โBut, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair than she: be not her maid, since she is envious; her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off.โ
โIt is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,โ
- Romeo and Juliet, Act ll Scene ll
Uhhhhhh
Hi!
Oh no. No, donโt freak out!
Donโt freak out!
Um-No, I said-No, hey!
I said donโt freak out!
Ok, ok, I guess youโre just gonna-youโre gonna freak out thenโฆ
Uh, we just have work to do and you walked in on us, ok?
Um-theater geeks! Weโre just theater ghostsโฆActors! Crew!
Uh-Heh, look! Uh, just-just turn on the light, yeah? Just! Haha-Gosh! I donโt know what you want me to say!
Uhhhh, Iโm really! Agh! Iโm really not qualified-Look, Iโm not qualified to talk to mortals, alright? Especially students cause youโre just gonna-youโre gonna freak out and then the school will shut off the light and Iโll never get out of here!
So, just-HeyโฆHey, hey, hey, calm down and listen to me, ok?
โฆ
Uh, oh well! Iโm Esper and Iโve been in this theater forโฆa long timeโฆWeโre all trapped here because of thatโฆ
Look! Look! Look! Um, people like you reading this are not supposed to know about us, ok? Weโre all trying to get away from this light and move on-It, it can hear usโฆUh, hopefully it canโt read this. That would be, um-yeah, that would be bad-
The stage trapped us here because of something that we didnโt do in lifeโฆ
In life you only get one role thatโs really yours, you know? One role only you can play! And if you donโt get itโฆWell, then-
Look, ok? Weโre all helping each other fulfill our roles. Rehearsing every night when that choreographer would remember to turn on the light-
And now, well, um-if you donโt-if you donโt mind we really just need you to uh, turn that light back on for us now!
Pleaseโฆ
Esper Caulfield โข 18 โข Theater actor โข Ghost
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ: Esper as played by Ali Louis Bourzgui in The Ghost Light but with a healthy dose of the modโs own ideas and lore depending on what verse heโs in.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ TW Suicide: Died in 1895 by hanging himself from the schoolโs theater rafters after โhis life fell apartโ (losing the role he wanted and ultimately being kicked out of the play, not getting into college, and most of all getting left by the love of his life.)
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ Doomed to haunt the earth and keep repeating the same monologue over and over forever because he never told that girl how much he loved her in life and is unable to see her now in death.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ Wouldโve made it as a theater actor and later, theater teacher teaching the next generation to loosen up and perform like he used to if heโd lived long enough to do so.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ Singer and dancer by trade, always eager to watch and support other performers.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ Scared of everything social, afraid of nothing on a stage where heโs in his element.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ A little unhinged at times not going to lie and far from 100% sane given his possession tactics but more in a fun way than a scary way. Mostly.
๐ธ๏ธเนเฃญ โญ Heโs just really bad at talking to mortals, but is very friendly and encouraging when you get to know him.
The theater ghost sounded exhausted even when he didnโt need to sleep. โ๐๐ค, ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญโฆโ
Orion eyes widen greatly. His gaze slowly shifted towards the spirit blowing off steam, then back at the oddly colored lightbulb.
"....!"
He then slowly steps back away from the teal light, trying to make sure that he doesn't want to walk through one of the spirits as he isn't sure of what 'rules' this possibly cursed device might go by. God forbid it traps him in it's grasp as well.
Esperโs eyes widened too when he realized the mortal saw him. โ๐๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก!โ The theater ghostโs mouth stayed agape as he put his hands out in a defensive way in front of him.โ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐จ๐ค?โ
Esper recovered by putting his hands on his knees with a relieved sigh. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ-๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ถ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ-๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ???
The theater ghost pointed at Orion. โ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐๐ฌ!โ He clasped his hands together, shaking them enthusiastically. โ๐๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ค๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ๐?!โ He turned his head and laughed awkwardly.
The theater ghost sounded exhausted even when he didnโt need to sleep. โ๐๐ค, ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญโฆโ
Orion eyes widen greatly. His gaze slowly shifted towards the spirit blowing off steam, then back at the oddly colored lightbulb.
"....!"
He then slowly steps back away from the teal light, trying to make sure that he doesn't want to walk through one of the spirits as he isn't sure of what 'rules' this possibly cursed device might go by. God forbid it traps him in it's grasp as well.
Esperโs eyes widened too when he realized the mortal saw him. โ๐๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก!โ The theater ghostโs mouth stayed agape as he put his hands out in a defensive way in front of him.โ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐จ๐ค?โ
Esper recovered by putting his hands on his knees with a relieved sigh. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ-๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ถ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ-๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ???
The theater ghost pointed at Orion. โ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐๐ฌ!โ He clasped his hands together, shaking them enthusiastically. โ๐๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ค๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ๐?!โ He turned his head and laughed awkwardly.
The theater ghost sounded exhausted even when he didnโt need to sleep. โ๐๐ค, ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญโฆโ
Orion eyes widen greatly. His gaze slowly shifted towards the spirit blowing off steam, then back at the oddly colored lightbulb.
"....!"
He then slowly steps back away from the teal light, trying to make sure that he doesn't want to walk through one of the spirits as he isn't sure of what 'rules' this possibly cursed device might go by. God forbid it traps him in it's grasp as well.
Esperโs eyes widened too when he realized the mortal saw him. โ๐๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐๐ก!โ The theater ghostโs mouth stayed agape as he put his hands out in a defensive way in front of him.โ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐จ๐ค?โ
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
Hollands whole demeanor changed. He leaned back enough to where his feet were inches off the ground. โNah, donโt sweat. Got a little overwhelmed I guess.โ
โSo, didnโt you mention you have some friends here? Donโt see em.โ He did a 360 to scan the room. โIโve never met another ghost before. Maybe Iโll get the chance to meet a few more.โ
He was freaking out internally. A mix of confusion, happiness, fear, and stress ran down his veins. The drowned ghost had to play it cool.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ! ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.โ The ghost deflected away from what he said. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐๐ข๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ Esper rolled up his sleeves and walked around the stage, looking for his friends. โ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐.โ He repeated. โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.โ His hands were on the curtain now, the one Holland had just been feeling.
Holland watched this new ghost speak. His frantic mannerisms were amusing to Holland.
โJesus, how many people died in this theater? Was there like a fire or something? All these people on one place.โ He squinted at what he assumed was a lighting booth, trying to find any signs of afterlife.
โWork to do? Youโre dead, what work could you possibly have to do?โ
Holland cringed at the idea of watching someone get blown up or killed in a major bus accident. Esper didnโt want to say how he died. Holland could see how that could be a sore spot.
โShows? Like musicals? What, are you guys doing Cats for the rest of eternity?โ Holland stifled a giggle. โWhenโs the performance? I used to like theater when I was alive. Never had time to do it.โ
โ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ?โ Esper looked confused, his head still tilted to the side with his mouth open. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐ข๐ค๐-๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒโฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ?โ His hands moved with every word he spoke like he was working out a difficult puzzle.โ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ-๐๐๐ก!โ The ghost put his hand to his forehead in exasperation. โ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐?โ
His arms went back to their side. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ.โ He pointed at Holland before crossing his arms. โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ He clapped suddenly. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐-๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐! ๐๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ซ! ๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐! ๐โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .โ Esper started messing with one of his rolled up sleeves. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง-๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ?!โ
Older in the sense he died a long time ago. โDonโt diss Cats, Memory made me tear up a bit.โ He pretended to flick away a tear.
โI donโt know how to leave, so Iโm stuck till God knows when. Maybe Iโll be around for the performance.โ It worried him a little that he had no idea how he got here or how he was supposed to leave. He wanted to go back to David and the Lost boysโฆ
Now that heโs looking, Esper looks a lot like David.
โI wouldnโt know how good you are until you show me.โ Holland made his way front and center and sat down with his legs crossed. โShow me โyour own thingโ. โ
Esper began stretching, licking his index finger and holding it up in the air before pointing at the empty orchestra pit in need of a band. Suddenly the instruments began playing themselves as the brunette ghost extended a hand out to Holland. โ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐-๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐! ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ? ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ?!โ He began tapping in a swift and endearing motion before doing a cheeky spin.โ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐โ๐!โ He grinned.
The drowned ghost looked around wildly to find the source of the music. โHow the-โ
โYou want me to dance? Oh, Iโve never really danced before.โ Esper said he didnโt expect Holland to be perfect. Still, there was pressure to impress.
Holland took the actorโs hand and allowed him to lead. He was having trouble trying not to float, but other than that, he seemed decent at dancing.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ? ๐๐จ๐ฐโ๐ ๐-๐๐จ๐ฐโ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ?โ The more he got into the music, the more cheeky Esper got.โ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ !โ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด-๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต. It was a combination of tapping and step-dance. It wasnโt perfect. ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ-๐๐ถ๐ต, ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ-๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ!
โ๐๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ!โ The theater ghost exclaimed while they were partner dancing to the tune of the song he was playing. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฌ๐๐-๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ข๐!โ He twirled the other ghost.โ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ข๐-๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ!โ
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
Hollands whole demeanor changed. He leaned back enough to where his feet were inches off the ground. โNah, donโt sweat. Got a little overwhelmed I guess.โ
โSo, didnโt you mention you have some friends here? Donโt see em.โ He did a 360 to scan the room. โIโve never met another ghost before. Maybe Iโll get the chance to meet a few more.โ
He was freaking out internally. A mix of confusion, happiness, fear, and stress ran down his veins. The drowned ghost had to play it cool.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ! ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.โ The ghost deflected away from what he said. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐๐ข๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ Esper rolled up his sleeves and walked around the stage, looking for his friends. โ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐.โ He repeated. โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.โ His hands were on the curtain now, the one Holland had just been feeling.
Holland watched this new ghost speak. His frantic mannerisms were amusing to Holland.
โJesus, how many people died in this theater? Was there like a fire or something? All these people on one place.โ He squinted at what he assumed was a lighting booth, trying to find any signs of afterlife.
โWork to do? Youโre dead, what work could you possibly have to do?โ
Holland cringed at the idea of watching someone get blown up or killed in a major bus accident. Esper didnโt want to say how he died. Holland could see how that could be a sore spot.
โShows? Like musicals? What, are you guys doing Cats for the rest of eternity?โ Holland stifled a giggle. โWhenโs the performance? I used to like theater when I was alive. Never had time to do it.โ
โ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ?โ Esper looked confused, his head still tilted to the side with his mouth open. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐ข๐ค๐-๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒโฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ?โ His hands moved with every word he spoke like he was working out a difficult puzzle.โ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ-๐๐๐ก!โ The ghost put his hand to his forehead in exasperation. โ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐?โ
His arms went back to their side. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ.โ He pointed at Holland before crossing his arms. โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ He clapped suddenly. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐-๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐! ๐๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ซ! ๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐! ๐โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .โ Esper started messing with one of his rolled up sleeves. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง-๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ?!โ
Older in the sense he died a long time ago. โDonโt diss Cats, Memory made me tear up a bit.โ He pretended to flick away a tear.
โI donโt know how to leave, so Iโm stuck till God knows when. Maybe Iโll be around for the performance.โ It worried him a little that he had no idea how he got here or how he was supposed to leave. He wanted to go back to David and the Lost boysโฆ
Now that heโs looking, Esper looks a lot like David.
โI wouldnโt know how good you are until you show me.โ Holland made his way front and center and sat down with his legs crossed. โShow me โyour own thingโ. โ
Esper began stretching, licking his index finger and holding it up in the air before pointing at the empty orchestra pit in need of a band. Suddenly the instruments began playing themselves as the brunette ghost extended a hand out to Holland. โ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐-๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐! ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ? ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ?!โ He began tapping in a swift and endearing motion before doing a cheeky spin.โ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐โ๐!โ He grinned.
The theater ghost sounded exhausted even when he didnโt need to sleep. โ๐๐ค, ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญโฆโ
Uhโฆ yeah. It uh, it wasnโt fun. Itโs not like the movies at all. It ended with me learning more about a person than I ever should and said other person going crazy.
Nah, thatโs quitter talk. Agh! You know, possession is-is fun when you know what youโre really doing with it! Haha-Maybe that makes me sound like a creep-Uh, the point is! Itโs easier than it looks. You probably just didnโt pick the um, right person exactly. Look, itโs like what my um, old acting teacher from life said-youโre going great! But, we can be doing better!
Oh, wow, oh-Uh, yeah. Thatโs not good-Um, not good-at all-Gosh! I really donโt know what to say to that, ok??? I donโt do pep talks! โListen to me. Itโll get better with time?โ โMistakes happen, Esper!โ Usually when people go for advice they ask someone else on the crew. Someone that really gets it and that someone isnโt me-
Right, ah I can see why you-why you would think that so. Forget I said anything.
Ok, wow, Iโm sorry for trying to be helpful! Ok, point taken, you know. โ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ!โ Itโs good. This is great. Weโre going so great right now! Ok, Iโll get out of your hair then. If youโd like my help again let me know-
///Btw since Iโm aware Esper gets connected a lot to Aliโs David from TLB I am also willing to rp those two characters being connected in some way (relation, reincarnation, Esper being some type of ghost of human David whoโs summoned by the light, ect.) but it has to be discussed between me and the mod requesting it first to figure out how it works and would be under a separated verse tag.
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
Hollands whole demeanor changed. He leaned back enough to where his feet were inches off the ground. โNah, donโt sweat. Got a little overwhelmed I guess.โ
โSo, didnโt you mention you have some friends here? Donโt see em.โ He did a 360 to scan the room. โIโve never met another ghost before. Maybe Iโll get the chance to meet a few more.โ
He was freaking out internally. A mix of confusion, happiness, fear, and stress ran down his veins. The drowned ghost had to play it cool.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ! ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.โ The ghost deflected away from what he said. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐๐ข๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ Esper rolled up his sleeves and walked around the stage, looking for his friends. โ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐.โ He repeated. โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.โ His hands were on the curtain now, the one Holland had just been feeling.
Holland watched this new ghost speak. His frantic mannerisms were amusing to Holland.
โJesus, how many people died in this theater? Was there like a fire or something? All these people on one place.โ He squinted at what he assumed was a lighting booth, trying to find any signs of afterlife.
โWork to do? Youโre dead, what work could you possibly have to do?โ
Holland cringed at the idea of watching someone get blown up or killed in a major bus accident. Esper didnโt want to say how he died. Holland could see how that could be a sore spot.
โShows? Like musicals? What, are you guys doing Cats for the rest of eternity?โ Holland stifled a giggle. โWhenโs the performance? I used to like theater when I was alive. Never had time to do it.โ
โ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ?โ Esper looked confused, his head still tilted to the side with his mouth open. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐ข๐ค๐-๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒโฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ?โ His hands moved with every word he spoke like he was working out a difficult puzzle.โ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ-๐๐๐ก!โ The ghost put his hand to his forehead in exasperation. โ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐?โ
His arms went back to their side. โ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ.โ He pointed at Holland before crossing his arms. โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ He clapped suddenly. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐-๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐! ๐๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ซ! ๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐! ๐โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .โ Esper started messing with one of his rolled up sleeves. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง-๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ?!โ
Uhโฆ yeah. It uh, it wasnโt fun. Itโs not like the movies at all. It ended with me learning more about a person than I ever should and said other person going crazy.
Nah, thatโs quitter talk. Agh! You know, possession is-is fun when you know what youโre really doing with it! Haha-Maybe that makes me sound like a creep-Uh, the point is! Itโs easier than it looks. You probably just didnโt pick the um, right person exactly. Look, itโs like what my um, old acting teacher from life said-youโre going great! But, we can be doing better!
Oh, wow, oh-Uh, yeah. Thatโs not good-Um, not good-at all-Gosh! I really donโt know what to say to that, ok??? I donโt do pep talks! โListen to me. Itโll get better with time?โ โMistakes happen, Esper!โ Usually when people go for advice they ask someone else on the crew. Someone that really gets it and that someone isnโt me-
Right, ah I can see why you-why you would think that so. Forget I said anything.
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
Hollands whole demeanor changed. He leaned back enough to where his feet were inches off the ground. โNah, donโt sweat. Got a little overwhelmed I guess.โ
โSo, didnโt you mention you have some friends here? Donโt see em.โ He did a 360 to scan the room. โIโve never met another ghost before. Maybe Iโll get the chance to meet a few more.โ
He was freaking out internally. A mix of confusion, happiness, fear, and stress ran down his veins. The drowned ghost had to play it cool.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ! ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.โ The ghost deflected away from what he said. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐๐ข๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ Esper rolled up his sleeves and walked around the stage, looking for his friends. โ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐.โ He repeated. โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.โ His hands were on the curtain now, the one Holland had just been feeling.
Holland watched this new ghost speak. His frantic mannerisms were amusing to Holland.
โJesus, how many people died in this theater? Was there like a fire or something? All these people on one place.โ He squinted at what he assumed was a lighting booth, trying to find any signs of afterlife.
โWork to do? Youโre dead, what work could you possibly have to do?โ
What do you think about stage managers? Since youโre an actor and all that. I know a lot of folks of your craft will often throw the SMs under the bus in a time of crisis.
โs funny. The one light you need to stick around isnโt one thatโs called. But everything else. The sounds, the lights, the quick changes and the scenic transitions. Thatโs all the managers of the stage, yeah? Surely youโre not like the actors who ignore their importance.
Right, yes! Um, stage managers! Backbone of the industry! Haha. We canโt do what we do without them. Look, look, I get it, Lee can be a little-Ok, he can be a lot sometimes especially for the uh, newer ghosts around here. But, all of us are here because we love it, you know? Artist hearts! Well, that and weโre trapped here until we do that thing-that thing we didnโt do in life!
Without stage managers thereโs nobody looking after us and without anybody looking after us thereโs no rehearsals and no rehearsals means no production and weโre all trapped here even longer! So, we need stage managers around here-even ghosts.
Uhโฆ yeah. It uh, it wasnโt fun. Itโs not like the movies at all. It ended with me learning more about a person than I ever should and said other person going crazy.
Nah, thatโs quitter talk. Agh! You know, possession is-is fun when you know what youโre really doing with it! Haha-Maybe that makes me sound like a creep-Uh, the point is! Itโs easier than it looks. You probably just didnโt pick the um, right person exactly. Look, itโs like what my um, old acting teacher from life said-youโre going great! But, we can be doing better!
Oh, wow, oh-Uh, yeah. Thatโs not good-Um, not good-at all-Gosh! I really donโt know what to say to that, ok??? I donโt do pep talks! โListen to me. Itโll get better with time?โ โMistakes happen, Esper!โ Usually when people go for advice they ask someone else on the crew. Someone that really gets it and that someone isnโt me-
Right, ah I can see why you-why you would think that so. Forget I said anything.
Uhโฆ yeah. It uh, it wasnโt fun. Itโs not like the movies at all. It ended with me learning more about a person than I ever should and said other person going crazy.
Nah, thatโs quitter talk. Agh! You know, possession is-is fun when you know what youโre really doing with it! Haha-Maybe that makes me sound like a creep-Uh, the point is! Itโs easier than it looks. You probably just didnโt pick the um, right person exactly. Look, itโs like what my um, old acting teacher from life said-youโre going great! But, we can be doing better!
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
Hollands whole demeanor changed. He leaned back enough to where his feet were inches off the ground. โNah, donโt sweat. Got a little overwhelmed I guess.โ
โSo, didnโt you mention you have some friends here? Donโt see em.โ He did a 360 to scan the room. โIโve never met another ghost before. Maybe Iโll get the chance to meet a few more.โ
He was freaking out internally. A mix of confusion, happiness, fear, and stress ran down his veins. The drowned ghost had to play it cool.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ! ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ! ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.โ The ghost deflected away from what he said. โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐๐ข๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐!โ Esper rolled up his sleeves and walked around the stage, looking for his friends. โ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐.โ He repeated. โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.โ His hands were on the curtain now, the one Holland had just been feeling.
Actors had a tendency of spacing out when they got lost in their role and Esper was no different. He had been pacing the stage for the last thirty minutes practicing the same line over and over with no signs of stopping until he heard an unfamiliar voice in the theater. He stopped snapping his fingers abruptly, turning his head back up to see who it was trying to get his attention, his hand still placed on his hip.
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ก ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐.โ Esper turned back around, his face embarrassed as he put his hands back on his hips, nodding with a bug-eyed stare and lopsided dorky smile. โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?โ The tone of his voice grew more desperate than humiliated as he spoke.
Holland crossed his arms over his chest, watching the guy in front of him try and process what was going on. They appeared to be on a stage. Holland enjoyed theater when he was alive.
โ โNot qualified to talk to mortalsโ, huh? Donโt fret, friend, for I am not mortal. Iโm quite dead.โ Holland waltzed over to a wall and expected for his hand to slide right through it.
His hand hit the wall. Holland could feel the texture of the wood. โWhat the fuck?โ
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ-โ He scratched his head and reached out for the other ghost but it was too late. Esper flinched on his behalf from impact when his hand hit the wall. โ๐๐ค, ๐จ๐คโฆโ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐-๐ก๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐.โ He began rubbing his hands together. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต-๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ก, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐โ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ-โ Esper pointed at the ghost light at the center of the stage. ๐ผ๐๐! ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ-
He laughed sheepishly, clapping his hands together. โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ-๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฎ๐ก.โ He gestured at the boy with both of his arms. โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โ
โI donโt think I walked in. I was on the beach then boom, I was here.โ Holland was still looking at the wall, running his hand up and down, moving to feel the velvet curtains between his fingers.
He turned to look at the light. It did have a weird energy about it. โThis thing? Is there a way to break it or something?โ
Holland finally looked at the other ghost. โMy name is holland.โ He reached out a hand for him to shake.
โ๐๐ก, ๐ฎ๐กโฆ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ.โ Esper nodded before what Holland had said ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ. When it did, his brows furrowed, confusion taking the helm as he crossed his arms.โ๐พ๐๐๐? ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ก, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ซ-โ He moved his hand, making an attempt at a snapping gesture.
โ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐จ๐ค? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฒ!โ The theater ghost walked up to him to whisper in its ear. โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.โ
โ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฐโฆ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐ข.โ He waved.โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ.โ Esper gestured at the curtain Holland had been running his hands down. โ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซโฆโ He tilted his head. โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ He shook the other ghostโs hand.
The feeling of Esper touching Holland; actually grabbing his hand made the drowned go still. He clenched the hand tighter. He hasnโt been touched in over four years.
โIโve never been able to leave.โ Holland said in a slow baritone. He was still holding the hand, running his finger against the back it.
What Esper had whispered to Holland has immediately left the forefront of his thoughts. The blonde boy saw that his own hands were shaking. He dropped Esperโs, putting his hands together in front of him to try and stop the quivering.
When Holland let go of his hand quivering like that? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ! โ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐จ๐ค?โ
He started frantically pacing around before finally putting his hands on the other ghostโs shoulders.โ๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ค.โ
โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค, ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ-๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.โ Esper hadnโt really had that problem, you know? He still missed the girl of his dreams but he wasnโt alone really in this theater. He had friends here even if-if they were all trying to get out of this place and away from that light.
