Free The Edge Of The Cemetery by Margaret Millmore

someone was in my apartment.
    I kept a baseball bat under my bed for protection. Our building was extremely secure, but the habit had rolled over from my first city apartment, where we had a midnight break-in. I started to reach for the bat when I realized my intruder was GG. She was standing near the window, and when she noticed I was awake, a slight smile graced her ghostly face.
    As GG had indicated the morning before, she came when I needed her, and God knew we needed her now.
    “The boy and his demon?” I asked. She nodded. “We have to find them…can you help?” She frowned. “You're not sure you can find them?” She nodded again. “Do you know if this kid is working with the demon or if the demon is controlling the kid?” She frowned again. It's always difficult talking to someone who can't talk back. I tried another question. “Do you know why he's doing this? Is it to kill ghost killers?”
    She nodded vigorously, then changed her mind and shook her head; we were getting nowhere fast.
    I exhaled lightly in an attempt to hide my frustration. “Let's try one question at a time. Do you know why he's doing this?” She nodded.
    “But he's not trying to kill ghost killers?” She pointed at me. “Okay, he's trying to kill me?” She sort of nodded and shook her head at the same time, and I remembered the night in Marin, when the man tried to grab Billy, so I asked, “Are they trying to kidnap us?” She did that nod/shake thing again and I took a deep breath, “All right, are they trying to kidnap one of us, and maybe kill the other?”
    If a ghost could sigh, that's what GG did. I could see her apparitional chest rise with a ghostly inhale and her mouth open slightly as she exhaled nothing at all.
    Finally I said, “It's okay, GG. Phil and Aris are working on it, but try and stay close. We may need your help when we find the kid and his demon.” She nodded sadly and faded away.
    I fell back against my pillow and slept restlessly for the next couple of hours, finally crawling out from under the covers at 6:15. My first instinct was to call Billy and tell her about GG's visit, but Billy wasn't an early riser, and waking her up could be life-threatening to yours truly. I decided to make some breakfast and try and catch a tennis game at Lafayette Park.

Chapter 12
    I love early mornings in the city when most people are still at home and the streets are empty, but I especially love Lafayette Park, with its open green spaces and large swaths of trees. It's one of those inner-city treasures…eleven acres atop a hill that allows the visitor to enjoy incredible city and bay views. As if that wasn't enough, it has first come, first serve tennis courts, and I frequent those as often as possible, usually catching a game with my friend Greg, who religiously shows up every morning between six and eight to play. Greg and I had been playing together for years. He always gave me a run for my money, and once in a while I beat him. We played for a little over an hour…he destroyed me as usual, but the workout was good and I was ready to face the day with a clear head.
    When I approached the courtyard entrance to my building, I was hit with two things simultaneously, both involving Billy. The first was that she was out of bed and outside…it was almost eight…normal for most people, but an un-Godly hour according to her. The second was a sense of déjà vu.
    I saw Billy, not as she was right now, but as she was when I'd first met her. It was several months ago, this ghost killing business was new to me, and at the time I seemed to live in a perpetual state of confusion and fear. That particular day I'd made the mistake of visiting the house of Frederick Vokkel, where I'd had an unpleasant experience with Edgar. In those days, I didn't know that Vokkel was Billy's estranged and insane grandfather; in fact, I didn't know Billy at all.
    She was sitting on the bench in our front courtyard, disheveled from the road and