Ice enveloped her, like an arctic wind hitting out of nowhere. Gia gasped, her chest tight.
What the fuck?
She sucked in air, clutching her sweater above her heart, and spun around, her skin prickling.
There, between her and the door, was a ghost.
EIGHT
AURORA
The lightsin the room came on, and a woman walked through the door.
Through Aurora.
A light tingling sensation overwhelmed her.Hey! I thought that wasn’t possible,Aurora fumed to herself, outraged by her inconsistent ability to move through solid objects.
But fuck, it didn’t matter. A person was here.
Had the woman felt their contact? She spun around and froze, her tanned complexion going pale.
“Can you see me?” Aurora asked out loud. Or at least, she hoped it was out loud, given she had no body with which to produce sound.
The woman stumbled backward and hit the desk, her hand fluttering to cover her mouth.
So shecouldsee Aurora. Excellent.
Aurora drifted closer. “Can you hear me?”
The woman whimpered, her eyes so wide the whites were visible all the way around. She smelled sweet and almost familiar. How Aurora could smell in ghost-form, she didn’t know. Itwasn’t as if she’d picked up on any other scents in the room, and she’d been here a while.
She did her best to look non-threatening.
The woman closed her eyes, muttering, “No. It can’t be a ghost.” Then reopened them, her long lashes fluttering.
Aurora waved. “Obviously, you can see me, but if you can hear me, I’d appreciate you letting me?—”
The woman screamed and launched forward, crashing through Aurora and filling her ghostly body with electric tingles.
Aurora spun in time to see the woman fumbling with the door.
“Wait!” Aurora yelled, swooping forward.
The door slammed in her face, and she crashed into it.
“Fuck!” Aurora pounded her translucent fists against the door, but she still didn’t know if the woman could hear her.
Running footsteps pattered away, the sound growing faint. Aurora stilled and strained to listen. A few moments later, there was the distant sound of a slamming door.
“Satan damn you.” Aurora kicked the door, the muted ache in her ghostly toe adding to her ire.
When it was clear no one was returning in a hurry, Aurora faced the room. Her prison. The woman had left the light on. Aurora hadn’t noticed it being dark before. It seemed ghosts could see pretty well regardless.
Okay. This wasn’t all bad. Aurora had never seen that woman before in her life, and hadn’t gotten a good look out the door, but it wasn’t the end of the world.
Surely someone would return.
Wherever Aurora was, it wasn’t abandoned. She’d wait and do a better job of not scaring the next person who came by.
