Night watchman at a cemetary isnāt the kind of job most people want. Iāve always liked it, though. Itās pretty peaceful, most of the time, which is nice. Sometimes I get to chase off teenagers or would-be occultists or obnoxious drunks, which is fun. Thereās a lot of entertainment in a good chase, at least for me, and scaring the crap out of them is fun too.
Sometimes it gets sad, though.
It was my first walkthrough of the night when I saw the girl weeping beside the grave. It happens sometimes, and I never chase them. The cemetary is for the dead and the grieving. Theyāre always welcome here.
I went over to her, careful to keep the grave between us so I wouldnāt scare her. āWhatās the matter?ā I asked gently. āIs there anything I can do to help?ā
She shook her head, still weeping. āNo-one came to my funeral,ā she sobbed. āNo-one at all.ā
I checked the stone. Sheād been about seventeen. An age of strong emotions and fierce resentments. āIām sorry,ā I told her, and meant it. āThatās⦠always hard.ā
āIf they cared about me, they would have come,ā she wept. āThis means nobody cared at all.ā
āNot always,ā I told her gently. āSometimes it means that something else happened. If you like, I can try to find out.ā
āReally?ā She wiped her eyes. āIād⦠Iād appreciate that. Iām Lucy.ā
āStanley.ā She couldnāt shake hands, so I gave her a friendly nod. āCome with me, Lucy. Iāve got a laptop in the watchmanās hut.ā
She followed me, drifting silently, back to the hut. I brought her in, and made two cups of tea, offering her one. āIām not solid,ā she said, her lip quivering. āI canāt -ā
I showed her how to take it, the ghostly echo of the solid cup, and told her Iād learned it from the day attendant over at the columbarium. Sheās Korean, and knows a lot about hungry ghosts. She sipped her tea while I opened the laptop and ran the usual searches.
Sure enough, thereād been three major car accidents between the area sheād lived in and the cemetary. Thereās almost always at least one - thereās this one intersection that no exorcism, ritual purification or cleansing spell has ever worked on - and it usually helps. A lot of spirits want to know why someone they loved didnāt come.