Page 82 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

I shook my head, rubbing my hand over my face. “Nothing. My parents and Elsie surely have arrived by now. I see you at the play, Nathaniel.” Pushing past him, he attempted to reach for me, but I pushed him away, not even bothering to tell him to stop.

I wanted out of here.

Out of this body.

Just away from all of my problems.

Panic started to rise in me, and my legs moved faster and faster, carrying me to the great hall on their own.

My ears started ringing and everyone suddenly started to move fast and in a blur. The only sound I could hear was my own heart’s erratic beat. I looked around, searching for something,someone to hold on to as my breathing turned too fast and my head began swimming.

My body was turning against me and I didn’t understand why.

Was it a spirit haunting me?

Is it James?

I looked down at my hands, seeing them, but I couldn’t feel them. They felt ice-cold, and numbness crept through my veins.

Was death claiming me sooner because I wanted to live?

“Mister Kingstone, are you feeling all right?” A voice made its way through the ringing to me, and I looked up in horror, seeing Chadwick in front of me.

My hands moved, but my brain sent me signals that they weren’t there—they were an illusion. But how could they pull on the collar of my shirt then, trying to get air into my lungs?

Everything felt so unworldly.

Was I even real?

“I don’t know what’s—what’s wrong with me,” I stuttered from the tremors that wrecked through my body, as the sensation of fear finally made its way into my brain.

I was dying.

Chadwick laid his arm around my shoulder, and his grip felt almost like the touch of spirits when they materialise through our beliefs. Light but there.

Since when was Chadwick a damn spirit?

He led me outside to the empty garden behind the school, and even if I had wanted to, I wasn’t able to protest.

The cold air hit my lungs, and every breath of air hurt like needles piercing my insides.Pain. I felt pain. If I was able to register pain, I was still alive. Dead people couldn’t feel physical pain.

“Do you want to sit down?” The man who still held me upright asked calmly, and I believe I nodded, but I couldn’t be sure because every move I made felt so far away.

The next thing I knew was that coldness spread through my thighs and my hands gripped the stone bench hard until my fingertips hurt so much they started to tingle, making the numbness disappear.

“Archer, right? Am I allowed to call you Archer?” Chadwick went down on one knee in front of me, and I cringed a little.

“No,” I huffed. I hated that anyone but my friends used my first name. Especially when a teacher did that.

Chadwick nodded in acknowledgment of my preference. “Alright, however you like. Mister Kingstone.”

How was he even so calm?

I am in agony right in front of him. Shouldn't he get help, or at least try to help me?

“What can you see at this very moment?”

“What?” I hissed in confusion, inhaling and exhaling like an idiot.

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