Ghost to Paradise

Chapter 1

CA-CO-PHONY

In my usual corner, I sit with my arms wrapped around my knees. My human’s snores go in one ear and out the other, and soon, I’m sitting in silence. Alone. I hold myself closer as a dreadful sensation crawls up my spine. I stare down at the short purple chain that haunts me like I haunt my human. The chain that only extends a few yards. The same chain that binds me to this wretched human world until the end of my human’s life.

Dark thoughts begin to shoot through my mind. I close my eyes, but it only makes things worse. I’m alone. For how long? Kill my human. Possess her body and do it! I’m fine. I’ll just wait until she dies, and then, I’ll die. And then… My head spins, doubling over the uncertainty afterward, but in an instant, I jump to my feet, allowing my human’s snoring to fade back in.

I take a deep breath—back to reality—forcing the bad thoughts to the back of my mind. My gaze then fixes on the dastardly chain before following it up to my human, and my face twists into a scowl. Her name’s Kiara, but she’s not that important. Plus, she reeks of alcohol, her wretched odor polluting the entire two-bedroom apartment. If an adult were ever present in this house on the weekends, she’d surely hear a mouthful.

Inching over to her with one hand covering my nose, annoyance plagues each of my heavy footsteps. When I pass by one of her many narcissistic mirrors, I keep from looking at myself—or rather, what I’ve become. I know what I look like, barefooted and dirty; I know I wear a dull tattered gown with holes in its flowery design. And underneath, spandex shorts cling to my golden brown yet ashen skin. I’ve looked like this since I got to this ghostly purgatory sixteen years ago.

Leaning over her bedside, I whisper, Sweet nightmares.

Then, I reach out and touch her shoulder, and she shakes a vicious shiver. Her snores cut out. Her eyes tighten, scrunched up like her face, and the tension travels through her body and forces her hands clenched. Yet after a moment, her snores fade in again, and we do this same rodeo until she finally wakes up.

Four-thirty in the afternoon already? she yawns at her cellphone, scooting out of bed. She checks her messages and finds one from her mom, asking her to go grocery shopping because she’s working another double shift. I mouth her catchphrases as she says them. Ugh, again? She’s always working—how annoying. Fine.

Humans are so predictable.

By the time she showers, clothes herself, and finishes getting ready, I ease into her mother’s cramped Volkswagen Beetle and pretend to strap on my seat belt. Then, I brace myself, latching onto the car door and my seat. Because beside me, once my human’s seat belt clicks, she hammers on the gas.

I fly forward, and my grayish brown hair flies with me, my tight curls swaying to-and-fro on this rocky adventure. She floors it, brakes, and swerves all the way to the grocery store before zooming to an abrupt stop in the parking lot.

Snatching the key from the ignition, she creeps out of the car like a celebrity in disguise. She wears tinted sunglasses to cover her hangover eyes and baggy clothes, which look like she’s obviously trying to hide something. But I sigh, letting it go, and hurry after her into the grocery store.

Because this is what I’ve been waiting for all week—all fun, all games, and all pranks.

As soon as we enter, I wave at a bunch of fellow ghosts, who all simply glare at me. The ashen pallor of their skin reminds me of mine, serving as a permanent souvenir of this seemingly eternal hellhole. Nevertheless, it’s always packed inside here no matter what time of day, and I love it. The more people, the better.

My human stops in the fruit and vegetable section, scrolling down her mother’s long list, and practically swipes everything in sight. As we continue on to the first aisle, I look down in her cart and see a bunch of greens: spinach, kale, avocadoes, and celery. But I know the truth. Like every week, she and her mother buy all these fruits and vegetables in an attempt to be healthy, but her mother is always working—too busy to cook. And Kiara is too lazy to cook, so they’ll just end up tossing them and resorting to takeout.

Stupid humans, I mutter, as we stop in the first aisle.

Her phone rings, and she picks it up. Hey, babe, she greets, her voice rising an octave. I miss you too. Happy birthday!

I suck my teeth at her. Because for one, that’s Chesnutt High’s infamous drug dealer—a.k.a. her ex-boyfriend. They hang out together at parties and have secret rendezvous but couldn’t care less about each other—not even enough to cuddle after sex. Hence her wishing him a happy birthday but likely not going to see him today. Two, she doesn’t miss him, especially since they just got drunk together last night. And three, birthdays aren’t anything to celebrate. Humans are just one step closer to death, meanwhile ghosts can’t even age.

So, what are you doing for your birthday? Work, really? Her voice reduces to a hushed whisper. "You shouldn’t be doing that stuff on your special day.… Money isn’t everything, Josh. …"

Wandering down the aisle, I weave in between the many people and their ghosts, making awkward eye contact and cheap smiles with the latter while walking through numerous purple chains. My fingers whisk across the canned goods, and I knock one over.

The store’s too noisy—no one reacts.

So, I keep moving and knock over three more. They plummet to the floor and make loud pop and clink noises, and I spin around, reacting like everyone else.

Oh my! an old lady with lively gray hair shouts in fright, the three cans rolling at her feet.

The aisle full of humans stare at her, and her eyes widen. She shakes her head, peering from the crowd to the cans on the floor. Th-that wasn’t me.

I duck my head, giggling.

Seriously? the old lady’s ghost says to me. I hate it here as much as you do. For once, can’t you just make things easy on all of us?

A slew of dead eyes turns to me, but just as I shrug them off, a high-pitched giggle sounds. I turn toward it to see a young girl, about my age, walking toward me. She wears a strawberry-colored bralette with harem jeans and sandals, showing off her pink toenails. Her tall, slender figure resembles that of a sculpted model, but her round baby face tells a tale of naïve innocence.

That was pretty funny, she says across from me, her long, frizzy hair dangling over her shoulders.

A smirk tugs at my mouth as the other ghosts go back to their boring, nonexistent lives. Thanks, I say before sticking out my tongue at the rest of them. "At least somebody has a sense of humor! Agh—"

My chain yanks me from the aisle like I’m some pet, and I stumble over. Grumbling, I stomp after my human who puts her phone away before weaving into another aisle. My vision instantly locks on my next victim, and I hurry to knock packets of instant ramen into their cart. However, a waving hand cuts me off.

You’re welcome!

Mid-grab, I turn and come face-to-face with the same high-pitched girl. I raise a brow at her, releasing a packet of instant ramen into a random human’s cart. Huh?

She nods with bubbly, light brown eyes, the same color as her hair and peanut skin. I love a good prank, though I’m not so good at pulling them myself. I’d rather watch.

Confused, I stare at the rambling motormouth in awe.

But then again, this is the first prank I’ve ever seen—or remember—so I guess I’m not too sure. I actually just got here about a month ago, and I’m kinda confused. Everything is…

I roll my eyes, ignoring her. Oh, a newbie.

Resuming my pranks, I wander down the aisle after my human and sneakily knock cans of soup into random humans’ carts. Later, I’ll laugh if I see them scrambling and confused at the cash register. A few ghosts catch me pulling this prank in the next aisle, but they don’t say anything. Instead, they do what ghosts do best: play dead.

Meanwhile, the new girl follows me around like an annoying house fly. Her plump lips stay in constant motion while she gestures her hands with every other word. She paces beside me as if we’re attached at the hip, working my nerves.

When I got here, at first, I was scared, but then I was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool!’ I haven’t been able to explore much, but I really want to. Can you show me around?

I start to tip a bag of candy into a human’s cart.

Only if you’re not busy!

Her loud voice startles me, and I knock the candy over with a little too much force, sending it flying to the floor. It slams down with a low clap, not nearly loud enough to cause a scene. I ball my fists at the wasted prank.

If you are, I’d completely understand. We can just hang out some other time, considering we’re friends and all.

Friends? I shout, louder than intended. I whip around, step to her, and jab a finger at her chest. I don’t even know you! You just started following me and talking my ear off, ruining my fun! Leave. Me. Alone.

In an instant, her grin downturns to a frown, and her lips begin to quiver. She drops her head and puts an arm over her face, sniffling.

I furrow my brows at her in confusion before stalking off. That’s when I see all ghostly eyes on me. Even though their blank expressions remain the same, they stare at me as if I’ve done something wrong. "Tch. What are you looking at?" I yap at one of them.

Finding my human at the end of the aisle, she browses an assortment of chips and popcorn with a hand to her chin, scoping the entire selection, and I know this is going to take a while. Still sniffling in the same spot, I look back at the new girl. She cups her rosy cheeks with both hands as her shoulders shudder.

I roll my eyes at her dramatics, but then a pang strikes the left side of my chest—where my heart’s supposed to be. With a sigh, I trudge back over to her. She continues sobbing, so I reach out an awkward hand and pat her shoulder. There, there. I didn’t mean it.

She looks up with bright eyes. Really?

Yeah, I grumble.

Yay! She pulls me into a sudden embrace, and my body goes stiff. I’m so glad we met each other. She pulls back. My name’s Rina!

Slixx.

Oh, cool name! I think we’re gonna get along well.

Backing away, I nod with a cheap smile. Yeah, yeah, see you around.

However, just as I turn around—

Hiya, Slixx! Eddy beams, jumping in my way. Tall and lanky, he wears his standard ankle bracelet, tattered jeans with loose frays dangling around his calves, elbow pads, and a plaid shirt. His skin isn’t quite as dark as his thick eyebrows, but it comes close.

Just great, I grumble, another inconvenience. I flash him the usual leave me alone look, but he just smiles at me in awe. When I sidestep right, he sidesteps left. I go left. He goes right. Finally, I meet his dull hazel eyes with a glare.

Now you gotta talk to me, he says.

Over my dead body, I say snidely, pushing past him.

He giggles. Technically, we’re already…I see what you did there. He maneuvers around and stops in front of me, again.

What do you want? I snap.

Hi there! Rina greets, rushing over to Eddy. She hugs him with a big squeeze, exchanging names, while I try to sneak away. But then she throws an arm around me. Any friend of Slixx is a friend of mine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of my human leaving the aisle, knowing this to have been her last stop, and my palms grow clammy. Our short chain begins to extend, but I know it can only go so far. She’s going to check out. Time’s running out, and I haven’t even pulled the grand finale prank yet.

Rubbing my hands together, I casually look both ways for my last victim. First, I spot an old lady, but two of those in one day would be boring. A soccer mom? Her reaction probably wouldn’t be satisfying. I gloss over a sea of kids. A young man in a suit? He’s too far away. I scan the horde one more time, and an elderly man strikes me. His ivory skin and sharp nose draw me in.

I head for him with the slickest grin—

Slixx! Rina and Eddy call out, cutting me off mid-stride.

I glance over at my feeble old target who picks up eggs—he doesn’t even have a ghost, perfect—but he, too, begins to leave. What? I grit through my teeth, fuming inside.

Did you know Rina’s new? Eddy asks.

I shoo them away as I lock on a new target, creeping toward a young, blond girl. Yeah, yeah, I think I remember her mentioning something like that.

Mhmm, just got here about a month ago, Rina says, her and Eddy following me. I’ve spent most of my time in the hospital with a baby—

Approaching the blond girl, I crinkle my fingers back, readying for a good Scare, but then she runs off to her parents. A sigh escapes me. Your human.

My human? Rina asks, a childlike finger to her lip.

Eddy nods. Yep, every ghost here is ‘born’ with a baby, and that’s your human who you’ll be attached to for the rest of your time here.

In this dead hell, I mumble.

How cool, she beams. How long is that?

Looking past her, I study her chain, which is actually long and snakes out of the aisle. Then, I glance back at her starlit eyes filled with hope, and a thick slick of jealousy wells in my chest. That’s how it always starts between ghost and human—happy and loving—until the resentment sets in and hatred grows with each passing pointless day. Until your human dies.

Slixx, Eddy scolds. "How morbid. It’s until they pass on."

Whatever.

My chain tugs before reeling me in like a caught fish, so I follow my human to checkout, Eddy and Rina at my heels. They chitchat back and forth about her new crappy life, while my human places items onto the conveyor belt. I fade into the background, desperately trying to pretend I’m elsewhere.

Well, now that I’m here in this ghost world, what am I supposed to do? Rina asks. Are there, like, ghost police, or ghost jobs, or ghost hospitals? She chuckles. That’d be cool.

Unable to help it, I flick my gaze to her, deadpan. No.

So, what then?

Before Eddy can answer, I smirk, knocking a pack of gum into my human’s cart. You can do whatever you want. We watch as she picks it up among other items, puzzled, before shrugging and tossing it on the conveyor belt with everything else. I chuckle. See, Rina. No rules. Just fun.

However, her smile downturns to a frown.

What’s wrong? Eddy asks.

I glance over at my human paying for her cartful of bagged groceries, relieved that it’s almost time to leave.

Rina gulps. What happens to us after our humans die?

And just like that, a familiar wave of dread hits me. The same horror from this morning—that same horror that I’ve experienced nearly every day of being a dead shadow. I clench my jaw, dropping my head. It’s as if a hand grabs my throat, choking me into despair. Dark clouds invade my mind as I shut my eyes. What will happen to me after my human dies?

"Bliss!" Eddy blurts out, snapping me back to reality.

Huh? Rina asks.

"Bliss? I repeat, rolling my eyes. Not this again. This is why everyone thinks you’re the local town crazy. I palm my face as we all follow my human out of the store. Look, Rina, don’t listen to him. That place doesn’t even exist."

Rina knits her brows, her attention shifting between me and Eddy.

"Just because you and everyone else refuse to believe the truth doesn’t mean it’s not true. Eddy tosses his hands behind his head, the sunlight highlighting his rich chocolate skin despite the ashen hue. Do you even know what Bliss is?"

My human hurries through the parking lot as if paparazzi will pop out at any moment, while I desperately search for my last victim. My head whips in every direction, but no one’s within reach except a brunette. Annoyance plagues my temples, knowing there wouldn’t even be an audience to laugh at. No. Uh, somewhat. Maybe—I don’t know.

Eddy chuckles. "Bliss is like—he taps his chin—a garden of sweet peas flowering under a bright sun. With animals everywhere, especially dogs. And it’s supposed to smell like pure goodness and sweet sugared almonds—so I’ve been told."

Oh, that sounds lovely! Rina says.

If it were real, I snort.

Once we arrive back at the car, I throw up my hands in a huff. Forget it, I grumble, sliding into the passenger seat while my human puts the groceries in the trunk. Today was a bust—

Slixx!

I jump in my seat with a gasp.

Come with us, painfully familiar voices call out in unison.

Whipping around, I turn to see Eddy and Rina. Their faces and hands are pressed against the car window, and they smile with the biggest grins. What the…? Are you two following me?

Eddy raises a brow before gesturing at a middle-aged man loading groceries into a luxury car beside us. The man wears a crimson bomber jacket with wrinkly jeans, but I don’t get a good look at his pale face. A purple chain does link from him to Eddy’s back, though. "Well, that’s my human, Mr. Strife. Soooo, no."

My human’s across the street, Rina says, giggling between words. It’s his first time outside the hospital, so I thought I’d finally explore.

I cross my arms. Whatever.

Is that any way to talk to an old friend? Eddy asks.

"Eddy, we’re not friends."

Really? Rina asks. I just met you guys, and you two seem pretty close to me.

Eddy dips his chin. Exactly. And what do you call frequently running into a pal—for over a decade—and catching up?

A crazy person trying to start conversation with the same stranger over and over again, which is kind of creepy, I say.

Backing away, his smile slacks, and somewhere deep inside, a part of me aches for him. Even Rina pouts, rubbing Eddy’s shoulder. I try to shake the feeling, but his now sad puppy-dog face moves me.

"Eddy, look, you’re not all the way crazy—or that creepy."

In a snap, his mood chippers back up. Really?

I dip my chin.

Then come with us.

Mhmm, come! Rina chimes in.

Where?

"To Bliss."

I roll my eyes with a sigh. Thankfully though, my human settles into the car, straps on her seat belt, and turns the key in the ignition. She then flicks on the radio to some mainstream song and blasts the volume.

Waving at me, Eddy and Rina try to get my attention. Their mouths move, but I let the loud music carry me away as we back out. Sorry, can’t hear you! See you around!

We speed off without a second look back. However, as we come to a hard stop at the sign, my human’s phone rings. She looks at the caller ID, rolls her eyes, and turns down the radio before answering. What, babe?

Hey, hey, what’s with the tone? I overhear him laughing.

Actually go celebrate your birthday instead of fake working.

"Selling is a real job."

"Not when it’s done illegally."

Tuning them out, I palm my face as we turn onto the street. They bicker back and forth as per usual, and the onset of a headache strikes me. I massage my temples, but ever since they first met, it’s been misery on my mental. (And yes, ghosts get exhausted, too.)

Whatever, Josh, my human says. Bye.

No listen, I’m in kind of a pinch right now and need a favor—

She hangs up on him, tossing her phone on the passenger’s seat.

Hey, I snap as it goes right through me. Then, instead of turning left back home, she makes a right into some popular fast food restaurant. You have got to be kidding me. Stress-food?

I’m sure mother won’t mind, she says to herself, taking out her mother’s credit card. She then pulls up to the drive-through window, and the intercom greets her. I predict her regular plain dry sandwich order before tuning her out, again.

After they hand her the food, she veers off right to get back on the main street, but then her phone rings. She ignores it, though, waiting for the busy intersection to clear, and I ignore her, gazing out the window. I stare at the bright sky, annoyed by its beaming sunlight that I can never feel. A couple with a cute puppy crosses in front of us, and my face scrunches in revulsion since I’m not able to pet animals either. But then my eyes befall a big dumpster near a dark alley, and within that alley, I squint at a familiar human face surrounded by a bunch of thugs in black hoodies.

Is that…? I ask aloud as if she can hear me. The more I squint, the more I recognize that face from last night. My stomach tightens into knots, knowing whatever’s over there must not be good. Josh?

Oblivious, my human simply turns up the radio, humming to the beat.

I keep my eyes peeled on the alley and the thugs closing in on Josh. Half of me yearns to mind my own business, while the other stupid half longs to help. Do something! I wave in front of my human’s face, but obviously, she can’t see me either. I pat her shoulder, but she just shivers before turning on the heat. No, no, no…

Suddenly, a silver flash twinkles from the alley as one of the thugs pulls out a weapon of some sort. They all charge at Josh, but he stands his ground. Meanwhile, I stare in awe. A rush of horror suddenly overcomes me, and my palms moisten like thick fog. If I had a heart, it’d surely either stop or beat out of my chest. I gulp, dread nearly paralyzing my limbs.

But just then, I jump into Kiara’s body and melt into her limbs before swerving the car toward the shady alley.

Chapter 2

Stranger Danger

Ghosts possess an ability called Possession. This means that they can jump inside humans or animals but for only ten minutes, and if used for the entire time, Pepto-Bismol-like side effects may occur. It’s also worth mentioning that the same human can only be possessed once a month, which takes the fun out of it. (Luckily, I’ve been saving mine up for a good prank.) Overall, Possession is pretty safe—as long as ghosts don’t get into any trouble.

Unfortunately, my middle name (in my past life) must’ve been Trouble.

SKRRRT!

I pull up in front of the alley and hop out of the car, storming toward the scene. The thugs stop dead in their tracks, staring at me (Kiara) in confusion. I charge between them, counting five thugs total, and Josh.

What’s going on here? I demand.

Now up-close, I see that all the thugs have knives pulled out, but that doesn’t faze me. One of them has a ghost. While on the opposing side, one of Josh’s feeble dealer friends stands beside him—hunched over in fear. I doubt he’d do much damage, but either way, they’re still outnumbered.

Chuckling, the middle thug laughs first, clearly the leader, and the rest follow suit. A purple chain extends from his back up to the sky, so perhaps his ghost has strayed. Who’s this bitch? he scoffs.

As if on command, I hawk and spit at his foul mouth, and the phlegm lands at his feet. His smirk drops. The rest of the thugs’ laughter ceases. I stare each of them down until Josh calls my—I mean, Kiara’s—name twice.

He pulls me toward him. What are you doing here? he asks in a low voice.

Was just in the neighborhood. You looked like you needed some help. I side-eye his friend who quivers in fear. Both of you.

Josh shakes his head. Nah, this ain’t no place for you. I’ll be alright. Just go.

Yeah, you heard the guy, the leader mocks from behind. Get outta here before somebody gets hurt.

I open my mouth to reply, but Josh cuts me off.

Hey, Ronny, relax. I told you I’m gonna get you the rest of your cut so lay off.

"That’s what you said last time, Joshy. I thought we had an understandin’. If all the money’s not here in Ronny’s hand, then that’s your ass. Ain’t no such thing as comin’ up short twice—unless you stealin’ from Ronny. He snarls his nose like a bulldog, twirling his knife about his finger. There’s two types of people I hate in this world: liars and thieves. He points his knife at Josh. You were supposed to be my boy."

Josh holds up one hand. Relax, Ronny. I said I got you.

Ronny heads toward us first, and then the rest of the thugs follow. Nah, that ain’t good enough no more.

Suddenly, all the thugs break out into sprints. They charge at Josh and his scared friend, but the latter takes off down the alley. Two of the thugs chase after him, while the other three tackle Josh. Everything happens so fast, catapulting me into a whirlwind. They slam Josh against the wall, and he lets out the loudest grunt. I grab one of the boys with all my strength, but he knocks me down. I hit the ground on my back, and a sharp pain seizes my body. My vision toggles over Josh. He yelps as they beat the crap out of him, punching and kneeing him.

A rush of adrenaline surges me to my feet, and without thinking, I scan the alley for a weapon. The dumpster catches my eye first and then a rusty old crowbar. I act fast, retrieving it, and I whack one of the thugs over the head.

Crying out in pain, he hits the ground with a thud. I keep swinging, though, and hit another’s side. This one stumbles back but doesn’t fall, and it is then that fear overcomes me.

Ronny rises tall before storming at me. You bitch!

Kiara, run! Josh yells.

One second, I look over at Josh’s bloody mouth, and then the next, a knife blinds my vision. I try to lurch back, but Ronny cuts across my neck and chest—or rather Kiara’s neck and chest. A fiery pain devours me, tears unleashing by the bucket. I choke up blood before grabbing my neck. Blood squirts out and stains my hands as I fall to the ground.

Once Kiara’s head hits the pavement, her body spits me out like a lost cause.

Ronny, we gotta go! one of the thugs cries out.

I pat my ghostly body even though I come out in one piece, but then I stare in horror at