My Sister's a Ghost!

He couldn't see even her, faking her death. Not for a laugh, and not for this long a time. She wouldn't have let it go on for an entire year. Maybe a day, before apologising and saying she'd gone too far. That was it.

Not... A year.

"So, why are you bugging me?" He asked eventually, whilst looking at his laptop and pretending to concentrate on the form he was filling out for the hundredth time, reminding another company that Grace's credit card had been cancelled because she was gone. "And not a boyfriend or something?"

"God, you're thick." She said in irritation, looking up from his tablet, "I thought I understood why you never said anything, but you really didn't know, did you? You still don't."

"Don't, what?"

Grace scoffed, rolled her eyes, and went back to what she was doing. "As if I'm ready for that conversation. Maybe after you admit I'm real."

He tore a piece of paper out of his notebook, screwed it up and tossed it at her. It bounced off the wall behind her. "Aha."

"I have to concentrate to grab stuff! Dick!" Grace said, before swiping the ball of paper off the floor and throwing it right back at him. He ducked it, and explained again to himself that it was just inside possibility that someone was puppeting things. If they were, they could respond, but only after a second to adapt.

He was seriously going to kill, whoever it was.

---

Elliot came awake, spluttering. Staring up at an empty glass of water, and through the girl holding it with a grin.

"Grace!"

The glass fell onto the bed, and she burst out laughing, "Morning!"

"I'm going to kill you!" He grabbed for her, and fell forwards and hit the ground.

She laughed, and sat down on the bed, "You love me. I don't have to run away, anymore. That's one bonus for not being physical. So... I suppose until you admit I'm real, I'll be waking you up."

"You soaked the bed." He muttered as he dragged himself upright.

"I'll do the sheets, whilst you have breakfast." Grace shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Elliot sighed, "So... The bastard using the memory of my little sister, still doesn't know when to let go of a joke?"

"Shoulda actually pissed on you." Grace glared.

He stumbled by her, "Not my kink."

"So...?" Grace skipped beside him, holding her hands behind her back.

"So what? And weren't you cleaning the bed?"

She rolled her eyes, "What is your kink? Come on. I'm dead. Who am I going to tell?"

"The asshole projecting you." Elliot said, but he wasn't so certain, anymore. She was following him easily. No disappearing and reappearing.

She might not be solid... But she wasn't taking the kind of time to adapt that a computer puppet would need. Even if there was a human telling her what to say, listening in, it would take time to generate her voice. Especially the changes in tone.

"I'll tell you mine." Grace grinned at him, "Well... Some of them. Don't think you're really up for the big one. Like... I gave someone my bra, at a nightclub, once."

"Ignore." Elliot replied and entered the kitchen.

"Being ignored is really not my thing." Grace replied lightly, "Dead fish or playing a game. If I'm trying to screw you, then you better well be panting in my ear."

"Ew."

She stepped in front of him, and he stepped through her, reaching for the cereal.

Grace sighed, and then asked, "What's so... Ew... About me liking a little bit of sex? I wasn't a total prude in life."

"You're my sister. Sort of." He replied, pouring a bowl, "I am not interested in talking sex with you."

"Well, fuck you!"

He spun in surprise as she popped out of existence. Elliot stared at the place she had been, and wasn't sure if he should be grateful that his haunting was apparently over, and disappointed that she was... Gone. Again.

The second feeling instantly won. Pain and loss rolling in like it was the day of the funeral, all over again.

Elliot glanced at his breakfast, and shoved the bowl back on the counter. Eating that felt like a one way trip to throwing up, right now. Speaking felt like he might end it in tears and swearing.

He wasn't sure who he would be cussing out. The prankster, his sister, or himself. Probably all three.

At least he had work today, so he didn't have to pretend to be a human. He could work like a mindless drone, and forget about his haunted house.

---

"Oh, god damn it!" Elliot said in frustration, and looked across the hotdesk, "You got any internet?"

"No." His coworker said in frustration, glaring at her laptop and running a hand through her brunette hair. Janice was never one to hold back on the anger front, but she never made a secret that she saw work as work. She wasn't here to be anyone's friend.

Elliot yelled across the room, "Hey, Damien!"

"I don't know!" The tech guru yelled backwards, sounding pissed, "Everything says the WiFi should be up, but it isn't. I'm restarting the bitch."

Damien was not someone you wanted to push too far. The guy might have been a nerd, but he was built like a linebacker. Usually, the man was the sweetest thing in the world.

If you asked for help on how to write an email, he would sit down beside you and guide you through each of the steps without hesitation. He'd also go back to his work station and write a custom step-by-step guide, based on where he guessed your expertise was at.

If someone bought the office a round of coffees, then that would be Damien, as well.

However, just because he was nice, did not mean that he didn't have a temper. If he wanted space to solve a particular problem, you gave him the space to do it.

Elliot sighed and leaned back in his seat.

As he did, he had a minor heart attack. Grace smiled at him sweetly, and toyed with a thread of her fringe, plaiting it idly. She didn't say anything, and glancing at Janice, it didn't look like anyone else had noticed her.

Just his personal demon.

He glared.

Grace shrugged, and smiled sheepishly.

Elliot rolled his jaw and whispered, "Is it you?"

"The WiFi? Yeah. Kinda." Grace nodded, "I mean... You were ignoring me. I actually kick Death's ass, just to hang out with my brother... And he goes into work. Fuck you, El. I mean... You've got every right to swear your head off at me and rant... But... Don't do this. Please? It took me a year! Please."

"I'm going for coffee." Elliot stood up, "Want anything, Janice?"

"Don't you fucking dare buy her shit!" Grace yelled, jumping to her feet and poking him in the chest, "I'm the important one, here. A year!"

Elliot stared, and Grace instantly stared at the floor and shrugged. Not even offering an explanation. He double-checked she wasn't physical, trying to wave his hand through her.

"Heard you." Janice misread the movement, "Uh... Sure. Latte? Sorry. I was in the middle of pushing something to prod. Trying to work out what broke."

"Sure, sure." Elliot replied lightly and turned, "See you in a bit. Damien, want anything?"

"A new fucking router!" The man yelled, and then changed tone, "No, I'm fine. I'll fix the damn thing. I'll give everyone an update in twenty."

Elliot headed out the front door, and spoke quietly, "So. You got my attention. Now, what?"

"Five minutes. You're giving me five minutes." Grace stepped in front of him and crossed her arms. "Even I couldn't project a ghost in the middle of the city. I am fucking here, you fucking asshole. Stop ignoring me like you're a three year old!"

"I'm... Not ignoring you." He said slowly, and then winced, "How... How can you be here? I... It's you. It's actually you."

Her face instantly changed, "Oh. So... I didn't need that tantrum, did I? You uh... Just needed..."

"Space to process." He nodded.

Grace kicked at the ground in embarrassment, "Well, um... Sorry? Can we... Can we go somewhere you're not uncomfortable talking to me? Considering no one else can see me. Well, except witches."

"Witches are real." Elliot mused as he headed towards the cafe around the corner, "So... What kinda stuff can they do?"

"Creepy shit." His ghostly sister replied, as someone walked through her.

"And, what about you? Disappear, reappear. Walk through things... How do you not fall through the ground?"

Grace shrugged, "I dunno. I just don't. Why don't you float off into space?"

"Gravity?"

"And how does gravity work, smartass?" Grace said with a grin.

Elliot winced, "That's... One of those things where physicists can keep talking for hours, isn't it? So... I guess I dunno."

"Exactly." She replied, nodding her head as if she'd just won an argument.

He ducked into the line at the cafe, and considered things for a minute. Then he whispered to the woman standing idly beside him as customers rushed through her on the way out the door. "You uh... Want anything?"

"Your freaking attention. Got secrets to spill." She shrugged. "Coffee? Uh... Dunno if I can work out how to drink that. Might steal some of yours, now that you've offered, though."

"Secrets?"

Grace shrugged again, looking bored.

The phone in his pocket buzzed, and Elliot pulled it out to see a message from Lily. Pulling it up, it was a lot less frustrated and annoyed than the woman had seemed the day before.

% Ghosts can do coffee.

% But she's craving a milkshake.

% Chocolate and strawberry swirl.

He smiled and tucked the phone away. Not even trying to guess how Lily knew where they were or what they were doing. The witch was a witch, and despite the offers to exorcise his sister, he thought she might actually have their best interests at heart.

Maybe something like an overworked government employee.

When it was his turn to order, Elliot asked for a cappuccino, a latte, and the milkshake. When he put it at the end of the order, he saw Grace grin excitedly, before trying to bury the emotion and pretend to be totally impassive.

"Just let me drop in Janice's, and then we'll head to FedSquare." Elliot stated, "Then we can have all the conversation in the world, as I just look like another crazy person."

Grace ignored him, and snatched the milkshake out of his hands. Sipping excitedly at the straw, as she floated the paper cup down the street, dodging the unobservant, or uninterested, city folk.

---

Elliot sat down on the stone seat, "I really hope people seeing the milkshake just think I'm playing a magic trick, or something."

"Magicians hit the Square, all the time." Grace rolled her eyes, sipping at the drink.

He nodded, taking his time and waiting for her to spill whatever exactly it is that she wanted to talk about. He... Didn't want to screw this up. He was too scared to apologise for his rants, or his dickish behaviour when she came back.

Elliot really didn't have a clue what to do next. What do you do, when you realise that your undead sister is sitting beside you, after you basically ignored them for a full day?

"I wasn't going to fight it." Grace whispered, "When... When Death came for me. Big ugly fucker, and he didn't carry a farming thing. He had a damn warhammer or some shit. Like being collected by Thor, not some nice guy with a thing for cats who speaks in capital letters."

He choked on his coffee, "Holy shit."

"Apparently he still had balls. Kicking him there, worked." Grace shrugged off that she had fought a god or demon or something along those lines.

Elliot looked at her, but she was staring intently at the ground, and looked like she was dying inside. This was just as heavy as the conversation that they nearly had, before he lost her.

"I missed you." He whispered, reaching out to try and squeeze her shoulder, before falling through and having to catch himself.

Grace sighed glumly and nodded, "You've got no idea. I... Just shut up for a minute? I... I thought I had this figured out. Spent the whole year, hanging out in your house, coming up with what I wanted to say. But all I wanna do is cry."

"Then cry." Elliot whispered.

She rolled her eyes, "You are so bad at listening to me. Which is part of the problem. Kinda. I'm the problem. So... So, I uh... I was going to let myself... Move on? Death for dead people? I dunno. The next thing. But I didn't. It... It wasn't a whim."

Grace leaned back, and put her milkshake aside, looking up at the cityscape. She bit her lip and really did seem to be struggling hard not to burst into tears. Elliot did as he was told, and kept his mouth shut.

She swallowed, "There was something I wanted to do. Cliche. Guess it's a cliche for a reason. Unfinished business. Something I never did whilst I was alive, and it was stupid and... And now I've got no reason not to try."

"Aha?"

She turned and looked at him sadly, and then surprised him by leaning over and planting a kiss on his lips. She wasn't all there, at first. Something cold and tickling, that rapidly turned into something warm and soft that was pushing into him.

The kiss didn't end there. Grace clambered into his lap, giving some sort of pressure, but not quite touching. She put her hands behind his head, and he felt each individual finger as she pulled him in tightly, passionately making out with him.

For his part, Elliot was too in shock to respond.

All he could do was hold his breath, as his little sister who he had known all his life, kissed him. His little sister who used to turn up with cake and a gift card, on his birthday, without fail. His little sister who used to prank and tease him, every chance she got.

His brain was running a million miles an hour, screaming that he had missed all kinds of signs that she might like him. It was also screaming that none of this could be happening, and that he must be having some kind of twisted wet dream. Because she was his sister.

She'd treated him like he was an idiot, when he asked if she had a boyfriend. Not because she was sick and dying... But because the boyfriend she wanted was unavailable.

She had stopped with the pranks, because she didn't want him yelling at her to be their last memories together. Then stopped coming over, because she didn't want him to hurt when he saw just how sick she actually was.

Grace broke the kiss momentarily, and whispered, "You can kiss back, y'know. I won't mind."

"I.. You're..."

"No one can even see me." She whispered, and then resumed the kiss before he could work out what he was trying to say.

She'd sworn at him because he said it was gross to talk sex with his sister. One of the first things she'd done after coming back, was ask about his kinks... And say that she wasn't willing to discuss her biggest, just yet.

Elliot tried to push her away, his hand touching nothing but air.

She got the hint though, pulling away, and giving him a brief flash of tear-filled eyes before vanishing.

"No, don't!" He yelled, drawing the attention of onlookers. Elliot winced and hoped she was still technically around, "Grace. I... I just needed to... Talk. I wasn't... I wasn't telling you to go. Fuck!... Fuck."

The milkshake beside him was knocked over, spilled.

She was gone.

---

He didn't go back to work.

Elliot had hung around at the Square for a while, hoping to hell that Grace would reappear. When nothing had happened, he'd headed straight home. Not bothering to even collect his laptop from the workplace.

He did have the wherewithal to text, just saying that something had come up. So that nobody went hunting for him. He didn't need to try and explain himself, right now.

Getting home, he found his bed was made and tucked in, with fresh and still-warm sheets. He didn't find any other trace of Grace, however, and calling out to her only made him hear his own stupid voice.

He shuffled around glumly, trying to think how he should have handled things, how he could have done anything better.

Eventually, he found himself in front of her ashes.

The rose he'd laid in front of the urn, only yesterday, was withered and dead. The bright red petals were brown with tight streaks as they began to crinkle. The green stem looked like someone had dried it out to be kindling for a fire.

He picked it up, turning it over slowly.

It was the same flower.

Elliot didn't have another one to replace it. He'd bought this one specifically for her anniversary. Marking one year that she'd been... She hadn't been gone. She'd been watching him, desperate to tell him how she'd felt.

The first thing she'd done, when she'd come home, was drawing a heart in the shower. Telling him that she... Loved him.

"Holy shit." Elliot sucked in his breath, feeling that weight crashing down, crushing him completely. The responsibility of being the one that his sister cared for. He couldn't protect her, from himself. He was a failure as a big brother.

More important than that, however, was getting his head on straight. If he could manage to find her, or summon her, or whatever, then he needed to have an answer to give her.

Elliot had never, not once, thought of Grace as a woman.

Mostly because she was too busy pissing him off, laughing as he chased her for dousing him with a cup of water in the morning. Or feeding him a chocolate wrapped brussel sprout. Or yanking his chair as she made out that his house was haunted.

She'd been flirting. He'd just tried to get his own back with a tickle attack or whatever. Seeing her as a sibling.

Grace's theory that it didn't matter anymore, because she was gone... Was a good one. Did the rules and cultural sensitivities of the world matter a damn once you'd crossed the biggest threshold?

She'd fought fucking Death itself, for a chance just to be with him.

"Death has balls." He smiled sadly, giving a tiny laugh at the image of his sister delivering a knee to the groin of a skeleton. He wondered how shocked she was that she'd actually hit anything.

"Oh, that's just the one she met. There's all kinds of death gods. Half of 'em have tried to kill my brother."

He yelled, staring at the white-haired witch who had snuck up on him. Just casually reappearing in his house, like it was nothing.

"Not nothing." Lily shook her head, "I... Saw that Grace had up and disappeared on you. Got a bit concerned. She's really impatient, isn't she? Won't give you two days to even come to terms with the fact she ain't all dead."

"Uh... Yeah. I guess."

The witch took her hat off her head and spun it idly, "She's not... Gone. Not entirely. But... Sorta. Okay. Cards on the table. I said I sympathised with her. It's because... I'm in love with my own brother. Dating him. Magic folk aren't as caught up in that stuff as the rest of you."

"Oh." He didn't really know what else to say.

Lily nodded slowly, "So... The death god that Grace met? That bastard is called Thor, for real. Your sister is an einherjar. Odin chose her, as a worthy warrior spirit, to join him when he tries to fuck around with Fenrir. She's in Valhalla."

"In... Valhalla." Elliot flinched, "So... She did leave."

The woman nodded, "Yeah... But that... It's kinda why I'm here? Look. She'd love it. Fighting and drinking and cacking herself laughing as everyone thinks she's got Loki's legacy. But... If you're willing to go through a bit... You could bring her back. You could have a third chance, if you wanted it."

"Holy... Fuck!"

The witch gave a nervous laugh, "Eh... Yeah. So um... Text me? When you make up your mind. Grace is probably happy there. But she'd be happy here, too, if she gets you."

"What... Exactly... Did you mean by, go through a bit?" Elliot was still reeling, but felt that might be an important tidbit.

Lily shrugged, "You'd have to go there. I've been, a couple times, which was so not fun. Hela's a bitch, and was... Doesn't matter. The morons there are always drunk. They'd invite you in for a drink, but have you ever sat around drinking with someone who thinks the world of themselves? It sucks balls. Sucks even harder, when they're encouraged to practice war and can't die. But you could."