(22) Bean Phaidin

(22) Bean Phaidin

     Saint rushed over to help Riley up off the ground after her unceremonious toss into the bookcases.

     The ghost lady repeated herself, “No one needs to go down to the basement.”

     Saint mumbled, “What the…”

     Riley responded with an equally confused and annoyed look. They regained their bearings, and Riley saw the little girl come in through the kitchen door. She declared, “We should go have tea!”

     It was Riley’s turn to murmur to Saint, “How do we fight them? They’re ghosts.”

     “They keep stopping us, not fighting us.” Saint shook his head. “I think they must be a distraction.”

     Saint looked conflicted before admitting, “I think you are right. You have to go help Ash in the basement.”

     Under different circumstances Saint admitting he was right would have been cause to throw a party. Unfortunate how rarely those moments come at opportune times.

     Saint looked around the room, and tried to come up with a plan. “Get the grenades and get to the door.”

     Riley looked at him, “Well yeah, I get that part.”

     “I’ll deal with the ghosts.”

     Riley was still not processing, “You are going to try and fight ghosts?”

     Saint shook his head, “Can you stop asking questions and go help Ash.”

     He smiled, and for a second it felt normal between them. “I got this.”

     Saint made a feint for the door, and predictably sweater set tried to stop him. Trying to push him just as she had done to Riley, but he dodges out of the way. Riley managed to get her hands on one of the grenades but couldn’t seem to find the other one.

     Saint went for the door again, but sweater set put herself in his way. Saint was backing up and then trying for the door, so that sweater set was focused on trapping him in the opposite corner. He was keeping her focus on him by baiting her.

     “I just want to go upstairs and find my friends.”

     “You are a lying boy!”

     Riley kept quiet and off to the side watching carefully as the door was left further open. She gave up trying to find the second grenade, and went for the opening. Before sweater set could turn around and Riley was through the basement door.

     She called out for Ash, but there wasn’t any answer. Halfway down the staircase she stumbled over something and nearly tumbled head over heels to the bottom. As it was, she bounced a few stairs on her butt.

     She called out for Ash again, more annoyed this time. Riley managed to stand rubbing her butt. There was a string right above her. She pulled it, and the basement was flooded in a blinding light.

     Saint and Lou had only said the basement was unimpressive. Riley couldn’t disagree with that assessment. Maybe because there weren’t many basements in the village. But the piles of boxes, a busted sofa, and a grandfather clock long silent, dusted with the detritus of time. It was all pretty mundane. Except for the ivy of course.

     But worst of all, no sign of Ash. She looked back to see what she had tripped over on the stairs. Ash’s backpack. That was even more concerning. She looked around on the floor, maybe he had gotten knocked out by the sweater set ghost. But nothing.

     Riley was panicking, trying not to face the worst-case scenario and failing. Distress threatened her as she stole a quick glance at the basement door, but she pushed it away. He had to be in this house somewhere. He just had to be. She would focus on dealing with the house first. And then she would find Ash. Simple as that.

     She had never seen a grenade explode and had no idea how big it would actually be, or how long it would take. Thankfully it seemed to be a pretty straightforward interface.

     “I hope one is enough.”

     She positioned herself at the top of the stairs just in case the explosion was quick. She was getting ready to pull the pin on the grenade when the little ghost girl appeared, sat on the busted couch looking adorable.

     “Hello!”

     Riley looked guilty. She reminded herself out loud, “She isn’t real.”

     She braced herself to pull the pin, when the little girl said, “I can’t wait until you come back and we have tea again.”

     Riley flinched. She looked at the little girl and told her, “I’m sorry. I really am.”

     She pulled the pin, threw the grenade down the stairs, and ran as fast as she could back up through the basement door.

     Upstairs she found Saint and the ghost lady grapple fighting on the floor. Books all around them, and Saint sliding around half on a rug. The lady was in the middle of scolding. “You are making such a mess!”

     She stopped as Riley came upstairs to demand, “What have you done?”

     There was no time to answer as an explosion rocked the house.