“He wasn’t murdered,” Kasey says, watching with interest as Aiden gets busy making those tiny magical fireflies that serve as the Ghost Office lighting system. “So now we know that.”

“Did we think that he was murdered?” I ask, unzipping Aiden’s backpack and pulling out the map. “I thought our theory was that he was killed somehow during Richard Newman’s raid.”

“Yeah, but Richard Newman was such a shady fucking character,” Kasey explains. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if Will had threatened to talk and got taken out. But he said that’s not the case, so.”

“I still don’t get this,” Aiden puts in, another little glowball lifting from his palm to float among the rafters. “You’re saying he touched you?”

“Yes, it was amazing!” Kasey whips around to look at him again, grinning widely. “We worked out a system. One touch for yes, two for no. But he’ll only do it a certain amount of times, and then he stops. I think… Hard to say for sure, but maybe it uses up his energy, to do that? That’s why I’ve been gone for a bit. I wanted to see how long it takes him to recharge after he runs out.”

“How could you possibly test that?” I ask.

“It was unbelievably boring,” Kasey groans. “I basically sat there for three days, and every twenty minutes or so I’d be like Will, if you’re back, let me know, until he finally did.”

“Three days?” I stop, agog. “It takes him three fucking days to charge back up?”

“Yep. So.” Kasey swivels to face Aiden. “I’ve had some time to think, and I officially have some questions for our resident ghost maker.”

He blinks behind the reading glasses, pausing with a ball of light half-formed in his hand.

“Whoa, hang on a sec. Recall that I don’t know shit, okay? I made you by accident, Kasey. I didn’t even know that I had done it.”

“Yeah, man, I know that you’re not exactly an encyclopedia of magical knowledge,” she answers. Aiden scowls at her, and she sticks out her tongue at him. “Regardless, you know more than the rest of us.”

“What do you want to know?” He finishes up the light he’d been working on. There’s a good amount of them now, fanning out across the ceiling, casting a warm glow over us. One drifts down towards me and hovers near my shoulder.

“Why am I corporeal, but Will isn’t?” Kasey asks.

Aiden shrugs.

“Presumably because whoever made him fucked it up?”

Both Kasey and I freeze, staring at him.

“Whoever made him,” she repeats.

“Well, yeah,” Aiden answers, looking at us like it’s obvious. “Ghosts aren’t naturally-occurring, they’re created. Someone has to catch the energy before it can dissipate, and then form it, like how I did by accident. My guess is that whoever made Will caught his energy, but didn’t - or couldn’t - form it.”

Kasey and I take a moment to absorb this information. We look at each other, and I know we have the same question.

“So - who the hell made him?” I ask.

Aiden releases one last sphere of light and brushes off his hands.

“Must have been my great-great-great-grandmother or grandfather,” he says. “I don’t know how many greats, but. Yeah. Somebody way back in my family line.”

“Um, Aiden,” Kasey says, “What the fuck.”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?”

He crosses his arms defensively, taken aback.

“Because it’s not important.”

“Someone from your family made Will, and you didn’t think that info was important?” Kasey asks, wide-eyed.

“It doesn’t help with anything,” Aiden answers, frowning at her. “It’s not like my great great whoever left behind a diary like, whoops, created a ghost, here’s a lil’ guide on how to make him corporeal!”

“Aiden, are you sure about this?” I cut in. “It was definitely someone from your family?”

“It had to be. A ghost can only be made by a-” He cuts himself off sharply, biting the inside of his cheek. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay,” Kasey says, her dark eyes narrowing. “So - now I’m wondering what relationship that person had to Will, and why they made him.”

“I don’t know, but…” Aiden falls silent for a moment, running a hand over his stubbled jaw. “I do have a theory about this system that you and Will are using."

"Do share."

"He isn’t corporeal, but he’s clearly there enough to communicate with you, Kasey, and he remembers stuff from his life, if he was able to tell you that he wasn’t murdered. That means… there’s some small amount of energy holding him loosely together, even if he’s incorporeal.”

“Okay…”

“But… if he’s funneling that energy into making warmth, he’s probably using it all up, each time. If he uses it up, it can’t hold him together, and he falls apart. But he can’t die, so eventually, the energy builds up again, and he’s restored to his regular state. Based on your experiment, it takes him about three days to come back together enough to be conscious of himself.”

“So-” Kasey touches her fingers to her lip, her eyes wide again. “Every time I ask Will to make me warm - he’s basically dying, in order to do it? Over and over again?”

“No, he can’t die, he’s already dead. But yeah, that’s - maybe the closest thing a ghost can do to dying. Short of being released.”

Kasey stares at Aiden in silence, then drops to sit on the floor. I exchange a glance with Aiden, then go join her on the concrete.

“Babe?” I murmur. “You alright?”

“Do you think it hurts him?” she asks quietly. “It can’t feel good.”

“Well…” I look up at Aiden, who winces. “Maybe not? You’re not forcing him, he’s choosing to do it.”

“I’m asking him to do it.” Kasey stares at the ground, her expression blank. “I assumed that he had a limited reservoir of energy, and he just needed to build it back up before he could use it again. I didn’t realize I was asking him to unmake himself... fall apart and come back, over and over…”

Aiden presses his lips into a line, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Shit, Kasey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No.” She tips her head back to look at him. “It’s good you did. I didn’t know what I was doing to Will.”

“You’re not doing anything to him,” I insist. “He’s doing it to himself, because he wants to. He’s the one person in the world that nobody can force to do anything. Besides you, but. That was true even before you were a ghost.”

Kasey breathes out a soft laugh through her nose, but she still looks unhappy.

“Jamie is right,” Aiden puts in. “Will has been completely alone in a sea of people for two hundred years. He wants you to know that he’s there, and he’s made it clear that he wants our help. I’m sure he’s willing to do whatever it takes.”

Kasey nods slowly, kneading her palm.

“But why did he never do this before? Make someone warm, make someone notice him?”

“There’s never been another ghost before.” I think it over as I speak. “Maybe his own energy isn’t enough, maybe he needs to like… steal some of yours, too? That makes it sounds creepy, but-”

“No, it doesn’t,” Kasey mutters. “He has to do that, it sounds like. Ralph repeatedly offering me a free back massage senior year, that was creepy.”

“Eugh,” I groan. “That was awful.”

“Jesus,” Aiden says, cringing. “Wish I’d known about that. I would have put a stop to it.”

Kasey waves a distracted hand.

“I put a stop to it myself.”

“What did you do?”

“Threatened to tase him.”

Aiden laughs, shaking his head.

“I should have known. That sounds like you.”

Kasey breaks and returns his smile, just a little bit.

“Fuck. Fine. Whatever. I’ll ask Will about it, when he comes back. But…” A little smirk crawls onto her face. “He did tell me that he likes it when I’m there with him.”

“Of course he fucking does, you idiot!” I tell her, forgetting myself and trying to give her shoulder a shove. My hand moves right through her sternum. “Oops! Sorry. The point is, duh, he fucking likes it, you’re probably the first person to speak directly to him in forever. I mean, Aiden couldn’t see you until we made the glasses, and you’re not even incorporeal, so - I bet that even whoever made Will couldn’t talk to him, or see him. You’re the first hope he’s had in two hundred years. Just remember that.”

Kasey laughs and tips her head against my shoulder, leaning there for a moment - as much as she can, anyways. I give Aiden a she’s okay smile over the top of her head, because he clearly feels bad for upsetting her, even though it was an accident. He gets the message and instantly looks relieved. That sweet, worried crinkle between his eyebrows disappears, and he takes a breath.

I’m once again struck by the difference between high school Aiden and current Aiden. I mean, how is this the same person?

He retrieves the map, sits down in front of us, and holds it up.

“You guys ready to take a look?”

“Will we be able to see what you see, Aiden?” Kasey asks, straightening up.

“No, sorry. The glasses are more of an enhancement tool than anything, and you guys have no natural ability to see or hear this stuff.”

“Jamie can see me, though.”

“That’s because-” Aiden cuts himself off, clearing his throat. “That’s - unrelated.”

He spreads the map out on the ground, then stares at it through the glasses, blinking rapidly.

There’s a beat of silence.

“What the fuck?” he murmurs.

“What?” Kasey and I ask in tandem.

He lifts the map and holds it closer to his face.

“This can’t be right.”

“Aiden, I’m going to fucking kill you,” Kasey says.

“Use your words, dude!” I add.

“Sorry, it’s just...” He sets the map out flat again. “How do I explain? The spectral traces - in person, they look like lines of light. I thought that’s how they’d look on the map, too, but…” His eyebrows furrow. “It’s like the entire thing is one big rectangle of light. It takes over everything. I can’t make out a single line.”

“What?” Kasey groans. “No, do not tell me that we did all this for nothing. I can’t hear that right now.”

“I - I don’t know, my mom never showed me how to use the map!” Aiden blows out a frustrated exhale. “I’m trying-”

“Hey.” I reach for his arm and give it a gentle squeeze. “We know, babe.”

“Sorry, Aiden,” Kasey says, pressing her fingers to her forehead. “I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” he grumbles.

“Okay, listen.” I give Aiden’s bicep a little scratch and let him go. “The map is all lit up, right? So the glasses are showing us something.”

“Ugh.” Aiden closes his eyes and tips his head back. “For fuck’s sake. We get the watch, it doesn’t help with anything, and then we destroy it and have to travel through time to get it back. We get the glasses working, steal and destroy like, the entire town’s recycling to make it happen, and then that doesn’t help with anything, either.”

He drags the watch out of his pocket and tosses it down onto the map, glaring at it like it’s personally wronged him.

“No, okay, no.” I touch his arm again, my heart twisting. “All that work was not useless. Will moved the watch, remember? And now with the glasses, you can see Kasey-”

“Wait a second.” Aiden examines the map again, blue eyes blinking. He hesitates, then reaches down and lifts up the watch. Stares for a moment, then sets it down again. “That’s weird… it’s a little bit clearer, with the watch on there. I can’t quite make out the lines, but - this definitely helps.” He looks up. “Do we have anything else of William’s? Or - what am I saying, of course we don’t-”

“We have a picture of him!” I spring to my feet and dart to the workbench, where I detach the scan of the photo from the wall. Aiden puts the watch down on one corner of the map, accepts the picture from me, and sets it down on the other.

He peers down at the map, then leans back and lets out a short, amazed laugh.

“Dude! This is helping. I can’t read the lines yet, but the photo, the watch, they’re thinning out all of this light.”

Kasey touches her fingers to the two empty corners of the map.

“Well, well,” she murmurs softly. “Looks like we need two more pieces of William… and then we’re there.”

~~~~

“We can’t go until the weekend,” Aiden says. I press the phone closer to my ear, trying to hear over the noise. “We’re back to looking for the cemetery manually, so we’re going to need all day. No Ralph this time, though. Thank god.”

“This sounds like some True Blood shit,” I tell him. “Hunting for graveyard dirt?”

“Can you think of any other artifacts connected to William that we can use? Look, we’ll do fine. I might be able to pick up the spectral traces in person, with the glasses. If we can get some of Will’s grave dirt, or a chip of his headstone, we’ll be closer to making the map work, and then maybe we can use it to summon him, or - okay, what is going on over there? What am I hearing?”

“I invited Noah over, in case he still wasn’t feeling better. Apparently he is feeling better, but he came over anyway, and he brought Raj, and now they’re very loudly using my Xbox.”

“Dude!” Raj shouts, right on cue. “Could you fucking back me up for once in your life-?”

“I’m right behind you, bro, grab the gem!”

“They’re so obsessed with each other,” I tell Aiden, shaking my head. “I’m literally talking at my regular volume, like ten feet away from them, and about a ghost hunt, too, but neither of them has noticed.”

“Well - for my sanity, let’s not talk about this with them there. But can we plan on this weekend, for the graveyard hunt? Do you have work?”

“I’ll swap shifts with Destinee, no problem.”

“Sweet. I’m gonna run, I’m supposed to be working right now.”

“Mmm, I like to picture you in your work clothes, I was thinking of-”

“Jamie!” he laughs. “Please. I’m going to mess up every fucking form I need to fill out today if you start with that.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry to take up your lunch break.”

“You’re fine.” I can hear him smiling. “Have fun with Noah and Raj.”

“Yo, Jamie!” Raj calls, when I hang up. “Big news.”

“What news?”

“One of my clients is out of town, and he said that I can use his pool while he’s gone. He’s about to seal it up for the season, so tomorrow’s the last chance, and we’re not about to fucking miss it. Do you and Aiden want to come with us? Noah bet me ten bucks that he can run all the way across the water without falling in. He’s gonna strap pool noodles to his feet. I’ve got the duct tape in my car.”

“Um. Yes, I want to come. I’m not about to miss an opportunity to see Noah eat shit with some pool noodles strapped to his feet.”

“Fuck you, dude, I’m about to blow your minds.”

Dumb guy stuff, I realize. “Raj, can I invite someone?”

“So long as they’re chill.”

I go to my room and dial my phone again.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ripley! What’s up, man?”

A pause.

“Nothing…”

“So look, some friends of mine are having a pool party type of thing tomorrow. I mean, not a party, we’re really just hanging out, but - do you want to come?”

Another pause.

“I don’t want to swim,” Ripley says.

“Oh. Well, you don’t have to swim. You can just come hang out. I’m probably not gonna do much swimming either. Do you have board shorts? Cause I have an extra pair, if not.” I wait, but he doesn’t answer. “It’ll just be a few of us. Small group, all guys.”

There’s a long enough silence that I check my phone to see if he hung up.

“What time?” he finally asks, and I punch a victory fist into the air.