Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER
here with her eyes wide shut, and she had so many more
questions, like: Where could I go? And, For how long?
Then it was too late. The opportunity was squandered.
The tyranny of the room rushed back in.
“Remember to breathe,” said that steady instructive
voice, containing just a hint of command. It was
Dennison, she realized, but Shutty couldn’t tell where
in the room she was speaking from.
“Got it yet, Bilka?” Kleck was saying. Him, she
could see, standing behind his black-and-white coffin
desk, half hidden by the low wall of green, black and
silver computer guts and the blank stare of his twin
monitors. They were partners now, Kleck and Bilka, in
this action. Why wasn’t Jobe upset? Didn’t he care
anymore?
“Perfect,” Bilka said, as she freed the small worn box
that was tightly packed twixt paperback books with her
index finger. “Perhaps these will help shed light on our
great mystery, yes?”
It was a tarot deck.
“Whoa,” Shutty said, shaking her head so quickly it
sent the strands of her black hair swinging. Her voice
even jumped an octave. “Things can speak through
those. It gives them voice, like a Ouija board. Aren’t
you afraid you’ll conjure whatever’s here?”
“No,” Bilka shrugged dreamily, still enjoying her
high. “As you say, it’s already here. And if it is here, I
want to see it. Besides, what is it that a ghost can do? Its
time is over. Its power is gone. It’s already had its turn
to live, no?”
“What if it doesn’t see it that way? What if it doesn’t
play fair? Do you really know what a ghost can do?
Those commercials say they can be pretty dangerous,”
Shutty insisted.
“So now you’re a TV fan too.” Bilka smiled. “You
believe in the spirits?”
“No. Yes. I mean, I don’t know,” she squeaked,
afraid she might actually cry. “But what if we, like,
make it stronger by paying attention to it? You know,
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HAUNTING THE DEAD
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