Wherever Miles went, the ghosts seemed to follow him. Not that they were walking behind him everywhere, but their presence always seemed just barely perceivable. Sometimes, they took the form of movement out of the corner of his eye. Other times, they were a blur of motion disappearing around the corner ahead of him, and once in a great while, they took a more direct approach, appearing in a mirror behind Miles, only to disappear when he looked back.

It was enough to make Miles start to feel paranoid and wonder if he was losing his grip on reality. He never knew when and where they'd appear next, and it was beginning to make him extra jumpy. The other day, when Captain Carter walked into the mess hall behind him, Miles actually dropped his plate on the ground as he turned around to catch a glimpse of what he thought was a ghostly apparition. That event resulted in a few questions and half-true answers that Miles knew the captain wasn't fooled for a moment by. Miles would be a nervous wreck by now if it wasn't so exciting!

This was his own little mystery. No one, not the captain, not even the girl or the pirate, seemed to know anything about these ghosts, and yet they were appearing more and more regularly to Miles. Maybe they were trying to tell him something, or perhaps they needed help with something, but whatever it was, it made Miles feel like the character in one of the books he loved so much, making each new visitation as exciting as it was frightening. So it happened that Miles was chasing another ghostly visage around a corner when he all but ran into the human pirate, Elias, who was on his way to the rec room.

As Miles skidded to a halt, the man held up his hands. "Woh there, kid! What's the emergency?"

Miles had run into the man a couple of times, and he was always cordial. However, Miles suspected that wasn't so much because the man was friendly, as much as he wasn't stupid enough to try something that would get him in hot water with Sybil while he was onboard the ship. There was something in his smile and the way it never seemed to reach his eyes that kept Miles from trusting the man. However, just turning and running away would only be more suspicious, so instead, he just shrugged. "No emergency. Just trying to get some movement in while exploring the ship is all."

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The look in Elias' eyes told Miles he didn't quite believe the kid but also wasn't willing to call him out on it. Instead, he nodded as if in agreement. "Yeah, this is a pretty neat ship, huh? Tell me, you ever find anything interesting while exploring?"

Miles stopped and thought for a moment. The man was obviously trying to get information out of him and underestimating him just because he was a kid. Well, Mile's could play off that. "You mean like the murder rooms?"

The human pirate suddenly looked uncertain. "Murder...rooms?"

Miles nodded and grinned. "Oh yeah! Rooms with lots of machines covered in dried blood with bones and stuff scattered around! One looked like the guy had been squished until he popped like a grape!"

Elias' face went a little white at that descriptor. "Uh, yeah...that sounds...well...noteworthy...I guess."

Miles decided to run with it a little and grinned. "Yeah, want me to show you one? Like maybe the room with the acid vats?"

Maybe he'd oversold himself because the man suddenly looked thoughtful. For a moment, Miles was worried he was going to say yes, but then the man shook his head. "No, that's alright. I don't think our host would like me wandering around the same way they let you. Still, if you find anything else...unusual, you be sure to let me know, eh?"

Miles nodded. "Yeah, sure!" Then, he turned and went back the way he'd come, glad he'd been able to keep his little secret a little longer.

-

Elias watched the kid go. He'd never been overly fond of kids, but he didn't really have anything against them either. Apathetic might be the best descriptor of his feelings. Yet, there was something about that kid that piqued his interest. Maybe it was just that the kid seemed to not just be living but thriving aboard this floating madhouse among the stars. The look in his eyes when he'd run around the corner had been one of excitement, and it made Elias wonder just what he'd been up to.

With a mental shrug, Elias continued on his way. It's not like he could interrogate the kid on this ship to get answers. Not in any way that would have been effective anyway. For now, he'd just bide his time and keep his eyes out for any new tidbits of info he could gather while wandering the halls of this ghost ship. He knew from experience that sooner or later, he'd probably come across something that could give him leverage. It was just a question of time and patience, and now that he wasn't being tormented on a daily basis, he could afford both.

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