Groan...
Click!
I paused. “What the...?”
When I turned around, my heart sank.
The brick was gone. The gate was shut.
“Huh?”
I ran back towards the gate, grabbing it with my clammy palms. The brick was a good three feet away from where I'd put it.
I gaped open-mouthed in confusion. That was a heavy ass brick. There was no way the wind could've moved it. An animal, maybe? But there weren’t any around...
A chill ran through me. I rubbed my arm. The flannel already wasn't enough to keep me warm, but now I felt a bit spooked.
Wait a second... Wasn't this perfect?
Suddenly realizing I had a goldmine on my hands, I whipped out my phone and hit record.
“Guys,” I breathed. “You willneverbelieve what just happened. See that brick over there? I put ithere.”I filmed back and forth between the distant brick and the space I'd originally placed it. “Then I turned my back, and it wasthere.Shit, I wish I got that on film. You have to believe me, you know I'd never lie to my subscribers.”
I breathed heavily for a few moments. I wasn't putting on a front for the camera—I was truly a bit startled. But this was what ghost hunting was all about. My job wouldn't be what it was without a little fright once in a while.
Swallowing hard, I faced the abandoned house again. Its dark exterior stared back as if daring me to enter.
I gathered my courage and pushed the rickety front door open, immediately swallowed by darkness.
Two
Edgar
A few hours earlier...
“Go fish!”I declared, slapping the card down on the table.
Bert raised a brow. “I thought we were playing poker.”
“What's the difference?” I threw down another three cards. “Full house!”
My flesh-and-blood friend sighed. Putting down the cards, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “All right, that's enough cards for me. I better get going.”
“What? No! C'mon, we just started playing.”
“Edgar, we've been playing for an hour,” Bert said wryly. “You just don't knowhowto play.”
I crossed my arms with a huff. “Well, I'm trying my best.”
Bert picked up his guard uniform from the back of the chair and put it back on. “I know. Anyway, you know tonight can be difficult. I need to be on the job in case any dumb kids try to break in…”
I continued pouting, hoping it would convince Bert to stay. I was so lonely whenever he left—which, since he couldn't spend every waking moment with me, was often. But I knew deep down it wasn't fair to demand his constant attention. He wasn't like me. He was a “living” person with a physical body.
I slumped into the chair with a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Go protect the cemetery. I'll just sit here like I always do. All alone.”
Bert shot me a sympathetic look. He put his hand on my shoulder—and it immediately fell through my body.
I sighed. I could touch objects, but not people—and worse, people couldn't touch me.
