AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, don’t–”
Zoe cursed as dozens of files closed down on her laptop, losing her morning’s work. The screen flickered as Spooks trawled through pages of the internet with wild abandon, his eyes gleaming with child-like glee at each discovery.
“Why, this is a veritable treasure trove of information. An entire encyclopedia of delights! A cornucopia of knowledge capable of answering the problems of the universe itself. Oooh, look at these cat videos!” Spooks gasped in delight, before a new screen flashed before him. “Hmm, what’s this?”
Zoe looked in surprise at the website that appeared on the laptop.
“I’d forgotten that even existed…” Zoe smiled as Spooks scrolled through photographs of beautiful landscapes and wonders of the natural world. “That’s my travel blog. A diary, of sorts, where I shared my photos with the world.”
“Paradise Heights. Serenity Meadows, Whispering Pines…” Spooks looked at each of the photos in awe. “Your work sends you to some nice places, huh?”
“I guess…”
But Zoe’s heart sank as she looked at each of the photos. Those places might once have looked beautiful, but after Chthonic Power Solutions had drained them of their energy, none of their magic remained. One by one, they’d been lost, just like the dreams she’d once held. And she hadn’t touched her camera ever since.
“So, what else have you got in this bag of magic tricks?” Spooks rummaged through her satchel, tossing its contents onto the table. “Ooh, what’s this? Another one of your treasure-hunting devices?”
Zoe sighed as Spooks toyed with her tracker, like an over-excited child at Christmas. As the small device emitted a series of sharp beeps, he cackled with delight.
“That’s a… magic wand, of sorts.” Zoe glanced at the screen of the tracker, where several lines danced across the screen. “It helps detect special places that my company is interested in.”
“What kind of places?”
“Places of power. Specifically natural energy deposits that we can mine and use to power the city…” Zoe groaned as Spooks ignored her, his attention focused on juggling the device along with the contents of a fruit bowl. “It also costs more than I make in a decade, so be careful with that thing!”
“So your work sends you from town to town, where you follow this tracker to X marks the spot. And then what do you do?”
“Well, I write up a report, and if my colleagues agree with me, the area will be transformed. People like me flock to the area, and…” Despite Spooks’ innocent smile, Zoe’s heart sank as she spoke. “And it never looks the same again.”
“Oh boy, that sounds fun!” Spooks cackled merrily, oblivious to Zoe’s melancholy. “Look, it’s beeping!”
“Hey, cut that out.” But Zoe paused and looked at the device in confusion. “Huh, that’s odd. Why would it be beeping around here?”
“Let’s see where it leads! Plus, I can give you a tour of the best sights on the way!” Spooks somersaulted through the air before he broke into a wide grin. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”
“I don’t have time for a tour, and I certainly don’t have time for fun. If I don’t find a new site for Mr. Gravesend, I’ll lose everything.” Zoe groaned as Spooks started juggling the tracker once more. “And give that back, before you break it!”
Zoe sighed in frustration as the ghost, and her tracker, disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. How was she supposed to get any work done when she had a meddling poltergeist for a co-worker?
“Breakfast is served, sugar! Nothing beats the smell of my freshly–baked muffins.” Misty inhaled deeply, before she placed an overflowing basket on the table with a beaming smile. “So, has Spooks proved himself a worthy assistant?”
“Something tells me he isn’t cut out for the corporate world.” Zoe sighed as she watched the poltergeist zoom along the desert landscape outside, cackling with childlike glee at every beep of the tracker. “Although now he’s distracted, perhaps I can get some real work done. Like figuring out where I should go next.”
“Well, there’s no need to rush, sugar. It sure is good to have a guest, after all these years.”
“I suppose you don’t get many visitors out here, huh?” Zoe glanced at the layers of dust and thick cobwebs that hung from the rafters. “No offense, but this isn’t quite the afterlife I had in mind.”
“Don’t tell me you still expected to be rowed across rivers of the dead, and taken to the fields of Elysium? No, no, no, a little reinvention is the perfect thing to breathe new life into the place. Besides, we might look a little different, but our goal remains the same.” Misty smiled as she gazed at the motel sign. “To help lost souls resolve their unfinished business.”
“But… where is everybody?” Zoe glanced at the deserted landscape, where no signs of life, or afterlife, stirred. “This place is a ghost town in every sense of the word.”
“Once, it was quite different. These rooms were filled with a gaggle of ghosts, the streets swarming with spirits. At night, the entire town would come to life with magic.” Misty sighed, before she floated onto the seat opposite Zoe. “Then one day, our guests simply stopped arriving.”
“What happened?”
“Charon happened.” A cold breeze swept through the saloon, until goosebumps rose on Zoe’s flesh. “He was the Ferryman of the Underworld. A guide for lost souls, who spread the word of our little establishment, and helped those with unfinished business find this place. Until the day he was banished. Without him, our visitors dried up, and so did the magic within this place.”
Zoe turned as the darkness stirred nearby. She watched as Shadow prowled through the gloom of the motel, like a dark storm cloud blooming in the sky.
