My ability to self-soothe never evolved to the point of actual peace. My parents weren’t one for hugs andpreferred the phrase “it could be worse”instead of comfort.
Rae’s embrace was unwavering. For a second, I didn’t have to figure it all out on my own. The bad day would be weathered with someone capable. In the middle of the (second) worst nightmare of my life, Rae was a glimpse of solace. A line of connection coiled around me, linking me to her.
“I don’t like absolutes.” Rae stopped looking around. I could tell from her breath on my nose that her gaze landed on me. “But I can say I believe it’s him.”
“This is real,” I whispered. There would be no rationalizing my reflection crawling out of the mirror. No overlooking how the darkness stopped right where the salt lay, holding it at bay.
“So real,” the voice within the dark taunted.
I didn’t know it was possible to press closer into Rae. But my chin nestled against her shoulder, her long hair shielding me from reality. She smelled of dish soap, a grounding piece of normalcy, when everything else around us stank of sulfur.
“She’s good at that, isn’t she?” the voice said.
“Octavia,” Rae whispered in my ear. She placed a hand on the back of my head, cradling me against her. “It’s going to try and get you to step out?—”
“Oh, I’m much smarter than that.” The voice chuckled.
“It’ll try to feed on your fear,” she continued.
“Well, damn,” I said. “It’s not that hard.”
My knees were weak, barely able to keep me upright. I sweated bullets despite the chill in the air. I knew Rae had to feel the dampness through my top and my heart nearly bursting from my chest.
“I’ll say,” the voice agreed. It was going in and out,sometimes far away, other times right up against the salt circle, like it’d pressed its lips to glass, communicating to the defenseless animals trapped inside.
“You don’t let it by thinking of someone or something on this side of the Veil,” Rae continued, unfaltering and unfazed. “Focus on the land of the living. Your horses, your brother, your dreams, your K-pop.”
“It won’t be today, Octavia,” the voice drowned her out. “Or tomorrow. But I’m working on finding a way. Getting stronger. I’ll give you a quick death. Nearly painless.”
It laughed. Heavy footsteps pounded against the floor, the sound starting from my room. The step came straight toward us. Sprinting through the darkness to pierce through the salt circle. I buried my face into Rae’s collarbone, squeezing my eyes shut and bracing for impact.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She squeezed me tightly. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Right as the footsteps reached the edge, the dark veil dropped. I flinched, preparing to be met with something monstrous. Prepared for some creature ready to claw me away from Rae.
Instead, I was met with the warm orange glow of the lamp on my bedside table. The sound of the sink going in the kitchen.
I scanned the hall on the hunt for a hint of the dark cloud that’d poisoned the air.
“Hold on.” Rae let me go but didn’t move from the safety of the circle. She flipped on the EMF, held it out, and waited a minute. There wasn’t even a hint of beeping. The green light barely flickered on.
“Okay.” She nodded, clipping the still-onEMF back onto her waist.
“Okay?” I reached for her sleeve, ready to pull her back against me as she stepped over the salt.
“We’re in the clear,” she promised, her eyes matching the softness of her voice. Rae offered me a hand. When I hesitated, she added, “I won’t ever let anything happen to you. I know believing in something is very hard for you, but please, try to believe that.”
I swallowed, my gaze toggling between her hand and my empty room.
Ghosts were real. And if they existed, then what else could happen in this world?
“I have to know,” I told her. “Understand.”
“When we free him, it’ll feel like understanding.”
“No. Not just Arnold, Rae. Everything.”
