Ghost of You//BBC Ghosts Fanfiction

Chapter 2

And so, with Barclay's departure, Emily turned on her heel and went back inside Button House. Little did she know, she was being followed.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, she's still here. Don't you break anything, young lady, some of these antiques in here are hundreds of years old!" Fanny scolded as Emily ran her hand gently along the suit of armour.
"Cool." She muttered to herself. She stared at it in awe.
"Come along, Fanny. She's not doing any harm, as of right now." The Captain said, earning a nod of approval from Pat.
"Best to just let her get it out the system, Fanny. These young 'uns need to be able to have their own fun before they start following the rules. I learned that when I was on camp." Pat said as he fondly reminisced his memories as a Scout Leader.
"I still think it's lovely that we have a new Allison." Kitty giggled; her and Mary exchanging smiles.
"Now, now, Katherine. We must remember that Emily can't see us like Allison could." The Captain said, adjusting his tie as he brought the naive-minded ghost back down to earth. Kitty frowned.
"If only theres was a ways." Mary sighed, reciprocating Kitty's disappointment.
"Well, we could, ah, you know, um, ah-" Robin made pushing movements with his hands as he spoke.

"Absolutely not!"

The Ghosts all turned as they saw Thomas Thorne emerge at the doorway.

"What is it, Thorne?" The Captain snapped. He was still rather irksome from their row earlier on in the day.
"I am nothing short of ashamed by you half wits-you heathens-you wazzocks!" Thomas shouted. "Pushing young damsels out of windows at any opportunity you get!"
"Well, we weren't implying that, Thomas. We were just trying to figure out a way to make her see us!" Pat explained with a shrug.
"You will do nothing of the sorts." Thomas retorted, defensively. "So much as lay a finger on her and-"
"If she sees us she'll be able to listen to your poetry, Thomas."

...

"Where's the window?"

***
Unbeknownst to the half-assassination plot being discussed just rooms away from her, Emily took the liberty of further exploring Button House.

One of her favourite finds was that of the grand piano in one of the rooms upstairs. She had little expertise on playing piano; it was a hobby she had always been meaning to pick up but never actually started. Seating herself on the stool, she brushed her slender fingertips along the ivory keys, and started to play.

***
"It's absurd, if you ask me." The Captain stated, hopping slightly on the balls of his feet. "I mean, what if you seriously hurt her?"
"Allison was fine!" Kitty whined.
"After she recovered from her broken neck." Humphrey retorted.
"No one asked you, Humphrey!" Thomas said, his fists now curling into frightful balls.
"No one ever asks me." Humphrey mumbled to himself, before closing his eyes to sleep. That was all the poor head could do, aside from hope that his body would miraculously find him.
"This is ridiculous." The Captain muttered, before leaving the others to their bickering.

"Hang on a minute, guys." Everyone stopped and turned to Pat. "It's all good arguing over whether we should push Emily out the window, but...the one person who can actually do that isn't here?"

***
The Captain was nothing short of surprised to find Julian in the same room as Emily. He was stood over her, watching her play with the piano keys, and occasionally wincing whenever she played a key wrong or out of tune with the previous notes. The Captain stiffened, before walking slowly over to them both.
"Wasn't expecting to find you here, Julian." The Captain said, smiling wryly at the MP. Julian looked up briefly, before returning his gaze to the piano keys.
"Got bored listening to those fools argue about pushing a child out of the upstairs window." He replied with a sigh.

The Captain found himself raising an eyebrow. He had noticed Julian's protectiveness over Emily, but never questioned it. He admitted that he, too, felt somewhat a duty of care over the girl, but this was much more out of character of Julian than he.

"Ah, can't say I disagree with you on that one, Julian." Captain said, adjusting his tie as he spoke.
"Well, that's the first. Something we actually agree on." Julian laughed to himself. The Captain found himself smiling, too.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes longer, watching Emily as she tirelessly played the same tune over and over again. She reached a point where she kept getting the last note incorrect, and each time she did this, she grew increasingly more irritated.

"Every time." She growled through clenched teeth. She ran her hands through her auburn hair in frustration, before returning them to the keys.

Except this time, she would not get the tune wrong. Just as she was about to play the final note, Julian, with all his might, pushed the key.

The note rung out in the silent room. The Captain's eyes widened; he could not believe Julian had actually done it. He looked at Julian, before returning his panicked gaze to Emily.

Emily's breathing had suddenly become staggered and heavy. Her shoulders had gone rigid, and she merely stared at the key that her hand was still levitating inches above. She had seen the key move on its own. But surely?

She rubbed her eyes wearily and pulled her phone out of her pocket, glancing at it only quickly to see the time.

12:30pm.

Upon seeing this, she jumped to her feet.

"Crap!" She muttered aloud. She was due home fifteen minutes ago to help her mother with the shopping. Zipping her khaki green coat shut, she frantically fled the piano room, and made her way to the front door of the house.

"Such racket!" Lady Button shrieked as she watched Emily run down the stairs.

"Where's she going?!" Pat asked as he, followed by the other ghosts, stood at the window, watching the young groundskeeper leave the house.
"Home, I presume." The Captain replied, clearing his throat after he spoke.
"But...but Julian was supposed to be pushing her out the window!" Kitty wailed.
"No, I'm not. I wish you would all stop asking me that." Julian replied shortly.
"Yous has no problems doing it to Allison." Mary argued.
"Yes, well. Change of heart, I suppose." The MP said quietly. He watched as the teen closed the gates behind her, and became a small dot as she grew further and further away.
"Since when he have heart?" Robin said, before laughing to himself. The other ghosts laughed along, aside from The Captain, who also watched Emily leave.

They would not push her out the window. Not as long as he was there.