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Cassie looked over her shoulder. An older couple walked into the exhibit, and neither one of them looked alarmed. The lights were a hallucination made for Cassie.

Sometimes ghosts could control what happened on her plane of existence. Other times, it was like she could see through the veil to their side. She was the bridge that connected the two worlds, allowing her to walk from one side to the other without anyone knowing.

When Cassie turned back around, it took every ounce of her willpower to swallow back the scream that clawed at her throat. She planted her feet and locked eyes with the woman standing in front of her. It was the same spirit who had been bent over her bed a few hours earlier.

Cassie could see her with clarity. Her hair was wet and clung to her face in clumps. It was once dark brown, now faded and lifeless. Her face was round, and her eyes bright against her pale skin. They locked onto Cassie with an intensity she had not felt before.

Having finally been noticed, the woman’s mouth opened and closed. Her lips formed the words, but no sound came out. A single tear

fell from her eye, dripped down her cheek, and clung to her chin. When it was shaken loose, Cassie followed the trajectory until her gaze stopped on the gash across her neck and down to the hole in her chest where her heart should have been.

The scent of blood grew stronger before fading like it had been carried away by the wind. Cassie returned her gaze to the woman’s face. The figure was still trying to speak.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, hoping no one would see her talking to thin air, “but I can’t hear you.”

The spirit put her hands to her own face and let out a silent scream. She dug her fingernails into her cheeks and if she had been corporeal, she would have drawn blood.

“I’m sorry,” Cassie said again. “I can’t help you.”

It broke her heart to say those words, but what else could she do? She was starting over, starting fresh. And without the ability to communicate with the dead, how could she ever expect to help them find peace?

“You’ll have to find someone else,” she whispered.

The woman stopped clawing at her face and reached for Cassie. There was a desperation in her eyes that grasped Cassie’s heart and squeezed until she struggled for breath. Had this spirit found a way to physically affect her? Or had the guilt in Cassie’s heart caught up to her?

When Cassie’s fear forced her to take a step back, the spell was broken. The woman dropped her arm, and her shoulders sank with disappointment. The lights flickered once more, and there was a small gust of wind, like the air had been displaced by an invisible hand.

Between one breath and the next, Cassie’s world returned to normal. The lights were steady, her goosebumps retreated, and the smell of blood no longer hung in the air.

The one thing remaining was the guilt gripping Cassie’s heart.

Nine

The air inside the museum was oppressive. It was hot and stale and clung to Cassie’s skin like a damp blanket. She couldn’t catch her breath and the fear of having a full-blown panic attack in the middle of the museum’s atrium was enough to send her vaulting out a side door into the fresh September air.

The heat outside felt different, accompanied by a breeze that swept the sweat from her skin and filled her chest with a warmth that crept outward. She could breathe out here, and a deep lung full of air was enough to chase away the demons that had haunted her seconds before.

“Cassie? You okay?”

Cassie spun around to see Jason sitting at a picnic table with a sandwich in one hand and his phone in the other. He looked concerned, but it was offset by a splotch of mustard sitting at the corner of his mouth.

“I didn’t know anyone was out here.” She pulled her own phone out. “I also didn’t realize it was lunchtime.”

Jason shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and wiped his face clean. He gestured to the seat across from him. “You can join me if you want. I have another ten minutes left.”

“I’m not that hungry, to be honest.” Seeing a dead woman a few moments ago suppressed her appetite. She saw the disappointment on Jason’s face for the second time that day, so she sat down across from him anyway. The sun felt good on her back.

“How you doing today?” she asked.

“I think I asked you first.” Jason’s eyes saw right through her.

Cassie took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“Fair enough. Wanna talk about it?”

“Wouldn’t know where to start.”

“How about at the beginning? How was your morning?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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