"Step right up!"Finn called out with the enthusiasm of a carnival barker."One breath of Murphy's finest, and you'll be dancing like you're alive again!"
His voice carried across the square with infectious energy, drawing spirits from every corner of the gathering.The promise of physical sensation after countless years of incorporeal existence proved irresistible to ghosts who had thought such pleasures were lost forever.
The ghosts didn't need to be asked twice.Soon, spectral forms were lining up to inhale the vapors from the kegs, and the effects were instantaneous and dramatic.Translucent figures solidified before everyone's eyes, gaining substance and weight and the ability to interact with the physical world.
The process was mesmerizing to witness—ethereal beings suddenly becoming real, their expressions of wonder and delight as they experienced weight and texture and sensation for the first time in decades.Each transformation was a small miracle that brought tears to damp eyes and laughter to newly solid throats.
Vivienne, now gloriously solid in her beaded dress, was teaching a group of Victorian ladies how to Charleston."Darlings, you simply must move your knees!Feel the music!"
Her contagious enthusiasm transformed the square into an impromptu dance studio, with spirits from different eras sharing steps and rhythms that transcended their individual mortality.The sight of Victorian bustle gowns swaying to jazz rhythms created a temporal collision that was both hilarious and beautiful.
Near the fountain, Madame Theodora Grimm—who had apparently abandoned all thoughts of proper spectral etiquette—was engaged in an animated discussion about afterlife fashion with a flapper ghost who kept adjusting her pearl necklaces with newly solid fingers.
The transformation in the etiquette expert was perhaps the most remarkable of all.The same spirit who had spent the previous evening lecturing about proper ghostly behavior was now giggling like a schoolgirl ignoring all her own rules.
"This is incredible!"exclaimed a Revolutionary War-era spirit, flexing his corporeal hands in amazement."I can actually feel the bark on these trees!"
The simple pleasures that living beings took for granted became sources of profound joy for spirits experiencing them anew.Every sensation was a gift, every physical interaction a reminder of what they had lost and temporarily regained.
When the townspeople began emerging from their homes to investigate the commotion, they found not the usual quiet evening, but a festival unlike anything they'd ever imagined.Rather than panic, most found themselves drawn into the infectious joy of the occasion.
"By the Falls," Murphy breathed, stepping out of The Boozy Cauldron to witness dozens of solid ghosts reveling in his town square."They've turned the whole batch into party favors."
His professional brewer's eye took in the scene with a mixture of pride and alarm.The Ghost Draught vapor was working exactly as intended, perhaps too well.The spirits were experiencing full corporeal form with all the enthusiasm of children discovering a new playground.
"It's one part scary, one part amazing, one part magical," Honey said, arriving with Maisie and watching in fascination as ghosts flickered to solid form."Look at them!They're so happy!"
And they were.Some were eating apples from Miles Montgomery's herb cart, others were dancing with townsfolk who had been drawn into the festivities, and still others were simply marveling at their ability to touch and taste and feel again.
The pure joy was contagious, spreading through the crowd and transforming what could have been a crisis into a community gathering that transcended the boundaries between life and death.
That's when Cornelius Lennox arrived at the square, having followed the sounds of merriment from the convention.His eyes immediately locked onto the kegs of Ghost Draught vapor, and his expression transformed into one of desperate hunger.
"What is that...?"he breathed, moving toward the vapors with the focused intensity of someone who'd been waiting his entire afterlife for this moment.
"Help yourself, mate!"Finn called out generously, still reveling in his role as host of the gathering."Plenty for everyone!"
Without hesitation, Cornelius positioned himself close to one of the kegs and began inhaling the vapors with the desperate enthusiasm of someone making up for lost time.The effect was immediate and overwhelming—his ghostly form didn't just solidify, it seemed to radiate health and vitality and power.
The transformation was more complete than any of the other spirits had experienced.Being recently deceased meant his connection to the physical world remained stronger than the older ghosts.Where some others wavered between states, Cornelius achieved instant stability.Where others seemed tentative in their corporeal forms, he moved with absolute confidence and authority.
"YES!"he shouted, his voice carrying across the square with newfound strength."This is what I've been missing!This is what I deserve!"
He stood in the center of the festivities, solid and commanding and absolutely intoxicated with his return to physical form.For the first time since his death, Cornelius Lennox felt truly alive again.
Around him, the gathering continued to grow as more ghosts discovered the kegs and joined the ranks of the temporarily corporeal.The town square had become a dimensional dance floor, with spirits from across the centuries mingling with living residents in a spectacle that defied every rule of the natural order.
"Well," Dottie Darwin said to her sister as they watched a medieval knight waltz with Tabitha Tilbury, "this is certainly more exciting than our usual Saturday nights."
The chaos was glorious, magical, and completely out of control—and it was about to get much, much more complicated.
Chapter 21
The Last Edit
Sean and Roam rushed to the cemetery to find the loophole mark had expanded into a jagged, sizzling tear in reality that seemed to pulse with unstable energy.The edges sparked and crackled, and through the opening they could see distorted glimpses of the town square beyond.
The damage was far worse than anything they'd encountered before.This resembled a wound torn in the fabric of existence itself.The dimensional barrier that separated worlds had been brutally ripped open, leaving raw edges that continued to deteriorate with each passing moment.
