Page 18 of Shadows of Nightshade
But I only made it three steps before a floorboard creaked beneath my foot. The figure, which had been swaying contentedly back and forth, froze.
I couldn’t breathe from fear.
A long moment passed, and then another. The air became tangible as the atmosphere shifted. While I hadn’t been the focus of the ghost’s attention before, I certainly was now.
Everything inside of me screamed to run—to hide.
This was going against everything I’d ever been taught: never let them know you can see them.
Ignore, ignore.
But… I’d decided that things had to change, too.
I've been able to do many things outside of my comfort zone lately, so why not this? Just so long as I didn’t touch it, it wouldn’t hurt.
I sucked in a deep breath and forced my pounding heart to calm. My nerves steadied, and I straightened into a more confident stance. Sometimes faking it could give you courage.
“Hello.” I faced the mirror. Trepidation and curiosity thickened the air, but I didn’t feel anything hostile.
Was it my imagination, or was this something new?
“Do you need help?” I asked.
The room grew impossibly colder, and I shuddered as my breath frosted the air. Yet, since the shape didn’t move, I didn’t either.
I had no idea what to expect next—this was a new experience.
I remained still beside my shallow breaths and shivers, before a translucent outline finally formed in the space around the shadow. Still, it was difficult to discern more than the fact that the shape was female.
And she was looking right back at me, just as scared as I was.
Fear retreated as sorrow and grief touched my senses—the emotions a mixture of us both.
“It’s all right,” I told her, sympathy driving me forward. It looked like I’d made the right decision. This spirit, at least, didn’t mean any harm. “Why are you here?”
She wanted help. I could feel it.
And I wanted to help.
She was watching me—curious. However, she still made no move to respond. What if she couldn’t communicate? That would make solving things a bit more difficult.
But then the wind shifted, and a shadow passed across the room. A spike of fear staked my chest as her wide, blue eyes briefly flashed.
“Run away,” she spoke. The warning was whispered in the wind.
And then she was gone. There was nothing left in her place.
No shadow. No shape.
Just me, watching my own frazzled reflection in the mirror.
6
It was onlythe power of overpriced coffee and the late-night antics of my supernatural visitor that inspired me to get out of my makeshift bed on the couch and leave the house the next morning. Despite still being spooked, I couldn’t help but feel for my new ghost friend.
We’d shared a moment of kinship.
And I couldn’t get her eerie whisper out of my head.
