The alleyway behind the Crestwood building is much like any alleyway behind somewhere similar - not particularly nice smelling, housing a couple of dumpsters and a selection of broken bits of furniture or discarded ephemera of people's day to day lives. There's a fire escape leading upwards but the ladder seems to be chained to the second floor landing so that no one can simply pull it down and break in - not much of a security feature and undoubtedly one with its downsides. As you open your senses to any spirits in the area your first, overwhelming sensation is fear followed by the scent of smoke but there is nothing to be seen that might offer a reason for it. After a while, a shape coalesces on that fire escape; a little blurry around the edges but you think it's a child, a little girl with long pale braids and large eyes. She stares at you.
Is it the most sane and self-preserving choice to go by yourself to a building that was recently a victim arson and then hang out in the back around the dumpsters in the hopes of seeing a potentially angry ghost? Well, no. But it certainly is a way to pass the time, and that is what Javi is doing right now. He's made his way back and around, presumably so he won't be seen (or heard_ by those passing while he hopefully has a conversation with something no one else can see but him.
"Yeah, man, I know," he murmurs to nothing -- but hey, maybe it's something. If he can see one ghost, presumably he can see many! And maybe there's another one here, though it's not making itself known. "Don't worry about it." Yes, Ghost friend, don't worry about it. Everything's fine. And look, there's the one he was looking for! So Javi leaves off the one-sided conversation with this one to focus on the child instead. "Hey, nena," he says, and after a moment he smiles, lifting his hand to wave. "Whatchu doing up there, huh?"
Her face is solemn, those big dark eyes fixed on yours. There's the sense that she sees you but doesn't quite know what to make of you, certainly she doesn't respond to your question, only points out towards the street as though telling you to go.
Javi is not deterred. No, he is not. He came all the way over here, didn't he? He's not going to be so easily gotten rid of -- possibly annoying, but perhaps he's just an annoying person! So, he just takes a half-step back to squint up at the girl, still with a smile. "Heard you had some excitement," he says. "You okay?" Well, no. She's dead. But maybe he means, okay for a ghost.
His refusal to leave seems to annoy the child and she stamps her foot on the fire escape. Incorporeal as she is it makes no sound but it does cause several small stones to fly at him, pattering against his chest and legs. She points again, more emphatically this time. There's something rising from the end of her braids now, smoke perhaps? It's hard to tell since it has no more colour than the rest of her, it's like looking at an old black and white photo that is moving of its own accord.
Yes, Javi is extremely annoying. Just ask his other ghost friend, they would tell her all about it. Unfortunately, they're not actually visible, and anyway the little ghost girl probably doesn't care. "Okay, okay," he says with a wince as those stones hit him. They cause him to stake another half-step back, more a stumble than purposeful. "I got it, you're mad. It's cool. Prolly be mad too if I was you." He turns away like he's going to go, though before he does he calls, "Lemme know if you think of something that'd make you feel better, yeah?"
As he turns to go a piercing shriek cuts through the air, or at least the spiritual part of it that Javi is attuned to. Should he turn back? The girl is wreathed in smoke, flames licking at the ends of her braids. She begins to sob, heaving breaths as if she can't get enough air, and huddles against the wall of the building as she fades from sight. The fire escape rattles now, loudly enough to startle a roosting bird higher up the building, and the sound of something breaking comes from a nearby window.
"Shit!" Javi winces again at that supernatural shriek, and whether it's a good idea to turn back or not, he does it. Maybe he wishes he hadn't, since it's in time to catch the little girl go up in flames. "No!" What did he expect? Probably this, at least in his mind, but //seeing// it is still affecting. He takes a few quick steps back toward the building -- but there's nothing to be done, and even if he could have, he can't get up to where she is from here. //And// before he's gotten all the way back, she's already disappeared. He sucks in a sharp breath when he hears the crash, jamming his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone as he stares at the building, just in case he needs to call the fire department. Because that wouldn't be suspicious at all in a potential arson investigation.
Not even a slight singe to the brickwork. She vanishes completely without any hint of smoke or ash being left behind but...at the ground floor window closest to Javi? He can catch a glimpse of long pale braids and dark eyes peering from behind the curtains. As he moves the normal rustle of clothing sounds...almost like the crackling of fire. Obviously something has happened here and it has definitely left at least one very angry ghost behind. Perhaps it's just the girl? Further investigation will definitely be needed to tease out enough details to have any chance of piecing the situation together.
Javi lets out a little breath of relief, though it's also just slightly hissed at the sound of his clothes. It doesn't really hurt -- but for someone with an active imagination, especially who's just seen what he's seen, it's pretty evocative. His eyes linger on the space where the braids are visible, his brows pulling together in a front, but he ultimately opts to head out. Not without further consideration, though. He'l; be doing plenty of that today.
"See?" he murmurs as he starts away, again to nothing and no one. "Told you. It's fine." Yes, everything is fine.
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