Page 116 of Squad Ghouls

Bronwyn produced a cast-iron pan from somewhere and waved it around like she’d personally kill him again if he so much as thought of leaving.

Barth took his hat off and rested it against his chest, wailing the farewell shanty at the top of his lungs.

Popty was pinging so loudly it was making my ears hurt.

Owain was full-on crying now, and the entire thing was getting out of hand.

They were all begging and pleading and shouting over each other. There were memories and promises being brought up, deals being made, oaths being taken, and threats being issued.

Andrew stood in the middle of it, clearly overwhelmed, but I couldn’t tell exactly by what. Because he was looking at them all with so much yearning and love and devotion, but at the same time, the pain and the fear raged inside him. It was so obvious if we knew what to look for.

He was closing his eyes against the onslaught of emotions being thrown his way. I could see his fists tightening against the salt barrier. He was visibly shaking, and as the shouting continued I felt like we might be getting dangerously close to the side of Andrew nobody really liked.

“ENOUGH!” I yelled over the screeching, and they all froze.

Absolute silence. The shock was palpable in the air. Owain’s huge eyes locked onto mine and he stared, mouth slack and bare legs trembling.

Popty pinged, but it sounded distant, barely there, even though I could clearly see his shadow peeking from the open drawer of a random chest down the stairs.

“Ryan?” Owain sniffled.

“You’re all too loud and this isn’t a screaming match,” I said, channelling my inner Owain. “We need to use our inside voices.”

“But he said—” Owain started.

“No. He’s speaking out of fear and emotion and doesn’t really mean it.”

“Ryan!” Andrew stared at me, appalled. “I thought you’d get it. You’re in this just like I was. You wouldn’t want to turn into this, would you?”

Fuck, he knew where to hit. But I had to resist the urge to agree because something else was at the root of this.

“What happened?” I asked and he paused, eyes wild and pleading still.

“You know what happened,” he said. “I trusted someone nobody should trust.”

“Ger…” I started but Owain gasped before I could finish.

Andrew shook, closed his eyes, and curled his hands into fists, but he held on to himself. He pushed through and stayed.

“Sorry,” I said.

“No,” Andrew said. “Don’t be. A name shouldn’t turn me into that thing. A voice shouldn’t send me spiralling. I shouldn’t be a ticking time bomb around people I can hurt.”

“You’re not like that all the time, though,” I said. “So clearly you have some semblance of control over it. Can’t you just…do some breathing exercises to stay chill?”

He looked at me like I was an idiot. And I probably was, but Owain was crying and that wasn’t something I could just sit and take.

“I can’t breathe my way out of being what I am,” Andrew said. “I can’t even breathe.”

“I didn’t mean that literally, man,” I said. “But we’re not exorcising you, so you can cross that off your list of solutions. We need a plan B. Or whatever letter you’re on.”

“There is no—” Andrew started, but I shook my head.

“I know you know,” I said. “You’ve got that bookworm vibe written all over you. And as the first ever employee you’d have read everything there was to read to prepare.”

Andrew looked away before sighing and running a hand over his ghostly face.

“I’m a vengeful spirit, Ryan,” Andrew said. “The only thing other than getting rid of me that would help is to give me what I crave.”