The door banged back against the ground when I threw it open. Everything below was dark and still. The scent of earth and must rose and wrapped around my nose.
Lifting the gun, I trained it at the opening because, frankly, I expected something to launch itself out in a planned attack.
“Hello,” I called down into the dark hole, puzzling over the fact someone had just been there but was now swallowed up by the dark.
“Who’s down there!” I called out again.
Amnesia shifted, and I glanced up, making sure she was okay. She looked nearly haggard. The stress of this island, the feelings it brought up, or maybe the memories—hell, could be a cocktail of all three—were hurting her. Draining her.
It scared me.
“Is it him?” she asked, her voice small.
My teeth gnashed together. How anyone could hurt her shocked the shit out of me.
“Show your face!” I roared, this time with an underlying threat in my tone.
The faint sound of movement below made me stiffen. I raised the gun again, aiming it and holding steady with both my hands.
Slowly, achingly slowly, a figured moved into the light streaming inside.
I caught a flash of white fabric before a face lifted, and my breath caught.
Of all the things I expected to see down in that manmade cave, I saw the very last I ever imagined.
It wasn’t a man.
Or an animal.
It was a ghost.
“Eddie,” she whispered as though she too couldn’t believe her eyes.
I tore my stare away and looked at Amnesia. Then back down into the hole.
She was still there. Both of them.
“What is it, Eddie?” Amnesia asked.
I looked back down, feeling my knees begin to shake.
“Eddie, you came for me,” the voice in the hole said, and then she began to cry.
“Sadie,” I whispered. “Sadie.”
She was looking up at me, a face so familiar, a face that appeared the same, just a little bit older. “You remember me?”
I wanted to groan. How could I forget?
“Eddie, who is that?” Amnesia asked, creeping closer.
My body tightened again. “Stay back.” I warned. The danger of this situation wasn’t erased because I was looking down on a ghost.
“Who else is down there?” I demanded, harsh.
“I’m alone,” the girl in the hole replied. Her voice shook. “Is h-he up there?”
“No one’s here but us,” I told her.
“Does that mean I can go home?” she asked and began to cry again.
My chest squeezed. I did the only thing I could think to do. I jumped down into the hole.
Amnesia’s voice was scared and frantic above me. The second I landed, I looked up. She was peering down over the edge. Her small, pale fingers curled around the opening. “Eddie!”
“It’s okay,” I called back. “I’m fine. I’ll be right up.”
It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the barely-there light. I wished I had a flashlight, but since it was daytime, I hadn’t thought to bring one.
The sound of a match scratching against something put me on high alert, but then a soft glow filled the darkness.
I looked across the space where she was standing. In her hand she held up a lantern. She was dressed in a white nightgown that was so long it hit the floor. The straps were thin, just like the material, and it needed a good wash.
Her hair was light colored, but not as blond as I remembered. The strands were straight and long, hanging down her back, past her shoulders. She was slim, medium height, with brown eyes.
“You came for me,” she finally said, her eyes never once leaving my face. “You still look the same. Only much more handsome.”
I groaned. It ripped right out of my soul. “Sadie,” I said. “It’s really you?”
“It’s really me.”
I lunged through the darkness, no thought at all in my head. She placed the lantern on a nearby table, and I pulled her into my arms.
She melted against me. The long strands of her hair brushed over my arms as I squeezed her close.
“I thought I would never see you again,” she said, emotional. “I thought I was going to die.”
“No,” I said, adamant, drawing back and taking her by the shoulders. “I won’t let that happen.”
Her eyes roamed my face. She reached up, fingering my curls. “Still curly after all this time.”
I couldn’t believe it was her. The girl I lost. The girl I’d been convinced was my future.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, unable to keep the distress from my voice. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to you. I…”
She hugged me again, silencing my words. “Thank you for coming. Thank you for saving me.”
Her voice was the same. Memories came flooding back to me, all the time we used to spend together.
Behind us there was a bang, and a shadow crossed over the opening in the ceiling. Sadie reacted instantly. Her body went limp. She slid down my body and hit the ground, throwing her arms over her head. I stared in shock and horror as she cowered.
There was another loud sound that echoed around the hole.
“Oh my God! He’s coming!” she cried, reaching out and grabbing my foot. “He’s coming. Hide!”