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ve helped them, she could at least say she had tried.
However, she had spent months ignoring the little boy. Not only had she not helped him, but she had also worked against getting mixed up in his case. She’d gone out of her way to avoid interacting with him. What if it was too late? What happened to the spirits who left her behind? Did they try to find someone else who could help them, or were they relegated to a special kind of hell?
As these thoughts pulled Cassie closer and closer to consciousness, the strange sounds playing in the background grew louder. They came into sharper focus and Cassie realized it was one sound. One voice.
Her eyes snapped open, and she shot up in bed with such force that Apollo bolted from where he was curled up next to her feet. He let out a startled meow on his way into the hallway and disappeared around the corner.
Cassie ignored Apollo’s dramatic exit and found herself once again staring at an empty corner of the room. She had a few seconds to be confused until she noticed movement in the corner of her eye.
When she twisted around, Cassie found herself face to face with a woman holding her head in her hands, rocking back and forth. Every few seconds, the woman would flicker in and out of existence like a lightbulb on its last legs. Her voice came and went with the connection, no louder than a whisper.
When the woman looked up, Cassie saw pure anguish in the spirit’s eyes.
Cassie was out of bed and down the hall before she realized what she was doing. Her body seemed several steps ahead of her brain, and by the time they were both in sync, she was already in the kitchen, leaning against the counter like it was the only thing in the world capable of holding her up.
A flurry of emotions hit her with such ferocity that her knees buckled. She sank to the ground, dizzy and exhausted. She laid her head on the floor and took stock of her body. While she was tired from the lack of sleep and her sudden jolt out of bed, the adrenaline pumping through her veins shook with energy. Her heart was pounding, but a few deep breaths and she managed to ground herself.
The thoughts sprinting around inside her brain were harder to control. She wasn’t scared of the woman in her bedroom, but she was surprised. It had been so long since she’d seen a figure besides the little boy that her body thought the best way to handle the situation was to run away. Now that she had some distance between her and the supposed danger, she started to understand how she felt.
The first emotion to reach the surface was anger.
Why now? It had been months, and the day Detective Harris had reached out to Cassie, her usual visitor was gone and replaced by a woman she had not seen. Cassie couldn’t be sure, but she would’ve bet money that the figure was one of the missing girls. People were murdered every day and not even one of them had come to Cassie. Was it because she had started to investigate it herself? Was it because she let herself care about the outcome of the case?
Tears sprang to Cassie’s eyes as the next emotion hit her square in her chest. Sadness gripped her heart and squeezed until she thought she would explode by the sheer force of it. One shallow breath chased another until she found herself hyperventilating into the granite tiles.
Apollo paused a few feet away from her and gauged the situation, sauntering forward and nudging her head with his nose. She sobbed harder and he flopped down against her arm, purring and nudging until she was able to sit up and wipe her eyes.
The pain in her chest faded, but the panic attack and sudden drop in adrenaline left her emotionally and physically exhausted. The tips of her fingers and toes tingled.
Apollo brushed against her and offered her a sweet meow.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice raw from crying. She bent forward to pet him and he arched his back against her touch. She could still hear his purring when she stood back up.
Cassie took a deep breath and looked at the clock. If she hurried, she could still make it to work on time. Or she could call in sick and spend the rest of the day in bed. But as tempting as that sounded, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sleep at all with the spirit of the dead woman hovering around her.
Cassie drank a full glass of water and set her mind to go to work. She returned to her room with caution and found it empty. The woman no longer being there set Cassie more on edge.
Yesterday’s bravery was long gone, so Cassie pulled out a lightweight long-sleeve shirt and matching black pants. She threw on her most comfortable flats and ran a brush through her hair without bothering to eat breakfast.
When she arrived at work, Jason greeted her with a hearty hello. She tried to offer him the same energy in return but didn’t have any to spare. The crease that formed between his eyebrows was enough to make her pause and come up with something close to the truth.
“Didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Bad dreams?” he asked.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Anything to do with what that detective wanted?”
Cassie’s mouth opened to respond, but she found herself caught between answers. If she said yes, she might have to explain why the detective had wanted to talk to her in the first place. If she said no, she would have to come up with a believable lie.
Jason shook his head and offered a sheepish smile. “I’m being nosy. I’m sorry. Ignore me.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Cassie took a deep breath. “It did have something to do with that. It’s just difficult to talk about.”
“Are you in any kind of trouble? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Jason’s concern made Cassie’s chest ache in a different kind of way. “I’m not in any trouble, I promise. But I appreciate the offer. Thank you.”
