This Girl Who Was A Ghost Read online

  Cindy dashed to the kitchen.

  Sammy ducked down. What was she going to do? She couldn’t hide wearing clothes. She slid under the table and kicked off her shoes, then took off her shirt and bra. She slipped out of her trousers and panties, gathered her clothes, and stuffed them between the chair’s seat and the table.

  Slimeball approached the table, white-knuckling the knife.

  “You see anything?” Cindy asked.

  The floor was cool and a draft passed over her, giving her a chill. She watched her body blend. It looked as if the floor reached out and swallowed her. Another kind of chill rippled through, and she smiled but kept still, waiting for him to pass, then flicked out a finger and tripped him.

  He stumbled, grabbing onto the chair to keep from falling.

  “You okay?”

  “Something tripped me.”

  “What was it?”

  “Don’t see anything.”

  Sammy smiled. “That’s right. You won’t see me coming,” she whispered, sliding out from under the table. She put a finger against the wall, thinking she was everywhere and everything. The finger blended against the wall, taking on the marks and blemishes as she moved it. Her belly tickled with excitement.

  She stood and shuffled along the wall.

  “I’ll take that juice,” he said. “You got something strong to put in it?”

  Cindy trekked around the counter. “Just juice.”

  Slimeball turned back. Sammy froze, thinking she was spotted, but his gaze tracked past her.

  Sammy crossed the room, wondering if she could blend well enough in the open. She pressed against the narrow wall between the hallway and the kitchen. A cool breeze brushed over her from the open window. She shook.

  Cindy set the glass on the counter. “Wonder what that was?”

  “This place is spooky if you ask me.”

  Cat strolled out from the hallway and rubbed against Sammy’s leg. Sammy tried to nudge him away.

  “Got a cat?”

  Cindy rushed out from behind the counter. Cat jumped back and hissed. “How did that get in here?”

  “Open window, my guess.” He downed the juice.

  Cindy turned back. “I didn’t leave it open.” She drifted to the open window. “Sam!” She swung around and brushed past Sammy into the hallway.

  Slimeball followed. Sammy wrapped her finger around his ankle and pulled, sending him sprawling to the floor.

  He sat up and searched the room.

  Cindy popped out from the hallway. “What happened?”

  He rubbed his knee. “This place is real spooky, like it’s haunted or something.”

  “You see someone?”

  He shook his head and pushed up off the floor. “Good luck with this place. I’ll stick to mine over the bridge any day.” Slimeball limped to the door and slammed it shut.

  Cindy locked the door and leaned back against it, scouring the room. Cat sat across the room from Sammy, watching Cindy. She strolled toward the cat. “Did Sam let you in?”

  Cat hissed when she got close.

  “You really don’t like me, do you?”

  Cat looked away, nose up as if catching the scent of something wafting by.

  Cindy swiped the glass off the counter and gazed into it. “Could she be a ghost?” She searched the room, then looped around the counter into the kitchen.

  Sammy crossed the room and pressed up against the wall, keeping Cindy in view. Cat slinked up to her and rubbed against her leg, then arched his back, pressing deeper against her as she stroked behind his ear.

  Cindy stood over the sink. “I know I had dishes in here.” She opened the cabinet. “Yeah, she was here. Unless that cat can do dishes.” Cindy approached the counter and searched for Cat. “If you can do dishes, you can stay.”

  “You hear that, Cat?” Sammy whispered. “You got a job.”

  Cindy leaned back against the counter and sighed. “What am I going to do?”

  Sammy thought about sneaking into the club and stuffing that toupee down Johnny’s throat. She had to find out what was going on. The tablet was at the other end of the table.

  Cindy pulled at her dress, inspecting her boobs. She sauntered out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

  Sammy swiped the tablet and flipped through news channels. She spotted Cindy’s face and hers side by side with big red letters flashing, “Wanted for Murder.” Tatiana’s face popped up next. It was the dead version.

  Sammy swallowed. “Guess I’ll stick around.”

  Chapter Four

  ________________________________________

  Sammy leaned against the wall in the hallway, listening to Cindy and Leo who were sitting at the dining room table. Cindy was doing most of the talking. “How’s Janine’s sister doing?”

  “Fine,” Leo said. “Everyone’s fine.”

  “She’s out of the hospital already?”

  “Hospital?”

  Sammy stripped and marched right behind Leo and tugged his ear.

  “Ouch.” Leo turned back.

  “You okay?”

  Leo rubbed his ear. “It’s just a…a neck spasm.”

  Cindy leaned in from across the table. “Want me to massage it for you? Johnny used to ask me to do it all the time after a long day at the desk.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  Sammy tugged his ear again.

  Leo groaned. “If you must.”

  “Changed your mind?”

  Leo glanced back. “Yes, please.”

  Cindy hopped out of the chair and dug her hands into Leo’s neck and shoulders. Cindy had a musky floral scent that seemed to flow in waves as she moved.

  Sammy fluttered her fingers, taking in the scent. It reminded her of a spring day when she and Uncle Danny had sold flowers piled on an open blanket. He’d stolen them from the cemetery and told her he didn’t think anybody there would mind.

  Cindy paused. “Feel a draft?”

  Sammy dropped her hands.

  Cindy resumed the massage. “Like I was saying about Janine’s sister—”

  “Which one is that?”

  “Janine? She’s a hostess like me but older, like thirty.”

  “That old?”

  Cindy nodded as her motion slowed and touch lightened. “She does greetings too. Some of the other girls don’t like her because they say she steers all the best customers to her section.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  Cindy tapped her foot the way she always did when she needed to dwell on something. “Wouldn’t they all do that if they were in her position?”

  “It would seem to be the prudent thing to do.”

  Cindy grinned. “Prudent? I like that.” She rocked from side to side. “Besides, there’s not a big difference anyway.”

  Sammy smiled, watching Cindy sway her hips.

  “So did you hear about Janine’s sister?”

  Leo shook his head. “I don’t really have much time to converse with the staff.”

  “You always seem busy. I thought you’d have it down pat making those pills.”

  “The psychedelics are only a small part of what I do.”

  “Yeah?” Cindy paused the massage. “What else do you do?”

  “Turn people into cephalopods, the annoying version.”

  Annoying?

  “Is that a kind of plant?” Cindy snorted. “So who did you turn into a plant?”

  “The one standing behind you.”

  Cindy jumped back from Sammy. “Scared me, Leo.”

  “Now you know how I feel.”

  Cindy cocked her head to get a better look at Leo, but he wasn’t giving anything away. Cindy went back to the massage. “Last night was the strangest thing. You know Grinder?”

  Leo shook his head.

  “Guess it doesn’t matter. He took me home, and I think he wanted some home cooking if you know what I mean.”

  “Not particularly.”

  Cindy studied Leo for a moment. “Weird things kept happening. He saw a snake that wasn’t there, and he tripped and fell, blaming it on ghosts.”

  Leo glanced back. “An apparition of some type?”

  Sammy grinned. It’d been one of her finest moments since growing the hands.

  “Is that like a ghost?”

  “That and much more.”

  Cindy slowed the massage. “Another thing was the dishes.”

  “Dishes?”

  “Had a sink full of dishes, and they were all cleaned and put away.”

  “If you know a ghost who cleans dishes, feel free to send her over.”

  “Funny you said ‘her.’ You know who I thought of? Sam.” Cindy’s hands fell from him.

  Leo turned back but didn’t say anything.

  “I thought Tatiana killed her, but now that I know Tatiana died, don’t know what to think.”

  “Wherever she is, I would hope she’ll learn to appreciate her host.”

  “Where could she be?”

  “I’m sure she’s closer than you could imagine.”

  Cindy drifted back to her seat. “I miss Sam, especially now. She’d know what to do.”

  “Whatever she does, I hope it’s nothing rash.”

  “She was ballsy all right,” Cindy said with a grin. “I’m talking like she’s dead. She’s not dead, right?”

  “I can almost feel her presence.”

  Sammy thought about tipping over his chair and making him really feel her presence.

  “Another thing I forgot to mention was the cat.”

  “Cat?”

  “One of the girls’ cat. He’s a nasty little thing.”

  Cat wasn’t nasty, just temperamental.

  “Anyway, he likes Sam and was in the apartment. Popped out of nowhere.” br />
  He was hungry. Cheap Igor and his dopey sisters didn’t feed him enough. See how they’d like that pebble food.

  “When I got out of my dress, the cat was gone.” Cindy leaned back in the chair. “Afraid I’d have to sleep with one eye open with that thing around.”

  Cat wouldn’t do anything.

  Leo shifted in the chair. “Well, I have to get back to work if it’s okay with some people.”

  Cindy chuckled. “I guess that’s me. Sorry about talking your ear off.”

  “Thank you for the massage.”

  “If your neck ever cramps up, give me a holler.”

  Leo nodded.

  Cindy leaned over the table. “Leo, you’re not really making plant people, are you?”

  “Let’s keep that between you, me, and the invisible plant people in the room.”

  Cindy stepped back from the table. “You’re funny, Leo.”

  “I’ve been told that my humor is of the deadpan variety.”

  Cindy nodded and pranced out the door.

  Sammy pushed off the wall. “Was that so hard to act like a normal human being for once?”

  Leo glanced over his shoulder. “With all the social contrivances required, it’s a wonder anything gets done.”

  “She’s just feeling lonely. Some people feel lonely, you know.”

  “Yes, it’s an occupation of the idle.”

  Sammy headed back to her room. “Sorry to interrupt your busy day.”

  “Don’t you think it was an unnecessary risk exposing yourself?”

  “Yeah, now I’ll unexpose myself,” she shouted from the hallway.

  “You’ve mastered continuous camouflage?” Leo asked as he stepped into the hallway.

  Sammy slipped on her panties. “Do you mind?”

  “I can’t see you.”

  “You’re staring at me like a pervert.” She snapped on her bra.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Sammy pulled up her trousers. “You were too busy.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “I was the apparition Cindy talked about.” Sammy ducked her head into the T-shirt.

  “It wasn’t a good idea cleaning her dishes.”

  “The sink was a mess. Remind you of anyone?”

  “Did the change occur spontaneously, or did you try a different procedure?”

  Sammy slipped into her shoes and shook free of the blend. “Geez, give me some room.” She waved him back.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “Did the change occur spontaneously, or did you try something different?”

  “If I say ‘spontaneously,’ will you stop asking me a hundred questions?”

  “I expect the truth. You owe me that much.”

  “I owe you. Is that how you see our little arrangement?”

  “Not as an obligation, more in the vein of collaboration.”

  “Why do I feel like I’m always on the giving part of this collaboration?”

  Leo followed her into the kitchen. “I’m the scientist.”

  “Guess that makes me the guinea pig.”

  Leo sighed. “Not that again.”

  Sammy peered into the opened refrigerator. “There’s nothing in here, Leo.”

  “I’ll order a meal, and we can talk while we eat.”

  Sammy let the door close. “Why am I always so hungry?”

  “There could be several reasons. I’d have to do a metabolic profile to narrow it down.”

  “Sounds like more blood samples.”

  Leo searched his phone. “Any food preferences?”

  “Yeah, order a side of beef. That should hold me for a few days.”

  “There’s a medical imaging facility that shouldn’t be hard to get into. Tomorrow night sound good?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You can’t ask questions of me and not allow me to do tests.”

  Sammy remembered the old chicken in Cindy’s refrigerator. She hoped Cindy wasn’t depending on eating that. “Get something for Cindy too.”

  Leo stared at her over the phone.

  “She gave you a good massage. That’s worth a meal.”

  “Will you agree to do the imaging tomorrow?”

  “Fine.”

  Leo tapped on his phone. “Barbeque sound good?”

  Sammy nodded and marched out of the kitchen, wondering what else she was bargaining away.

  Chapter Five

  ________________________________________

  A holographic sign jutted out from the building: “Edison Medical Imaging.” It was a one-story building made up of large gray-and-white blocks with windows in an opaque shade of aquamarine.

  Sammy climbed the three steps to the front door, but it was locked. “You have to be buzzed in or something?”

  “No, we’re breaking in. Didn’t I mention that?”

  “I think I would’ve remembered that, Leo.”

  “We can’t exactly enter into a facility with your condition.”

  “Condition” was Leo’s code name for “freak.” “I thought you knew a guy.”

  “His employment was terminated. Apparently, he was handing out favors indiscriminately.”

  “Breaking in wasn’t part of the deal,” Sammy said. “Do you even know if it has an alarm?”

  “He did give me the alarm codes. All you have to do is unlock the door.”

  Sammy searched her pocket for the picks. The ball bearings were in there too. “Don’t know if I can pick a lock with these hands.”

  “You’ve exhibited tremendous dexterity on some of the tests.”

  “It’s a feel thing, and these hands don’t feel the same.”

  Leo glanced over his shoulder. “We’re here now. What would it hurt to give it a try?”

  “Should’ve told me.” Sammy pulled out the pick and torsion wrench from the set.

  She put the pick in one hand and the torsion wrench in the other, but it seemed clumsy. She tried two fingers, twirling the fingers around each tool. It felt as if someone else were picking the lock; probably because she was standing a foot away. She almost gave up, but then the first pin fell.

  “How is it coming along?”

  “Feel like I’m doing long-distance lock-picking.”

  “I’m sure you’ll need to make a few adjustments.”

  Sammy found the next pin. “You think?” She had three pins down and was sweating to get the fourth. It finally dropped. She pulled down on the torsion wrench, unlocking the door. Sammy swung open the door. “Go. You don’t have much time.”

  Leo raced in, pointing to the alarm box. “There it is right by the door.”

  The alarm looked like the same one from the place they stole the gene editor, but the cover had push-button pins on each corner. Sammy took out a couple of jumpers from her pocket. She had a feeling that she’d need them.

  Leo tapped in the numbers. “It’s telling me it’s the wrong number.”

  “He either gave you a bogus number or the company changed it. Since they fired him, my guess is they changed it.”

  “Hmm, the thought never occurred to me.”

  Sammy pushed in the corner buttons and popped off the cover. The countdown clock was at twelve seconds. “If I can disable this, will you buy Cindy’s meals for a week?”

  “What?”

  “Eight seconds.”

  “This is extortion.”

  “Six seconds. Remember, Leo, I can disappear and you can’t.”

  “Okay.”

  “You sure you don’t want to think about it?”

  “Do it!”

  Sammy shoved in the jumper with one second remaining. She jumpered the reset, disabling the alarm.

  Leo glared at her. “This way.”

  Sammy followed him into what looked like someone’s living room. They passed the front desk on the right and marched down the hallway to the end room on the left.

  Inside, the room was partitioned into a small front section, no more than eight feet deep, and a large back room. A wide window gave a view of the back room, where a huge donut sat on its side with a narrow table crossing into the hole. Leo sat at the desk by the window.

  Sammy stared at the big donut. “What is that thing?”

  Leo followed her gaze. “It’s the imaging scanner.”

  “Looks like a big butt hole.”

  Leo grinned. “Well, you’ll be going into that hole.”

  “I’m not going into no butt hole.”

  “I can assure you that this butt hole is odorless.”

  “You didn’t say anything about a butt hole. You forgot to mention a lot of things.”