Abigail wasn’t sure when the girl in the corner started showing up at the shop. One day she came into work, and soon after she wandered in. Or maybe she’d been there the night before and Abigail just… forgot to check. It happened, especially on nights she was supposed to meet up with Travis. The first few days, Abigail left her alone, letting her do her own thing. Except, she never really seemed to leave, just would up and disappear from the shop once things needed to close up. It was a week before they actually spoke.
“Can I help you? You seem a little lost there.” There was a good minute of silence, and at first Abigail thought the girl couldn’t hear her. Then there was a sigh and a shake of her head. No verbal response, just that gesture and sigh. Abigail frowned, hands on her hips. “I mean, you’re just lurking so… Seriously, what are you doing?”
The girl’s mouth twitched, although in amusement or irritation Abigail wasn’t sure. Another wordless response, a shrug this time. Abigail turned back to her desk for a second, and when she looked back, the girl was gone. Just… vanished; she couldn’t have gone out the door because the bell hadn’t rung.
“Okaaaay. Fine. Be that way,” she muttered to the now empty room, almost pouting. At the edge of her hearing, she thought she could hear someone chuckling.
The next time she saw the girl, she was at the bar, Travis off hitting on some lady or another. Abigail was pretty sure it was all to make her jealous, which seemed a tad ridiculous since they both knew that at the end of the night, they’d be going home together, drunk off their asses. But right here, right now, all that was happening was her friend making a fool of himself, and that girl from before chilling a couple barstools over, looking way too young to even be in this place. Had she not been more entertained by Travis, she’d have made a snarky comment to her new companion (or was it stalker?), but instead she went to take a sip of her drink. The hand slapping it away was certainly new, and when she looked up, the girl was there, eyes wide. A split second passed, then the moment was broken by the bartender.
“Had a bit too much to drink there, Reed?” John sounded amused, but she knew the look he was giving her all too well; it was the look he gave everyone before he decided to cut them off. All it took was a blink, but the girl was gone and how was she going to explain that someone who wasn’t there slapped her glass out of her hand?
“Apparently more than I thought… I’ll drag Travis out now, thanks.”
The night didn’t get any less weird, but Abigail could only thank whatever stupid God might have existed that it also didn’t take any more weird turns
The girl had shown up at the range again, right before closing time, and Abigail wasn’t going to let her off easy. That didn’t mean she was expecting it when words actually made it past her mystery stalker’s mouth.
“No one important.”
Oh.
She sounded so young, so vulnerable, and for a second Abigail felt almost bad for being on the offensive. Only for a second though. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“Look, you follow me around, you slap drinks form my hands… What the hell is up with you?”
“You wouldn’t understood if I did tell you. Just – “
“Cut the bullshit.” The girl’s eyes went wide, just like back at the bar, and for a moment Abigail wondered if she was easily startled. At very least she should have expected the outburst. “You’re going to explain, because otherwise I’m gonna call the cops and keep you stuck here until they arrive. Then you can explain it to them.”
A smirk appeared on the girl’s face, wide eyed stare long gone. Had it not been a look she was accustomed to wearing, Abigail wouldn’t have cared. Instead, it was frustrating seeing what could only be described as a mirror reflection staring back at her.
“That’s not going to work.”
“Try me.”
“I’m telling you. It’s not going to work.” At that, Abigail rolled her eyes, grabbing the phone and quickly calling the police. After a quick explanation, she turned back to her captive, who hadn’t taken the chance to bolt. No, the girl just had the same arrogant façade up. “Look, you don’t want to know who I am, just… that I’m here to help, okay?”
“Yeah I’m sure. You sound like a real fucking angel.” The comment made the girl laugh, and had she not been focused on just how stupidly weird this whole situation was, Abigail would have done her best to ignore the fact that her heart skipped a beat. Now is not the time to be admiring girls, Abigail. What the fuck.
“You could say that.” It was the last thing she said before remaining silent until the cops arrived. She recognized them in passing, but names eluded her. They questioned her a bit, focusing on the nature of this “stalker” (and she could hear the quotes surrounding the word, despite the fact that said stalker was literally sitting in the room with them). Finally, one of them (the scruffy one, who looked like every stereotypical detective ever, which was amusing if nothing else) stood up, sighing.
“Well, Miss Reed, I don’t know much about this stalker you claim to have – “ there was a laugh from her mystery girl, which only caused Abigail to glare in her direction “ – but you’re damn lucky. Some drunk idiot with a knife was about two blocks down and he was dangerous. A couple other officers picked him up, but he didn’t go quietly. I’d hate to think what would have happened if you’d run into him.”
“I can take care of myself, officer.” The condescending chuckle she got from him was annoying, but right now she just wanted them out of her hair so she could deal with the more important issue.
“I’m sure. If that’ll be all…” He trailed off, giving her a moment to suggest anything else. As if there wasn’t someone sitting in the corner of the room (well, pacing now), and as if she wasn’t visibly amused by this whole thing. Abigail quickly ushered them out, not at all surprised when her visitor was gone by the time she turned back around.
“I’m telling you, Travis, she was there and they didn’t even notice her!” Lunch with Travis usually made her feel better, but right now…
“Uh-huh. And… she just disappeared?” This had been going on for the better part of a half-hour. It was frustrating, just how good his poker face was; Abigail couldn’t tell if he believed her or if he thought she was insane, but she was leaning towards the first (only because if it was the latter, he’d have called the paramedics or Greg by now).
“Yes! I swear to fucking Odin or God or Artemis that the range is haunted, I’d bet my ass on it.”
“Does that mean you’d – “
“Not on your life, Martin. Not on your death either, but certainly not on your life.”
Of course, leave it to Travis to bring popcorn to the range in hopes that he’d get a good show. Abigail had rolled her eyes, but hey, it was popcorn and that shit was good.
“So, where’s your mystery ghost girl, hm?”
“I’m not a ghost.” The fact that she’d managed to get Travis to jump at least a good two feet into the air instantly endeared this chick to Abigail, who’d found a spot on the floor to collapse to, her head light with laughter.
“Holy shit, your face!”
“You shut it, arrow girl.” If that was the best insult Travis could come up with, he was getting rusty. Abigail slowly regained her breath, standing up and facing the girl. Travis was already one step ahead of her, eyes bugging out of his head as he circled her. “So… You’re not a ghost? I dunno, that was one quiet entrance.”
“Yeah, but… I mean, you can believe what you want, just know that I’m not a ghost.” She paused for a second before muttering, “they’re kinda assholes really.”
The movies always made this part look so easy and not at all awkward, but apparently talking to a “thing” wasn’t all “why are you haunting us” and “what shall appease you” questions.
“So… you’re not a ghost… Which makes you, what, a spirit?” Abigail almost couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. Almost. Mostly because she’d never thought she’d actually see anything even remotely supernatural, and now she couldn’t get this damn thing off of her.
“I… Yeah. Something like that.” If she didn’t know any better, Abigail would have thought that the spirit girl was… almost nervous. But that couldn’t be right; what did a spirit have to be nervous about? Before she could think much of it, Travis was already moving on.
“Well, we’ll need your name at least. Unless you want us calling you ‘spirit’ the entire time, but that just seems a tad cliché, doesn’t it?”
“… It’s Moira.” Travis let out a sharp laugh, and Abigail wasn’t sure what it was all about. It was kinda weird, when he knew thing she didn’t and decided not to share. She did her best to ignore the odd feeling in her chest, the one that said that this right here was something she’d been waiting for without knowing it.
“Moira… So, why take a liking to Abigail?” Leave it to her little writer boy to keep things rolling when she couldn’t, when her mouth had dried up and her brain was on a different track. But Moira had apparently taken to responding with nothing more than gestures again, an almost coy smile appearing. The gears in Abigail’s head were turning, and finally reached the conclusion they’d been moving towards since Travis had been spooked.
“Why… Why can he see you, but the cops couldn’t? Unless you’re making it that way.”
“Nope! That’s… Not exactly something I can control.” Had she been living, Abigail would have thought Moira was blushing from the red on her cheeks. Except no, spirits don’t blush and besides, why would Moira… That was silly. This whole thing was just silly.
“Okay, what the actual fuck is going on?” She could feel herself getting frustrated; nothing made sense. Everything felt like it was supposed to, and yet everything was wrong. Nothing fit and the more Abigail thought about it, the more confused she got until she finally couldn’t take it. “You’re acting like… Like this whole thing isn’t something you’ve planned, and yet you obviously know more about what’s going on than either of us. So. Explain. Now.”
It took a few minutes for her to get going, but Moira eventually gestured for them both to sit down before starting her explanation. It was long, and it was halting, and more than once she had to pause and get over her own embarrassment before she could continue, but eventually she managed to get it all out. And when she did, Abigail merely stood up and left the room.
It was only a matter of time before they found the body of Jackson Taggart sitting in his apartment, head caved in with a beer bottle in some form of twisted irony. And it was pure luck that kept the police apathetic during the investigation, which eventually was closed because everyone in Greenlake had a grudge against the asshole.
Sure, it didn’t bring Moira back, and yeah, they’d never really be complete, but it was the least she could do for the missing part of their little gang.
