AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve been around, did you find anything out about Stella today?”
“Not as much as we thought, but the two of you are attached to me and feeding off my life force,” as the words leave her lips I can see the concern on her face.
“How do we break that? I didn’t even know that was possible,” I omit that I already knew but I’m not lying. “I never meant…”
Raven cuts me off with a wave of her hand. “Stop right there. This is all new to us, if anything it is Stella that did this. You may be attached because of her. Even in death you aren’t free of her. We can do more digging on the internet, but first, I need a shower. The town archives haven’t been dusted in years and I have a thick coat of it on me. Will you join me?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Excuse me?”
Raven laughs, “I mean will you watch over me? If Stella is really attached to me. I’d feel safer if you were there.”
All I can do is nod, still speechless from her request. I tell myself that I won’t watch Raven, but keep an eye out for Stella or anything out of the ordinary.
When she walks into the attached room, I don’t enter the bathroom with Raven, I want to give her time to finish undressing and get in the stream of water. It’s a sweet gesture that she left the door open for me, so I don’t have to do the ghostly thing and float in.
I’m not sure what she expects from me, I haven’t seen Stella outside of my memories, but I enter the bathroom, anyway. If it makes her feel safer, then I’m willing to stand here for however long she needs me.
“Lucien, is that you?” Raven asks from behind the shower curtain. Her voice shakes with unease so I don’t hesitate to answer.
“Yes, just your friendly ghost,” I call back.
Her laugh rings out in the tiny space and it’s one of the best sounds I’ve heard in far too long.
I’m floating back and forth, since I can’t exactly pace. This whole day has me full of nervous energy.
Wait…
Nervous energy? It’s been so long since I’ve had any feelings or emotions outside of pain and loneliness I don’t know how to process it. Is this part of the energy exchange?
The water shuts off and pulls me back to the present again.
“I’m getting out,” Raven calls out to warn me.
“Okay, do you want me to stay?”
“Please, if you don’t mind.”
And I definitely don’t mind, but I do turn where I can’t see her. It isn’t long after she pulls the curtain aside and tells me it’s all clear to look at her.
Raven’s hair and body are wrapped in towels and there’s a smile on her face. “Thank you. I just have this weird feeling that we are being watched all of the time, but you are the only ghost I can actually see.”
“This is new for both of us, but I feel as if our connection is getting stronger,” I tell her truthfully, as I raise a hand toward her. Something in me just aches for the touch and it moves before I even realize what I’m doing.
She mirrors my movement and our fingers touch. Yes, they actually touch. Suddenly, Raven is jerked back as the cord that holds the curtain up wraps around her neck. Why it wasn’t a rod is a question for another time. I’m frozen in place as the face of my nightmares materializes. Stella.
She holds the ends of the cord in her hands as she raises Raven in the air.
“This whore will die just as the other did,” she whispers. “You’d think by now you would realize that you are mine and mine alone!”
Barely a moment passes before I’m rushing forward to help Raven. I won’t let Stella take her like she did Iris. I’m so focused on saving Raven that I don’t even realize the implications of her blatant admission of guilt.
Just as my fingers begin to pull at Stella’s hand, a blinding white light overtakes the room and Stella lets out a blood-curdling scream. Raven falls in the tub, clawing at the cord and gulping in breaths of air.
Her hazel eyes meet mine, “What in the Final Destination shit was that?”
“I guess we now have the truth. Stella is still here and she is the one who started the fire.”
Raven
