In The Flesh

Chapter Two.

That night, there was a storm. A full moon. And Robin sat in the rain howling all night. Thomas paced and Mary couldn't sleep. Lightning flashed at midnight, striking the highest point on Button House.
There was no damage, luckily, but the next morning, something was different.
"Morning, Thomas," Alison yawned. She was up earlier than usual, due to her weird cravings, and was cooking up shrimp and lo mein noodles.
"Goodmorning, dear. Lovely day, just like you," he flirted, wandering into the kitchen. "Goodness, I'm hungry-" he yelped as he smashed his hip against the table. He rubbed the pain away, wide-eyed.
"I thought you guys could walk through tables," she said, not too concerned. But Thomas looked at her, horrified.
"We usually can..." he whispered. They heard a thump against the wall opposite of them and looked up.
A muffled, "Ow!" came through and was followed a moment later by Kitty rubbing her head and waltzing through the kitchen door.
"That was silly of me..." she said, embarrassed. Their gawking was interrupted by three rings of the clock. But no scream. They waited a full minute in silence before the captain marched in and said, "Well, it seems Fanny has finally gotten over her...phase. Good thing I have a well-tuned internal clock, or none of us would ever be on time for anything." He stuck out his chin and smiled until he noticed all of them staring at each other.
"What?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Is it my uniform-" he bumped his baton against the counter and gaped.
"What the he-"
"AYE! BAD MOONAH DID SOMEFIN-" Robin's barking was stopped suddenly as he smashed into the wall like Kitty had. Thomas gasped as he heard the caveman swear loudly.
Right then, Mike was walking down the stairs, stretching.
"Oi! What's all the noise? Is 'ere someone here-" he stopped in his tracks as he saw the ghosts standing in the kitchen.
"Tell me I'm dreaming," he said to Alison. She shook her head.
"Can you-see them?" she asked.
"YES. I can see them," he told her, his eyes huge. The captain gaped as Thomas glared at him openly.
Julian sauntered in, casually and said, "What's this then? A meeting for LOSERS anonym-" He gasped as he ran straight into the table. Thomas winced.
"OH MY GOSH THAT HURT-" Julian groaned, his hands covering his crotch. Mike gawked.
"So YOU'RE Julian!" he cried. Julian looked at him.
"What the heck is going on?" he asked simply.
The next twenty minutes went something like: Alison woke and gathered all the ghosts in the living room. Mike stared at them and the group calmed each other while making introductions with the husband. They decided to wait out the anomaly and see if it wore off.
Mike was chattering away with Julian, much to the awkwardness of Alison, when the MP suddenly said, "And hey, mate," he said, leaning in to talk quietly. "Do you have any trousers I could borrow?" Mike nodded, and rushed up the stairs.
"This is weird," Alison said, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. Thomas clenched and unclenched his fists.
"Alright," he said. "I'm gonna have to do this at some point and I'm not missing my chance again-" he stomped towards Alison, who moved slightly, thinking he would step past her. Instead, though, he wrapped her up in a tight hug and kissed her passionately. Her eyes flew open and he was out of the room before she could even respond.
"What the-Oh my-" she stuttered, her eyes wide. Fanny huffed in disgust as Julian sneered.
"Hoo-HOO...sAuCeY..." he mused. Mike entered the room then with a pair of purple sweats.
"It's all I got, mate," he said apologetically. The MP groaned, but slipped them on. He collapsed on the couch with a happy sigh.
"I didn't realize how cold my legs were all this time..." Mary scrunched up her nose at him.
"'Tis be devil's work, that t'we be heres." she stated. Pat shook his head.
"I don't think so, Mary. Seems pretty rad to me..." He tried. Mary crossed her arms, and Robin copied her.
"Ee-yeah. Is devil. Me can't play with lights anymore." He whined. Julian looked at him.
"Mate, now you can actually turn the lights on and off..." The MP said condescendingly, Robin stared at him then ran to the light switch and shouted in excitement every time the kitchen light lit up, then he rubbed his fur and smiled at Julian.
"Ee-yea, dat cool." He said. Mary rolled her eyes. Pat looked awkward but excited in the corner, when he suddenly jumped and said, "Alison!"
"What?" She asked, her face still slightly confused at what just happened with Thomas.
"Can I eat something? Please?" He asked, his eyes hopeful. His voice was squeaky and desperate, and every other ghost looked up at Alison in unison.
Alison chuckled and led the way to the kitchen. The group began cooking up different dishes, toast, eggs, coffee, tea. Julian found a box of biscuits that they all fought over as Alison started sauteing salmon. Mary mixed up a batch of mashed potatoes and gravy and Pat drooled over everything. None of them ate, though, until the table was set and covered in the feast.
They each took a spot, all except Thomas, who Alison could only assume was still hiding in fear of Mike's wrath. Though Alison had decided to keep the incident to herself.
She made a toast and lifted her glass of wine. Julian was already gulping out of his, and Pat elbowed him hard in the ribs. The MP sputtered and pulled his glass away from his lips.
"To...Life." she finally said.
"To living," Pat revised with a grin. Alison returned it.
"To living," they said in unison. With that, they each tipped back their drink, including Robin who was utterly baffled by the taste of fermented grapes in his glass.
He tasted a cup of tea, and after his eyes widened happily, he took Mary's and sipped it gleefully. Mary clicked her tongue at him playfully, and he snuck a peck on the cheek. She smacked his arm, blushing and dug into her plate of potatoes. Alison stood and quickly whipped up a bowl of berries and cream.
Pat scarfed plateful after plateful and Julian drank cup after cup of wine. The captain tried to look like he wasn't hungry, but Alison caught him taking big bites of eggs and toast. He continually sprinkled pepper across everything, which Fanny audibly gagged at. Kitty was oohing and ahhing over the taste of the fresh strawberries Alison had laid out and cautiously nibbled on a piece of toast.
"Here," The captain said suddenly, fixing a slice of toast with some cheese on top. He handed it to Kitty, who shook her head.
"Oh, come on, it's not expired," he assured her, taking a small bite just to prove it. "See? Now just try it, dear." Kitty reluctantly took it and bit down. She chewed carefully as the captain looked at her with a twinkle in his eye as she smiled.
"What did I tell you, Katherine? Well done." He said with a smile. Kitty grinned and scarfed the rest as the captain fixed her another piece.
Alison and Mike exchanged a glance. They had both seen what just happened, and it had warmed Alison's heart massively. She excused herself and went to find Thomas. She walked up the stairs and yelped as she bumped into someone in the hall.
It was Humphry. His eyes were wide and confused.
"Um," he said from atop his body. He felt around his completely intact neck. "So, maybe today was a bad day to sleep in, but-" They heard a yelp from downstairs at the same time.
Alison raced down to find Pat without an arrow in his neck. He looked happy but confused.
"Why am I just now noticing that?" He asked. Julian reached out to steal a biscuit from the scout's plate, and Pat smacked him away without missing a beat. Alison shrugged at him and turned to run back up the stairs again. She could hear Mike talking excitedly to Robin, and smiled to herself as she approached Humphry.
"I'm, very confused," he began as Alison patted his arm. He gaped at her.
"Yea, it's real." she said. "There's food downstairs, now go." she commanded. The tudor bumbled down the steps and Alison continued looking for Thomas.
"Thomas-Listen, I-" she stopped as she found him in her room, looking at something in his hands. He turned around, his brow knitted in confusion as he held her phone tightly.
"Who is Rachel?" he asked, his voice cracking.