When I first came up with the idea ofthe ghost story, it was all Dean's fault. He gave me the "what if" that led to the whole mess.  Most of my stories start out as a "what if,"and in this case it was: What if a man is murdered on his way home while justtrying to be a good Samaritan and it's up to his ghost to help his lover trackdown the bad guy?
At first I wasn't going to do write it,but Dean kept poking at me.  He wantedthis question resolved.  He wanted toknow that his partner would be okay when the dust settled and he couldn't dothat until I wrote it.  Dean was a niceguy, but a persistent bugger.
So I started thinking about the man heleft behind.  What kind of a man wouldreadily accept help from a ghost without question?  What kind of circumstances could there bewhere such a man would prefer that his loved one moved on instead of staying tolinger with him as a ghost? Andrei and his sister Ileana came to mealmost fully formed.  I knew theirbackground, their bond, and how that fed into Andrei's fears for Dean.  I finally found this picture of him, too.  Funnily enough, the model's name is Andreitoo.  He's a little prettier than myAndrei who I picture as a little more rugged, but after months of searchingthis is the first picture to make me go ooohhhh, that makes me think of mycharacter.  I'd never attempted a characterinterview before, but I decided why the heck not and sat down with Andrei totalk to him about his relationship with his sister and how it changed his life.  It had some unexpected results.  I hope you enjoy.
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I hand Andrei a cup of coffee and take asip of my own.  "Thank you for agreeingto talk to me, Andrei.  I know you don'thave a lot of time since you have a busy case load, so let's get right intoit.  How old were you when you lost yoursister?"
"You go right for the throat don't you."  Andrei paused, his eyes lost in thought.  "Five, she was so sick.  I remember my mother and aunts hovering overher.  I wasn't allowed to get too closebecause they didn't want me to get sick too. I never really lost her though. Ileana's always been rather strong minded and she decided that shewasn't ready to leave her little brother behind without a playmate, so shestayed.  At the time, I thought it wasthe best thing to ever happen to me.  Iadored Ileana.  She always had time forme and I repaid her poorly in the end, when it got to a point when I alwaysdidn't have time for her in return."
Ileana pops in and whispers to me.  "It was the boys.  He started looking at them getting all sillyabout it too."
Andrei frowns at her.  "It wasn't the boys."
"Uh-huh, was too.  You liked to sneak away in uncle's truck tomake kissy faces with them."
I pick up Ileana's stuffed turtle thathad fallen to the floor and hand it to her. "I don't think it was just the kissy facing that dragged him away,Ileana.  That's not entirely fair.  He did get kicked out of his home because herefused to let them exorcize you."
"Only a little!" Ileana glowersfiercely.  "They caught him kissing theboy too!  It wasn't my fault."
Andrei cuts in.  "Wait a minute.  I am here remember?  This is my interview you two.  Yes, I'm sorry Ileana but my relationshipwith you was the main reason why I was kicked out, but I don't blame you andyou shouldn't blame yourself either." Tears fill her eyes and he gathers her in a hug.  "But, you're right, kissing the boy didn'thelp either."
"I'm glad they left you at thechurch.  They were big ole meaniefaces.  And they always yelled atyou."  Ileana wraps her arms around her brother'sneck.  "And then you met Dean.  I like him. He's the best in the whole world."
"They had plenty of reasons, Illygirl.  It wasn't like I was the mostbehaved child in the world."
I clear my throat and realize they bothforgot about me when they look at me in surprise.  "I always found that kind of interesting, Andrei.  You carry some pretty hefty baggage aroundbecause your family abandoned you.  Imean, you did tell Dean that you didn't want to adopt and I know that it stemsfrom your fear of repeating your parent's mistakes."
Andrei glares at me.  "Personal much?  I didn't realize you had your psych degree."
"Okay, that was rude.  I'm sorry, but you do defend them."
"No I understand them.  Big difference.  I broke the rules and they didn't know how tocope with me."  He smiles down at Ileanaand the smile eases the hard lines on his face. "I think the both of us were too much for them.  We both wanted to do our own thing.  I hope for our brother Sergey's sake, he ismore compliant than we were, but we'll never know."
"Sergey is boring."  Ileana rolls her eyes.  "He never wanted to play.  Not ever!"
"So why didn't you ever tell Dean abouthow you could see Ileana?" I ask, before they forget that I'm here again.
Ileana twisted around to look at herbrother.  "Yeah, that was stupid,Andrei.  Dean didn't even blink when Itold him who I was.  You shoulda told hima long time ago."
"You told him after he'd woken up as aghost after being shot.  I think he waspretty shell shocked."  Andrei'sexpression turns thoughtful as he fixes the end of Ileana's braid.  "I wish I had now, but I'd already lost onefamily because I talked about her too much. I didn't want Dean and his family thinking I was unhinged.  I needed that stability."
"Can you make the lady go away?" Ileanamakes a shooing motion at me.  "I wantyou to sing me a song."
"Ileana, not now.  I promised that I'd answer her questions."
Ileana's eyes go round as she shootsAndrei a look of appeal. "Puh-leeeeeeze."  
Faint red spots appear on Andrei's cheekand he doesn't look at me.  "Oh for thelove of God, not here."
I grab my notepad and get up.  "That's okay, Ileana.  He's all yours.  I've gotten what I need.  I think next time, I might bug Dean.  After all, this is his fault."