"So you want me to help you drug your brother. I assume that I will be the one feeding him this...potion. I'm just wondering what I will get out of helping you. I mean, if I frame your father, I get enough money to pay the rent for the next few weeks." That smile appeared again, the one that tied my stomach in knots. I wondered if Celadon knew the power that he had over me. I was belatedly realizing that I should have turned this case away the minute that woman walked through my door. This was getting seriously dangerous. Celadon walked towards me, and placed an ephemeral hand against my cheek. His touch was like a cold breath of air against my skin, barely tangible, but still there.
"If you do this for me," he murmured, "you'll get a special reward." He leaned forward, and kissed me. It was the strangest sensation; his lips were cool, and did not have the weight of flesh behind them, yet for some reason it was incredibly erotic. I longed to put my arms around him, to deepen the kiss, but I had a feeling that the mood would be broken if I passed through him. Far too soon, Celadon broke off the kiss and stepped back, a strange smile playing on his lips. Then he was gone, vanished abruptly, leaving me with a pounding in my chest and a throbbing in my groin. I tipped my head back and groaned dramatically. I was letting a ghost lead me around by the cock. I really, really, really should not be doing this.
My hand reached out, and grabbed the neck of the whiskey bottle. I checked my watch. It was ten past three. I sighed, and wrapped my coat tighter around myself. The rain from yesterday had cleared, but it was still cold. I had spent the last day debating with myself. Celadon had vanished before I had agreed to go along with him. I didn't have any obligation to help a ghost; the sensible thing to do would be to dig up as much dirt as I could find on the father. Yet here I was, outside of the Willow Hotel, waiting for Celadon to materialize. I had even shaved and changed my clothing. I sighed softly to myself. It wasn't even like I really believed that people could be possessed by spirits. Ok, I could see ghosts, but that was as far as it went. I never wanted this ability, and I tried to avoid using it wherever possible. This was completely insane; instead of earning my much needed money, I was going to be meeting some guy called Raven, accompanied by a ghost. A ghost that I was deeply attracted to. Ed would laugh himself stupid if he was here now. Of course, if Ed were here, there was no way that I would be doing this. Celadon appeared in front of me so suddenly that I almost let out a yelp. He laughed; stupid ghost. "Crap, don't do that," I grumbled. Having him so close, ghost or not, was doing strange things to my body. "Ready to go?" Celadon asked. I sighed.
"I guess... I just hope that your friend believes me. What am I saying; his name is Raven and he makes potions, of course he'll believe me." Celadon laughed again, and smiled at me. "Thank you for doing this for me," he said. We walked through the doorway of the hotel, Celadon avoiding walking through people, which I thought was kind of cute. I had expected something dark and rundown, or at least a little bit gothic, but the lobby of the hotel was surprisingly light and airy, decorated in shades of pale yellow and magnolia. The receptionist didn't seem surprised when I said what room I was visiting; I got the impression that Raven didn't go out a lot, and I wondered how he managed to afford a hotel room. Celadon knew where he was going, so I followed him. He waited for me to open each door, instead of walking through them.
or "Why don't you just walk through the doors?" I asked him, my curiosity finally getting the better of me. "Because I don't want to become used to being like this," he replied. "I want to remember what it is I'm missing, not accept the perks of being a ghost. I'm not staying like this." His green eyes darkened with his determination, and I felt the sudden urge to kiss him, to hold him until the pain went away. I followed him through the corridors of the hotel in silence. What was essentially a wild goose chase fuelled by lust for me was literally life or death for him. Celadon stopped so abruptly that I walked through him. He glared at me. "Sorry," I said. We were outside the door to Raven's room.
Celadon sighed, or rather tried to sigh, since he currently didn't breathe. That seemed to irritate him, too. Then he shook his head ruefully. "Not your fault," he said. "Now, Raven can't see me. I came here a few days ago, screamed and shouted like an idiot, and got no response. So to prove to him that you're here with me, you need a password. Knock on the door three times, then two. Raven will answer to that knock. Before he slams the door in your face, tell him that the North Star still shines."
"O.K," I said slowly. Celadon seemed pretty normal for a ghost, but it sounded like his friend was a complete crack pot. Before the ridiculousness of the scenario stopped me, I raised my hand and knocked as Celadon had instructed me. After a few moments the door opened slowly, and a pale, suspicious face peered out. I had expected a dark haired wraith, but Raven was actually quite tall, if a bit stooped, with a mop of blond curls. His eyes were small and dark, and his nose looked like it had been broken at some point. He was also a few years older than me; I had expected someone younger. He stared at me for a moment through narrowed eyes, then began to swing the door shut. Celadon's words had prepared me for this, and I had already shoved my shoulder in the doorway, wincing a bit at the jar of the door connecting with it.
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"The North Star still shines," I said through gritted teeth. Raven's eyes widened and he let go of the door.
"What do you know about Cel?" He asked quietly.
"Can I come in?" I asked. I really did not want to be talking about ghosts and potions in public. Raven humphed, but stepped away from the doorway, still glaring at me suspiciously. "He won't openly invite you until he's sure that you're not a vampire," Celadon murmured.
I stared at him for a moment. My instincts were telling me to get the hell out of there, but then Celadon smiled at me. Manipulative bastard. I wondered if Stella was actually a blood relation of his. I stepped into Raven's room, Celadon trailing behind me. I was expecting the room to be dark, but the curtains were open and daylight streamed in. I guess that was logical for a nutter who was paranoid about vampires. It was a suite room; two doors lead off to either side to what I would assume to be the bedroom and the bathroom. The decor appeared hotel standard, light, matching and practical, but there were a lot of shelves made from heavy wood, stacked with books and jars of...stuff. I was suddenly very concerned that Celadon was going to have me poison his brother with whatever foul concoction Raven came up with. Except I didn't think that anyone could fake being as pissed off with death as Celadon was.
Raven sat down in a magnolia armchair, and gestured to its twin. I perched myself uncomfortably, hoping that he wasn't going to offer me a drink. He didn't. Instead, he sat there, peering at me with his dark eyes, as if I were the freak. "What do you know about Cel?" he asked again. "He's here, or at least his ghost is." I said. "I can see ghosts, and he wanted me to come to you to ask for your help..." Raven sat quietly, listening as I related my story. For some reason, he seemed to be becoming more accepting of me. I guessed that weird was normal for him. "Where is Cel at the moment?" He asked once I trailed into silence. I pointed to Celadon, who was standing next to me. Raven turned to look where he thought Celadon was, his eyes focusing about a foot to the left. I didn't bother to correct him. "I can get what you need in two days time," He said. "I'm meeting with Franklyn tomorrow," I interjected, "it would be helpful if you had it by then." Raven glowered at me. "The moon needs to be in the correct alignment for this to work," he said. "The soonest I can do it is tomorrow night. The potion will be ready in two days time."
"Don't argue with him," Celadon said. "Meet up with my brother, invite him back to your office; it would be difficult to feed him the potion in his own house, anyway."
"How do I invite him back to my office? Offer a dinner date?" I asked tersely. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a follow up interview, but you know whatever works for you. At least that way he wouldn't be using my body to screw that woman." Celadon grimaced. I sat in my office, chewing my bottom lip and staring at the phial in front of me. The meeting with Franklyn had gone as expected; he had provided me with possibly the most contrived piece of evidence I had ever seen; a diary entry.
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