“Aha!” said Miss Lin so suddenly I nearly jumped. The blob slid off her head and onto the table, looking confused.
“What is it? What do you see?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet. I just started looking,” she snapped, and went back to the teacup. “Okay. I see it now. Interesting.”
We all waited. I hesitated to ask her any questions that might set her off again.
“Oh, for the love of Pete…” Nick muttered and started pacing.
“Um, Miss Lin….”
“Shut up. I’m concentrating. This is strange. There is a boy. He is with you all the time, like some kind of stalker. Do you remember that stalker in the news last year? He cut off that poor girl’s fingers and ate them for lunch.” She looked at me expectantly.
I had no idea what she was talking about. “Someone is going to cut my fingers off?”
“Of course not. That was last year. But this boy is around you all the time, bugging you, making you mad.” She paused, studied the cup, and added. “Flirting with you.”
I looked right at Nick. “Uh, okay. There is a boy like that, but he isn’t a stalker.”
Miss Lin narrowed her eyes at me, unconvinced. “Well, he has problems.”
I agreed with her, but there was something more pressing I needed to know, and I doubted Miss Lin would ever get around to it. I decided to go for it. “Is he dead?”
She shook her head. “No, not dead.” Nick and I both heaved huge sighs of relief. “But not alive either.”
My whole body sagged in disappointment. Nick sank down to the floor and sat with his knees pulled to his chest. I couldn’t even look at him. A lump the size of a tennis ball had formed in my throat.
“What does that mean exactly?” I asked, my voice tight and tense.
“How do I know? I’m not a doctor. That is all I’ve got.”
“Well, thank you Miss Lin, Mr. Wan. I appreciate your help.” I stood, planning to leave, but Miss Lin stopped me, so I sat back down again.
“Wait. I see something else. Do you know someone named Mr. Lucky?”
I shook my head, starting to wonder if all the lights were on in Miss Lin’s attic.
“It says Mr. Lucky is your destiny. That is clear. The other part was confusing, but this is nice.”
“Nice.” Mr. Wan raised his teacup to me in a salute. “When you get married, you’ll be Lily Lucky. Good name.”
“Ha, ha,” I said, making a feeble attempt at laughter. Nick slowly rose from his spot on the floor. He stared at the contents of the teacup over Miss Lin’s shoulder.
“Ask Mr. Wan about the dark thing,” said Nick.
“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Mr. Wan, you talked about a dark thing before. The ghosts mentioned it too before my friend sent them back. Can you tell me more about it?’
Mr. Wan sighed and slowly turned the cup he held in his hand, studying it from different angles. “Do you see this, Lily?”
“Of course.” A pretty cup, it was pale green with cranes on it.
“But do you truly see it? Did you notice the colors of autumn? The cranes must fly south to stay warm. Did you see the small crane inside the lip of the cup? He is falling behind. Did you notice the brush strokes in the pale green paint?” He looked at me expectantly, so I took the cup in my hands. Suddenly, I saw cranes taking off into the clear sky. I could almost feel the crisp coolness of the air and the rush of their wings as they flew past.
I turned the cup around with my fingers before handing it back to him, not understanding why I’d missed so many details before. “I didn’t at first, but I do now.”
“The world is like that, too, Lily. There are things that can’t be seen at first glance, but once you are used to looking for them, you see them all the time.”
“Like my ghosts?”
Mr. Wan stared at his cup of tea, his eyes distant and sad. “Like your ghosts and other things. Not all of them are good. There are some creatures we call e gui. They are Soul Reapers, and hungry beings. More demon than ghost. They died in a terrible way, and they long for a taste of life, even after death. In China, we had a festival every year called the Soul Reaper Festival. It was fun. There were lots of fireworks.”
Miss Lin agreed. “And nice sticky rice balls. But you don’t have that festival here. If you don’t have the festival, the ghost will stay hungry.”
My frustration level rose with each new fun fact provided about the Soul Reaper Festival. I wanted to scream and throw some sticky rice balls at their heads, but I held myself back. With difficulty.
“So, what does this have to do with us?”
“Because you need to see an e gui in order to stop it. They want to be alive again, but they aren’t nice. They come here and take over people’s bodies. My grandfather used to tell me stories about them. He called them the ghosts of dark clouds,” said Mr. Wan, waving his hands for spooky emphasis.
Miss Lin shook her head. “No, no, no. Not dark clouds, they were dark shadows. You can’t remember anything. You got the words confused again. I have to go back to work now.” She walked out, slamming the door behind her.
Mr. Wan appeared very small and old all of a sudden, and I felt bad for him. I felt bad for Nick too. He still looked like he’d been punched in the stomach.
I stood to leave. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wan. This took a lot of your time.”
“It’s okay, Lily. I’m sorry I cannot help you more. Miss Lin is right. I am getting old. I will ask my friends, and maybe I can find an answer for you by your appointment on Saturday.”
I thanked him and we left the shop. It was a bright, sunny spring day, but I shivered thinking about dark shadows and Soul Reapers.
Nick hooked his thumbs on his belt loops. He looked as pale as…well…a ghost. “Well, that was interesting,” he said.
“Yes, and we found out so much useful information.”
Nick laughed at me. “Like what?”
“Like the fact that you aren’t dead.”
“Oh. That is good news. You didn’t mention the fact that I’m not exactly alive either.” He gestured to his not quite in solid form body.
“There is that, yes, but it’s still good news. I expected her to say you were a ghost.”
“So did I.” Nick winced. “Kind of. But I know I’m not, Lily.”
“I’m starting to suspect you might be right.”
Nick rocked back onto his heels. For the first time I noticed he wore black converse sneakers. Extremely cute.
“Did you say I was right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”
We walked down to Mrs. Chang’s shop, it was as dark and cluttered as I remembered. Nick poked around, looking at the boxes and objects that lined the dusty shelves.
Before long, I heard the familiar shuffling noise that signaled the approach of Mrs. Chang. Today, instead of traditional Chinese dress, she wore capris with Keds and had on a white visor. She beamed when she saw me.
“Hello, Tiger Lily. Were you waiting long? I got back from tai chi a few minutes ago.”
“No, I just got here.” I handed her the note from Mr. Wan and followed her as she walked down the aisle. “Are you taking a class?” I asked, impressed that the old lady was so spry. Her grasp of English impressed me as well. The last time I’d come here, she’d spoken to me almost exclusively in Chinese.
“I am the teacher.” The blob rubbed against her cheek and she giggled. “Still having the ghost problem, I see.”
I was so surprised I bumped into a shelf and nearly knocked over a big, happy Buddha. As I straightened it, my purse knocked another box off the shelf.
“Klutz,” said Nick, laughing at me. I considered it a good sign. He’d looked seriously depressed ever since Miss Lin had told us he wasn’t quite alive. I felt a little down myself.
“Mrs. Chang, can you see them, too?”
“You don’t have to see something to know it is there.” She pulled a small glass bottle with an old-fashioned style st
opper off the shelf. Murky green fluid swirled inside. “This is what you need. Mix it with two parts water and spray it on the ghost you are trying to expunge.”
The word “expunge” sounded harsh. My little blobby ghost didn’t deserve to be expunged. Mrs. Chang patted my hand.
“Your ghost does not belong here, Lily. It is not a question of happy or sad, good or bad. It is about right and wrong. You will not hurt it by doing this. It might not even work. That depends on the ghost and how much it wants to stay.”
Mrs. Chang began the long process of wrapping my little bottle of Ghost Be Gone. I watched her work, her motions precise and careful. I liked that about her. I’d always been precise and careful, too.
“Mrs. Chang, do you know anything about Soul Reapers?” She froze, her hands hovering over my package.
“Why do you ask?”
She seemed flustered now, losing the rhythm of her packing. I knew I’d upset her.
“I’m not sure how much Mr. Wan told you, but I died for a few minutes and came back. That’s when I started having the ghost problem. He told me the same thing happened back in his village in China.”
Mrs. Chang’s entire body tensed but didn’t say anything. As she tied the package with string, her hands shook. I moved to the side of the counter so I could face her. Nick did too.
I cleared my throat. “He warned me about Soul Reapers. I’m afraid we might have unleashed one of those, but I’m not sure.”
Mrs. Chang put my wrapped bottle into a small paper bag and opened a drawer behind her counter, pulling out a small object bundled in silk. Inside lay an intricate necklace with Chinese characters carved into the jade.
“It’s beautiful. What does it say?”
Mrs. Chang placed a pair of dainty reading glasses on the tip of her nose. “It says Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. Buddha.” She wrapped the necklace up again and handed it to me.
“I want you to have this, Lily, as a gift. It will keep you safe from Soul Reapers.”
I looked at Nick in confusion, and for a second, I thought Mrs. Chang glanced at him too. “Mrs. Chang, I can’t accept this. I’m sure it’s valuable. Please let me pay for it.”
Mrs. Chang shook her head. “Today, these things are on me.”
“But why?” I looked around her dusty little shop. It didn’t seem like Mrs. Chang could afford to be giving away antique jewelry and Ghost Be Gone fluid.
“Because I know what you are going through and I want to help.”
“That’s kind of you, but I don’t understand.”
Mrs. Chang gave me a sad little smile. “I was the girl in China Mr. Wan told you about.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. That girl had gone crazy. Mrs. Chang didn’t look crazy, but I couldn’t exactly ask. I decided to stay on a safer topic. “You died too?”
Mrs. Chang sighed. “Yes, and I lost the person I loved most in the world.” She turned her head and looked right at Nick. “I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. It nearly cost me everything, including my sanity.”
Nick stared at me, a hit of fear in his eyes. “She sees me.”
I shook my head. “She can’t see you. No one sees you but me.”
Mrs. Chang took my hand in hers. Her fingers were wrinkled and spotted with age, but her grip was firm. “As I said before, sweet Lily, you don’t have to be able to see something to know it is there.”
Chapter 10
From caring comes courage. ~ Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
“She saw me.”
Nick sat next to me in the Audi. He grabbed the seatbelt without thinking, and almost seemed surprised when his hand went right through it. I tried hard not to giggle. It appeared he’d been a seatbelt wearer, which meant he had at least one good habit.
“She did,” I said, as I pulled slowly into traffic.
Nick ran a hand through his dark hair. “What does that mean?”
“I have no idea, but it’s a good sign. At least it means I’m not imagining you.”
“Like you could make this up?” Nick winked at me, and my heart did a funny little flip-flop in my chest.
“I can’t believe you’re joking at a time like this,” I said, struggling to keep my eyes on the road. Nick, so beautiful, with his mussed hair and dark, warm eyes, was in major trouble. He hovered somewhere between life and death, and I didn’t know what that meant or how to help him.
He shrugged his broad shoulders, resignation etched in his features. “What else can I do, babe?”
“Babe? Like the pig?” I flipped my hair over my shoulder, trying not to let him see how his endearments affected me.
He grinned at me. “Yes. Like the pig.”
I tried to swat at him as I kept my eyes on the road. It made him laugh, since I swatted air. I’d almost forgotten he wasn’t solid.
Suddenly, Nick became oddly still and looked at me with a strange, pained expression. I pulled off to the side of the road as he started fading out. “I have to go, Lily. I’ll be back….”
“Nick? No, no, no, no, no…”
My chest got tight. I willed myself not to panic as he evaporated right in front of me. I stared at the seat he’d occupied only seconds before, laughing and teasing me. He was real. I knew that with every fiber of my being. What I didn’t know was how I would go on if Nick disappeared from my life forever.
I rested my forehead on the steering wheel as I tried not to cry. I didn’t want Nick to go away. I wanted him to be solid and whole, and stay with me, but I had a sick, sinking feeling that fixing this might mean losing him.
I wiped away a tear and swallowed hard as I looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror. I looked like a ghost myself, my skin devoid of any color, my eyes enormous in my face. Worry wound its way around my heart. I’d gone to a place beyond scared and right into terrified.
As I pulled back onto the road and drove home, it struck me that what I felt for Nick went way beyond duty or friendship. I don’t know when or how it happened, if it was when he helped me with calculus or when he got mad at me for kissing Josh, but I knew the truth. I’d fallen hopelessly, crazy in love with Nick the Shadow Guy.
When I got back home, I moved in a fog. I replayed every look, and every moment we’d shared, and tried to savor each one because I didn’t know how many more we’d have.
I put on the necklace from Mrs. Chang, mixed the Ghost Be Gone, and poured it into a spray bottle. I sanitized my hands a few times, brushed my hair, and freshened my makeup. I ordered pizza for when Josh and Zoe came, and stared at the clock on the wall, willing it to go faster. Wanting Nick to come home. The sound of the doorbell made me jump.
Josh waited on the porch, looking handsome and perfect as always. I’d almost forgotten that I’d kissed him this afternoon. I was obviously a terrible person.
“Sorry, Lily. I’m a few minutes early. Do you mind if I come in?” Josh handed me a bag. “I brought cookies.”
Gorgeous, smart, and well mannered, Josh was the kind of boy I’d always dreamed I’d fall for, but Nick had changed everything. The difference between how I felt for them was like the difference between a mild breeze and a hurricane. Nick was my hurricane.
The blob acted happy to see Josh. It swirled around his neck and came to rest on his shoulder. Josh froze.
“It’s sitting on my shoulder, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said. “But don’t worry. It’s a nice ghost.” I led Josh into the house, set the cookies on the dining room table, and went to get plates and napkins. Josh followed me.
“Are there ghosts that aren’t nice?” He looked at me, full of blue-eyed sincerity, and I had to tell him the truth.
“Yes. I haven’t seen any yet, but I know they exist.”
He handled this bit of information extremely well, which impressed me. I doubted I would have done the same.
“Lily, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
He couldn’t meet my eyes, and I
cringed, sincerely hoping he didn’t plan on expressing his undying love for me. Josh was a nice guy. I had no desire to hurt him.
He cleared his throat. “I guess it’s better if I say it. I like you, but I have a strong feeling you belong with someone else, and I always listen to those feelings.” He nibbled on his lip. “I don’t mean to be weird about it, but could we go to prom as friends?”
I almost sagged in relief. “Yes. That’s what I want, too.”
“Wow. You’re taking this very hard,” he said with a grin. His smile and dimples, while still glorious, did nothing for me.
I winced. “It’s not you, Josh. You’re perfect.”
Josh rushed to agree with me. “You’re perfect too. But the whole time we were together earlier, it felt like someone was standing right next to me, screaming for me to leave you alone.”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I said, remembering Nick’s reaction. Josh had summed it up nicely.
“And it got even worse when I kissed you.” He gave me a sidelong glance. “We were meant to be friends, I guess. There is no….”
“Ka-bang? A little like kissing my cousin?”
Josh laughed. “Ouch. Harsh. I was going to say spark, but ka-bang works.”
“Thanks, Josh. You’re a great guy, ka-bang or no ka-bang.”
He pulled me into a warm, brotherly hug, and Nick chose that moment to pop back into my kitchen. I jumped away from Josh like he was the Ebola virus.
“Wow. Great. Sorry to interrupt this romantic interlude. I’ll get out of your way,” Nick said, walking away.
“Stop, Nick. Please.” It might have been the “please” that got him, although I couldn’t be sure. Whatever it was, he stopped, but still kept his back to us as fury poured off him in waves.
Josh looked thoroughly confused. “Who is Nick? I can’t feel him. Is he a good ghost or a bad ghost?”
“I’m not a ghost at all.” Nick spoke in a high-pitched voice. He turned and I saw the hurt and sadness mixed with anger in his eyes.
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