We took Salt back with us under strict instructions that he not eat anyone or turn into a demon again. He nodded, expression sombre.
"I solemnly swear that I will be good," he said.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Trix added. I looked at him suspiciously but continued leading the way up to Elenia's flat.
Rapping my knuckles on the door I waited, cursing my ineptitude at key stealing. Elenia had also opted to not give me a key, something that was probably wise seeing as we didn't trust each other.
"Elenia, if you don't open this door then I'm installing a cat flap and crawling through it," I threatened. I heard laughter on the other side.
"Well, I was going to open it, but you just told Elenia to," Tom chuckled.
"Dammit, Tom, let us in!"
"Why should he?" Elenia asked. "You've been out murdering people and I don't want blood on the carpet."
"Actually, we were nearly being murdered," Trix chipped in. "By a ghostly axe murderer. Then an albino ghost Satan transformed into actual Satan and attacked it with a giant red fork."
There was a pause. "What?" Elenia and Tom said in unison. The door was opened and Cat darted past me inside.
"Somebody needs to explain," Elenia continued, following me around. I flopped onto the sofa and looked up at Trix. He'd ignored everybody and instead had chased after Cat into the little kitchen area, hunting for food.
My stomach growled and I realised that it had been ages since my last meal. I was starving hungry and could have stayed awake forever.
"I'll explain if take me out to get food," I replied.
"That is the worst way to ask someone out ever," Salt said.
"My girlfriend, Pepper," Tom said sternly from wherever he was in the room.
"I know that, I'm just hungry and already bored of this place." I jumped upright and started to pace the room.
"Elenia, are there any good restaurants around here?" I demanded.
"Yeah, but they're mainly in either clubs or bars."
"What's the best one?"
"Um..."
"Not McDonald's."
"I wasn't going to say that. There's a new one just started up, they're pretty good."
"Name?"
"Chaotic."
"I said name, not a description."
"No, that is the name. The place is called Chaotic."
"Does everyone wear masks?" Trix asked.
"You watch too much YouTube," Tom said, shaking his head.
"There is never too much YouTube!" Trix declared, raising his fist, Oreo crumbs spilling onto his face.
"There is, and you're the living example of it," Tom countered. Trix's eyes flashed and he threw the broken biscuits at Tom's head.
"Stop fighting," I said. "You're worse than babies!"
"Babies?" Tom said slyly, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something you're not telling us, Pepper?"
"Wha-? Tom, grow up," I growled. "Can we go and get food now? Yes? Good." I stormed to the door and threw it open. "Elenia, are cats allowed in Chaotic?"
"Probably not..."
"But Cat is allowed everywhere," Trix said, picking up the ginger kitten. "He, like me, can sense ghosts."
"You can sense ghosts?" Elenia exclaimed.
"Long story, will be explained after food," I said firmly. "Elenia, lead the way."
"Codenames everyone!" Trix said, clapping his hands together. He hesitated. "I need a codename!"
"Let's call you..."
"Jensen," Salt suggested. "Because he looks like Jensen Ackles. And it sounds like an actual name."
I repeated what Salt had said and there were approving nods all around.
"Now can we go and get food?" I said impatiently.
*
Sat across from the others, an invisible Salt to my left and a hyperactive Trix to my right, stuffing his face with food in between explaining what had happened with the psychopath ghost guy.
"So yeah," he finished, "that was pretty interesting."
"Salt is alive?" Tom said in a whisper.
"No," I said firmly. "Salt is definitely dead."
"Satan's right hand man," Trix added. "Or rather, very far left man."
Salt's hand went red and his nails hardened, drumming a rhythm on the tabletop. He shut his eyes to control his anger and growled softly.
"I've angered him," Trix stated. "Now I think he'll eat me."
Fangs slid over Salt's lips and I hurriedly snatched Tom's fries away from him, shoving them into my brother's face. Salt spluttered and took them off me.
"This looks so weird," Elenia said, watching Salt in fascination. "I can't see him but I can see floating fries that keep on vanishing. Wow, this is really odd."
"Like me," Trix giggled.
"You need to stop being so... mad," Tom said to Trix in concern. "You're beginning to frighten me."
"He's frightening me," Trix said, pointing to someone sat at the bartop. "He has a gun and a load of bombs beneath his shirt. The ghosts are talking, whispering away. They're frightened. They don't want a half blown up ghost walking around the place."
"Does everyone stay behind as ghosts?" Elenia asked.
"No."
"Are you going to elaborate?"
"No."
"We should probably leave," Tom said. "If there's a man with bombs implanted on him."
"Oh, he's not going to set it off," Trix laughed. "Don't be silly!"
"Then... what?" Tom's face mirrored my confusion.
"No, he's targeting someone." Trix frowned and his eyes went slightly out of focus. "Us."
"So he will set it off!" I cried, louder than I should have. The man's head twitched and he turned to look over at our table. His grey, patched overcoat rustled as he stood and walked over to us.
"Are you people Tom, Elenia, Pepper and Trix?" he grunted through a thick, bushy, grey beard.
"No," I replied, taking charge of the situation. "You must have the wrong table, sir."
"You look a lot like the people I'm searching for," he continued. "So what are your names?"
"I'm Blur," I said with a charming smile, "this is my cousin Jensen, his brother Tom and our friend Feles."
"Are you English?"
"We're not," Trix said, pointing to himself and Tom. "Neither is Elenia."
"Only little old me," I said, still smiling.
"What's your name, sir?" Elenia asked, eyes big and innocent.
"Jeremy," the man muttered. "Sorry to bother you."
"I'm following him," Salt decided. He climbed over me and Trix to get out, walking silently after 'Jeremy'.
"He's going to get blown up," Trix said calmly. "This Jeremy guy has someone who can see ghosts talking in his ear. They know that we know Salt was there but the ghost man is now wondering why we didn't introduce him."
"Er, maybe because he's dead?" I said sarcastically. "And we, as normal human beings, are not meant to be able to see ghosts?"
"We're not normal," Trix frowned. I kicked him under the table and gave him a wide-eyed glare.
"Oh wait, yeah we are," he said, smiling sheepishly. "Well, we're meant to be. Right?"
Before I could reply Salt came crashing down onto our table. 'Jeremy' had hurled him to us and was now sending glaring.
"You lied!" he roared. Trix slowly started to pull out his gun but I put a hand on his arm. I was watching Salt closely and what I saw confused me.
Instead of going red and demony Salt was going paler than before. His eyes glowed with white light, shining like two torches up at the ceiling.
Salt sat up and I sat back. His hair was slicked down and his horns were gold, his outfit a white tuxedo. He had a white bowtie and a top hat materialised out of nowhere, a shining golden top pointed towards the above tiles.
"Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy," Salt said, shaking his head. "You didn't have to throw me onto a table to make a point. All I was doing was looking at your phone."
"I can see you," Jeremy said in wide-eyed shock.
"So can we," Elenia and Tom said simultaneously.
"Oh," Salt frowned. "Well, bang goes my magical invisibility stalking powers."
"I do the stalking," Trix scowled.
"What happened to your outfit?" I asked, ignoring Trix's angry grumbling.
"Oh, this old thing?" Salt laughed, musical tones ringing across the silent restaurant.
"I guess I just got a little more angelic, eh