Red Rain

Chapter 8 - No Light, No Light

"I take it you know who I am?" Freddie asks as Fionna and I gape at each other.

I'm the first one to recover my voice. "You said Steve Walker wanted to see me? What, is today Dead People Reunion Day or something?"

"Sort of," says Freddie. "It's not All Souls' Day weekend for nothing, buddy. Now are you gonna come with me or what? You can come along, too," he adds, beckoning to Fionna. "What's your name?"

"Uh...Fionna Lee. And wha...okay, I'm a bit freaked here. More than a bit freaked, really."

"Yeah, so was I when the Aqua Killer got me." Freddie sighs, then looks back at us and sees that we're staring at him blankly. "Okay, got a little ahead of myself there. I'll let Steve explain it all. He's got a better handle on the situation than I do, I think."

Freddie sets off again, heading directly towards Balthazar before remembering that there's no cable car up the hill here. He then turns east, making his way toward the road leading up to the school.

Fionna and I stand there staring for a while longer before Freddie turns around and waves at us, calling, "Come on, then! Or am I gonna have to tell Steve I couldn't find you?"

I look at Fionna once again before muttering, "Screw it. I've had enough of being run into by dead people," and following Freddie. Fionna stays behind for a moment before jogging forward to catch up with me.

"Alex, what's going on?" Fionna asks me.

"You know how there was a dead guy at my school?" I ask. Fionna shakes her head, and I press on. "Steve Walker was the dead guy. And then yesterday, after I talked to you, I ran into him in the woods."

Fionna whistles. "Holy shit. Any particular reason why they're haunting you? Wait...w-wait a sec - Freddie's the..." Fionna pauses, looking at Freddie again. Even though she's only seeing him from behind right now, I can spot a glimmer in her eyes as she recognizes him as one of the Three Guys. "Oh my God. He's the same one who-"

"Who threw out that drunken asshole who was harassing me on Monday night?" Freddie finishes Fionna's sentence for her. "Yeah. If I'd have known it was the last cool thing I'd ever do, I'd have videotaped it for posterity. Or, at least, for my cremation." He stops and looks around - we're halfway up the delivery road. "Um, okay. Sorry, I don't know this place too well anymore. It's been years since I've delivered up this way."

Freddie spins around again, looking east towards the woods - the same part of the woods where the party was held last night. Having gotten his bearings again, he walks off the road, around the trees. From here, it's a five-minute walk to the clearing, where the remains of the campfire still sit, charred black.

Steve Walker is sitting on one of the rocks. He's changed out of his hospital gown since we last met, and is now wearing more ordinary clothes - jeans, long-sleeve white tee, black glasses, and a gray beanie. Next to him sits a woman I've never seen before, a small, mousy woman in her late twenties with a pixie haircut, holding a notepad and pen in one hand. The other is touching the infinity scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Hey, Krause," Steve says. "Told you you'd find him easily."

"Are you sure he's the one?" Freddie asks.

"He fits my description perfectly, doesn't he? Hey, Snow," Steve says, standing up to shake my hand. I return the gesture with more than a bit of reluctance, and am surprised to find that he's still solid. Maybe ghosts, or whatever Steve is, have some kind of sensory projection ability or something so they don't phase through people or objects? "How goes it?" he asks.

"Considering I'm on the point of having my bloody head explode," I say, "I'm fine, thanks." Behind me, Fionna chuckles nervously, probably a bit more amused than she should be by my use of Hellish cursing. "This is Fionna Lee, my...uh...friend." Why did I not say "girlfriend?" I have no idea. "Fionna, this is Steve Walker."