Page 11 of Mortal Desires

I squeezed my eyes closed, bringing my breathing back to normal, reassuring myself everything would be okay. But when I opened them again, I saw her.

“Penny,” I whispered.

My eyes followed her bobbing blonde hair as she walked through the crowd. Penny was never out. She was always happy about being inside the manor, safe. The vision of her blond hair among so many people twisted my gut.

Flo’s hand disappeared from mine. Like fog, I lost contact with her. I turned in panic, trying to find her at the same time Marnie grasped my other side.

I wasn’t holding hands with either of them now. Flo was nowhere to be seen, and Marnie was still next to me, but in the arms of an older man. That must be Grayson, her soulmate.

I didn’t want to be apart from my sisters, but they were gone already. Elisa was adamant about the formation, and she had every right to be. There was something not right about this parade, I could smell the magic in the air.

But I couldn’t leave Penny alone.

I groaned and cursed under my breath. If I broke formation, I would never hear the end of it, but Penny was important, too. Even at a distance, I marveled at how solid she looked and I couldn’t forget her expression when she told me something was wrong.

That made up my mind. I looked at Marnie one last time. “Sorry,” I mouthed, even though she didn’t see it.

And I stepped away, my eyes on Penny’s blonde hair. She looked like the living right now, and I remembered when I used to wish that one day she would be alive again.

I lost my mother when I was too small to remember, and throughout my life, I missed her terribly. Penny watched me grow up. She was always there to help me and listen when I cried. She was sincere in her advice and gentle with her words. I wondered once or twice if she too lost someone she loved. Death took her memories, but even then, she guided me through my pain.

I used to close my eyes at night and bargain with the universe. I wanted Penny since death had my mother. My wish never came true. I grew up and realized death only took, it never gave back. Penny may have been with me, but she wasn’t alive.

Now, while I stumbled in her direction, ignoring the people in my way, I wondered if it was finally happening.

Maybe the veil between life and death finally ripped, making Penny whole again.

Maybe she was truly an exception. She never had to ascend because she belonged here. With me.

A ghost that belonged to life. It made no sense, but like when I was little, I wished for it with all my heart.

The crowd opened like the sea to Moses. I called Penny, not caring that I called out for a ghost in the middle of humans. She never turned her head, though. Never stopped.

I kept following, the light falling slowly in the edges of my vision, my movements sluggish as the night claimed the day.

My feet hurt. I looked down for just a second at my heeled black boots, now covered in red dirt, before I took my skirts in one hand and kept going.

Why was Penny taking us so far from the manor?

I didn’t dare to look back. If my sisters asked me to stop, I might do it, and I couldn’t live with myself if I abandoned Penny.

I called her name once again, my voice scratching my throat as it made its way out, echoing over my ears. I followed her until the red dirt turned into stone. My heels thumped, silencing everything around me.

I hurried when she started downstairs, and I couldn’t see her anymore. I ran up to the edge, breath frozen in my lungs, when I looked down and saw nothing but mist. It was only then that I chanced a look around.

The Halloween parade wasn’t there anymore. I turned slowly, my eyes trying to find the reason behind the empty space in front of me. There was the blackness of a starless night, the sound of my heels shifting over the stone and mist. Nothing else and nothing more.

I fisted my hands and turned back to the endless stairs in front of me, my feet begging me to take the first step.

I held myself back, trying to think while the instinct pushed me forward. It didn’t matter how many times I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I was overwhelmed with raw passion, something so fierce I couldn’t deny its power.

Penny was lost somewhere in front of me. My sisters were behind me. And I prayed for a good decision. The right one.

In the end, there wasn’t a decision to make. In my heart of hearts, I knew I could only go down.

The heavyweight of destiny edged between my shoulder blades and I stepped forward, almost falling with the momentum. I held myself together and went down another step.

And then another and another.

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