After school that day, the group found themselves standing in front of the Abernathy residence on Moonset Drive. Their house was probably the most normal looking in the entire neighborhood. No boarded-up windows, no observatory extension, just a regular house where a family of ghosts resided.

  When Jesse rang the doorbell, it was surprisingly Cindy and Tommy, the two children, who answered instead of their parents.

  “Oh it’s you!” Cindy said brightly. “Did you bring Ashton with you today?”

  Alicia looked apologetic. “Sorry, not this time.”

  Ever since Halloween, when the family had watched over her brother after he’d wandered away, both Cindy and Tommy had become extremely attached to the boy, becoming fast friends in the way that only small children could. The two would pester Alicia whenever she visited the neighborhood, asking her to bring him along so that they could play together.

  “Aw, phooey.”

  “We actually wanted to talk to your parents,” Jesse told them. “Are they around?”

  “They are, but they’re busy right now,” Tommy said. “All the grownups are outside talking about boring stuff.”

  “They’re having a meeting.”

  “A meeting?”

  “Cindy, Tommy, who’s at the door?” Barbara, their mother, appeared in the foyer behind her children. “Oh, you four. What a pleasant surprise.”

  “Sorry, is now a bad time?”

  She smiled warmly. “No, no. By all means, join us. We’re just in the middle of our monthly community meeting.”

  “We don’t want to impose-” he started, but she waved him off.

  “Nonsense, you’re all practically a part of the neighborhood by now. Besides, it’s nearly over. It would already be over by now, if only someone didn’t insist on talking in circles on every point.”

  She led them outside where rows of folding chairs had been set up in the backyard, nearly every single one seated with a monster. Hank Harwood stood at a podium in front of them all, leading the meeting. Cynthia stood off to the side of him, giving a rather impassioned speech.

  “-All I’m saying is that since there is a grandiose statue of Zachary Grave right in the middle of Gravewood, it's only right that Alice should have one as well.”

  There was a murmur of agreement through the crowd.

  “That’s a mighty fine point there, Mrs. Vanderwebb,” Hank said. “Perhaps we could-”

  Mr. Pennyshire, who was seated at the very back of the audience, raised his hand. “Excuse me, Hank, but if I may?”

  Hank looked caught off guard. “Oh, sure, by all means. It ain’t often we hear your opinion at these meetings.”

  “That’s because I rarely have anything to contribute. This, however, does fall within my realm of knowledge, as I would like to remind everyone that Alice famously despised having her likeness captured. In fact, the portrait I possess of her with her brother and Hamish Harwood might be the only surviving painting of her. She would loathe the idea of a statue.”

  “I understand that,” Cynthia responded cooly. “But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a statue of her, rather a monument in her honor. Something to memorialize her. After all, Gravewood wouldn’t be here if not for her.”

  Hank cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure we could come up with some wonderful ideas that would make everyone happy, but unfortunately we’re going to have to table this discussion for next meeting, seeing as we’ve already gone way over time. I hereby announce this Gravewood community meeting adjourned.”

  With that final statement, everyone got up and started gathering the chairs to stack against the back fence of the yard. Jesse and his friends stepped forward to help, but it looked like the monsters had the process down to a science, cleaning everything up in matter of seconds.

  “Siobhan,” Cynthia said when she saw her. “I trust Jesse told you about my offer?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’ll both be there.”

  “Excellent.” She nodded in approval before skittering off.

  “Kids, I didn’t see y'all there,” Hank greeted as he approached them. “What brings you to our meeting?”

  “We just came by to see the Abernathys’,” Jesse explained.

  “I would have thought that meetings would be held at your house,” Alicia said. “Since you're like the mayor around here.”

  Hank laughed. “We’re a bit too small to have a mayor. We like to keep things democratic in Gravewood; I just act as a mediator. But to answer your first comment, we hold the meetings here so it’s less of a hassle for the Abernathys’.”

  Siobhan cocked her head to the side. “Less of a hassle for them?”

  Walter appeared out of nowhere next to her, seemingly sensing they were talking about him and his family. “Us ghosts can only travel so far from our sources. They can be moved, but it’s a tad more convenient to just hold the community meetings here instead of working out with someone to pick us up and take us back.

  “And sources are...?” Noah prompted.

  “Why, they’re the objects that tie a ghost to the mortal world, of course. They come in all sorts of shapes and forms, but they usually held some sort of significance in the ghost’s previous life. I could go on, but I’m sure you kids didn’t come all the way out here to listen to me ramble.”

  “Actually, we did,” Jesse said. “We’re interested in learning more about ghosts and were hoping that you could teach us?”

  “Well then, you came to the right place, sport!”

  As everyone else left through the back gate, Walter showed the kids into the house.

  “Honey,” he called into the empty hallway. “We have some students to teach!”

  Barbara poked her head out through the wall that separated the living room from the rest of the house. “Students?” she asked.

  He gestured to the group behind him. “These eager beavers here want to learn about ghosts. And what better teachers to have than Gravewood’s very own?”

  “Oh, how exciting. It’s not every day we get asked for our expertise.” As they were led into the living room, she patted the cushions on a sofa near the front window. “Come, sit, sit! Before we get into it, can we ask why the sudden interest in us?”

  They took turns explaining (with as little reference to their school and normal lives as possible) that there were rumors going around the town about a haunted house, showing the picture on Alicia’s phone that she had screen captured.

  Walter adjusted the transparent pipe in his mouth with a thoughtful smile. “And you all want to do a good old fashioned paranormal investigation? Sounds like we got a group of regular Ed and Loraine Warrens over here.”

  “We’d be happy to help. Ask us anything you’d like.”

  Jesse figured he’d start them off with the questions. “You mentioned source objects earlier. Can you explain a little more about those?”

  “Why certainly,” Barbara said. “First thing you need to know, though, as that there a few different types of ghosts, and what kind of personality a human had in life will determine what type they become when they die.”

  Walter held out his hands to help demonstrate. “On the far end of the specterum- ha, see what I did there? On the far end of the specterum, you have apparitions. They’re relatively weak and harmless, barely able to hang on to the mortal plane. Some of them might not even realize they’re dead.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Then you have us, your typical run-of-the-mill ghosts. We’re not as weak as apparitions, but most of us can’t do anything fun like the stronger ghosts. We call those spirits. Spirits typically had an intense desire to remain in the mortal plane when they died; much stronger than ghosts or apparitions. They might have had some good they still wanted to do in their life-”

  “Or bad,” Walter interrupted grimly. “Spirits are also the most dangerous type. They tend to be motivated by revenge, to get back at the people who wronged them when they were living, and while that may be all well and good for them, most of the time they don’t care who gets caught in their crossfire. It’s not uncommon for regular humans to get hurt by vengeful spirits. And sometimes when a spirit is so consumed by hate and revenge, they can completely lose themselves.”

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter what type a ghost is, all of us have sources-”

  Walter cleared his throat. “Sweetheart, I think you’re forgetting something.”

  She huffed. “I’m not forgetting, I just didn’t think it was relevant to their investigation.”

  “Better to be thorough then to give them half an answer.”

  “All right, all right. There is another type of ghost, even stronger than spirits, called revenants, and most of the normal rules of ghosts don’t apply to them, such as the fact that they don’t have sources. However, revenants are exceedingly rare and I’m positive that whoever is haunting the house on River Street is not one of them.”

  “You’re probably right about that,” he conceded. “Anyway, to get back on the subject of sources; most ghosts have them, and they function as anchors to the mortal plane. Like I said earlier, they’re usually something that held sentimental value to the ghost during their life, and they represent their desire not to pass on yet; to remain in the living world.”

  “What are your sources?” Noah asked.

  Walter tutted. “Now, that’s a very personal question, young man.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

  “I'm just joshing you, sport. Our sources are our wedding rings.” With a loving smile, he intertwined his hand with Barbara’s, who beamed back.

  “Aww,” Alicia and Siobhan cooed, and Jesse agreed. It was romantic, if a bit sappy, but it reminded him of how his mom and dad used to act around each other when he was younger.

  But his heart sank when he remembered that the two lovebirds in front of him were ghosts, and so were their children. He shifted uncomfortably. “Um, this may actually be a personal question, but can we ask how you died?”

  Barbara’s smile turned sad. “It’s alright, Jesse. We don’t mind, as long as you forgive us for not going into detail. It was around the summer of 1955 that all of us, including Cindy and Tommy, were caught in a house fire.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Then he did the math. “Wait, so you all have been ghosts for almost seventy years?”

  “Not exactly. See, usually it’s not enough for a person to have a strong attachment to the mortal plane to become a ghost. Sometimes their sources have to be ‘disturbed.’ Stolen from their homes or even plucked right out of their graves. What happened with us is that all of our sources were retrieved from the remains of our house and kept in a storage facility for decades. Then, only a few years ago now, they were sold away during a yard sale. We had been together as a family for so long that we were dormant, but being separated by different buyers is what caused us to become ghosts. Fortunately, the two of us stayed together, since our sources were sold as a matching pair, but Cindy and Tommy got dragged off to different sides of the town.”

  Jesse leaned forward, completely drawn into the story. “So, what happened next?”

  “Hank Harwood happened. Bless his heart, he’s always on the lookout for any wayward monsters who might need a new home. He caught wind of what happened and tracked down each of our sources, bringing them here to Gravewood so we could live together again.”

  “Well, not exactly live...” Walter said.

  “You didn’t pass on once you were reunited?” Siobhan asked, confused.

  “It’s a little more complicated for a ghost to ‘go back to sleep’ than to ‘wake up’, so to speak. After that whole ordeal, we all decided that we wanted to remain in the mortal plane for at least a little longer and enjoy our time together as a family.”

  “But we didn’t mean to get so off track,” Barbara said. “We’re supposed to be teaching you all about ghosts, not oversharing our history. Was there anything else you wanted to know about?””

  Alicia held her hand up. “You mentioned ‘power’ earlier, like some ghosts are more powerful than others. What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “Right, of course! All of us ghosts can phase through solid objects, walk through walls, that sort of thing. Something that only ghosts and spirits can do, however, is move things; apparitions just aren’t powerful enough. “

  “That’s cool. Can you show us?”

  Walter and Barbara shared a look.

  “This is a tad embarrassing to admit, but Tommy and Cindy are actually much better at that sort of thing than we are. We have a hard time moving even the smallest of objects.”

  “I think it’s that youthful energy,” Walter quipped. “‘Youth is wasted on the young’ and all that.”

  “Tommy, Cindy, could you please come down here for a minute?” Barbara called out.

  The two children abruptly appeared in the living room causing Jesse to jump.

  Walter smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Right, we forgot to mention. Some ghosts can also teleport around, within the range of their source, of course. It’s also another thing that the kids are better at than us.”

  “Sweeties, our guests here want to see a demonstration of your talents. Do you mind showing them what you can do?”

  Cindy and Tommy exchanged a look, a silent conversation passing between them.

  “We could...” Tommy started, drawing out the words. “But only if they promise to bring Ashton over sometime soon.”

  “Now kids,” Walter chided. “This is no time to be trying to bargain with our guests.”

  “But there aren’t enough kids our age around here!”

  “What about the Harwoods?”

  “There’s only Leah and Rory and we play with them all the time.”

  “Well what about the others, like Samantha?”

  “Samantha’s old, she only cares about sports and going to school.”

  “And Tyra’s really old.”

  “And Kyle’s lame and old.”

  Their father frowned. “That’s not very nice to say, and that also doesn’t mean we need to use poor Alicia’s brother as a bargaining chip.”

  “It’s alright, Mr. Abernathy,” Alicia assured him before turning to the children. “I promise I’ll bring Ashton over sometime soon, okay?”

  “Do you pinky promise?” Cindy asked, holding out her pinky.

  Alicia hesitated for a second and Jesse could sympathize. After all, he remembered what it had felt like when he had tried to shake Walter’s hand once, and it wasn’t something he was eager to repeat. Tentatively, she wrapped her pinky around the little girl’s, which, surprisingly, it didn’t phase through.

  “Oh!”

  Cindy looked back at her parents proudly. “How’s that, mommy?”

  “Very impressive, sweetie. Not many ghosts can touch living people.”

  “Hey, Cindy, heads up!” Tommy suddenly yelled. He threw a rubber ball that he had grabbed when no one was looking, aiming right for her head, but she let out a yelp and teleported away before it could reach her.

  “You were supposed to catch it,” he complained.

  “And you’re not supposed to throw things in the house!”

  “Nuh-uh, mommy gave us permission.”

  “Let’s keep things civil, kids,” Walter said. “Next time make sure she knows you’re about to throw it to her, okay champ?”

  “Okay. Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  They played a short game of catch right there in the living room, throwing the ball back and forth a couple of times between them.

  “Ta-da!” Cindy said, catching the ball one final time and tucking it under her arm.

  Jesse and his friends gave them a polite round of applause.

  Walter beamed proudly. “Thank you, kids, for that lovely demonstration.”

  “We can keep going!” Tommy said. “How about we-”

  “No, that’s alright!” Barbara said quickly. “We don’t need any more ghost powers getting out of hand, and we especially don’t need to call Hank to come fix something you accidently broke again.”

  “Aww, okay.”

  The two ghost children disappeared, probably back to their rooms upstairs.

  “Whew. That’s one crisis averted.”

  “Did that sate your curiosity?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Jesse told them.

  “You’re welcome. Of course, spirits can do all of that with ease. Some are so powerful that they don’t even need to touch things in order to move them. I reckon that whatever is in that haunted house is probably one of them, moving dolls and other stuff around to give people a fright.”

  “I think that’s about all there is to know about ghosts,” Barbara said. “I mean, I’m certain there’s more we can tell you, but nothing else that would help with your investigation.”

  Jesse cleared his throat. “Actually, there’s a question I have. You said that a person could become a ghost if they had a strong desire to keep living and their sources were disturbed. Are there any other stipulations? Like, are there any other requirements to becoming a ghost?”

  She looked thoughtful. “Well, it’s certainly more common for folks to become ghosts if they met an abrupt end rather than passing away peacefully.”

  “So, if a person died suddenly and someone were to disturb their source, would that turn them into a ghost?”

  Walter frowned. “I suppose it would, though why you want to do that is beyond me.”

  “I don’t want to,” he said, a little too quickly. “I was just asking hypothetically.”

  Siobhan raised her hand. “I have one more question. We just plan on investigating the house on River Street; to see if there really is a ghost living there. But if it turns out that there is one and they are dangerous, is there something we can do to stop them from hurting someone in the future?”

  Walter mused for a moment. “If it’s truly a dangerous spirit living in that house, then you could always destroy their source.”

  “Destroy their source?” Noah asked incredulously. “Wouldn’t that, like, kill them?”

  Walter chuckled. “No, it wouldn’t. We’re already dead, remember?”

  “When you destroy a ghost’s source, it severs their connection to the mortal plane,” Barbara explained. “Essentially forcing them to pass on to the afterlife. That’s why we try to keep our sources safe and sound. But in some cases, it might actually be preferable to force a ghost to move on, especially if they’re an apparition who doesn’t realize they’re dead.”

  “Or a spirit who won’t let go of the past.”

  “If you decide that the ghost haunting that house presents a danger to yourselves or others, I recommend finding their source and making sure they never get the opportunity to hurt someone.”

  “Okay,” Alicia said slowly. “But what if they're not dangerous and they’re just like you guys?”

  Barbara gave her a pearly white smile. “Then I’m sure Hank would love to talk to them.”