HEY THERE, DEMONS

V

"If you knew that your life was merely a phase of your entire existence, how would you live? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do – all the exciting things they no longer can."

— Chuck Palahniuk

This was weird. Even Olive would testify to how freaking weird this night was.

Shane made true on his promise just like he said he would, three steaming bowls of ramen sat around the creaking wooden dining table with cutlery and water glasses surrounding each one. The two men sat silently, frozen in their seats gawking at the sight. For the first time in forever, Olive felt awkward under their gaze, which was completely ridiculous considering neither of them could actually see her. Still she shuffled in her seat and averted her gaze back again to the table.

'Great meal you guys..' she sighed, knowing full well neither of them could hear her. It was like she was both present but also not there at all. They stared stunned at her with keen eyes even though what they really saw was an empty chair and the sound of metal chiming as she rested her fork against the chipped china bowl occasionally.

Although from her end, the night seemed to take a twist for the more tense and weird, it was nothing compared to the night her favourite ghostbusting duo were having. Ryans blood ran cold when he saw the empty wooden chair saved for Ollie move sharply backwards and then forwards again unprompted, as if someone had dragged it towards themselves, taken a seat and politely tucked then their chair in under the table again. That move even had Shane on his toes but that was just the small talk compared to the main course.

Every now and again Shane and Ryan would share a sideways glance at one another, just to make sure the other one saw that they we're watching. And yes, they sure were. Now from her perspective the act of picking up her designated fork, collecting a pile of noodles strung loosely to her utensil and then bringing it up to her mouth was normal. She wasn't exactly able to eat but the movement of bringing food to her face as if she were able to take a bite, and then lowering it down again as if it wasn't there anymore and she would be able to retrieve more, it was comforting. Like there was still blood pumping through her veins and food, warm and flavourful on her tongue. To sit at a table with living, breathing people and act the same way as they did was nostalgic. She liked it.

Until she realised all the boys could see was a floating metal fork, lifting a pile of pasta upwards before dunking it back into the bowl, retrieving a new one and dropping it back again. Occasionally the half full glass of water would float up to the same level the fork did, angle downwards and pour splashes of water onto the wooden chair, only to then be placed back down again on a cup holder, out of respect for the glassware of course. She was a ghost, not a truant.

Yeah okay, this was weird.

"You know Ryan," Shane was the first one to breach the silence. It was tense but not out of fear, maybe just genuine awkwardness? "I'm struggling to find an answer to this one." Awe and breathlessness was shared around the room as they waited for the dream to end, for the two of them to wake up at home, safe and comfortable. It never came.

"Any other time I'd love to hear you admit that ghosts are real, but this is just-" Ryan paused to let out a heavy breath he didn't know he'd been holding "this is too weird." he sighed, dropping his fork onto the table with an obnoxiously loud clatter. He suddenly had no appetite.

Shane stared at his friend as he shuffled in his seat uncomfortably, whole body visibly tense and skin pale, missing the natural warm blush that usually painted his cheeks an inviting shade of pink. His lips were peeling from being bitten all night out of anxiety and his hands trembled ever so slightly where they sat perched under the table.