Capítulo 24: Belong

I was standing at the balcony enjoying the sunset when I heard someone knocking at the door. I opened it to find Ken smiling ear to ear.

"What?" I smirked at his happy face.

"Come on." He gestured with his face to follow him and started walking. I decided to follow him even though I had no idea where he was going.

"Where are we going?" I tried to ask him while I followed him.

"You will see" He said gleefully.

We took the stairs to go to the upper floor, I think he was aiming for the terrace. I was proven right when he opened the door to reveal the blinking lights that were neither too bright that will hurt your eyes, nor too dim that will impair your vision. It was fairly crowded as I saw many people. It appeared like a get together scenario.

"Ken! Are we even allowed here?" I whisper-shout at him.

"Relax, we were asked to be here." Ken chuckled at my anxiousness.

"Really? That's awesome!" I smiled.

"So you finally made it here." Margaret appeared beside me. "Look around, and try to enjoy the evening." She smiled. I stared at her. She can smile? who was this woman and where was she all this time? This place had really uplifted her mood it seems.

"Is it alright though? What about all the humans?"

"You see that guy?" Antoinette arrived out of nowhere just near my right ear and said softly, while she gestured at someone standing at the main entrance.

"Yeah?"I ask her not sure why she was pointing at him.

"You know what he will see if he looks up here?" She raised one of her eyebrows and smirked. "He will see a dimly lit empty restricted terrace. So no matter what you do, it won't make any difference to the living" She smiled gracefully at me.

I smiled back at her, she was so nice, like a polar opposite of Margaret. How do they get along so well, I will never know.

I looked around when I saw Oliver standing at a corner all by himself. Ken and I went to him to check what's wrong.

"Hey, why are you all by yourself? And why did you not call me to come here?" I folded my hands

"I was... just thinking about something."He shrugged, "As for calling you, that guy dragged me up here when he found me."He pointed at a skinny looking middle aged guy who was laughing with few other people. "His name is Casper. I think he works for Antoinette somehow."

"Okay, I see you found new friends." Ken said almost bitterly.

"Jealous?" Oliver smirked at him.

"No, I'm glad. Someone else is about to find out how annoying you can be."Ken shrugged and looked away.

"Come on, there are so many ghosts here, lets get to know a few more." I suggested

"Sure, whom do you want to talk to first?" Oliver asked me.

"How about them?" I pointed at two young looking ghost drinking something and talking to each other. They looked around our age. The woman appeared pale even for a ghost, but she was beautiful and had long wavy red hair reaching till her waist. While the guy was a tall brunette, almost as tall as Ken, maybe even taller. They seemed like a couple with their affectionate touches and giggling reactions with each other.

They nodded in response. I was feeling awkward about how to start a conversation, thank goodness Ken took that burden off my shoulders.

"Hello!" Ken called out to them. They looked at us with curious glance and smiled at us.

"Hey, You are the newcomers right? Welcome to Paradise!" The lady smiled at me enthusiastically.

"Yes, Hi I'm Ken, these are my friends Chloe and Oliver."He gestured at us.

"Wow, you really died young. What happened with you?"She asked him.

"Um..." His smile dissapeared as he stood there flabbergasted, not knowing what to reply. It was quiet clear he did not want to tell the story of his death. She was too cheerful to notice that so I took charge of the conversation.

"Well, death really has no age right? One can die anytime."I shrugged and tried to smile hoping to change the flow of conversation.

"You are right, I mean look at us, we are were not even forty" She chuckled. "Oh where are my manners, I am Jeanine and this is my husband Zachary. We both died at the same time, we are meant to be together even in death" she looked with heart-eyes at Zachary which he returned with passion.

She was quiet chatty indeed, she must enjoy gossips a lot. I love how sweet this couple is, I meant death together sounds really horrible and romantic at the same time.

Suddenly, there was sound of clicking sound as if someone was about to give a toast. Everyone looked at source of the sound, which was Antoinette who was surrounded by two or three ghosts including Margaret. Everyone gathered around her to hear what she had to say.

"We ghosts and human live in harmony together, and I have done my best in maintaining that decorum since I became a ghost. I always appreciate new addition to this peaceful family of ours. So it is my pleasure to welcome the newest members, one of whom is my friend for a long time, to Paradise" She raised her glass and drank it.

I never tried alcohol as a ghost so I wonder if it had any effect. That seemed unlikely, maybe they drank it for the sake of the taste and occasion.

"Why does it sound like she is welcoming a tenant and not a guest. It sounded like we plan to stay here for years" Oliver mumbled next to me.

"Oh guests here do tend to stay here for long. For us a month, or a year is nothing. Even decades feel like months. We have been here for almost thirty years, as in ever since we died." Jeanine, who apparently also heard Oliver, told us.

So this is a long stay guest house for us? Who knows how long we will need to stay here, but even if its long, as frustrated as I would be I think I'll enjoy living amongst these ghosts. It was nice having company of the ones who are like you after all. It gives you a feeling that you belong somewhere.