Ghostfinders 01 - Ghost of a Chance

“And I lost. But at the very last moment . . . a Light came out of nowhere and made me strong enough to fight any number of them. It’s gone now, but . . .”
    “It’s still there, in your eyes,” said Melody. “The Light has put its mark on you, JC.”
    “And that is rare, so rare,” said Happy, sounding impressed despite himself.
    “I know!” said JC. “I think it’s another sign of how important all this is. Whatever it is that’s going on down here. Now, what have you been doing while I was away? What happened to the Project agents I left you fighting?”
    “We got away,” said Melody. Her voice was suddenly quiet, and she folded her arms tightly across her chest.
    “They hurt us,” said Happy, staring steadily at JC. “They hurt us bad. We could have used your help.”
    “You left us!” said Melody. “To chase after her.” She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Kim. “You have no idea what they did to us, JC.”
    “I’m sorry,” said JC.
    “I’m sorry,” said Happy, “but you and ghost girl can’t be a couple. You just can’t. You know that, JC.”
    “You said it yourself,” said Melody. “The living must never get emotionally involved with the dead. It’s not fair to either of you. Love is for the living, for people with a stake in the future.”
    “Love conquers all,” murmured Kim. “I heard it in a song, so it must be true.”
    “Not this time,” said Melody. “You may not even have an immediate future. It’s looking more and more as though you’re the focal point of this haunting. The central event that supports everything else.”
    “Which means,” Happy said slowly, “that the only way to be sure of stopping all this . . . may involve putting you to rest, Kim. Our other-dimensional Intruder is using you to maintain its hold on the material plane. Unless we remove you, and break his hold, he’ll grow stronger and stronger, spreading his horror show across the whole of London. Maybe even further . . .”
    “We’ll exorcise that bridge when we come to it,” JC said cheerfully. “I have a plan, a scheme, and a whole bunch of really nasty dirty tricks to try out on our unseen enemy. But first things first. Kim, you’re the only one to have had direct contact with the Intruder. And your dead eyes can see the greater world far more clearly than ours. What can you tell us?”
    “Not much,” said Kim. “I’m still getting used to being a ghost. The more I talk with you and your friends, the more awake I feel, the more me . . . But the more human I feel, the harder it is to interpret what I’m seeing and feeling. As though being human . . . limits me. I’ve never seen your Intruder, never heard its voice. But I seem to have this sense of . . . something wild. Something horribly powerful, beyond the laws and limitations of this small world.”
    “Not really what I wanted to hear,” said Happy. Melody ignored him, intent on Kim.
    “What’s the last thing you remember?” she said bluntly. “From when you were alive?”
    Kim frowned, as though trying to remember something that had happened long ago. “There was a phone call, early in the morning. From my agent, telling me I had to come in for a special audition. A really big part, he said, that could make my career. I started to ask for details, but he gave me the address and the time, and told me to hurry. I was so excited . . . I came down into the Underground, waited for my train to come, then someone stabbed me in the back. I never even saw his face. I didn’t understand what had happened, at first. The pain, and falling, and the platform rising to hit me in the face. There were people all around me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. And then . . . I was back standing on the platform, completely alone, waiting for a train that never came. I’d still be standing there if JC hadn’t come and found me . . .”
    “This is why I never get anywhere with women,” said Happy. “I can’t stand this soppy sentimental stuff.”
    “Trust me,” said JC. “That’s not the only reason.”
    “But . . . how does her death tie in with everything that’s happened here?” said Melody. “And why has the Intruder made such a point of using her?”
    “Because she’s important to me?” said JC.
    Melody sniffed. “Not everything is about you, JC.”
    “Look me in the eye and say that,” said JC.
    “Sounds like necromancy to me,” Happy said quickly. “Murder magic. Energy generated