The In-Between and After: A Ghost's Story

The Thought

Bell watched as Shelby hung onto the side of the bus as the turn approached. She thought hard about what he said, she couldn't believe he would even entertain the thought that she wouldn't wait for him. Her mind went blank as they felt the bus slow for the turn. She turned her head as he let go, not wanting to see what was bound to be a rough landing. She slowly opened her eyes and Shelby was no longer there, she phased her head out through the door and saw him lying there on the ground for an instant before the bus turned the corner and she lost sight of him. She walked back down the aisle and sat down on McGregor's perch. She hoped they weren't hurt too bad. The bus chugged along, she had heard stories about Buffalo. Wanderers had always avoided it, rumors that wanderers going missing around the area.

A few minutes later, the signs for Buffalo began coming more frequently, the rural landscape began surrendering to the urban sprawl. The early morning streets didn't have much traffic so the trip through the city toward the bus station was quick. The warmth of the city was a welcome feeling, bell thought as she began to see people on the street, a few ghosts here and there, along the way. Seeing the city, a thought entered her mind, thinking back on her talk with Shelby. Maybe she could just go on, walk away from the whole thing. She was a wanderer it's what they do. The wanderer's code - out here you're alone, no past, no future, just the gift of the present. It's you against the world, against time, against the cold. This wasn't her fight. She knew better than to stick her nose in someone's else's business, especially Slav business. The whole train of thought made her feel sick, though she didn't know if it was the thought of leaving knowing her friends were in trouble or the thought of actually staying and facing the trouble herself. She closed her eyes to think. As the stops got closer in frequency she opened her eyes and figured it was time to hide.

She slunk back, phasing into the bathroom, just in case any curious ghosts don't happen to see her if they decided to look in when the stop. A few times during the trek through the city, she decided to peek out of her hiding spot to see what was going on, though only barely phasing out enough to see before returned back inside. The bus pulled into the station, a few tight turns and them the brakes screeching to a halt. Bell went quiet and hoped the stop wouldn't take too long.