Ghost Mortem (Bordertown Chronicle Book 1)

by Gavin Masters

  “P-please,” groveled the ghost in a guttural timbre. “I…I didn't mean to hurt that little girl. I…I love children. But…but I couldn’t stop, I…her body…it just felt so good! I needed to feel good again. I needed to eat again. I…”

  The ghost began to sob. “I was murdered. Murdered! B-brigands…th-they…they came and…they locked me up there was no food, and…oh god…I was trapped there for such a long time. Such a long, long time. My…children. They w-were c-crying…and screaming, and…and those brigands wouldn't let us out. My wife didn't answer us. And I…oh god. The hunger. I had to…I had to eat my children to live. They made me…they made me eat my children! I…oh god!

  “And now…now do you…do you know how…how hungry I get? I can’t fill. I can’t fill up. It never ends. Please! Make it stop. I just…I just want it to stop.”

  The Oversoul made no response. Instead he grasped a metal amulet which hung around his neck with one hand, and pointed it at the ghost with the other. Both halves of the ghost, along with the other mess he'd left on the floor, began to lift into the air as the pathetic ghost continued to sob. The Oversoul turned his hand up into a palm, and pulled the portions of the ghost into a swirling mass. The swirling mass funneled into the Oversoul's hand. Then the Oversoul closed his hand, crushing the ghost down, trapping it all inside it. A great light coursed over the Oversoul, ran into the amulet around his neck, and then promptly vanished into a squelching darkness. Snuffed-out like a candle, if candles could scream.

  Then the process started all over again. And then again. And again. I saw six ghosts get soul-devoured like this that day, and after that, I never wanted to see another ghost sentencing again.

  Chapter 26

  After an eternity of sentencings, we were finally dismissed and let out of the courthouse. The church bell tolled six times to let the community know how many ghosts had been exorcised that day—all part of the sick, twisted reality that was Bordertown. And I desperately needed to a smoke.

  I was having a lot of trouble with my Zippo for some reason. My hands kept shaking, and my eyes kept crying. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I almost jumped.

  “Is everything all right?” Vikki asked.

  “What? Yeah…sure. Sure. Yeah. No. Not really.”

  “What's wrong?”

  “I don't know,” I said. “That was, um…”

  Something was really wrong with that courtroom. I could feel it like a fart trying to escape into a cold wind.

  “The Oversoul…is he…” I paused in thought. I wasn’t sure what I was trying to ask. “What is he?”

  Vikki shook her head. “I believe he's a resurrected judge. When they send down an Oversoul, usually it's an old law enforcement officer returned to help with the undead. Beyond that, I don't know what to tell you. Each Oversoul seems to do this differently. He's…Judge Hawthorne is a lot different than the last Oversoul.”

  I nodded. “Are they all this terrifying?”

  She thought for a moment.

  “Maybe not quite this terrifying,” she said.

  “That…that ghost we caught. His story…”

  I trailed off and wiped away a tear.

  Then I heard a sniff, and saw Vikki wiping away tears of her own.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “Do you think it was true?” I asked. “His story about…starving and eating his family?”

  Vikki shook her head. “I don't know. If it is…it happened an awful long time ago. Probably centuries ago.”

  “Is the end always this bad for everyone?”

  “I don't know, Gavin. I'm just a beat cop.”

  I nodded. Vikki looked pensive. Or maybe she was trying to hold back more tears.

  “I don't know,” she added. “Maybe…maybe the longer you spend as a ghost, the worse it gets. Dead people need closure, you know?”

  I nodded. “Don't we all?”

  I thought about my mother. Was she stuck out there somewhere, slowly going mad with grief? Did she believe, as the hungry ghost had, that she'd somehow killed us all? What would that do to her?

  “What's going to happen to him now?” I asked.

  “He's been cast down into purgatory. I um…I think. What happens there is…not for us to know yet.”

  “Yeah, but…Vikki, why did he get sucked into his amulet? And who were all those jurors? I mean, do they just sort of sit there waiting to be summoned by their master?”

  Vikki shrugged and gave an apologetic smile.

  “Welcome to Bordertown,” she said.

  All I could think was I couldn't wait to leave this crazy dump. Just as soon as I made enough money. I could finally move out of my dad's house, instead of following him to strange places with even stranger people.

  Well…maybe there was one person who could compel me stay.

  “Hey,” I said. “Vikki, um…do you want to get a coffee?”

  “Like…right now?” she said.

  “No, not necessarily right now. I just mean you and me. Sometime, you know?”

  “Oh,” she said, seeming to grasp what I meant. Then she smiled at me. “Yeah. Sure, okay. Yeah, I’d like that.”

  “Yeah?” I smiled back.

  She nodded and smiled.

  “Cool,” I said, trying not to look too elated.

  “The Samhain festival is tonight. Maybe we can meet up in the square.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Wait, the Samhain festival?”

  “Yeah. You know, people putting on scary costumes and stuff? I guess the rest of the world calls it 'Halloween' now.”

  “So…you guys are a community of monsters…and you still want to dress up like monsters?”

  Vikki buried her face in her palm.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Am I being insensitive again? I'm really trying—”

  “I know,” she said. “It's all right.”

  I realized I should probably leave before I fucked everything up. More.

  “Well, I should go,” I said.

  “You're not staying?”

  “Nah, I think I've had enough fun for one day. And I'm a busy guy. I've got other things to do.”

  “Oh yeah?” she said putting her hands on her hips, wearing a knowing grin. “Like what?”

  “For one thing, this Tupperware full of grossness isn't going throw itself out.”

  “You wait long enough it just might,” she said, winking.

  That got a chuckle from me.

  “Also, I've got a story to write,” I said.

  Vikki nodded. “Okay. Well, let me know when you want to do this again.”

  I nodded.

  I descended the steps. Halfway down, I turned around.

  “I'll see you at the Samhain Festival tonight?”

  “It's a date,” she said, winking.

  My heart fluttered at that, but then she was gone. Was she really that into me, or was she just being polite and playing along? I couldn't tell. People behave so strangely in this town.

  Chapter 27

  I walked home. I was quite looking forward to this Samhain festival thing, whatever it was. It sounded cool—monsters dressed as other monsters. But obviously, the piece de resistance would be Vikki's company. I wondered if she'd dress up in a cute summer dress again, or…maybe some kind of sexy-something-costume. She'd make a wanton witch, or vexatious vampire, or a sultry, sensual, seductive succubus. She'd look sexy in a paper bag, frankly.

  I went home to drop off the 'treasure' I got from that little girl. And by 'drop off', I mean 'throw away'. I immediately emptied the container into the trash with no regrets. Actually I did have one regret—that I couldn't simply have the thing incinerated. Or heck, exorcized by the Oversoul. That sandwich was nasty.

  I sat down and booted up my old laptop. I began writing about my first impressions of Bordertown. After a while, I found I was mostly fixating on Vikki Valliant. I wrote until I got too restless and noticed it was getting dark.

 
; Raven wasn't home, and there wasn't really anything else to do, so I went for a walk. I figured Raven was probably still at school. I wanted someone to gush to about my day with. I couldn't do that with dad obviously, since, well, he was there and saw it all. So it seemed sort of silly to talk about my day with him.

  I took a stroll down to the university, where I did indeed find Raven, at the steps outside the building. She was talking to someone—a very large someone—in a police cruiser.

  It was Sheriff Perry Porter, I realized. What was he talking to Raven about?

  I approached and Raven took note of me.

  “Hey bro,” she said.

  “Hey sis,” I said. “Sheriff. What's up?”

  “I was just telling Raven it's not particularly safe for young women to be walking home alone this close to dark. There's a prowler on the loose after all, preying on young women. I was just offering her a ride.”

  I took a look at Raven. She seemed a bit put off by this apparent act of gallantry. I wasn't sure why, since I'd missed the first half of the conversation. But then she scratched at the stump of her arm, and I surmised he'd omitted the part about her being particularly vulnerable only having one arm. A reminder Raven doesn't need.

  “Well that's okay,” I said. “I'll walk with her. We can protect each other, right sis?”

  “That's right,” she said.

  Sheriff Porter chuckled and gave a curt nod.

  “If you say so,” he said. “You kids stay safe now.”

  With that, the sheriff drove away.

  “Thanks,” she said, like I'd just saved her from some kind of socially awkward situation.

  “Thanks?”

  Raven shrugged. “I think he was trying to give me more than just a ride.”

  “Sheriff Porter?” I said. “Isn't he married?”

  “I don't know…I mean, have you seen that gut? He's like Jabba the Hutt in a police uniform. Honestly, who would marry him?”

  I shrugged. “I don't know. Don't women love a man in uniform? And with that gut, I mean…there's just more of him to love, you know?”

  “Ew, Gavin. Just…ew! No. No way. He seriously gives me that rapey, Harvey Weinstein vibe.”

  “Ouch,” I said.

  I resisted the urge to add a joke about vibrators. Because despite my shoddy track record, sometimes I actually can avoid saying stupid stuff. Sometimes.

  We began walking toward home together.

  “So,” Raven began, a block later, “how was your first day tagging along with Vikki?”

  “I thought you'd never ask,” I said.

  I proceeded to tell her all about it on the way home.

  “Ew!” she said, when I'd finished telling the story about the possessed girl, complete with her puking in my mouth. “Gavin that's disgusting.”

  “Yeah, but I swear I'm not making it up.”

  “Yeah but…ew…” she shuddered. “What is it? Gross-out-Raven Day?”

  “I thought every day is Gross-out-Raven Day.”

  “Nope.”

  We walked in silence for another block.

  “Hey, Raven…I'm thinking about checking out the Samhain Festival tonight in the town square. You want to come with and check it out?”

  “'Samhain Festival'?” she said. “You mean the 'Halloween Festival'? Gavin, honestly, who the heck calls it a 'Samhain Festival' anymore?”

  “I know, right?” I said.

  “Yeah, I was already planning on going. You got a costume already?”

  “No actually,” I said.

  “No problem,” Raven said. “I know just the place…”

  Chapter 28

  Ten minutes later, Raven and I had made our way to the Bordertown mall.

  The mall itself was quite large…not dissimilar to the Cornwall Centre back in Regina. The entryway to the mall appeared to be guarded by two more lifelike gargoyles at the entrance, one looking like a dragon, the other like a gryphon. The archway above read “Cretin Centre.”

  The place my sister was thinking of was a little shop within the mall called 'Casper's Masks'.

  We stepped into the store, and were greeted by a tall, sallow Caucasian man with shoulder length white hair. He was albino, I realized. He was pale as a ghost. Come to think of it, Casper may actually have been a ghost.

  I hope at least he's friendly!

  “Welcome strangers,” said Casper in an obsequious, almost Vincent Price-ian tone. “How can I help you young lovers find your every masked desire?”

  “Lovers?” I said. “We're brother and sister.”

  “Who am I to judge what the two of you do behind closed doors?”

  “No…Casper, we're not…ew! Just ew!” Raven objected.

  “Right. Of course you aren't. My mis—”

  “We're looking for costumes for the Halloween Festival tonight. Maybe we can just have a look around?” said Raven.

  “Ah, very good,” he said.

  Then Casper seemed to glide away.

  Raven and I picked through the racks, looking for anything promising. The place definitely seemed to be a costume shop, although only some of it was full-body costumes, and then seemingly right next to them, the sexy version. Like Abraham Lincoln, and then Babe-raham Lincoln. Isaac Newton, and then Isaac Cute-un. Cheerleader, and then Queerleader. You get the idea.

  Half of what we found there, true to the name of the shop, were masks. Rubber Masks of U.S. presidents, Canadian Prime Ministers, and various Monarchs. Masks of Pumpkin-head, Wolf-man, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. Masks for superheroes and Mexican wrestlers.

  Then there were all the latex fetish masks. Suddenly I got the sense I was in a sex shop.

  Then I kept going, towards a mysterious back room…

  Before I could step into it though, I found my passage barred by Casper the friendly masker.

  “Sorry, friend,” he said. “Employees only.”

  Casper had glided in front of me so stealthily, that suddenly, I had my doubts and I needed to check something. The touch test. I poked Casper in the chest.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as I poked him in the chest, feeling a very real corporeal body there.

  “Sorry, just making sure you weren't…um…a ghost.”

  “Why would I be a ghost?” Casper asked.

  “I don't know, Casper,” I said wearily.

  “Well I'm sorry, this area is off-limits.”

  “What's back there?”

  “Specialty items. Specialty orders.”

  “Like what?”

  “That's reserved for specialty customers.”

  “Specialty noted,” I said.

  Feeling awkward I grabbed for the nearest mask.

  “I guess I'll take this one,” I said. “It's…”

  I examined the mask. It was a leather bondage fetish mask, complete with a red ball-gag. I carefully put it back on the shelf.

  “On second thought,” I added quickly, “that Wolf-man mask over there looks amazing. I think I'll take that one.”

  I picked out the wolf mask, and the matching wolf's paws for them. I figured that would be easy enough to pair up with anything. And dressing like Wolf-man in a town full of monsters…what could possibly go wrong, right?

  Raven wound up getting together a wicked witch costume, complete with green face makeup.

  With our costumes ready, we headed home, got dressed-up, and headed out to the Samhain Festival.

  Chapter 29

  The Samhain Festival was held that night in the town square. This made sense location-wise, since it was the biggest piece of open land within central Bordertown. I was impressed by how quickly they got all their tents, speakers, and the soundstage set up. There were all kinds of attractions there. There was even a shooting gallery! I sure hoped that rifle the kids were using to shoot at bottles was only a pellet gun. But you never know with this crazy place…

  Everyone was in costume. At least, I think they were.

  “It's hard to tell what's re
al and what's a costume here,” I said.

  “I know, right?” Raven said, grinning, her face caked in green makeup.

  “I wonder where Vikki is,” I said. “I wonder if she'll recognize me with my mask on.”

  “Gavin, you made it,” Vikki said.

  Speak of the devil…

  I turned to see Vikki smiling back at me.

  Vikki was still in uniform, much to my disappointment, but she did appear to have somewhat accessorized it. She wore a red cloak, and a matching wide-brim hat, and on her back was a large crossbow. She'd somehow added some serious volume to her blond hair. Or was it that she'd put on a big blond wig? Because now she had hair like David Bowie in that movie with all the goblins.

  “I'm impressed you even recognize me with this thing on,” I said.

  I adjusted my Wolf-man mask with my Wolf-man paws.

  “I'd recognize you anywhere, Mister Masters,” Vikki beamed.

  Why did she have to be so cute all the time? I swooned silently beneath my mask.

  “And how's that?” I asked.

  “My training. I'm very good at recognizing a person's distinct gait.”

  “Even while I'm standing still? That's impressive.”

  “Also, you're standing right next to Raven, and you look like a couple of wallflowers. That's a dead giveaway.”

  “Oh. Right,” I said. “Duh.”

  The three of us laughed.

  “So…who are you supposed to be?” I asked.

  Vikki smiled and struck a pose, placing her hands on her hips.

  “Try to guess,” she said.

  “Vampire Hunter Dee?” my sister said.

  “Gender-swapped David Bowie from that movie with all the goblins in it?” I said.

  “Labyrinth! Yes. Thank you!” she exclaimed. “I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in this town who's seen that movie. And you're both right, sort of.”

  “Both of us?” my sister said.

  She nodded. “The idea was to be David Bowie: Vampire Hunter. Seems like you're the first two people to get it though.”