Page 26 of Ghosted

“How can I?” he grits out. “We have a psycho attached to us and no way of knowing how to rid ourselves of her. Lucien tried to save us, but fuck, I’m beginning to think that it’shisfault.”

My heart sinks at his words.Is he right?Maybe I should head back to the college and give them space. The thought of being forced back to my prison is killing me, though. I don’t want to be alone among all the forlorn souls, I want to be near her.God. Maybe I am the leech the witch accused me of.

Raven pauses her walk down the hall to turn back to him. “You know it’s Stella that is the cause for all of this. It was a chance that we were there on Halloween and I resemble Iris. If this is Lucien’s fault, it’s mine as well. He never asked to die in that fire, but that didn’t stop him from giving up his life to save as many as he could as he tried to get to the love of his life. Would you do the same?”

Raven opened the door to her room. I’m floating near the unmade bed and move aside so she won’t pass through me as she launches herself onto it. She lands face down and buries her face into the pile of covers. A muffled scream escapes her lips and she lays there for a few moments before sitting up. Her face is red and she’s breathing heavy, but looks a bit less manic than she did when she stormed in here.

“Great, now I have to change these sheets, too,” she huffs as she starts to undress.

At the sight of her ripping her clothes off, I cough, trying to get her attention. She’s already pulled off her distressed blue jeans, and is about to pull her shirt over her head when she turns to look up at me.

A smile tips her lips and all my worries seem to melt away at the same time.

“Ah, I wondered if you’d show up again today.”

“I’ve been around, did you find anything out about Stella today?”

“Not as much as we thought, but the two of you are attached to me and feeding off my life force,” as the words leave her lips I can see the concern on her face.

“How do we break that? I didn’t even know that was possible,” I omit that I already knew but I’m not lying. “I never meant…”

Raven cuts me off with a wave of her hand. “Stop right there. This is all new to us, if anything it is Stella that did this. You may be attached because of her. Even in death you aren’t free of her. We can do more digging on the internet, but first, I need a shower. The town archives haven’t been dusted in years and I have a thick coat of it on me. Will you join me?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Excuse me?”

Raven laughs, “I mean will you watch over me? If Stella is really attached to me. I’d feel safer if you were there.”

All I can do is nod, still speechless from her request. I tell myself that I won’t watch Raven, but keep an eye out for Stella or anything out of the ordinary.

When she walks into the attached room, I don’t enter the bathroom with Raven, I want to give her time to finish undressing and get in the stream of water. It’s a sweet gesture that she left the door open for me, so I don’t have to do the ghostly thing and float in.

I’m not sure what she expects from me, I haven’t seen Stella outside of my memories, but I enter the bathroom, anyway. If it makes her feel safer, then I’m willing to stand here for however long she needs me.

“Lucien, is that you?” Raven asks from behind the shower curtain. Her voice shakes with unease so I don’t hesitate to answer.

“Yes, just your friendly ghost,” I call back.

Her laugh rings out in the tiny space and it’s one of the best sounds I’ve heard in far too long.

I’m floating back and forth, since I can’t exactly pace. This whole day has me full of nervous energy.

Wait…

Nervous energy? It’s been so long since I’ve had any feelings or emotions outside of pain and loneliness I don’t know how to process it. Is this part of the energy exchange?

The water shuts off and pulls me back to the present again.

“I’m getting out,” Raven calls out to warn me.

“Okay, do you want me to stay?”

“Please, if you don’t mind.”

And I definitely don’t mind, but I do turn where I can’t see her. It isn’t long after she pulls the curtain aside and tells me it’s all clear to look at her.

Raven’s hair and body are wrapped in towels and there’s a smile on her face. “Thank you. I just have this weird feeling that we are being watched all of the time, but you are the only ghost I can actually see.”

“This is new for both of us, but I feel as if our connection is getting stronger,” I tell her truthfully, as I raise a hand toward her. Something in me just aches for the touch and it moves before I even realize what I’m doing.

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