The Melancholy of Sebastien Huxley

VIII | Human Company

          He stared out of the window, waiting to see if he'd show up again. But he sat there until the sun started rising, and he didn't see so much as a fox.

          Despite how many hours he'd had to think, he couldn't work out why he was seeing that hitchhiker. Was he even real, or was he a figment of his imagination? But how could he be? Caleb was talking about a hitchhiker not too long ago—a hitchhiker who was currently waiting to be hanged for murdering the people who picked him up.

          Could the guy have been telling the truth when he said he was possessed?

          Sebastien shook his head. Why was he even thinking about it? This hitchhiker had nothing to do with what he was doing here. He had to feed the phantom, find Henry to confirm his death, and then find the creature responsible for the sickness. Nowhere in there was there any mention of a hitchhiker.

          He moved away from the window and got back into bed.

          "Oh, you're up?" came Caleb's voice.

          With a quiet sigh, Sebastien dragged his hand over his face. Had he really been awake that long? "Yeah," he mumbled.

          "You sleep okay?"

          "Sure did," he lied, rolling his eyes.

          Caleb sat up. "You know, I'm kinda surprised."

          Sebastien glanced at him and tried his best to sound interested, "Oh?"

          "With the like...phantom and all the dead things, I was kinda expecting this place to be...well...horrifying at night. I was worried we might have to fight off ghosts."

          "Trust me, if there were ghosts here, they wouldn't be trying to hurt us. Ghosts are probably the calmest of all astral Caeleste."

          "Astral Caeleste?"

          "Yeah. Ghosts, phantoms, spectres. All those guys. They're called astral Caeleste."

          "So...ghosts and spirits and stuff are all different."

          "Yes," he muttered, closing his eyes as his irritancy grew harder to contain. But now that the kid was awake, they could head into town and fetch a prisoner. "You ready to go?" he asked, sitting up.

          Caleb frowned. "Like...right now? Can't I wash up and have breakfast?"

          Sebastien got out of bed and pulled his coat on. "Does it look like you're gonna find a shower around here? Or a sink or any running water, actually."

          The human looked around. "But...your boss' guy was staying here before us, right? Surely, he had to get water and...got to the bathroom?"

          With a deep, stressful sigh, Sebastien shook his head and rubbed his temple. "Look, dude. I just wanna get out of here, grab the prisoner, and get back here so I can feed the phantom. Is it really too much to ask that you wait to have your shower until we're done with that?" he exclaimed calmly.

          Caleb started looking a little flustered.

          Sebastien frowned at him. "What?"

          He shuffled around uncomfortably. "I...need the toilet."

          "Oh, my God," Sebastien exclaimed. "Just piss outside."

          "I...don't need to pee."

          Sebastien grimaced and slipped his shoes on. "You know what? Fine. Go find a bathroom. There's probably a million in this house."