Fallen Ash

Chapter Thirty: Morning

In the dead of winter, Ash sometimes suspected morning would never come, like the Celestials had banded together without her and voted to turn off the sun. Inevitably, it did though, and dawn split the firmament in two as they returned to the place it all began: the train station.

They had walked through the night - stopping to stare out into the inky waters by the docks, resting by monuments and on half walls when their conversations became more intense and taking detours so that he could revisit places that sparked the kind of memories that brought him joy.

For he wasn't just saying goodbye to Izzy anymore. He was saying goodbye to Lylet. It wasn't forever, but she needed to get him out of Heather's jurisdiction as soon as she could.

He pointed out venues where he had played guitar to a crowd of intrigued onlookers. He had felt like a rockstar, but the group's performance had been graded. He showed her the cafe on the corner where he would sometimes bump into Izzy while she was out with her friends. He talked about the cowfish in the city aquarium, and the bar which had milk crates instead of chairs. The night his friends had convinced a group of strangers that they were Spanish tourists who spoke no English and stole a traffic cone from a section of roadworks that were no longer there.

He remembered the names of songs he had listened to in certain places, those memories of wandering the streets etched into his memory, along with the emotions he had been feeling at the time. Stress, anger, frustration, elation, melancholy, anticipation, wonder. He colored the city of Lylet and showed her the things she had never noticed - gargoyles in strange places and philosophically minded pieces of graffiti that had resonated with him.

He told her which bars to avoid because they were sleazy, and which ones to go if she wanted to listen to what he called 'decent music'. When she gave him a puzzled look, he forced her to sit on a curb and took out his earphones so they could listen to a playlist he had curated until they were so cold they needed to move again.

Ash began to see what he had seen all along.

"I came here for the first time when I was fifteen," he told her with a smile. "My friend's dad drove us in so we could attend this gig. It wasn't a small band - they were in all the magazines - but it ended up being in this small room in a basement because they were debuting new music before their album dropped. The singer was at the bar after talking to everyone, and he signed our tickets. I was completely starstruck, and I realized this place was different. Totally different. No snobbery, no bullshit - just good music and vibes. I decided then, I was going to live here one day."

He shrugged sheepishly.

"There's more to it than just the music," he muttered in embarrassment, "but everyone has their reasons for coming here, I suppose."

For Ash, Izzy's main haunt seemed to have been the library, but Austin soon corrected that assumption. They walked by the sprawling urban park where she had sat with a beer in one hand and a book in the other in the summer, then a street with cupcake shops and vintage warehouses that she would visit when bored. Everything was closed, but Ash could imagine well enough. He pointed out the art house cinema where she would go with her friends, and in the central shopping district, he told her precisely where Izzy bought her clothes, as well as the place she would have bought her clothes if she could afford it.

Although she wanted to, Ash didn't mention that she had met Izzy, albeit in her spectral form. What she had told him had already been far too much to swallow in one night, and she didn't feel like explaining the logistics of hauntings or the existence of lost souls. Meekly, she listened. And gratefully, he talked.

She supposed she could have forewarned him - that over the coming days, he would likely learn of her infidelity, and would have no way of defending herself. She couldn't find the right words though. Ultimately, she wasn't a mouthpiece for Izzy. Ash had done everything that was asked of her, and wouldn't interfere any further.