Two Souls: Into the Fire # 269

Warning … adult content

***

Melody and Ghost passed the wine bottle back and forth, taking swigs of the Scuppernong.

“Oh, I’m feeling it,” Melody said, after a few minutes. “Are you?”

Ghost nodded. His eyes were having trouble focusing on Melody’s face. Somehow, before he knew how it happened, he was lighting a perfectly rolled joint. He took a toke, and handed it to his sister.

“You think I should? I never…”

“Sure, go ahead…”

She put it to her lips. It was a night of firsts for her, and she planned on enjoying it. Coughing and giggling, she handed it back to Ghost. “I think I’m floating,” she said. “And, the trees are laughing. Do you see them?”

Ghost squinched his eyes to stare into the darkness. I don’t see the trees, just some spirits walking around over there.”

“What? Where?” she asked, looking all around.

He pointed off toward the low shrubbery. “There…pretend you’re not looking, then you can see them, sort of, well they’re just misty looking.”

“I see some fog coming around. That’s all,” she said, pulling the blanket closer around them.

“Yeah, that’s them,” Ghost said. “You’ll get better at it, don’t worry.”

“Who are they?” Melody asked.

Ghost shrugged. “I don’t know, they aren’t saying anything. Maybe they’re just travelers , like us. Maybe they can see us too, like all foggy. Maybe they’re not really ghosts, but just people on a different wavelength, or well…something…and we just happen to notice at the right time.”

“You tell the most interesting stories, Ghost,” Melody said. “I want to hear more.”

He smiled. “You will. I tell them all the time. Sometimes they’re real, though.”

They took a few more swallows of wine. Ghost remembered the phone he’d put in his pocket.

“I have an idea,” he said. “I’m gonna call Kinsey. I want to say hey, but I’m not going to tell him you’re here. You’re a surprise.”

“Okay, I’ll just listen,” Melody said, and laughed at the thought that she was a surprise.

Ghost punched in the letters for Kinsey’s bar. Kinsey answered, in a loud voice.

“Hello? Kinsey here.”

Ghost could hear loud music in the background, probably Gumbo, doing their set.

“Hey, Kinsey, it’s me,” he said.

“Ghost? Hey man…how are y’all…where are y’all?”

“We’re somewhere in a camp out place. We have tents. We’re coming home soon, and we have a surprise,” Ghost said. He laughed, and Melody covered her mouth so she wouldn’t be heard laughing.

“Hey cool, who is that…Linda?” Kinsey asked. He’d heard after all.

“Um, I gotta go, Kinsey,” Ghost said. “We’re drinking wine, and smoking. Bye.”

“Wait…” Kinsey said, but Ghost had already shut off the phone.

“He sounds nice,” Melody said.

“Yeah, he is,” Ghost said, lighting up another joint. They were enjoying the wine and smoke, and talked quietly about silly things for awhile.

“Ghost, I want to know all about you,” Melody said. “I always wanted a real family.”

“Did you ever think there was someone in the world that you were connected to?” Ghost asked.

“When I let myself think of it, yeah. I couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere, you know.”

Ghost nodded. “Me too, but I did have my grandmother. She raised me…brought me down from the mountains.” He sighed. “You would have liked her.”

Melody smiled. “I’m sure I would have.”

“So you didn’t like the parents that adopted you?” Ghost asked.

Melody shrugged. “They’re okay, but when I was a little older, they left me alone a lot. Then I just ran off. They didn’t care. So, I didn’t, either.”

Ghost was feeling pretty high by now, but he peered into Melody’s eyes. He knew there was more to her story. Melody was thinking the same about him. They grinned at each other.

~

Back at the campfire, Steve and Linda had finished their conversation. “Hey, where’s Ghost and Melody?” Linda asked. She’d just noticed they were gone.

“I don’t know, maybe they went into one of the tents,” Steve said. He stretched, and walked over to one. “No, not in here.”

“Not here either,” Linda said, over at the other tent. “Just the kiddos, sound asleep.”

Steve scanned the campsite area. “Well, where are they?” He walked a little closer toward the woods, then heard laughing. “Linda, they’re over here. I’m gonna check it out,” he said.

As he got closer, he could smell the smoke. “What the…” he said, and then saw the flashlight shining over by a tree. “Hey, what the hell are y’all doing?” He was standing over Ghost and Melody.

“Hey, Steve,” Ghost slurred. “We drinking this here wine. Ya want some?” he held out the bottle. Melody laughed, because the bottle was empty.

“You’re smoking,” Steve said. “I thought I told you to get rid of it.”

“Um, I forgot,” Ghost said, and then tumbled over onto his back.

“Get up,” Steve said. “Get back to the tents.” He stood there waiting, as they tried to stand up. “Y’all are pitiful,” he said, but couldn’t keep from laughing at their feeble attempts to get up.

Ghost finally managed to stand upright, by holding onto Steve, who then reached a hand out to help Melody up.

“This is some good shit, Steve, but there’s none left…sorry,” Ghost said.

“Whatever…” Steve said, shaking his head. He walked back to their camp with them, helping to steady them along the way.

“Look what I found, Linda,” Steve said. “They’re high as a kite.”

“Did y’all at least have fun?” Linda asked.

“Yeah, it was fun,” Melody said.

“Well, good. Let’s get to bed,” Linda said, taking Melody’s arm. “Oh, Steve, would you move Stevie over to your tent for me?” She and Melody went inside their tent, while Steve picked up a sleeping Stevie, to carry him over to his and Ghost’s tent.

Ghost crawled in after, and was passed out right where he fell. Steve looked at him, and rolled his eyes. Then, he went to check on Linda, again.

“Y’all okay over here?”

“We’re fine. How’s Ghost?”

“Passed out.”

“Yep, Melody, too. They’re gonna feel great in the morning,” Linda said, and laughed.

“Hah, you’re right about that,” Steve said. “Holler if you need anything.”

~

It seemed only a few minutes had passed, when Steve was wakened by Stevie, yelling right up in his face. “Uncle Steve, get up, it’s morning.”

Steve cracked open an eye. Stevie’s face was inches away from his own. “Go back to sleep,” Steve mumbled.

“No, I want mommy and breakfast.”

Steve yawned. “Your mom’s still asleep, too. It’s not morning yet.”

“But Ghost is up already,” Stevie said.

“Huh?” Steve looked over…Ghost wasn’t in the tent. “Aw, shit,” he said.

“You said a bad word, you said shit,” Stevie said, and laughed.

“Yes, I did, but you shouldn’t, kiddo.”

“Why not?”

“‘Cause you’re a kid. Anyway, where did Ghost go?”

“Out there…” Stevie opened the tent flap, and pointed.

***

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Next part coming soon!

***

Thanks for visiting! Peace

© 2019 BS

***

This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 268

Warning … adult content

***

As Linda and Melody were trying to set up the tents for their overnight camp-out, Linda had an idea.

“Why don’t us girls share one, and the guys can share the other one?”

Steve shrugged. “Sure, it’s fine with me, Sis.” He began to set up the fire-pit, then lit the fire with the wood he’d bought at the store earlier. They all gathered around , watching the orange flames.

“This is so neat, y’all,” Melody said. “Camping is fun.”

“Well, it may be fun, but we still need to eat. Where’s those weenies?” Steve asked.

Linda got the package from the cooler. Ghost and Melody giggled, and Stevie and Mandy started chanting, ‘weenies, weenies, weenies’.

Steve had a smile on his face, as he and Linda cooked the food. “What a night, and it’s only seven o’clock.”

“I know, and it’s already dark. When is the time change, or did it already happen?” Linda asked.

“Hell if I know,” Steve said. “I don’t even know what day or month it is anymore.” He looked up into the trees. The campfire was sending little sparks up into the night sky, along with the aroma of wood smoke, and weenies. “Sometimes I think we’ve fallen into a time warp or something. This trip has taken so long. I think we may be trapped, and will never get home…just keep traveling forever.”

Linda gave him a look. “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Steve,” Linda said.

“But, what if it’s true?” Ghost asked.

“God, y’all just gave me goose bumps,” Melody said, rubbing her arms.

“You know what I mean, Steve,” Ghost said. “The mist…”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Steve said. “Now, that was weird.”

Looking around, Ghost asked, “Have you seen any around here?” The woods were in shadows, now.

“Naw, I didn’t see anything. Did you?”

“Not yet, but it’s out there, waiting for it’s chance to come back.” Ghost moved a little closer to Steve, and took hold of his arm.

“Okay, enough talking about it,” Steve said. He brushed a few strands of hair from off Ghost’s forehead. “We’re gonna scare the kids, if we don’t stop…and us, too.”

“I want to hear it,” Melody said. “What happened with this mist thing?”

“I want to hear it, too,” Linda said. “Tell us after the kids go to sleep.”

“I will,” Steve said. “Anyway, these hot dogs are ready. Get your plate, and dig in.”

Linda took a paper plate for each of the kids, and fixed their hot dogs, then one for herself.”

They all sat in a circle around the fire, and were quiet for a little bit.

“These are really good, Steve, thanks for making them,” Melody said.

“Have another one,” Steve offered. She took another, and so did Linda and Ghost.

They soon finished, and Ghost got out the bag of marshmallows. “Look, marshmallow time. We need sticks, though.”

Steve gave Ghost his pocket-knife. “Here, go cut some branches. Get the flashlight, too, it’s in the truck.” Ghost went on his errand, and when he got back, Linda and Melody put the marshmallows on a stick for each of them. She showed the kids how to hold them over the fire.

“They look melty now, but be careful, they’re hot,” she instructed the kids. Stevie and Mandy thought it was great fun..

Just as many marshmallows fell into the fire, as were eaten, and every time, they’d all say ‘awww’, and laugh. Eventually, the package was empty.

“Well, kids, it’s time to get ready for bed, in the tents,” Linda said, getting up. The kids began yelling ‘yay’ and running around.

“Great way to get them to settle down, Sis,” Steve said.

“Oh, I have something that’ll do the trick,” Linda said. She went to the van and brought back the kid’s pajamas, and the portable DVD player. “See, I’ll put in a movie, and they’ll be asleep in no time.”

While she tended to the kids, Ghost and Melody cleaned up the camp area. Steve made sure the U-Haul was secured, then got a beer out of the cooler.

“Ahh,” he sighed, after the first swallow.

“Did you get my wine?” Ghost asked.

“Oh, no, I forgot…and if you want a cup, they’re in the truck.”

“Get me a cup, Ghost,” Melody said. “I want to try it.”

Ghost smiled. “Okay…” but he knew it wouldn’t be long until they both wouldn’t care about cups; drinking from the bottle would be just fine. He went over to the truck, found the cups, and then felt around under the seat for his and Steve’s stash of weed. He wasn’t sure if Steve knew he had it. The last time they’d smoked, Steve said to get rid of it…no more until they got home. He stuffed the bag into his jeans pocket.

Back at the fire, Steve and Linda were talking about Missing Mile, and where she might find a job.

“I wish I could see it, already,” Melody said. “It sounds so nice there.”

“Steve,” Ghost said, “let me see the phone a minute. There’s some pictures on there.”

“Oh, yeah…here,” Steve said, and fished the phone out of his pocket.

Ghost found the photos, and showed them to Melody. “We took these ones before I got my good camera. There’s more on there, too.” Ghost said. He kept scrolling through the pictures. “Hey, here’s one of our house.”

Melody took the phone to see. “Oh, I love it. It’s so cool looking. And, the porch…do y’all sit out there much?” she asked.

Ghost nodded. “All the time.” He flipped through some more pictures. “Aww, there’s Spirit. I can’t wait to see him,” he said. They continued looking at the pictures for a few minutes.

“What’s the mist?” Linda asked. “You said you’d tell us, but did I hear about it before?”

“Maybe, but I can’t remember what stories we told you, now,” Steve said, and laughed. “But anyway, Melody hasn’t heard them.”

“Is it real scary?” Melody asked.

“Yeah, we were scared, huh, Steve?”

“You better believe it,” Steve said. He told the story of the mist, and the earthquake, with Ghost adding to it every little bit.

“That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard,” Melody said. She got up and walked to the van, bringing back a couple of blankets for her and Linda.

Linda and Steve started another conversation about schools for the kids. Ghost was getting bored.

“C’mon, let’s go,” he said. He and Melody went off past the next unoccupied camp site, and sat under a tall pine tree. They were in the shadows, but had the flashlight with them.

“I brought the wine,” Ghost said, and took a swig from the bottle. “I forgot the cups.” He handed it to Melody. She giggled, and put it to her lips, tilted her head back, taking a long drink. Only sputtering a little, she said,”Mmm, that’s good wine.”

***

***

Next part coming soon!

***

Thanks for visiting! Peace

© 2019 BS

***

This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.