AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I head back to my bedroom, the light splashing across the bed. I almost didn’t see it. In my exhausted state, and if it were dark in my room, I would have missed it entirely until morning.
There, across my bed are at least a dozen rose petals.
A chill dribbles down my spine, and I suck in a fast breath as I take a step toward my bed on numb feet. Werethey there when I woke up? Did I not see them in the dark? Or . . .
On instinct, I slowly turn my head toward the cheval mirror. The pasture is in full view under the moonlight, and there, walking toward the patch of roses is a man. With bated breath, I watch him. His hands are stuffed into his pockets, and his shoulders are slightly slumped, but even from the side profile, and even though he’s transparent, I know who that is.
Neil Wordon.
When he makes it to the rose patch, he pauses. And then he turns and looks directly at my window.
My heart skips a beat, and my hand flies to my mouth. Fresh tears prick my eyes, because, even though I’m watching him through a mirror, I know he sees me. I know he knows I’m watching him. And I know he wants my attention.
Stupidly, and without meaning to, I take a step toward the window that the mirror is reflecting. My whole body shakes as I do, but I have to see for myself. I have to know, without a mirror.
I take another step.
And then another, until I’m standing right before it with my eyes squeezed shut.
“Come on, Tegan,” I whisper to myself, punctuating it with a sob.
Swallowing thickly, I pry my eyes open.
And then I scream and scramble back because, right there, just outside my window, Neil stands. His eyes are pinned on mine, and he has a serious expression on his face.
My entire nervous system screams until my limbs are almost painful, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. They’restuck open, my brain unable to comprehend this see-through man just outside my window.
He lifts his closed fist to the height of his shoulder, and I watch with absolutely crippling fear as he opens his fingers one by one. Petals drift from his palm and float away in the breeze.
I scream again, but he doesn’t move. His eyes are trained on mine.
“What do you want?” I yell.
Again, he only watches me.
My breath heaves and I swear to god there isn’t enough oxygen in this room. Every instinct in me is telling me to jump into the bed and cover my head with the blankets. To run away. To go back to Chicago where ghosts don’t haunt me.
“What do you want?” I ask again, gripping my hair on both sides of my head.
Slowly, he turns his head toward the pasture.
“Why are you haunting me?” I demand. My body wracks with sobs, my heart slamming against my ribs. My roots scream as I tug my hair even harder.
When he looks back at me, I fight through the tears blurring my vision. “Why? What do you want from me? Please. Please go away.Please!”
His expression remains blank, but I clearly see him looking toward my dresser. Even though I’m scared to, I look with him. Sitting on top of my dresser is my tote with the binder tucked inside, exactly where I left it. I swallow, but my mouth is completely dry.
The binder? What does he want with the binder?
I turn to demand an answer to my question, but he’s walking away, back toward the pasture. I stand there for a moment, wondering if I’m crazy, if everything that just happened is a dream. But as I wipe away the tearsstreaming down my face, I realize how real this is. My hands come away wet, and the chill of the room wraps around my body; all evidence that this is truly reality.
On their own accord, my feet start moving toward the window again. I peer through it, and there he is, walking toward the pasture. He walks right through the fence, and as soon as he reaches the roses, he looks back at me once before he fades away.
I hiccup and let out another sob.
This is real.Thatwas real.
With a sudden urgency, I rush to my phone, yank it off the charger, and unlock the screen. My fingers pause against the screen. I can’t call the cops. They wouldn’t believe me, and if I did, they’d demand the binder. Besides, what can they possibly do against a ghost?
