Page 65 of The Devil and His Ghost

I ground my teeth. Something had shifted. I wasn’t sure if it was running into Terrance, something they talked about, or both, but Kendyll’s walls were back up and stronger than ever. She wanted me on the opposite side of the barricade guarding herself, and that only became clearer when we returned to my place.

No matter how I prodded at her to talk to me or offered her food as a small gesture to get her to open up, she remained clammed shut. She sat on the couch with arms tight around her bent knees and eyes transfixed yet unseeing on the TV.

Night fell. The shadows around the dark room were the only thing moving with the ticking of the clock. I’d sat rigid on the adjacent cushion from her, watching and trying to figure out the best thing to do in this situation.

“Kendyll,” I tried once more, keeping my voice as soft as I could.

Her brow pinched slightly, and she released her knees. “I’m tired. I think I’m gonna head to bed.”

I didn’t try to stop her. Maybe rest was best. Maybe she needed to sleep on their conversation so that she could feel more comfortable talking tomorrow. As much as it killed me inside, I’d wait for her. I’d wait until she was ready to let me back in.

We moved to the bedroom and changed separately. I settled under the covers and propped a hand behind my head as Kendyll burrowed deep into the comforter. Exhaustion lined the edges of her face. From the corner of my eye, I watched her slowly drift to sleep.

Confident she was out, I rolled my head to the side to fully look at her. She was so out of it that she hadn’t even taken off her glasses. I carefully slipped them off her face and placed them on my nightstand before rolling over to face her. My chest constricted as I watched her breathe softly, getting lured deeper into the world of sleep. Without thinking, I reached out to run the back of my finger over her temple and through a strand of black hair that framed her cheek.

The vision of her looking over her shoulder at me with a glittering smile filled my head again. That was only hours ago, yet in such a short time, that brightness had been completely snuffed out. My chest ached with the need to understand why. I wanted to share in whatever burdened her.

I didn’t know what was happening with us. I didn’t know what exactly this was or what I wanted it to be. All I knew was that Kendyll was different from any fling. It was why I wanted to be there for her in every way, including acting as whatever support she needed in the hard times. Tenderness filled me when I was with her, and something deep inside of me urged me to take care of that—to take care of her.

My one ghost.

My one special soul.

I wasn’t sure when I’d managed to fall asleep, nor was I sure how long I’d been out before a piercing scream tore through the fog of sleep. My eyes snapped open as the wailing grew louder. I bolted upright and looked down as Kendyll trembled violently next to me while horrified screams tore from her mouth.

“Kendyll!” I yelled, grabbing her shoulders to shake her awake.

The screaming only got worse, and her body convulsed fitfully.

“Kendyll! Wake up! Kendyll!”

Her eyes snapped open, and her body came off the bed as she sucked in air like a drowning woman finally reaching the surface after nearly suffocating. Her eyes, bigger and wider than I’d ever seen them, stared through the dark and up at the ceiling, seeing nothing past whatever nightmare lingered behind those green eyes.

“Kendyll,” I croaked on a shaky exhale. I smoothed a hand over her forehead, brushing the hair back from her face, which had grown pale and clammy. “Kendyll, you’re okay. You’re safe.”

Her stare was still firmly fixed on the ceiling, and her body was rigid under my hands. She didn’t seem to be breathing. Those wide eyes suddenly filled to the brim with tears, and those fat droplets rolled down the sides of her face, which contorted around breathless whimpers and sobs.

Someone might as well have plunged a fucking knife right into my chest. Clenching my jaw, I scooped her up and pulled her close, hugging her tightly against my chest. Her breathing was erratic and abnormal while she sobbed and shook in my arms.

“Breathe, Ghost,” I urged her. I pulled back so that I could look into her tear-filled eyes. “Breathe, Kendyll.”

I grabbed her hand and placed it on my chest so that she could feel me take a deep breath before letting it out slowly. I repeated the breathing exercise while pressing her palm harder against my chest. Through her hiccuping sobs, she worked to mirror my inhales and exhales. Finally, she regained control of her breathing, expelling my worry that she’d hyperventilate and pass out. At the same time, awareness seemed to be coming back to her. She no longer looked lost, trapped inside her own head.

“Mr. Monster?” she mumbled hoarsely.

The name took me back in time to when I found a little girl hiding in a closet. For a moment, it felt like I was back in that tight space with a girl hiding from something scary, something worse than the monster she shared that space with.

“It’s me,” I soothed, squeezing her hand. “I’m here. You’re okay.”

She took in a trembling breath while her shoulders slumped. She hung her head and shook it while covering her face with her free hand. “I’m so sorry. I—”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I quickly cut her off. I crooked a finger beneath her chin so she had to look up at me. I nearly lost the ability to speak when I saw new tears streaming down her face. “Kendyll, you did nothing wrong. You don’t need to be sorry. It’s okay.”

The sight of this wasn’t new. I still recalled that final night when she lived with me all those years ago. She’d had a nightmare, something that happened often according to her old hospital records. It was like she’d seen a ghost, only ghosts didn’t scare her.

But something did.

“I haven’t had a nightmare in a while.” She bit her bottom lip hard enough that I worried she’d draw blood. She gave another feeble shake of her head. “I thought I was better.”