Wren frowned. She looked disappointed. “I was so sure that it was her love for Mr. Fisher that kept her here, not revenge.”
“When love goes bad, it goes bad. Happens all the time.” I flushed and washed my hands. “Not like they had a chance at happiness with her being a ghost.”
“You know, for a girl with a boyfriend, you’re terribly cynical about love.”
“No, I’m not.” I pulled on my pink fuzzy robe. “I just believe it works better if both people are on the same side of the veil.” I gave her a pointed look, hoping my meaning hit home.
She thought about it. “Well, that certainly makes intercourse easier.”
I stared at her. Gaped, actually. “What?”
Wren looked at me like I was slow. “Intercourse. You know, interaction between two people.”
“I think you mean discourse. Intercourse means sex.”
“Oh.” A look of understanding took over her face. “It really would make that easier, then, wouldn’t it?” Then, she burst out laughing and so did I.
Our grandmother wasn’t home when we went downstairs. Sometimes Nan and a couple of her girlfriends went shopping on Saturday mornings and then went for tea afterward. I didn’t expect to see her anytime soon.
The coffee was still hot. I filled the biggest mug I could find and dumped in some flavored sweetener until it was the perfect color. I drank it while waiting for my bagel to pop.
“That’s a lot of cream cheese,” Wren remarked when I sat down at the table, breakfast in hand.
I picked up half the bagel and took a big bite. I could feel cream cheese smear against the outside edges of my mouth. I had been a little heavy-handed. “It’s the best part.”
She shrugged. “If you say so.” Wren had experienced food before. Sometimes I’d let her possess me so she could experience things, but while she enjoyed the taste of cookies or chocolate, or even hot wings, she didn’t understand eating for pleasure. To her a little cream cheese was the same as a lot.
I actually felt sorry for her when it came to that.
“Hey, can ghosts have intercourse?” I asked as the coffee kicked in. “The sex kind, not the conversational type.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. “We have all the same parts the living have, so I have to say yes.”
But she didn’t know for certain. My sister was still a virgin. The idea that she might remain that way forever was a little...depressing. It wasn’t any of my business, but sometimes... Sometimes it was upsetting thinking of all the things I could experience that she never would.
Then again, I’d never know the sublime pleasure of being able to scare someone so effectively their bladder never worked properly again.
“Mostly ghosts merge their energy,” she continued. “It’s more of a literal ‘becoming one’ with one another.”
“What if everything gets all mixed and you, like, leave part of yourself in the other ghost?”
She frowned. “I don’t know.”
Yup, virgin. I finished the first half of my bagel. “Hey, I want you to practice with my phone a bit.”
Wren rolled her eyes. “Do we have to?”
“Yes. If Kevin hadn’t been at the dance last night you wouldn’t have been able to lead them to Mr. Fisher.” I didn’t add that the less time she had to spend around Kevin, the better. “The message you sent me was wrong. You need to be able to communicate with people, and electronics have always been a popular medium of supernatural communication.”
Red brows shot up. “You’ve been watching those ghost hunting shows again.”
“Yes,” I admitted. “They’re ninety percent crap, but they get the electronic stuff right. Most of the time. Look, I’m not expecting you to download any apps. I just need to know that if something took me out, that you could talk to someone.” I held her gaze, even though it was uncomfortable.
When I’d cut my wrists in a much-regretted suicide attempt, Wren had had to find a medium in order to get help. That medium had been Kevin. If she hadn’t found him—and if he hadn’t called my neighbor, Mace—I would have died for sure. As it was I had been technically dead for a few seconds.
It had felt much, much longer.
I wasn’t in any hurry to die now, and I needed to make sure she could get help if it was needed.
I set my phone on the table. “Okay, go.”
Wren sighed, but she didn’t put up a fight. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. A few seconds later my phone vibrated, and the text notification came up. I swiped my finger over the screen and brought up my new messages. One was from Ben, but the other had no name attached. Even though I was pretty confident it had worked, I held my breath as I opened the text.
BOO!
I looked up. My sister sat there grinning like a freaking idiot. “Really?” I said. “That’s the best you can do?”
She shrugged. “You’re sitting right next to me. What was I supposed to say?”
“I don’t know. Something a little less stereotypical?”
My phone vibrated again. I looked down. A new message.