Archive of Our Own ^beta

Celia slipped out of the tent as quietly as possible, wincing over the slight rustle of the tent flap falling back into place. Another snore from her fellow camp counselor, Lindara, reassured her that the other girl slept on, undisturbed. She still remained crouched outside their shared tent, holding her breath for a count of ten, before slowly picking her way toward the empty kids’ area. 

Today had been the last official day of camp and they’d waved off the last of the campers just before lunch. Camp Woodwind was now mostly empty except for the camp counselors who’d stayed for the extra pay they’d earn for packing up the campsite. 

The camp was lit only by the twinkle lights circling the central pine tree, the campfire having been put out responsibly before they’d turned in for their last night in the woods. Her last night to spend time with Ben before they both returned to their “real lives” at opposite ends of the country. 

She smiled as she caught sight of his familiar silhouette standing tall amongst the tiny kids’ tents that hadn’t been taken down yet. That was the last task for the morning—take down all the tents—and then they’d all be leaving, with Camp Woodwind standing empty until next summer. Ben was standing far enough from the dim twinkle lights that she couldn’t make much of him out, but in her mind’s eye she could see his sturdy build, his short dark hair, and the dark frames that would already be pushed up into his hair to keep them out of his way when he kissed her. 

A flash of white across his face told her Ben was smiling, too, and he motioned her to follow him as he skirted around the campfire to the side of the games tent closest to the padlocked front gate. There was a gap between the fence and several oil drums that would partially obscure them if anyone else left their tent. They were at the opposite side of camp from the remaining sleepers and, so long as they both remained quiet, no one should suspect a thing. 

“I’m going to miss our romantic hideaway, darling,” Ben quipped, brushing Celia’s blonde hair aside to kiss her neck.

“You take me to all the best places,” she smiled up at him, tracing the rounded shell of his ear, so unlike her own, with her fingertips. 

Celia melted into Ben’s arms as he pushed her up against the fence and kissed her, his hands sliding under her pajama top to palm her ample breasts. She bit her lip as he pinched her nipples and just as her eyes started to roll back, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle uncomfortably as the sensation of being watched settled over her. She’d felt this every time they’d snuck out over the past week, and she’d chalked it up to nerves over making out in the midst of a very full camp. But now the camp stood mostly empty, so shouldn’t the sensation have stopped? 

Celia opened her eyes into the dark, ignoring the sensation of Ben’s hand slipping down the front of her pajama bottoms, straining to hear anything over the sound of their breathing. Nothing—wait. Shouldn’t she be able to hear the cicadas and the frogs at the nearby creek? But the night was eerily silent other than Ben’s soft grunts as he began to thrust his cock between her thighs. The feel of him was enough to distract her from her worries and she pushed her pajama bottoms further down, lifting her leg and hooking her knee against his hip. As he thrust into her, she heard a growl and nearly giggled out loud. “So fierce,” she teased in a whisper. 

“That wasn’t me,” he whispered back, pausing mid-thrust. She met where his gaze would be in the dark and they both froze in place, listening. Another growl, but coming from somewhere behind the fence, amongst the dark pine trees. 

“We should move,” Ben said into her delicately pointed ear. He pulled out and they spent a moment getting their pajamas back into place. Ben grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the restroom building, the camp’s only permanent structure, then continued past it toward Lovers’ Bench. 

Celia stood on her tiptoes to press her mouth against Ben’s ear. “Maybe we should go into the red tent instead.” It currently stood empty, since their young charges had left.

Ben kissed her neck, causing her to shiver, and whispered back, “If we hear anyone coming this way. But what are they going to do if they catch us? Summer’s over, darling.” 

They’d always avoided this area for their trysts—too close to the sleepers and too obvious. But now Ben sat down on the bench and pulled Celia into his lap. “Maybe we disturbed an animal by being so close to the fence.” His voice was so low that she strained to hear him. “We’ll have to be extra quiet.” 

Celia stared wide-eyed into the dark woods beyond the fence and then firmly pushed aside the nagging sense of doubt. She’d been counting the minutes all day until they could finally be alone together. She wouldn’t let some animal in the woods spoil this for her. 

She helped Ben tug her pajama bottoms down to her ankles and sighed as he positioned her onto his cock. For a few minutes, all was quiet but the soft sounds of their bodies moving together. His hands on her hips controlled the pace and there wasn’t much for her to do beyond enjoying the moment—and she wanted to; this could very well be their last time together, barring a quickie in a bathroom stall at the airport tomorrow—but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching from the dark. She resolutely closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of his cock moving inside her while she moistened two fingers to rub against her clit. It added an extra thrill—she couldn’t deny it to herself—to realize how easily one of the counselors could find them here, out in the open where anyone could see. 

She felt Ben press his mouth against her shoulder blade as he tried to muffle his grunts—and the fence rattled directly in front of them, another growl echoing out from the trees. Celia blinked hard, trying to shake off her own pleasure. She couldn’t see anything but the fence was still swaying; she wasn’t imagining it. “Ben,” she whispered frantically. She could feel the heat of his climax inside her. “Ben, you have to stop.”

“What?” He was still thrusting into her. “What’s wrong?”

“Stop,” she hissed. “You need to—” Something struck the fence with a loud clang. This time Ben heard it, too, and froze underneath her. 

“What the— Did you see it?” he whispered, pushing his frames down onto his nose and squinting past her.

“No. It’s right in front of us but I can’t see a damn thing.” Celia struggled off of his cock and pulled her bottoms back up. “Let’s get out of here.”

“The food tent,” he suggested, tucking himself back into his pajama pants. “It’s walled in by boxes right now; we won’t be visible to anything in the woods.”

“I think we should return to our tents and stop pissing whatever-this-is off,” she argued.

“But it’s our last night,” he protested.

“I know.” She grabbed his hand with both of hers. “I know. But we’ll have time in town tomorrow before our flights leave.” The airport bathroom quickie flashed across her mind again. “We’ll figure something out, I promise.”

He sighed, standing up and wrapping both arms around her. She closed her eyes and tried to memorize this moment. She barely had the time to breathe in the scent of him when she heard the sound of something large and heavy hitting against the fence even louder than before.

She pulled away to see Ben’s dark brown eyes wide and staring over her head toward the woods. “I saw—” A look of anger crossed his face and he gently set Celia to the side in order to stride quickly to the fence. “Hey, man!” he yelled, startling loud. “That’s not funny!” He hit the fence with his fist. “What are you doing out there?”

“Ben! What’s happening? Do you see something?” Celia’s eyes darted frantically as she tried to catch a glimpse of what had caught Ben’s attention, but the woods still appeared deserted.

“C’mon, Celia, he’s right there!” Ben pointed at a shadow that Celia swore only belonged to a pine tree.

“There’s nothing there!” Celia grabbed at his arm. “Let’s just find a place to hide till morning.”

Ben pulled out of her grasp and slammed his fist against the fence again. “Show yourself, you coward!” he yelled. “Come out and—”

His voice cut off with a gurgling sound. Ben whirled around, both of his hands scrabbling frantically at his neck, eyes bulging. Celia covered her mouth with both hands and started to back away as a spray of blood erupted from his mouth to splash across her face.

“Ben!” she screamed. “Ben, no!”

More growls erupted from the woods and she spun on her heel and ran. Tears flooded her eyes, obscuring her vision, and she hunched over, trying to make herself more difficult to see. She found herself standing at the pitch-black open doorway to the bathroom. Flinging open a stall door at random, her eyes glanced up and she realized she’d picked what she and the other camp counselors had jokingly referred to all summer as the “Jesus stall;” she could barely make out the shape of the ornate silver crucifix someone had nailed to the bathroom wall years ago.

She locked the stall door and crouched on top of the toilet, making herself as small as possible and keeping both hands pressed over her mouth to stifle any noise she might make.

Minutes crawled by in silence. Ben had made a lot of noise; surely someone had heard him? Shouldn’t the entire camp be rousing by now? But she heard nothing other than the intermittent drip of the one leaky sink they hadn’t been able to fix. She realized in that moment that the generator must’ve been tripped; as it stood right next to the bathroom entrance, she should’ve been struggling to hear anything over its constant rattle.

Celia huddled into herself, shaking. Should she go back out and wake the others? Turn on all the lights and call for help? It wasn’t great but they did have some cell reception out here. She was working up the nerve to set a foot down on the tiled floor when she heard it.

A crunch of earth and leaf debris. Footsteps.

She froze again, biting down hard on her hand. They were slowly getting louder. Shit, whatever-it-was had seen her run toward this building. And there was only one way in or out.

She squeezed her eyes shut. The footsteps were agonizingly slow and it felt like an hour had passed before the crunch of dry earth turned into the echoing tap of bathroom tile. She held her breath. And then nearly fell off the toilet when the echoing slam of the stall door next to hers filled the small building. She heard a snuffling growl. Then the painfully slow tap-tap of footsteps…away from her stall. Another slam, but it sounded like fists hitting against the tiled wall in frustration. Was she being toyed with? There was only one stall left to check.

Instead the footsteps moved further into the building, investigating the open shower stalls everyone had complained about. Celia felt a swell of emotion rising in her throat. That was how things had started between her and Ben.

The very first day of summer camp, they’d both arrived an hour before everyone else. Celia had decided to take a quick shower while the camp was almost empty—and Ben, not knowing that the showers were completely open to view, had walked in on her while she was reaching for her towel. One thing had led to another and then they were scrambling back into their clothes and off to their separate tents with only minutes to spare before the rest of the camp counselors had arrived to start setting things up.

But now she could hear more of the awful snuffling growls and shampoo bottles being knocked over. Then footsteps again, coming back towards her. And stopping. Right in front of her stall.

Celia forced her eyes open and focused on the space under the stall door, terrified that she would see something staring back at her. But she could make out nothing in the pitch-black.

There was a long silence that ended with a sound similar to a burning match. Celia nearly jumped again as she realized something behind her was casting a faint source of illumination into the darkness. She craned her head up and back just in time to see a faint orange outline around the crucifix hanging above the toilet just moments before it faded to nothing.

The footsteps tap-tapped again but in minutes she heard the crunching sound that meant it was back outside. And they were moving slowly yet steadily away from her.

Celia hugged her legs to her chest, letting the tears fall silently down her cheeks as she mouthed a single word and waited for dawn. “Ben.” With her eyes squeezed shut, she failed to notice the small blue ball sadly rolling to and fro in front of her bathroom stall.

~ FIVE YEARS LATER ~

Celia stood before the gate to Camp Woodwind, eyeing the padlocked chain holding it shut in the late afternoon sun. The forest enveloped the small camp and lone gravel road leading up to it, full of the normal daytime forest sounds that she remembered—tree branches rustling in the wind, birds singing, small animals snuffling in the underbrush—and each sound scraped against her nerves almost painfully.

She had spent almost five years avoiding anyplace that could be even remotely described as “wooded”—she hadn’t even lasted one week back at her parents’ commune in the Pacific Northwest before packing a bag and taking the bus to the nearest city. She’d stayed in neighborhoods as devoid of trees as possible and went out of her way to avoid walking past city parks. It was a sorry state for an aspiring druid. And now, being surrounded by trees had her shoulders inching up around her ears; the sensation of being watched hadn’t started—not yet—but sunset was only a few hours away.

“You forgot the key,” a cheerful voice called out as a light pink arm slung itself around Celia’s shoulders, causing her to start. “Hey, it’s just me, love.”

Celia turned to see Elizabeth’s broad smile as the tiefling woman used her tail to tug Celia into a hug. Celia let out a shaky breath and fell into Elizabeth’s arms. “Sorry, Liz. It’s hard, you know? Being back here. I never thought I’d come back.”

Elizabeth’s tail tightened in a squeeze as she rubbed reassuring circles over the wood half-elf’s back. “It’s going to be okay, Celia. I’m here this time and I believe you.” She gently tilted Celia’s head up and pressed soft kisses against her closed eyelids followed by a firm, lingering kiss against her lips. Celia opened her mouth on a sigh and as Elizabeth’s tongue flicked against hers, Celia found herself pressed roughly against the locked gate as the mood between the two women suddenly shifted.

“I can’t believe this is how you dressed for your first paranormal investigation,” Elizabeth murmured, tracing the curves of Celia’s cleavage through the open laces at the front of her halter top. “And a mini skirt, Celia?” Elizabeth clucked her tongue. “My sweet, impractical bonbon.”

“It’s like we talked about, Liz,” Celia said breathlessly. “Easy access.”

Elizabeth huffed out a breath. “I didn’t mean when we go on investigations. Wait, are you wearing…?” Her voice trailed off and Celia gave a start as Elizabeth’s fingers reached under her skirt and flicked against her bare clit. “What is Daddy going to do with you?” she smirked.

“Whatever Daddy wants.” Celia licked her lips, a spark of mischief lighting her hazel brown eyes. “Your clothes aren’t much better, Daddy. I can see your nipple piercings through your sports bra since you’re not wearing anything over it. And those gym shorts are obscene.”

“My clothes are practical and allow for ease of movement.” A wicked grin flashed across Elizabeth’s face, quickly replaced by a mock-stern frown. Celia felt Elizabeth’s tail uncoil itself from around her waist. “But you’re just begging for a punishment, aren’t you?”

Celia held her breath in anticipation and wiggled her hips slightly. “Please.”

“Get on your knees,” Elizabeth ordered.

Celia started lowering herself as slowly as possible. When her head was level with Elizabeth’s chest, she quickly pushed the tiefling’s sports bra up and bared her generous breasts in order to capture one pierced nipple between her teeth. “Bad girl,” Elizabeth moaned.

“Too bad you’re not wearing your nipple chain,” Celia complained as she turned her head to lave the opposite nipple with her tongue. “I love to tug on it.”

“It makes too much noise for investigating. I’m the practical one, remember?” Elizabeth grabbed a fistful of Celia’s hair and tugged downward. “Didn’t I tell you to kneel?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Celia smirked. She moved lower, dragging her tongue over the ridges of Elizabeth’s abdomen and swirling her tongue briefly into her belly button, hearing Elizabeth’s breath catch as she did so. When her eyes were level with Elizabeth’s spandex-covered hips, Celia hooked her fingers into the waistband and looked up questioningly at her lover.

“Yes,” Elizabeth nodded. “Good girl.”

Celia flushed slightly and pushed the skin-tight shorts down to Elizabeth’s knees, baring her beautifully pink mound crowned with dark curls. Celia licked her lips; her mouth was already watering. Elizabeth shifted her stance and spread her legs as much as her clothing allowed. Celia ran her tongue up and down the tiefling’s slit with a leisurely pace intended to drive Elizabeth wild.

Not even a minute had passed before the tiefling started tugging on the half-elf’s hair. “Faster,” she gasped. Celia obliged, ending each swipe of her tongue with rapid flicks against Elizabeth’s clit. She paused to wet two fingers with her mouth—Elizabeth growled with frustration—and thrust them easily into Elizabeth’s wet cunt.

“Yes,” the tiefling panted. “Good girl. My good girl.”

Celia smiled against Elizabeth’s clit—then started as the tiefling’s tail suddenly probed between Celia’s legs before slipping into her own sopping wet cunt. “Daddy!” Celia squealed.

“Good girls deserve a reward.” Elizabeth stroked Celia’s hair while firmly holding her head in place. “Faster, love. For Daddy.”

Celia obediently worked her tongue and fingers in a quick rhythm, gasping as Elizabeth’s tail kept time with her movements. She squeezed her inner muscles around the sensitive tail, milking it like a cock, knowing that this would only increase Elizabeth’s pleasure as well as her own.

Their ragged breathing filled the air as both women began to crest toward orgasm. Celia’s right hand was wet to her wrist and she knew Elizabeth’s tail was just as slick. She moved her left hand down to flick against her own clit and that was all she needed to fall over the edge. White stars burst against her eyelids as she desperately tried to concentrate enough to keep working her tongue against Elizabeth. She could feel Elizabeth’s legs start to shake and gripped her hip to help keep the tiefling standing.

“Oh gods,” Elizabeth cried. Celia could taste the rich, almost cinnamon-like flavor that accompanied Elizabeth’s orgasm as a rush of fluid filled her mouth. “Drink it down, my good girl,” the tiefling crooned. Celia obediently swallowed, continuing to lick against Elizabeth’s clit as little tremors ran through the other woman.

Elizabeth sighed and loosened her grip on Celia’s hair. “Is this how you start all of your investigations?” Celia asked as she gave Elizabeth’s slit one last lingering lick.

The tiefling laughed shakily. “Cheeky. Mind yourself or I’ll have to punish you again.” She offered a hand down to help Celia rise and then the next few minutes were spent silently readjusting their clothing. Finally Elizabeth smacked Celia’s hands away as the half-elf was clearly more interested in pulling at the tiefling’s nipple piercings than she was at helping pull the sports bra back into place.

“Okay.” Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips and turned to survey the abandoned campsite. It had obviously been left in a hurry; belongings lay scattered everywhere and there were even marshmallows set out on sticks next to the campfire. The tiefling woman let out a regretful sigh. “As much as I’d love to bend you over for another round, at this point we’re burning daylight. We only have a few hours until sunset. We’ll take that time to get all of the surveillance equipment into place. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to run any tests or even pinpoint the ghost’s location until after it’s dark. But we can get everything set up without worrying about the ghost being active.”

The half-elf slumped against the gate. “I’m scared, Lizzy.”

“Listen to me.” Elizabeth placed a gentle finger under Celia’s chin, tilting her head up. “This could be the key to restoring your connection to nature. You deserve better than brewing coffee and waiting tables every day.” She brushed a soft kiss against Celia’s lips. “Let’s find the answers you need in order to move on.”

Celia nodded and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

“First,” Elizabeth unlocked the padlock and removed the chain holding the gate shut, “I need you to walk me through the events of that night. Show me where everything happened.”

Celia rubbed her palms against her skirt and nodded. She reluctantly took her first step back inside the boundary of Camp Woodwind. She tensed for a moment, but of course nothing happened. All of the sounds of the forest around them continued unchanged. She took a sharp left, walking past a few picnic tables toward a small cluster of tents.

“We’d all turned in for the night. I waited—I don’t know—an hour, an hour and a half maybe? Until my tentmate was asleep and I couldn’t hear anything but snoring from the other tents.” Celia pointed at the blue tent. “That was the tent I shared with Lindara. The yellow tent was the one Ben shared with Robard.”

Elizabeth’s tongue was between her teeth as she made notes in a small notebook. “And was anyone in the white tent?”

“Emmaline and Steph. Stephanie. We were all camp counselors so it was part of our job to finish packing up the camp at the end of summer. We were all leaving the next day around noon.”

Celia started walking toward the center of camp. “When I left my tent, I headed this way. Usually we’d meet in our hiding spot but I saw Ben standing over in the kids’ area. Which was deserted because all of the kids had already left that afternoon.”

Elizabeth followed her, pencil scratching swiftly. “So this side of the camp was empty?”

Celia nodded. “We had stayed away from this section of camp the whole summer. The last thing we wanted was for one of the kids to see us together. But we didn’t stay here long. He kissed me and then we headed straight to our usual spot. This way.”

Celia walked back toward the gate and continued to its far side where a couple of oil drums stood close to the fence. “They’re still here,” she said with a note of fondness in her voice. “I don’t know why they’re not pushed up against the fence but there's enough space behind them for two people.”

Both women stepped into the space behind the barrels. “And this is when you started to feel like you were being watched?”

“Yeah. As soon as his hands were under my shirt, the hairs on the back of my neck started standing on end and not in a good way.” Celia pressed her hands to her cheeks. “I should’ve said something to Ben. It felt like we were being watched that entire last week at camp. But I thought I was imagining it. Just paranoia over the thought of being discovered. Town’s on the opposite side of the lake and no one comes to this side. We hadn’t seen anyone besides our fellow campers all summer.”

Elizabeth squeezed Celia’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, love. You’re not to blame for any of this.”

Celia put her hand on top of Elizabeth’s and smiled at her. “Thanks, Liz.” She took another deep breath. “So I was pressed up against the fence—”

“That happens to you a lot, hmmm?”

“Oh hush,” Celia giggled nervously. “And we had just started to fuck when we heard growls coming from the woods. At first I thought it was Ben, but it was definitely coming from beyond the fence.”

“And the fence encircles the entire campsite, right?”

“Actually, no. It doesn’t. There are multiple gaps that they’ve filled with the tents. I complained about it at the start of summer because that wouldn’t stop a determined predator. But I was told that there’d been zero incidents in ten years, as if that would deter an animal.”

“Or a ghost,” Elizabeth said softly.

“Yeah,” Celia agreed.

“So you heard growling. Then what happened?”

“We thought we must’ve disturbed an animal on this side of the camp so we moved to the opposite side. We figured that would solve the problem.” Celia headed back toward the kids’ area. “I wanted to go inside the red tent since it was empty and would block us from view. But Ben wanted to go to Lovers’ Bench.”

Elizabeth snorted. “You’re kidding me. Is it actually called Lovers’ Bench?”

Celia shrugged. “That’s what everyone called it. We had always avoided it. Too close to the kids’ area and where the other camp counselors were sleeping.”

Celia led Elizabeth to the narrow space beyond the kids’ area where a long wooden bench faced the fence and surrounding woods. She pointed at a spot toward the center of the bench. “I think Ben was sitting there. And I straddled his lap, facing the fence.”

“Reverse cowgirl,” Elizabeth winked. “Hot.”

Celia stuck out her tongue. “I know what you’re doing and it’s sweet. But I’m okay, Lizzy, really.”

Elizabeth pulled her into a hug. “You’re doing so well.”

They stood like that for a moment until Celia gave herself a little shake and pulled away. “Right. So we were fucking on the bench and the feeling of being watched came back even stronger than before. It distracted me at first but then…well, sex with Ben was really good so I let myself get caught up in what he was doing until the growling started again. And the fence rattled.” Celia pointed. “Right in front of us. It took a few moments before I could get Ben to stop—”

“I bet,” Elizabeth smirked.

“—and then he heard it, too. Something was hitting the fence. I couldn’t see anything. We argued over what to do next. I thought we should give up and head back to our tents. He wanted to sneak into the food tent because it was full of boxes we could use for cover. But before we could do anything, it slammed into the fence again and I think— I think Ben saw it.”

“Are you sure? Did he describe it?”

Celia shook her head. “No, but I guess it looked like a man? A person? Because he said something like, ‘Hey, man.’ And referred to it as ‘he’ a few times I think.” Celia’s brow furrowed. “Ben got really mad and walked up to the fence, yelling. It should’ve woken up the entire camp but no one stirred. And then—”

Celia’s eyes filled with tears. “And then Ben turned back toward me and something hit him from behind and there was blood and he was— And I didn’t even think about trying to use my healing magic, I just ran.”

Elizabeth tucked her notebook into her waistband and wrapped both arms around Celia. Tears were silently streaming down the half-elf’s face.

“No one believed me the next morning. They found his body in the tree line and thought I was trying to cover up the fact that we had climbed over the fence. But we never left the camp! And no one wanted to listen to a hysterical twenty-year-old girl.” Celia hiccupped.

Elizabeth pressed her forehead against Celia’s. “I know this is going to be hard. But walk me through the rest of that night. After it hurt Ben. What exactly did you do?”

“I think I screamed his name. And the thing was still growling at the fence. So I turned and ran.” Celia pointed. “To the restroom building. I have no idea why. Maybe because it’s the only permanent building in camp? But it doesn’t have a door and there’s only one entrance. So once I was inside, I was trapped.”

The two women walked silently to the small structure and peered inside the dark opening. “No windows either,” Elizabeth noted. “It’s completely black in there.”

“We’ll need to turn on the generator first.”

“Was it running that night?”

“It was at first. The twinkle lights on the big pine were lit up. But it must’ve shut off sometime after I started running, because by the time I was hiding in the first stall, I realized I couldn’t hear the generator anymore. Instead I could clearly hear footsteps from a fair distance off.”

Elizabeth turned to the generator squatting beside them. “Looks pretty standard.” She flipped a switch and the generator thrummed to life with a noisy hum. “Older model. They make them a lot quieter now.”

Celia stepped inside the restroom and flipped on the light switch. “It’s so dim. I remember it being a lot brighter in here.”

“It’s a common occurrence in haunted places. I ought to bring in an electrician on one of my hunts. Maybe they could figure out how the electricity is being disrupted. But anyway, show me the stall. You called it the ‘Jesus stall,’ right?” Elizabeth took a step into the building. “Good grief, there isn’t much room in here, is there?”

“Believe me, we complained about it all summer.” Celia slowly opened the stall door and both women awkwardly shuffled to the other side of it. “See, it blocks half the doorway. I can’t tell you how many times it almost slammed into my face when I was just trying to enter the building. But there’s the—” Celia lifted her hand to point as her voice trailed off. “Damn. It’s gone. But a crucifix used to hang on the wall right there, above the toilet.”

Elizabeth squinted. “I think I can make out where it was. There’s a cross-shape on the wall that’s slightly less dingy.”

Celia scrunched her nose. “Yeah, they really let this building go. It looked a lot better five years ago.”

“So you hid in this stall?”

“Yep. I closed the stall door and crouched on top of the toilet seat. And heard footsteps slowly moving toward me. Everything else was silent. And then it entered the building.”

“Were you able to see anything? Under the stall maybe?”

“It was so dark in here. And I had my eyes shut for most of it. But I heard it moving around and searching everywhere else in the bathroom. For some reason it skipped my stall. And then it stopped right in front of the stall door. And waited. So I opened my eyes but I couldn’t see anything.” Celia looked into Elizabeth’s brightly glowing teal eyes. “No shadow, no movement. Nothing. But I knew it was there.”

“I believe you, Celia,” Elizabeth grabbed her hand. “And then what happened?”

“I heard a sound like something catching on fire and then the crucifix glowed for a moment. And the…thing…left. When I looked at the crucifix in the morning before I left, it looked a little scorched but no one else said anything about it. I stayed crouched in the stall until the sun rose and then I ran out and woke everyone up. No one believed me but Ben was missing from his tent. So we called the local sheriff and they came out and found Ben and—” Celia covered her face with her hands. “Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.”

“Nonsense.” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around the shaking half-elf. “You’re one of the sanest people I know. And the most insightful. In fact,” Elizabeth said slowly, gazing around the cramped bathroom. “I think you ran to this stall because of the crucifix. You instinctively realized it was the only thing in camp that might offer some protection.”

“It could only have been instinct,” Celia pressed her face into Elizabeth’s neck. “In my panic, I definitely wasn’t thinking much at all.”

They walked together to the truck as Celia slowly pulled herself back together. “Put me to work, Liz. I need the distraction,” she said as they walked up the ramp into the trailer.

Equipment covered one wall of the trailer, with flat screens and a cork board on the other side, and a computer station filled the far end. Once their equipment was set up, they’d be able to keep an eye on the entire campsite from inside the trailer. Elizabeth had explained that she’d retrofitted it herself; beneath the plain metal exterior, the trailer’s structure was inscribed with runes of protection and religious icons from more than a dozen faiths. “No ghost can enter,” Elizabeth had proclaimed proudly. “And believe me, it’s been tested and vetted through experience.”

The next two hours were spent relocating nearly all of the trailer’s equipment into various locations around the camp at Elizabeth’s direction. Celia carried cameras, tripods, and mics as well as a host of other gadgets that she didn’t fully understand the function of just yet. Elizabeth spent a good twenty minutes in the food tent painting an elaborate protection circle on the ground with white paint. “Ben was right,” she commented as Celia hauled three tripods past where Elizabeth was working. “If we set up boxes and coolers under the tables to block line of sight, then this will have the most space for two people with the best cover—at least if you’re not counting any of the enclosed tents.”

As the shadows around camp began to lengthen, Elizabeth’s obvious excitement grew—and Celia’s unease returned. She sat down on the floor of the trailer and stared blindly at one of the monitors mounted on the wall. Elizabeth was circling the camp and making last-minute adjustments to video angles and mic positions, while pausing to jot down more details in her notebook.

Celia smiled wistfully. This was the enthusiasm that had drawn her to the tiefling woman from the moment she burst into the cafe where Celia was working last fall. She’d slammed open the door on a rush of cold wind, her teal-and-gray braids streaming in behind her. Her arms had been full of flyers, which she’d proceeded to pin up all over the large community corkboard directly across from Celia’s barista station. Celia had just opened her mouth to protest when the words on the flyers had caught her eye. “PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR FOR HIRE” was blazoned across the top in dark purple font printed on a light teal-colored paper. “Professional Investigations | Spirits Identified | Properties Cleansed.” Celia’s mouth closed with a snap. The tiefling woman had chosen that moment to turn toward the counter, meeting Celia’s eyes with a grin and a wink.

“Can I get you anything?” Celia asked weakly.

“Oh…yes!” The woman stepped toward her, about half of her flyers still clutched against her chest. “I’ll have an earl gray, whole milk, with one packet of cane sugar and a dollop of honey.”

Celia couldn’t help but smile as she started on the tiefling’s order. “You have a sweet tooth,” she commented.

The tiefling smiled back at her. “Always have.”

Celia busied herself with making the tea, a hundred opening lines crossing her mind at once. Just ask her, she thought to herself crossly.

“Did I read that right?” She cleared her throat nervously. “You’re a ghost hunter?”

“I prefer the term ‘paranormal investigator.’” The woman winked and leaned across the counter. “Why? Know someone in need of my field of expertise?”

“Actually,” Celia met her eyes, “I think I do.”

Elizabeth’s footsteps clanged up the ramp into the trailer. “Copper for your thoughts, love?” she smiled down at Celia.

Celia pushed to her feet. “Just nervous about tonight. I was trying to calm myself by remembering how we met.”

“Choosing that cafe to post my flyers was one of the best decisions of my life.” Her tail coiled around Celia’s arm affectionately. 

“Are we all ready for tonight?” Celia glanced outside and audibly gulped when she saw that only the faintest glow remained in the sky. “Oh gods, it’s going to be full dark in minutes.”

“That’s right,” the tiefling agreed. Her tail slowly released Celia’s arm as she grabbed two flashlights, pressing one into Celia’s hands. “It’s go time, love.”

Celia nodded and followed Elizabeth back into the camp, switching on her flashlight as she went. Most of the campsite’s external lights had already been switched on, but the electrical light was dim enough to make flashlights a necessity in order to peer into the deep shadows that remained.

“You’re right about the effect on the lights. The entire camp used to be much brighter than this.” Celia swung her flashlight around. “Where do you want to start?”

“I have the equipment laid out on the picnic tables.” Elizabeth tucked her flashlight into her waistband as she settled a pair of headphones over her pointed ears then picked up the parabolic mic. She then turned to Celia with the parabolic in one hand and flashlight in the other. “I’ll make circuits around the camp, listening for paranormal sounds. You take the temperature gauge and walk around getting readings in all the main areas. We need to pinpoint the coldest spot. And take a crucifix with you just in case.”

Celia set the temperature gauge back down in order to pick up a plain wooden crucifix and stick it through the open lacings of her halter top.

Elizabeth eyed her appreciatively. “A sight like that during my formative years might’ve turned me religious.”

Celia blushed and picked the thermometer back up. “I’m ready,” she announced.

“We can do this, love. If you need me, shout loudly. My hearing’s a bit muffled when this thing is on.”

For the next five minutes, Celia kept her attention firmly on the small screen of the temperature readout. It was one of Elizabeth’s newest investments. After squeezing the handle for five seconds, the current temperature displayed instantly across the screen. She made her way slowly around the camp, stopping every few feet to take a reading and occasionally ducking inside tents. With the exception of the campfire circle, the night was a fairly consistent twenty degrees Celsius. A little cooler than she remembered the summer nights being, but not drastically so. Eventually, she found herself standing in the kids’ area with only one last place to check: Lovers’ Bench.

Drawing a deep breath, she rounded the corner to find Elizabeth crouched in front of the bench, parabolic mic extended and a faint frown across her freckled face. As the temperature reading flashed across the thermometer’s screen, she understood why she wasn’t surprised: she was already shivering.

“Liz,” she said loudly. “It’s here. This is the coldest spot.”

Elizabeth nodded and removed her headphones. “He’s been whispering to me. Here,” she offered the headphones to Celia. “You should hear this, too.”

“He… You don’t mean…” Celia stared at the parabolic as though Elizabeth were handing her a viper.

Elizabeth plucked the thermometer from Celia’s hand and replaced it with the headphones. “Put them on,” she said gently. “I think you need to hear this.”

Celia nodded and fitted the headphones around her ears. Elizabeth aimed the parabolic toward the fence. Not just toward the fence, but the spot where Ben had died.

Celia jumped as soft whispers filled her ears. A masculine voice but indistinct; she couldn’t quite make out the words. She grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and shifted the mic’s angle slightly to the right.

“—lia? Is that you, Celia? Why are you here? You got away. Celia…”

“Ben,” she cried out. “Ben, it’s me. I’m here. I came back to find out what happened to you. Ben?” The whispers had abruptly stopped. “Ben!” she shouted. Silence.

“He stopped talking,” she directed to Elizabeth.

The tiefling nodded and stood up, brushing off her legs before switching the mic off. “It takes a lot of energy to be audible to the living. He probably needs a breather—so to speak,” she added hastily. “Let’s grab an EMF and a D.O.T.S. projector.”

Celia was turning to follow Elizabeth when she felt something bump against her shoe. Peering down she saw a small blue ball bouncing away from her—until it suddenly swerved and struck her shoe again. Her throat felt tight. “Lizzy,” she whispered.

They both watched as the rubber ball struck Celia’s shoe for a third time. “I don’t remember seeing a ball like this anywhere other than the kids’ area,” Elizabeth said slowly.

“There was something else about that night,” Celia whispered. “I’d almost forgotten. When I left the toilet stall in the morning, there was a ball just like this one on the floor right outside the stall. It hadn’t been there the night before, because we’d already packed up all the toys. I don’t know how it got there. And it didn’t seem important at the time.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I think this narrows things down significantly. Forget the EMF and D.O.T.S. for now. You grab the salt and a UV glow stick. I’ll get the spirit box and a blank notebook. We’ll see if my hunch is right.”

A few minutes later, the half-elf was hunched over a thick line of salt, waving an ultraviolet light over it. Next to it lay an open notebook and a pencil. Elizabeth sat on the bench next to her, holding the spirit box.

“It looks like a transistor radio,” Celia nodded toward the spirit box.

“It’s similar,” agreed Elizabeth. “But with a smaller range. And it allows ghosts to use radio frequencies to communicate with us.”

“So if he responds, it won’t sound like Ben?”

“No, it’s usually a jumble of different voices patched together—oh look!” Elizabeth joined Celia on the ground as the notebook and pencil suddenly levitated into the air, pencil scratching furiously.

“Holy shit,” Celia breathed when the notebook fell back to the ground with a thump. “What’s it say?”

Elizabeth turned the notebook around and peered at it in the gloom. “Um. It’s your name. Over and over.”

“Oh,” Celia looked down. “Shit,” she cursed, furiously shaking the glow stick. “Of course he steps in the salt during the one second I look away. But look!” she grabbed Elizabeth’s arm. A faint footprint glowed with green luminescence in the ultraviolet light.

“That’s two out of three, but it isn’t conclusive. Not yet.” Elizabeth held out the spirit box. “I think you need to do this one, love. He obviously wants to speak to you. You’ll have the best chance of getting a response.”

“Okay,” Celia set down the glow stick. “I can talk into a radio. Sounds easy.”

“Well,” Elizabeth sounded sheepish. “You’ll also need to do it alone. And in the dark. If you want to have the best chance of getting a response.”

“Oh.” Celia took a deep breath. “I can do it. It’s just Ben who’s been here so far.”

“I’ll be close,” Elizabeth promised, squeezing her shoulder. “Just ask him short, simple questions. Ask his location, his age, stuff like that. It’s okay to keep repeating the same questions until he responds.”

Celia nodded. “I got this, Lizzy.” 

Celia switched off the camping lantern sitting on Lovers’ Bench and then her flashlight. She stood up slowly. “Are you here?” Silence. “Where are you?” Silence. “How old are you?”

“Twenty,” the spirit box crackled. “Years. Ago.” Each word sounded like a different radio announcer.

“Liz!” Celia shouted. “It worked! What does this mean?” She hurriedly turned her flashlight back on and set the spirit box down next to the lantern before pressing the switch at its base. Dim light spilled out. Celia blinked; it seemed less bright than it had before.

“It means,” Elizabeth announced as she rejoined Celia, “we have ourselves a poltergeist.”

“Ben is a poltergeist?” Celia whispered, suddenly nervous that he might be listening.

“We’ll conduct a little experiment to confirm, but yes.” The tiefling bent down and started gathering up the books that had been left piled on the bench. “We need to gather up all the small items between here and the food tent. We’ll make a large pile right outside the protection circle and that should draw Ben’s attention like a lightning rod.”

It took multiple trips around the campsite, but it wasn’t long before they had a huge pile of books, toys, kitchenware, and various odds and ends in front of the food tent.

“Perfect,” Elizabeth rubbed her hands together. “Now we sit in the protection circle and wait.”

They sat down in the center of the circle, leaning against each other with Elizabeth’s tail curled around Celia’s waist and hands linked together.

“What’s supposed to happen?” Celia asked softly.

“Poltergeists draw strength from moving objects around. He’ll be drawn toward the greatest concentration of items. And having them all piled up together like this?” Elizabeth chuckled. “You’ll see.”

The minutes ticked by. “Was there any other cold spot in the camp?” Elizabeth asked. “Other than Lovers’ Bench?”

“Oddly enough, the campfire circle was a little colder than the rest of the campsite. But not nearly as cold as the temperature reading next to the bench.”

Elizabeth nodded and turned her face toward Celia. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve been so brave.” She cupped Celia’s cheek in her clawed hand.

“I couldn’t do it without you, Daddy.”

Elizabeth pulled Celia into a rough kiss, biting down on her lower lip until she heard the half-elf moan. She kissed her way down Celia’s chin and throat, hands reaching for and then giving up on the laces of her top—they were still tangled with the crucifix—and started pushing up the fabric instead. Celia had already bared Elizabeth’s lush breasts to the cool night air, twisting and pulling on her nipple rings. Celia could feel Elizabeth shivering from the sensation and just as Celia felt a rush of air against her own breasts, an explosion of noise split the air.

Both women opened their eyes and turned toward the pile of objects to see them flying outward in every direction—including theirs.

Elizabeth threw out her arm and twisted her back toward the pile, trying to shield both herself and Celia. “Shit!” she cursed. “I guess he’s the jealous type.”

“Ben!” Celia shouted. “Is that you? Show yourself!”

A familiar shape flickered into view standing before the protection circle.

“Ben?” Celia cried. “Is that you, Ben?”

“Celia,” the ghost whispered. He flickered once, twice, then seemed to stabilize into the semi-translucent shape of a human man.

“Ben!” She reached out a hand and gasped when she made contact. He felt solid and…cold. Very cold.

“Gods above and below,” Elizabeth whispered. Then she glanced downward. “Uh, Celia, the girls are out.” She readjusted her sports bra.

Celia shrugged one shoulder. “You’ve both seen mine. Ben, what’s been happening here? I came back to try to find out. I never really understood what happened the night you…you died,” she finished in a low voice.

“Celia, you shouldn’t be here,” Ben’s figure flickered and then he was kneeling on the ground in front of her. “It isn’t safe. He isn’t here now, but he always returns eventually. And he’s so angry. He’s always angry.”

“Who is ‘he’?” Elizabeth’s voice was urgent. “What can you tell us about the ghost that killed you?”

Ben’s gaze never wavered from Celia’s. “He’s able to leave. I don’t know how. I’m trapped here. So I try to protect people from him whenever they’re here. Like I tried to protect you.”

“Ben, please tell me what happened that night.”

“I could see him. A man standing in the forest, glaring at us. I got so angry. I was shouting. Then I turned toward you and…” His voice faltered. “Suddenly you looked so scared and you were running. And I knew he’d go after you next. I needed to distract him, slow him down. So I threw myself at him. But it didn’t do much. He always moves very slowly.”

“You threw… You mean, you threw your physical body at him?”

“Gods. Celia, that’s how he ended up on the other side of the fence!” Elizabeth sounded impressed. “I’ve never heard of a poltergeist that strong.”

Ben turned to face Elizabeth. He seemed to notice her for the first time. “Oh, hi. A what? Poltergeist?”

“Never mind, Ben,” Celia interjected swiftly. “You said you helped other people, too. Did you help some people very recently?”

“I think so,” Ben frowned. “He’s been getting angrier. And I could feel that he was returning. I had to scare them away. I didn’t know what else to do,” he said earnestly.

“And that’s how all of the pinecones ended up in the campfire at once,” Elizabeth concluded. “Everyone swore that they’d been left on the opposite side of the kids’ area for the next days’ craft project.”

“Right next to Lovers’ Bench,” Celia said sadly.

“Our bench, Celia,” Ben reached out to grasp her hands and Celia gasped again. His touch was cold but so familiar, too. Her eyes welled up.

“Oh, Ben…” She leaned in to brush her lips against his, but when his mouth opened she couldn’t resist deepening the kiss. If she ignored the iciness of his tongue and lips, she could almost pretend it was five years ago. She shivered as his hands slid over her exposed breasts and squeezed. She started hearing small clinks and clanks around them, and opened her eyes to see a mug sailing through the air. She broke the kiss. “Ben, is everything okay?”

“I think he’s drawing power from throwing objects in order to remain physical,” Elizabeth explained, her hand rubbing reassuring circles over Celia’s back. Celia turned toward her and cocked an eyebrow in question. The tiefling smirked and nodded.

“Ben,” Celia found that the human’s gaze had wandered down to his hands cupping her breasts. “Can you stay long enough for us to be together one last time?”

“I want to.” Ben dragged his eyes back to her face. “We never finished our last night together.”

“That’s right,” Celia smiled at him. “This might be our only chance. But is it okay if my girlfriend, Liz, joins in?”

“You’re Celia’s girlfriend?” Ben asked Elizabeth.

“Yeah, we met last year and have been together ever since,” Elizabeth said proudly. She slid her hand from Celia’s back to cover Ben’s hand and gave it a little squeeze—also squeezing Celia’s breast in the process.

Celia smiled and reached for his waistband—he was still wearing the pajama bottoms she remembered from their last night and nothing else—when he flickered once and reappeared completely nude, his erect cock bobbing in the air.

“Nice trick,” breathed Elizabeth. “And nice cock. You weren’t exaggerating,” she murmured to Celia.

The half-elf nodded, already wrapping both hands around his girth. She was relieved to discover that his cock was slightly warmer than the rest of him.

“There were so many things we were going to do that last night, Ben,” Celia whispered, aware of Elizabeth pulling away briefly to remove her sports bra and gym shorts. “I’ve thought about it so many times. Have you?”

Ben nodded, his gaze roving first over Celia’s exposed breasts then caught by the movement of Elizabeth rucking Celia’s mini skirt up around her waist. “Easy access,” the tiefling giggled, her breasts jiggling slightly.

This caught Ben’s eye—he’d always been a boob man, Celia reflected—and he stared appreciatively at Elizabeth, clad only in her sneakers. “You’re gorgeous,” he told her, admiringly. He looked back at Celia. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I’m sure,” she said firmly. “Stand up, please. I want—” She hadn’t finished speaking before Ben was standing in front of her, his cock pressing against her face. Celia opened her mouth and guided him in, sucking hard against the head of his cock then releasing him with a loud pop. “You taste just how I remember,” she whispered.

Elizabeth grabbed the back of Celia’s hair when she started to bob her head over Ben’s cock. “Share, pet. She’s so greedy,” she said to Ben, who was watching them both with dazed eyes.

Celia moved slightly to the side, sucking along the shaft and flicking her tongue out rhythmically. She kept one hand wrapped the base of his cock and, as Elizabeth started licking the other side of his cock, moved her free hand to finger Elizabeth’s clit. She felt the familiar tease of Elizabeth’s tail against her opening and widened her stance so she could spread her knees.

Celia made a little game of trying to see how much of Ben’s cock she could have in her mouth while trying to kiss Elizabeth around it. Elizabeth caught on to the game quickly and after a few minutes of the most obscenely wet noises filling the air, Ben staggered backward.

“Fuuuuuck,” he gasped. “If we keep that up, I’m not going to last much longer.” Celia and Elizabeth glanced at each other and giggled. Ben peered at them. “Celia, is she…is she fucking you with her tail?”

“Yep,” Celia bucked her hips slightly and smiled at him.

“I’m getting her ready for you,” Elizabeth was smiling, too.

“Gods,” Ben swore softly.

“How should we do this?” Celia asked Elizabeth.

“Ben, why don’t you lie down and let us ride you?”

Ben flickered and Celia started as he appeared between her spread knees.

Elizabeth moved to kneel over Ben’s mouth, her tail slithering out of Celia as she took position facing her. Celia slowly eased herself onto Ben’s cock, groaning as she felt the familiar stretch combined with the unfamiliar coldness. She watched his icy hands grip Elizabeth’s hips as the tiefling ground her cunt against his lapping tongue. The women leaned forward to kiss, tongues intertwining, then returned their attention to riding Ben.

Celia closed her eyes and quickened her movement, throwing her head back.

“No, love, keep your eyes on us,” Elizabeth chided. “Let me help you focus.” Her tail had been lashing the air behind her; now it snaked around her body and through the air between them, to coil around the base of Ben’s cock—with a muffled shout of pleasure from Ben—and ease into Celia’s cunt.

She could feel the separate movements of both cock and tail deep inside her as Elizabeth’s tail continued to twine upward around Ben’s shaft, the flexible tip headed unerringly toward Celia’s g-spot.

Celia began to wail as she reflexively squeezed her inner muscles. Elizabeth’s tail was flicking against her g-spot over and over, driving her mad. She cupped her breasts, twisting and pulling her nipples as she stared into Elizabeth’s teal eyes, glowing like topaz stars in the near-darkness. Elizabeth’s breasts were bouncing freely as the tiefling’s hands were busy with one hand between her legs and the other keeping her balance.

“Gods,” the tiefling gasped. “I’m cumming, Celia. Cum for me. Cum for Daddy.” And Elizabeth’s tail twisted inside Celia, pressing against her g-spot so precisely that her spine bowed and hips convulsed, as she was suddenly gripped in an orgasm so intense it was almost painful.

“Fuck me,” Celia panted. “It’s too much, Lizzy, I— I can’t—”

“You can,” Elizabeth gritted out, caught in her own orgasm, Ben’s hands around her waist clearly the only thing keeping her from toppling over as her legs twitched uncontrollably.

Celia ground her hips down, hoping the pressure might ease some of the overstimulation. Her own legs were shaking, too. She screamed as another burst of pleasure gripped her cunt, then fell forward, her head resting between Elizabeth’s breasts.

Elizabeth chuckled and slid off of Ben, so that Celia was suddenly gazing into his face. His hips were still bucking up into her and she felt a burst of cold as he came inside her. He moved his hands to clasp her hips and, after a few more minutes, stilled his rutting.

“Celia,” he whispered, looking at her wistfully.

“Ben,” she whispered back.

“I like your girlfriend’s tail,” he grinned at her.

Her giggle nearly turned into a sob. “So do I.”

“That summer with you was amazing. I’ll never forget it. But he’s on his way. I can sense him getting closer.” Ben’s hands tightened around her. “He’s slow, but relentless. You need to run.”

“What?” Celia’s mind was reeling as she teetered from euphoria towards fear. “Now?” She saw movement out of the corner of her eye as Elizabeth started pulling her clothes back on, her tail swiftly retracting itself.

“I wish we had more time. I can try to slow him down, but I can’t leave the campsite and then it might be too late. You need to go. Go now!” he shouted and with a last flicker, he disappeared from view. Celia fell forward onto the ground, gasping from the sudden emptiness inside her.

“C’mon,” Elizabeth’s hand was under her elbow, helping her to her feet. “Run!”

Not bothering to adjust her clothes, Celia broke into a sprint, keeping her eyes focused on the bright opening of the trailer dead ahead.

As the women crested through to the other side of the gate, an all-too-familiar growl rose out of the trees bordering the road. A burst of noise from the camp behind them caused Celia to trip; only Elizabeth’s hand around her wrist kept her on her feet. But the sudden lurch knocked the crucifix free from the laces of her top, sending it flying to the ground. When it landed, it burst into flame and the growling came to a sudden halt.

The women ran into the trailer and Celia hit the keypad to retract the ramp and seal the doors shut behind them. Only then did she glance down at herself and start shifting her clothing back into place.

Elizabeth was standing at the computer station, clicking through to each camera and aiming them toward the truck. “If anything else happens tonight, we’ll be able to monitor it from in here. After full sunup, we’ll retrieve our equipment, lock up the campsite, and head home.”

“And pray everyone else stays far away until we can do something about the other ghost,” Celia nodded.

Elizabeth bent down and pulled a box out from under the desk. In a few moments, she had a little nest of blankets and pillows built up in the corner of the trailer. She sat down and held her arms out. Celia walked over and settled next to Elizabeth, leaning into the tiefling’s embrace.

“There’s nothing much we can do until Shadowheart returns from her sabbatical,” Elizabeth mused, playing with Celia’s hair. “We need her abilities as a priestess to cleanse Camp Woodwind.”

“You don’t know any other priestesses?” Celia fought down a yawn.

“No, but…” Elizabeth trailed off.

After a minute of silence, Celia poked her in the side. “But?” she prompted.

“But,” Elizabeth said slowly, “I heard recently about a professor of demonology. Supposedly, he’s quite the expert. And I heard a rumor that he knows a different method to get rid of ghosts.”

“Really? What’s his name?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t remember. Something unusual. Starts with an ‘A,’ I think?” she shrugged. “I have it written down at home.”

“Well, we have a plan then,” Celia snuggled into the pillows. “Go home and look up this mysterious Professor A.”

“Go to sleep, love. I’ll listen on the mics and wake you if anything happens.”

But Celia was already fast asleep.