Page 5 of Edged By the Apparition
“Okay, that’s all I need to hear, thanks. It sounds like Olivia is trying to cast a levitation spell on the dog. I’m going to make sure I don’t end up with a traumatized husky. Happy Halloween.”
After she hung up, I did some unpacking math. There were about fifteen full cardboard boxes that I at least had to check and sort. Jen had offered to store anything I wanted to keep in her basement, which was a godsend. Nothing else would fit in my apartment unless I got rid of my roommate, which was tempting…but no. I couldn’t afford it.
Might as well get to it. I unfolded the top of the nearest box and peeked inside.
Photographs. A box full of actual physical photographs. I’d forgotten about them. Blaise’s mother had never transitioned to digital. She loved using a real camera and getting the filmdeveloped at the pharmacy around the corner from where she lived. Everywhere she went, she took photos. You couldn’t escape her snapping shutter.
I picked up the first picture, and a warmth spread in my chest. It was Blaise and me at the beach. We’d been together three years at that point, and Blaise’s mom had decided we should go on a weekend trip to celebrate her divorcing Blaise’s dad. I wore a boring pair of navy blue swim shorts, but he had on tight neon green trunks. He filled them out well.
The weather had been perfect that day, and behind us were the beach and an expanse of crystal-blue water. I was laughing. I barely remembered what that was like. I hadn’t laughed since his death. Not a real, full-bodied laugh.
I breathed in the stale air of the empty house, wishing desperately that Blaise was still here, that I could talk to him.
Well, Icouldtalk to him, even if he couldn’t answer. “Is this what you’d want? For the last time I really laughed to be when you were alive?”
“Of course not, baby…”
I spun around in surprise. The whisper was soft, but it was clear. Distinct enough that I couldn’t dismiss it. Someone had spoken. It wasnotmy imagination.
“I…what’s going on?” My hands trembling, I let the photograph fall back into the open box. “Is someone there?”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
It was almost as if the voice came in on the breeze. Or itwasthe breeze itself. But there was no mistaking the words. Or the eager tone.
“Who…what are you?” Every muscle in my body tensed, and I trained my eyes on the surrounding room, waiting for some sign of movement. I knew who it sounded like, who that deep and slightly raspy voice belonged to, but I couldn’t bring myselfto acknowledge it. I’d been so alone for the last five years. It couldn’t be.
“It’s Blaise. Why did you wait so long to come back?”
My throat was so dry, and the root of my tongue flexed painfully. I couldn’t speak. How was this possible? My eyes welled up, and a single tear trailed down my cheek.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
At the words, I lost any composure I had and collapsed down onto the floor, tears streaming down my face. I wasn’t able to catch my breath. This couldn’t be happening.
Something pressed against my back, like a hand comforting me, but there was nothing there.There was nothing there.
“How…how did this happen?” I pushed my fists into the solid floor, trying my damndest to ground myself, to get control.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s normal, or if other people move on to somewhere else when their bodies die. All I know is that I’ve been here, in this house.”
A breeze tickled the back of my neck, like the lightest of feathers. “You’ve been waiting for me?”
There were several seconds of silence before Blaise responded.“Of course. Always.”
With that, I was weeping once more. I’d left him here alone forfive years. All because I was afraid, because I couldn’t face the loss.
“It’s okay, Tommy.”
“No!” I lifted myself up from the floor. My whole body was shaking now, but I needed to stand and be accountable for what I’d done. “I abandoned you. If I had been strong, I wouldn’t have left you alone.”
“Baby…”An invisible hand caressed my cheek, wiping away my tears.“You had no way of knowing. I was sure you’d make it back eventually.”
“I almost didn’t,” I forced out. My guilt was stuck in my throat, and for a moment I thought I might pass out. This was too much.
The fact that ghosts were real? The fact that my boyfriend was a spirit? The shock of that was nothing compared to the devastating knowledge that I’d left. He’d been trapped in this empty house by himself.
“But you did, baby. You’re here now. We’re together. Don’t waste the time we have with sadness.”
