"Is he ok? Oh god what do I even say?! As far as he's concerned I'm dead, gone, In. The. Ground." Elizabeth panicked, picking at the skin on her fingers as they walked up the stairs to the room Markus was in.

"Well he's-" Cap began, getting cut off by a scream.

"YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU CAN SEE THEM TOO?" Markus yelled, presumably at Alison.

"Oh just go in for gods sake, before the boy has a heart attack!" The Captain huffed.

Elizabeth nodded hesitantly before entering the room. Alison had gotten Markus some tea. He sat on the sofa clutching it, seemingly so hopped up on adrenaline that the hot China cup didn't even register with him.

Markus turned to see Elizabeth, flinching before swallowing thickly. "S-so you're really there? You're not...not in my head?" He stuttered, gripping the cup tighter.

Elizabeth sat on the seat opposite, breathing out slowly. "Yes. I am." She said, giving her old friend a sad smile. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you again Markus".

Markus returned the smile, "I'm glad to see you too, Liz. So...how have you been?" He asked awkwardly.

Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "Well, dead. But things are going pretty good for me. Oh! Thomas come in here!" She chirped, looking to the door.

Thomas walked in awkwardly, giving a polite wave to Markus. "Hello there" he smiled.

"Markus this is Thomas, my uhhh, ghost boyfriend" she giggled.

Markus stared wide eyed at the pair. "It's...nice to meet you". He looked back to Elizabeth. "Sorry if this is rude, but could I talk to Elizabeth...alone for a while? We've got a lot to catch up on."

Thomas nodded his head, and left the room along with Alison and Pat. As soon as they left Markus turned back to Elizabeth.

"So, ghost boyfriend? I mean good for you girlie but are you...getting...ghost se-"

"OH MY GOD SHUT YOUR MOUTH" Elizabeth exclaimed, face red, causing Markus to burst out laughing.

"Hey I'm just curious! Have you not brought it up with...Thomas right?"

"No I haven't! He is a proper Regency gentleman thank you very much" she said with a pout. "Can we PLEASE get off this topic".

Markus chuckled, placing his tea down. "I've missed you so much Liz. This is just so...surreal! Alison explained it to me, the whole getting so close to death that you can now see the dead. What's it like? Being dead?"

Elizabeth sighed, crossing her legs. "It's weird. You can't feel the cold, or the summer heat. You can't touch things, but some of us have these weird powers that allow us to interact with the world of the living. Like me, if I yell loud enough, living people can hear me. It's how I communicate with Egad and Mike." She paused, turning her head to look out of the window. "You start to miss the little things. Like cooking with friends, or lying in a freshly made bed. And eating, god what I'd give to eat food again."

Markus frowned, sensing his friend's sadness. "Hey, do you remember the night after I'd helped you get out of your family's estate, and we were cooped up in my shitty little flat? We had nothing, and I'd forgotten my phone on the train, and everything was absolutely shit?"

Elizabeth looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes? I remember".

"Well remember how I said I'd make some soup, to warm us up. But you'd never cooked anything before?" He smiled.

Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair, "and it was..."

"Total fucking carnage?" They said in unison.

Elizabeth laughed, "God, of course I remember..."

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(To be continued in part 2)