Amber Jones’s Reviews > City of Ghosts > Status Update

« The longer I’m on the wrong side of the Veil, the harder it is to get out. » The tapping never goes away to her- but now that she knows what’s on the other side- « its easier to ignore. » The schools bell rings (that lunch is over) as he says they have a rule to not leave the other in the Veil.

The boy doesn’t have anywhere else to go so he opens the trapdoor. She yells to the boy to not go in there but he doesn’t listen. A piece of burning set collapses on top of it. Jacob says her name. He grabs her by the shoulders and gives her a push, she falls backward. By the time, she hits the stage, it’s cold and the fire is gone. She talks about how she gets stuck.

Then the smoke rises and becomes a fire. She knows it’s a memory but she can feel the heat as it spreads. Jacob grabs her hand- pulling her away from the flames. She snaps pictures. Her head is beginning to feel foggy like she has been holding her breath. She knows she has been long enough but her feet won’t move. The dark haired boy, tries to stay low and the way, you’re taught in school …

The music starts, the boys eyes cloud over and she watched him take his place. Then she hears the hiss of a rope and turns to see the rigging-the boy got caught on-coming loose. A bag of sand slides, sinks, falls and it catches on a power box, knocking a fuse. It doesn’t start a fire first. There’s a spark-it leaps to the nearest thing, an unused piece of the paper forest. It starts as warmth and smoke.

She knows this timeline is based off the Ghost’s perspective.
…
She asks what do you mean about not looking for a source of fire. He opens his mouth when a boy appears. Then a guy with pale skin and a mop of blue curls comes-the ghost, there’s a feeling like the ground is tipping towards him. He drops his crown and backs up. She thinks he sees her. Jacob shakes his head and presses a hand over her mouth.

…through her ribs like the filament in a lightbulb. An adult’s voice, calls « Places! ». She knows what this is. It’s the night of the fire. She snaps a few photos, a shadow of what’s here. Jacob says they could be eating with normal people rn. She says he can’t eat and she sees ghosts. She tries to look for a source for the fire. Jacob says, « That’s not how it works. »

She mentions how her dad used to come in her room to check if there was any monsters in her room when she was little. « Crossing the Veil is like opening the closet door. » For a second, she was backstage but underwater. Jacob said her name and then the water went away. The stage is faded but not as dark now. Jacob looks solid. A light inside her chest- a coil of cool blue-white brightness that shines…

She has seen « ghost whisperers » on TV talk about « crossing over, connecting with the other side like it’s flipping a switch. » For her, it’s this curtain and finding part in curtain and catching hold of fabric and pulling. The Veil is more smoke than cloth and hard to catch hold of. But when a place is really haunted, the fabric twists around her, practically pulling her through.

The Veil! « The boundary between this world and somewhere else, between the living and dead. This is what I’m looking for! » Jacob shifts his weight from foot to foot, « Let’s get this over with. » « Ghost five. »- putting up hands and them pretending they are touching. Both murmuring a soft smack sound on contact. They laugh and she feels a bit better- clearing our fear and nerves.

She is halfway across the darkened stage, when she trips over- something and stumble forward. Jacob tries to help but she falls through him- hanging her knee. Then the floor bounces a little and she’s on top of the trapdoor. The tap-tap-tap becomes more insistent under her hands. At edge of sight- a thin gray curtain caught in a breeze - different from the heavy red curtain. This one, no one else can see.