Phasmatta: -ch 3-

Chapter 3 - Planning -

Ryan drummed his fingertips along the diner’s table.

Staring out the window as he did so, he watched as people went about their normal morning routine. He’d spent the rest of the evening trying to coax the Nightmare into action, but dusk had already passed.

He’d been forced to wait for sunrise and then disperse it.

The new-kid had gone home at midnight, leaving Ryan alone in a strangers home as a Nightmare bumbled around in the closed off area Ryan had stuck it to.

In the end, Ryan certainly wasn’t going to be going to bed.

That meant breakfast, coffee, and a long nap at noon instead.

“The Nightmare was as strange as the Poltergeist,” Carl remarked. “It didn’t even try to fight you. It didn’t go willingly, but it didn’t fight either.”

Ryan nodded his head.

It was true.

It’d been an odd encounter, but not that odd.

In dealing with the dead, Ryan saw a lot of ‘odd’ things happen. A lot of strange occurrences that would never happen a second time, but also didn’t signify anything at all.

“The occult is always… weird,” Ryan murmured quietly.

“Here you are,” said the waitress, reappearing with an entire pot of coffee. She set it down on the table, along with a mug, and a small bowl of creamers. “Foods comin’ shortly.”

Ryan glanced at her, smiled, nodded his head, and looked to the mug.

“Has anyone died before?” Carl asked.

Shaking his head, Ryan didn’t respond. Instead he dumped four sugar packets into the mug, followed by two creamers, and then filled the coffee up to the brim of the mug. Sticking his spoon in he gave it several strong swirls.

“Think things will change?” Carl pressed.

A frown crossed Ryan’s face as he considered that. He leaned down and drank from the mug without lifting it. He’d overfilled it and trying to lift it was asking for trouble.

It’s a good question.

Marla and Michael got married, someone died, and they were already starting to wonder about closing up shop and selling it.

This could literally be a clarion call for them to pack it in.

Marla’s got that family farm thing, too, and that would be a solid exit for her and Michael.

Cindy said she’s too damn old for this as well.

“Hadn’t thought about it till you said it,” Ryan admitted then sighed as he stared at the top of the coffee. “Now that you’ve said it though and I’m thinking about it… I think that’ll be the end of the business. Because Cindy doesn’t want to do it anymore and Michael and Marla… got… married. They can just go do Marla’s farm.”

Ryan had struggled with those words.

He had only gotten into this job because he’d been dating Marla.

The only reason he wasn’t dating Marla anymore, was because he’d gotten into this job and been good at it. To the point that he was doing high risk jobs and Marla hadn’t wanted him to do them anymore

Except that… those high risk jobs… had made him feel alive.

Made him feel alive, put enough money in his pocket that he wasn’t in debt anymore, as stable as a life since being discharged, and had a career.

Or at least, he thought he’d had a career, that it’d been a stable life, and that he wasn’t just taking on debt in a different way.

Marla had ended things with him and there hadn’t been any ifs ands or buts about it. She’d decided that was it and moved on to Michael.

It’d made working for Cindy rather difficult over the last year and the nightmares had gotten worse.

“Maybe it’s time to move on anyways,” Ryan said to himself, sighed and lifted his coffee mug. He took a long drink of the liquid and thought about everything.

I’m a damn ghost of the man I think I am, trapped in a house of my own making, without the will or ability to move on.

Holy hell.

Raising his eyebrows at his own thought, Ryan nodded his head as his thoughts came to that sudden and unexpected revelation.

“Well shit,” he mumbled to himself and looked to Carl, then to those around him. Just to make sure there wasn’t anyone paying attention to him. “I was a ghost in my own life. Time to pack it up.”

“Oh good,” Carl said with a nod of his head. “I’ve been here too long. It’s boring. A new place would be good. Start over in a way.

“Thinking about joining a new outfit? A new hunting business? You’re good at it, after all.”

Ryan clicked his tongue as he thought on that question.

The waitress came up, set down bacon, sausage, and a rather large omelet.

“Is that everything you need?” she asked, giving him a perfectly standard ‘waitress smile’.

“Nope, this is great thank—” Ryan’s voice fell away as his phone started ringing. “I’m good.”

Picking up the phone he glanced at it.

It was Cindy.

Tapping the accept button he held it to his ear even as the waitress turned and left.

Moving away quickly to the next guest she was handling Ryan didn’t even get a chance to apologize.

“Morning,” he said into the phone.

“Hey,” growled Cindy. “Thanks again for… getting them out. Going ahead with that plan you put together.

“But that’s gonna be it for me.

“That was a bit close and honestly, there’s been a few close calls with the others. We always knew death was possible but… this made it real. Really real.

“So I’m done. We’re done. Sorry.”

Ryan took a breath, held onto it for a second, then blew it out.

“Alright,” he muttered. If he hadn’t just been having thoughts about this exact thing, he might’ve had a bit more of a reaction. “I guess… alright.”

“Giving you a bonus and two months pay as a close-out,” Cindy continued. “Also… I had someone reach out to me a few months ago asking about getting started in the field.

“I’ll forward you their number and email. I’ll also send them your information as well. They’re new but they’re working in an area that doesn’t have an active business that I know of. No competition.

“And I already asked around for the local businesses. They don’t do elimination, just investigation.”

Ryan wasn’t surprised at that.

Elimination wasn’t something many people wanted to get involved in. The risks were high and it could end up going wrong.

“I had to start out at somewhere, too, once upon a time,” Cindy continued when Ryan didn’t respond. “The person who contacted me actually wants to do elimination. This is your chance to be part of it from the ground-floor. If that’s what you want.”

Letting his eyes fall to the table, Ryan thought on that.

“Where?” he asked rather than answer her question.

“West Virginia,” Cindy answered immediately.

West Virginia.

West Virginia?

Well.

That’s… different.

I wonder if my knee will feel better there.

“Yeah, give me their information,” Ryan said and shook his head. “Maybe I’m heading to West Virginia in the end.”

“Her names Misha,” Cindy stated. “Eastern European. Had a background check on her just to make sure it wasn’t a stupid news crew or anything. She has some money. Don’t know the how or why but… she does.

“Not sure what country she’s originally from, but she’s got US citizenship and anything else isn’t readily available. I didn’t spend the cash to dig too deep into her but that’s what I got on the surface.”

“Misha,” Ryan mumbled, then shrugged. “I’ve always had a thing for an eastern-European accent. They hit those syllable’s so sharp. They enunciate so precisely. Are you thinking Russian, Ukranian, Polish, or something like that?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Cindy growled, sounding annoyed. “See ya never, money’s on the way, information is en route, don’t die, fucker.”

The line popped and that was the end of the conversation.

“She likes Marla as a daughter, and she’s conflicted about Marla marrying her son,” Carl offered up. “Because you’re a better man than her son and she knows it. He’s not suitable to take on the business, you are.

“She hates it. Hates all of it. She’d rather close the business than let Michael run it into the ground and get people killed.”

Ryan blinked, raised his eyebrows, and thought on that as he put the phone down in front of himself.

“Like last night,” Carl finished.

A breath caught behind Ryan’s lips, hanging in his chest as he processed that.

Only to nod his head.

Like last night.

***

Ryan wasn’t sure what to think of Noxfield West Virginia. It seemed somewhere between being a city and a rural nowhere. Where the center of it had an actual downtown, shops, diners, busineses, and all the things you’d expect in a city.

It spread out for a number of miles in multiple directions, in fact, and had an ‘urban sprawl’.

Yet it ended and almost abruptly.

It simply became hills covered in trees.

Trees as far as the eye could see at times it seemed.

There were also a handful of ridges and runs in short starts and fits of waterways that came and went. All of them joining to the Monogahela River, which was peppered with dams and locks, creating pools and odd long lakes.

Just beyond those hills were mountain farms in small hollows, green spaces, small clusters of houses and yards, smaller groups of what nearly looked like shacks, and even a few McMansions here and there.

As if the world that existed before today haunted the present. Clinging onto a center that was changing and spreading outward.

He liked it in a way.

Though to the south-east was a sprawling mountain range and a great deal of foothills all about. It was weird to him that the mountains were in every direction, rather than only the west, but he’d get used to it.

Adjusting his coat, he shrugged into it. It was warmer here than the mid-west and didn’t seem that horrible to him.

Though he wasn’t very fond of the humidity.

Truth of the matter was he felt rather warm in his jacket.

As he had the thought, a young woman walked by in a coat so thick he’d have used it himself in the middle of a heavy snow while shoveling a sidewalk.

He did note that she was wearing a university pant with some designation along the side. It didn’t mean much of anything to him right now but he imagined that any local university would huddle around this area.

Weeeeeeell.

I guess that’s adaptation for you.

Now… where’s our dear Eastern-European.

She said she’d be here in the email.

Looking around he stood there, waiting quietly, not particularly bothered.

He had a good stash of money he’d been saving up from working so damn hard. Not to mention the bonuses Cindy had paid him out in the end.

If he didn’t get a job for three years, he’d run out of money based on his current style of living. Bump along without much of a care in the world.

Right now, he was on ‘furlough’ in a way.

Easing up partially while looking into new jobs was definitely… relaxing. Far more than he’d expected it to be.

“You look better,” Carl reported. “You still haven’t used your level-up, though.”

Ryan laughed at that, shrugged, and looked toward the parking lot. He was outside of a small coffee and snack shop near the center of Noxfield.

“I feel better, Carl,” Ryan confessed. “I didn’t realize how just… trapped… I was there. How much everything had piled up around me. I was stuck in a salt circle waiting for someone to send me along.”

“Yes,” Carl agreed and let it die at that.

Ryan watched as a rather expensive looking hybrid electric vehicle came speeding toward the parking lot. It braked somewhat hard, took the turn, and bounced into the lot with a light squeak.

Turning the wheel, the driver quickly pulled it into a spot more or less in front of Ryan.

He saw it was a young woman with pale-brown hair that curled partially. Her eyes were a bright blue that reminded him of ice in a way. Sharp yet delicate features gave her a nose, mouth, and eyes that seemed to be carved separately than put on her face.

That perhaps they didn’t quite fit.

Her nose seemed straight as an arrow, her eyes a bit large, and her mouth a touch wide. Yet when it all came together, she was quite attractive.

Very much so, in fact. She’d easily turn heads and catch second or third looks from others anywhere she ventured.

“Tell me that’s her,” Ryan mumbled to himself, suddenly wanting very much for this hot woman to be his new boss.

“I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know,” Carl said in an odd tone. “But she’s different. She’s… not normal. I think she’s seen the other side a bit too closely.”

Ryan quirked a brow at that, smiled, and then waved at the rather pretty woman. Who was still sitting in her car.

Awkwardly, she smiled back, waved at him, then looked away and to the side.

It looked like to him she was picking something up.

Suddenly, Ryan’s phone began ringing.

Looking down, Ryan reached into his pocket, pulled out the phone, and saw it was from an unknown number. Tapping the accept button, he held it up to his ear and looked ahead again.

“Hello?” he said.

“Ah! Yes, hello, this is Misha. I just pulled up and… and… oh,” said a female voice on the line. Her words were crisp, pronounced sharply, and held that eastern-european tone that was unmistakable.

The woman in the expensive hybrid car was staring at him now.

“It’s you,” said the woman on the line, while the woman in the car’s mouth moved at the same time. A smile bloomed on her face and she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Apparently, it’s me,” Ryan said, tilting his head to the side. Then he grinned. “Hello, Misha. I’m Ryan.”

And boy howdy am I glad it’s me. What a knockout.

Misha’s smile became a grimace, she sighed loudly, then stabbed at something with a finger. Ryan heard the click of the line disconnecting and that was it.

She gathered up her things out of view of Ryan, opened her door, and stepped out.

Standing no taller than five-foot four she was a small thing and it made her figure all the better to be sure.

The door thumped shut, she locked it, and headed his way. There was an odd smile on her face as Ryan stuck his phone back in his pocket.

“I am Misha and I’m glad you’re here,” the woman said as she came to a stop in front of him. “I’ve been eager to… to begin my business, but I didn’t have the experience or… information to do it. I lacked both.”

“Oh? Well. I’ve got experience and information, but no one to organize jobs or pay the bills,” Ryan stated with a small dip of his head. “Does that make you peanut-butter, or jelly? Are you the sticky type that you have to wipe off the knife, or the wriggle one that gets everywhere.”

“I am… bread,” Misha answered, snorted, and gestured at the shop behind him. “Shall we go?”

Bread?

Bread.

That’s not the answer I was expecting. Or even thought was possible.

But… I like it.

Really should say something like, ‘then I guess I’m peanut-butter and I look forward to spreading out all over you’.

But that’s just forward as fuck and not me at all.

“Alright,” he allowed, took several steps, then pulled the door open. “After you. Because I think we’ll have a good bit to talk about and honestly… I’m hungry. Supposedly they’ve got some great pepperoni rolls here.”

“Pepperoni rolls… like… the frozen… things?” Misha asked, her brows moving together as she pulled her purse closer. She entered the building ahead of them and looked around.

Once she spotted the front desk she moved toward it and got in line. Her head turning to look to him even as she came to a stop.

“You know, I don’t know, but I sincerely doubt that,” Ryan admitted with a grin. “This is my first day here. I got here last night.”

“Ah. Yes. This is true for me as well! I flew in last night once you agreed! I’m a bit jet-lagged but I think this is worth it,” Misha said, smiling at him.

“Uh… didn’t… you want the location to be here? Cindy told me that you had said that this business would be Head Quartered in West Virginia?” Ryan asked as the line slowly moved forward.

“Yes! That’s correct. I didn’t have a reason to be here until I was able to begin,” affirmed Misha with a laugh. One that sounded rather pretty and delicate. “I have everything rented and ready but… no one to help begin this! Now I do, hopefully.

“That and— ah! Yes, hello!”

Misha had turned to address the cashier.

“I want… pepperoni rolls. And coffee. As much caffeine as you can put in it, please,” Misha order stated in crisp and perfect syllables. Her eastern-european accent bleeding through strongly. There was no consonant swap that he was expecting though. Her diction was perfect, just accented. “Here is the card. I am paying. He is ordering as well.”

Setting down the card in front of the cashier, Misha then turned to look at Ryan with raised eyebrows.

Unable to argue, Ryan stepped up to the cashier, smiled, and shrugged.

“The same please, thanks,” Ryan clarified and just watched.

Misha made polite store-small talk with the cashier, got the receipt placard, and then gestured to the tables while moving to a back corner.

Following along behind the young lady Ryan sat down a second after Misha had taken her own seat. With how she had put her hands together in front of herself, looked to him, and then leaned forward, he got the impression she was eager to talk.

“Now,” Misha stated even as Ryan took the seat in front of her. “I want to hire you. I need you to teach me all about this. I will hire others, purchase gear, and do what must be done.

“But you must help me build the business. I want to expand and handle all of the jobs in West Virginia. If possible, I’d like to expand into Virginia as well!”

Ryan nodded his head at that.

He understood the words, but the intention, and what was behind it, was… off.

At least to Ryan.

The problem with this business was people just didn’t know it existed. Those who did, couldn’t prove much of anything except in extreme situations. Even then, when something did happen, the government made it go away.

For one reason or another, they didn’t want ghosts to be ‘known’. If anything came up, it got spun up into a conspiracy theory, a tv-show, a bunch of people who sounded crazy.

They didn’t interfere with the business side of it, but they certainly didn’t allow it to go loud.

That meant prices were odd and often way under the price of the effort going into it. The only way it wasn’t, was a lot of contracts, high prices, and a reputation by word of mouth.

Misha would have none of that and this would be a money pit.

“Why?” Ryan asked with a shake of his head.

“Reasons of my own,” Misha answered with a small shake of her head. It was a smile that made the area around her practically glitter with how pretty she looked. “I will pay you well, equal to what you were at your last job with a five-percent increase. I will give you any equipment we might need to make the business work. I will hire more than enough people to make this successful.

“Business, cars, advertising, I’ll handle it all.

“But… my reasons are my own. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that… they’re my own. Now, Ryan, do forgive me, but we all have our secrets.

“I ran a background check on you of course, but I didn’t read into it beyond asking the PI to tell me if ther was anything I needed to know about you.

“He assured me that you’re everything you will likely claim to be, and there’s nothing in your profile that would cause an issue. I will ask you nothing, nor dig into, anything you aren’t willing to tell me person to person. Can you gift me the same courtesy?”

Ryan’s spine stiffened at the idea of someone had looked into him.

Nor could he believe the idea that she got he information about him, but didn’t read it.

“I don’t think she’s lying,” Carl mumbled from where he sat in an empty seat nearby. “I get the impression she just… got too close to the afterlife. For one reason or another. Now she wants to understand it and has the money to satiate her need.”

Yeah, not sounding like a kid again.

Carl… I swear you’re older than me by years if not from when you died.

“Well,” Ryan began. “How do you want to start then?”

“I have a job,” Misha blurted out, her lips turning up into an even larger smile. “We can go tonight.”

“Tonight,” Ryan repeated, chuckled, and shook his head. “Well. We’ll… look it over. You don’t just jump straight into a job. You have to research it first and look into it. Ask around, get details, that sort of thing.”

“I have all of that as well,” Misha said with a wave of her hand.

I… what?