XX: In Which a Decision is Made

“That place has been closed for years.”  Steve said.

“The old dorms are still standing and the tunnels are there.” Ron said back.

“Closed, you say?” Zachary spoke up. “That’s a terrible shame, it was an active institution last time I visited”

Colin got the impression that it wasn’t a terrible shame at all.  “Dorms and tunnels aren’t going to help us find patient files. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all destroyed after the place was shut down.”

“That would be most unfortunate.” Zachary said, sadly.  “Please try, though. I’m desperate to move on from this place.  I’ve been here too long.”

“Aren’t you afraid of going to Hell?  That might be where you go, since you said you killed yourself.”  Jane said.

“I’ve considered it.  I’ve had decades to consider just that question and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a risk I’m willing to take.  I thank you for your concern, though.” Zachary gestured offhandedly with his pipe.

“Well, we’ll need to discuss things, we actually have another offer that came just before your message arrived that we also need to discuss.”  Colin said.

“Oh, you have become very popular, I see.  Well, this town is chock-full of paranormal occurrences.  I can see how many people would be interested in hiring the services of the paranormally gifted.”  Zachary said.

“I’ll look into it.”  Ron said, suddenly. “If it looks like I can get a lead, I’ll continue.”

“You sure, Ron?”  Steve asked.

“Yeah,”  Ron nodded.  “I’m interested enough, I want to see what I can find.”

“Well, I guess thats a ‘Yes’ conditionally.  If we hit a wall or feel that we’re in danger, we reserve the right to call it quits.”  Colin said, holding up his hand.

“But, you will look for the information?”  Zachary asked. “I’m sure there will be no danger, and if you can’t find clues after this long, no onus will be on you.”

“No onus?”  Asked Steve.  Zachary nodded.  “Hear that, guys, no onus, I’m game.”

“I can never tell if he’s being sarcastic or not.”  Selena whispered to Sam.

“Me either, Isn’t it great?”  Sam whispered back.

“I will let you go back to town, then.  Please feel free to stop by when you have any information.  Oh boy, I can’t wait!” Zachary looked like he would have clapped his hands if he hadn’t been holding his pipe.  He stood from his chair, turned around, walked through the chair and through the balcony doors, saying “Have a good afternoon, all of you.”

“I hope we can help Zachary.  I’ll feel bad if we just got his hopes up.”  Selena said in the van on the drive back.

“We just had a conversation with an actual ghost!  How cool is that?” Sam said, excitedly.

“How are you all so calm about this?”  Steve asked. “We just got proof of life after death.  Ghosts are real.”

“We don’t exactly have proof we can share with the world, though.”  Ron said, sounding disappointed. “I tried my phone, to maybe get some video while we were there.”

“Let me guess, all you got on your screen was static, like an old time television?”  Jane asked.

“You too?” Ron asked her.  Jane nodded.

“So we have no proof we can show other people, but we have proof enough for ourselves.”  Steve said. “And we’re not freaking out about it?”

“Nope, and we’re going to help our new ghost friend find out about his friend’s last days”  Alex said perkily.

* * * * * * * *

“Hey guys, listen up.”  Steve announced as they got closer to Kaldi’s.  “I wanted to tell you all this when we first got together today, but we kept getting interrupted.”  His voice got serious. “Last week after the meeting, Nate called me. He said some old white guy in a suit pulled a phone out from under our table right after we left.  I think someone’s been spying on us.”

Strangely, no one in the van seemed to be too shocked by the revelation.

“I have a guess as to who.” Ron said.  “Jackson Sheppard”

“That’s my guess, too.” Colin said. “But we can’t be sure.”

“The least we can do is turn down the offer.”  Selena spoke up. “How do we know they weren’t spying on us today?”

“I swept the table for bugs when I got there.”  Steve said.

“Meaning he crawled under the table and checked for cellphones.”  Sam laughed.

“Exactly, I swept for bugs.”  Steve smiled proudly.

“Are we agreed that we’re turning down the offer, then?”  Colin asked, receiving a unanimous reply of ‘yes’ from the van’s occupants.

“Motion carried.” Jane said, mocking a gavel strike.

“Wait, are we going to have to elect officers and stuff like that?”  Sam asked. “I wanna be Third Chair.”

“I think Steve’s rubbing off on him.”  Xander said, turning left.