Page 61 of Ghost
Apparition
“Are you falling asleep?” Julian’s voice broke through my awareness. It was that, and not the lukewarm water washing over me, that reminded me I still sat in the tub.
I blearily raised my head from my crossed arms and glanced at him. At this point, I no longer had any idea how long I’d been in here.
He picked up on my disoriented state. “You’ve been in there for forty-five minutes. It’s past midnight now. Don’t you have classes tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. “I have Literature first thing in the morning. And Chemistry in the afternoon.”
“Thanks,” Julian glanced back at his phone and began to type. “I’ll put your schedule in the shared calendar. It’s good to have in case we need to find each other. What time are your classes?”
I wasn’t sure why they’d need to find me, but was too tired to remark on it. “Eleven.”
“That’s your afternoon class?” Julian’s head popped up.
“No,” I tried to hide my yawn, but failed. “That’s my Literature class.”
“But you said…” Julian trailed off, realization dawning. “Right.” His lips quirked, but he didn’t say another word on it. “That’s Tuesday and Thursday, right? What time is Chemistry, and your other classes?”
“Chemistry is at two. The other three days I have Biology at ten, French at one, and Geology at two. Every Monday my Biology lab is at four.”
“That’s a lot of sciences for one semester. You spend most of your day in the Science and Technology building then. I know it’s been recently redone.” Julian remarked. “And French too, that’s on the other side of campus. Don’t let Miles find out. He’ll try to tutor you.”
“Aren’t you putting it on the shared calendar?” I pointed out. “He’ll see it anyway.”
Julian frowned, but didn’t say anything after that.
I yawned again as Julian put his phone away. “Alright,” he said, obviously noticing. He stalked over, holding out a towel in my direction. “It’s time to get out. You need sleep so you can wake up bright and early for your first class.”
He was probably making fun of me, but I didn’t care. “Okay.”
I reached out my hand—still aware enough to be thankful for the privacy afforded by the sloping curb of the tub. That’s when I felt it.
My mind snapped to alertness, all traces of languidness fading away. Fear permeated through the air, as well as a determination unlike anything I’d ever possessed.
Whatever this was, even though they were scared, they had come anyway.
“Bianca, what’s wrong?” Julian’s wary voice sounded loud in the quiet room, and I raised my hand in response. He froze, only feet away, and watched me in silence instead.
My breath came out in shallow bursts now, and my body was still. This was not the same evil that existed in this house. This was the spirit that called to me. And I didn’t want to scare it away.
But even though I felt her, no apparition made itself known. I was about to give up, to assume I had misread the situation somehow, when a movement caught my attention on the opposite end of the room.
The small girl was almost entirely hidden behind the linen closet. But my sight was stronger than it was last time, and I realized I had been wrong.
She had long, curly hair that was a golden color, and her gown was an almost sheer chemise. She was short, and younger, like me. But was not a child. If I were to approximate, I’d have guessed her around my age.
Her too-large eyes darted around the room, landing on Julian. Apprehension filled the air, and she began to back away.
“Wait!” I had to keep her from leaving. It had been days since I’d seen a ghost, and I might not get another chance before our time was off. And there was something, something about her appearance that tugged at me.
I had to help, even though I couldn’t explain why.
Julian didn’t even flinch at my outburst. Instead, he remained still—watching me like a silent protector. Happy to let me do what I needed, but only just.
I was grateful to him. That—even without words—we were on the same wavelength.
But it might not matter, because I had no idea what I needed to do.
