Page 10 of Shadowing My Dreams
“No.” I shook my head. “But you only pay if I can actually help. If I can’t do anything to help, I won’t charge you.”
“I guess that’s… ok… I was honestly just looking to buy a sage stick and hope that it would work,” he huffed.
“It wouldn’t if it’s a real haunting. That stuff isn’t… It doesn’t expel ghosts from your house. That’s just an old wives’ tale. It can actually make it worse. I’m glad you confided in me. Most ghosts are harmless, but if he’s able to manipulate solid things, that’s… concerning.” I hoped he understood.
“What about the hearing it speak thing?”
I shrugged. “Some people are more open to hearing things than they know. I won’t know until we go.” It meant your friend had some kind of psychic energy is what it meant.
“Thanks… I… I’m really glad you took the time to talk to me. I felt weird walking in, and… I’ve always heard that most psychics are fake, you know.” He looked at me bashfully, hoping I wouldn’t take offense.
“Mostare. Lucky for you, this is what I do. I’ll be honest with you.” I put my hand on his shoulder, and we stood there for a second before he slowly grinned.
“I… think you will be. There’s just something about you that’s… trustworthy, I guess.”
“Does your friend know that you’re here?” I cocked my eyebrow at him, already knowing the answer.
He shook his head slowly.
Well, this could be weird. “Right… Well, shall we?”
“Might as well get it over with. He’s the type of guy who doesn’t like asking for help. He’s had a rough few months, so he might not be as cool as he normally is, but I know him, and he needs help more than he would admit.”
“I know the type.” I grinned.
I followed him out into the bright sun and turned the sign on my door to closed before locking it behind me. Daveed was pure of thought when it came to what he believed. He was scared for his friend, and truly thought that there was a ghost in the house.
I hoped he was wrong even if I did need the money.
5
Jack
Itried to concentrate on my book. I’d read a few words about Percy’s newest adventure, and then a flicker of shadow would make me turn my head.
Page.
Shadow.
Page.
Shadow.
I reread the same paragraph over and over, but the movement to my side was distracting. I was seeing things when there was nothing to see. If Daveed hadn’t been over last night, I’m not sure what I would have thought. I mean, I couldn’t have ignored the loud crash from upstairs. I hadn’t done that or thrown my clothes all over the place. I knew that as a fact.
But the shadows, the voice, and my phone could all be because of my accident. Brain damage. I had Googled it last night when Daveed went to sleep. Not all damage to the brain appears immediately. The doctorssaidthe bruising was gone. Ihad no swelling. I was healthy. But what if I wasn’t? What if they didn’t catch it?
I wished Daveed could have stayed longer. I was grateful that he spent the night because I was freaked the fuck out. But today, with the sun streaming through my windows, there had to be some kind of reasonable explanation, right? I had forced myself to sleep in my bed – it was mine – I didn’t want to run away. But I did want to. I was proud that I didn’t. This house was about all I had left.
Daveed said the house was haunted, and I know that he believes it’s true. I just… I didn’t believe in ghosts. I had spent twenty-seven years never seeing one. Hell, four of those years were spent in this house, and there had never been any kind of infestation of spirits. I had never heard anything or seen anything that I even needed to try to rationalize as normal. It had just been normal.
I missed normal.
But after everything that I had gone through, maybe normal had disappeared. Maybe this was my new normal. I had never been normal. I wanted normal. After last night, I wanted it more than ever.
Yeah, I was fucked up in the head. I should call my doctor and tell him what was happening. They said that if anythingabnormalstarted to show itself, I needed to come back in. This was definitely abnormal. Daveed heard the bang and saw the clothes, but he had not seen the shadows or heard the voice.
Totally fucked. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to explore this second chance.
