things, and that will be all.”

“You got any more boxes?” Ghost asked.

Shaking her head, Melody said, “No, just use the big garbage bags. Stuff everything in. I can sort it later on.”

They worked a few more minutes, then heard Steve knock on the door. Letting him in, Melody said, “This is it, Steve. If it’s too much, I can get rid of some.”

He looked over the mounds of garbage bags, and said, “No, we got room. We just need to haul it down to the U-Haul…hah…I made a rhyme,” Steve said, laughing at his own joke.

They all took what they could, and started down the stairs, with the first loads. On the way down, Steve asked, “Is there anyone you should let know you’re leaving?”

“Um…yeah, I should tell the landlord, and my boss. He can send me my last paycheck. Give me your address, Steve.” she said.

He wrote the Burnt Church Road address on a scrap of paper for her. “Ok, good, now I can stop on the way out. The landlord just lives down below here. I’ll be right back,” Melody said.

Steve and Ghost continued out to the U-Haul with their bags, then went up for more. In the mostly empty apartment, now, Steve stopped. Looking at Ghost, he asked, “You good with all this? I mean, it’s so sudden.”

Ghost nodded. “I know, but yeah, it’s right. It was meant to happen, Steve, and I’m happy. It’s a weird feeling to have found out I have a sister. I can’t explain it.” Steve could see in Ghost’s eyes how completely right it was.

“Come here,” he said, pulling Ghost close for a hug. “I love you, Ghost, and if you say it’s right, then I believe you.”

As they kissed, Melody came in, saw them, and caught her breath. She sighed…Someday I’ll have a love like that…

Finishing their kiss, they turned toward her, and she could tell what had been on their mind.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt…um…if you want, I can come back later. You can be alone here for as long as you want,” she said.

Ghost had his head resting on Steve’s shoulder, his eyes closed. He knew it would be up to Steve if he wanted to get back on the road right now, so he waited.

Steve squeezed Ghost’s hand. “Uh, yeah, could you? I mean, you can go see what Linda is doing down there in the van. Maybe she’d drive you over to the store, so you could tell your boss? And, we would…well, not be long, and…yeah…” Steve said, feeling a bit embarrassed to be announcing what he and Ghost were thinking.

“Sure, no problem. I’ll do that,” Melody said, backing toward the door. Come down and find us when you’re ready, then.” She closed the door behind her, as she left.

Steve stood there a minute, though. He didn’t quite know why, figuring she wouldn’t be back any time soon. Sighing, he said, “C’mon…” as he led Ghost over to the bed. It was now just a bare mattress.

For some reason, they both were feeling awkward, and shy. The window was open, and the curtains blew softly in the warm breeze. They could hear street noises, and an occasional word or two from people on the sidewalk.

“Ghost?” Steve started, then stopped, as he heard his voice echo through the stripped bare room. He wasn’t even sure Ghost wanted to be with him right now. It was the weirdest feeling, he thought. He had been looking around the room, and out the window, trying to feel more normal. Then, when he looked at Ghost, all the doubt went away.

Ghost was sitting on the bed, just watching him intently. His eyes were dilated, and the blue in them was dark. Then, he licked his lips, and grinned that crooked grin.

Steve knew Ghost wanted it as much as he did, and joined him on the bed. Kissing Ghost had always made the ordinary world fall away. Running his hands over Ghost’s body, and feeling him shiver in anticipation, was exquisite, and Ghost’s warm hands on him, made him dizzy with desire. Afterwards, they lay in each other’s arms, feeling the breeze swirl over them, cooling them.

“Mmm, that was nice,” Steve murmured. His eyes felt heavy, and he wanted to sleep. He thought Ghost must have already fallen asleep. “Hey, we can’t go to sleep,” he said, nudging him. “We have to get going again.”

“Uh-uh, let’s just stay here forever,” Ghost mumbled.

“Oh, I’d love to, but really, they’re waiting for us down there,” Steve said.  “C’mon…” he sat up, and pulled Ghost up, too. Ghost’s hair was a tangled mess, and he was flushed.

Steve smiled. “You’re adorable, you know.”

“I’m a mess,” Ghost said.

“Yeah, that too.” Steve laughed, and tossed Ghost’s clothes to him, and they both got dressed.

***

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Next part coming soon!

***

Thanks for visiting! Peace

© 2019 BS

***

This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 263

Warning … adult content

***

The girl they’d just met came over to their table and sat down with them. “Where do we start?” she asked.

Steve cleared his throat, and Linda felt she should get things going to put the girl at ease. “Hi, I’m glad you came to meet us. I guess we really haven’t even introduced ourselves to you, yet. I’m Linda, and my brother, Steve. My kids, Stevie and Mandy, and of course you know Ghost.”

“Hi, nice to meet y’all,” the girl said. “I’m Melody.”

“I hope you don’t feel like we’re ganging up on you,” Linda said. “We are as shocked as you must be, and we’re just trying to figure it out, too.”

“Oh, me too,” Melody said. “I never thought I had a twin, ever. No one said anything to me about it. I think it’s really neat, though. Don’t you, Ghost?” She looked at him.

“Nobody told me, either,” Ghost said, after Steve kicked him under the table, to get him talking. For someone so into words, Steve was a bit worried that Ghost had hardly talked at all.

“Have you always lived around here?” Steve asked.

“Yes, in Ozark, mostly. Here’s the thing, I was adopted when I was a baby. I only found out about it a couple of years ago. That’s when I left home. I mean, to never mention it in all these years, well…we never got along very well, my parents and I, so I was on my own after that. I traveled a bit. That must have been when I saw your show. Then I came back here, and I heard that they’d moved away, or died, or who knows the real story…they were just gone. So, I kept going too,” she stopped to laugh. “Hah, all the way over here to Forrest City. I heard the estate was being sold. Most of my things that I’d left, I imagine got sold too. I’d only ever been back to the house once. I’m glad y’all found my necklace, though,” Melody said, and smiled. “Now, where did you grow up, Ghost?”

“Uh…Missing Mile, North Carolina,” Ghost said, “but first in the mountains. My grandmother raised me.”

Nodding, Melody said, “Did you ever hear what happened to our parents? That is, if we really are twins. I mean, I never even knew I had real birth parents.”

Ghost looked at Steve, “Steve, what happened?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You know what your grandmother wrote in the journal. Just say it. You’re doing fine.”

“Okay,” Ghost said, then took a deep breath to begin. Steve was right…now was the time to talk about things. He sat up straighter, and pushed his hair back. He could feel the words coming back. “My grandmother passed away a few years ago, but she left a journal, telling me things. One was that ‘our’? parents, her daughter, was expecting, I guess us, and her boyfriend was our father. No one approved, and she…she didn’t want a baby…” he stopped, for a second, closing his eyes. “She didn’t want a baby, so she tried to kill us.” Opening his eyes, he saw the look of horror on Melody’s face, but continued telling the story.

“Then, she ran away with him, on his motorcycle, and they both were killed in a wreck. I was left behind, to die, in a barn. My grandmother found me. I guess somebody found you…I guess our mother took you with her, anyway…” he had to stop, realizing just how tragic it all had been. Knowing now, that he had never been wanted, never was the chosen one. Closing his eyes again, he wiped away the tears that began falling.

Steve put his arm around him, and Melody reached out and held his hands in hers. Her brother’s hands. She cried too, for what had never been. Steve bowed his head, as unwanted thoughts came to him. How the abortion of Ghost and his sister had hurt and damaged Ghost more, so that he was left to just die, all alone in that barn. Even now, just seeing Melody and listening to her, made it obvious that Ghost had suffered, even before he himself had met him, and God forgive me, he thought, damaged him some more.

Steve suddenly banged his fist on the table. “It wasn’t right,” he shouted. “The whole thing was wrong from the start. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but hell yeah, I’m gonna. If they hadn’t have died in that wreck, I’d go kill them now, myself, for what they did.” He glared at everyone at the table, he was so fired up.

“Steve, calm yourself,” Linda said. “Getting worked up isn’t helping the situation, and you’re scaring the kids. I’m taking them over on the other side of the room, to get them a game to play, or something. But, I’ll be back. No more outbursts, do you hear me, Steve?”

“Yeah, I hear ya, Sis. It just burns me up.”

They were quiet for a few minutes, absorbing what revelations had been said.

“Ghost, I’m glad we found each other now,” Melody said. “Are you?”

Nodding, Ghost said, “Yes, I know now you are my real sister, Melody. I can sense it.” He grinned.

Melody did too. “Me, too. There’s a strange connection other than what we’ve said. I can feel it, too.”

“Are you…” Ghost started to say psychic, at the same time Melody said, “I know things.”

They smiled, and they knew.

Steve shook his head…two of them, just alike…

Linda came back to the table. “So, what’s next?”

Ghost and Melody both nodded their heads. “She’s coming home with us,” Ghost said.

Linda looked a bit surprised. “When was this decided?” She looked to Steve, to see his reaction.

He shrugged. “Just now, I guess…uh…they have a thing…” he said. “She’s just like Ghost, they know things.

Linda smiled big. “Oh how cool. That’s amazing, and for sure y’all are twins.” She and Steve kept on staring at Melody and Ghost.

“We’re not some freaks in a zoo or nothing,” Ghost said. “Stop staring at us.” Melody giggled at that, which got them all laughing.

“You’re right,” Linda said, after a minute. “Sorry. So, Melody, you want to come with us to Missing Mile?”

“Yes, I’ve found family, first time ever, and I’m not losing him,” she said, squeezing Ghost’s hand. “I have no ties to this place, so I have no problem leaving. That is, if y’all don’t mind?”

“It’s fine with us, Melody,” Steve said. “The more the merrier, as they say. This road trip gets better all the time.”

“Yay, all I need is to grab some things, then I’ll be ready to roll. Ghost can tell me all about where we’re going, on the way.” She got up to leave.

“C’mon, Ghost…come help me pack,” she said, pulling him up. She told Steve the address to her place. “It’s not far, and me and Ghost are gonna walk on over there.”

Ghost looked a bit awkward, and said, “I guess I’m going with her. Come pick us up, okay?”

“Sure, go on,” Steve said. “We’ll be around in a few minutes.” He watched them leave out the door. Linda was watching Steve.

“What is it? You look like you lost your best friend, brother,” she said, and laughed. “You didn’t lose him, you gained a sister…me too. I think it’s great.”

“Uh-huh…I was just thinking, old Kinsey and everybody’s gonna be surprised. I go to bring one sister home, and we wind up bringing home two. It’s weird,” Steve said.

Nodding, Linda said, “Yeah, it is. Weird and wonderful, and meant to be. Let’s get one more coffee, then go find them.”

***

***

Next part coming soon!

***

Thanks for visiting! Peace

© 2019 BS

***

This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.