Chapter 2
As always, I walk from room to room, telling them all good night. They can’t hear it, but I do things like that. It makes me feel a little more normal.
Whatever that is.
I always sit down with them when they eat, and I listen to them talk about random things and soul breaks—like the one tonight—that they have to clean up. I often offer my two cents on the conversation, but they talk over me, of course.
But my favorite part of the day is going room to room, making sure everyone is in bed, and telling them good night before I watch over them. Sounds less creepy than just watching them.
A creak so light I almost miss it manages to snag my attention away from Two—the one I’ve decided to watch tonight.
He sleeps so fitfully that I usually choose him just so I can feel like I’m consoling him, even though I can’t do a thing.
Another barely-there creak has me on my feet and moving down the hall as Two wrestles with the sheets.
Rounding the bottom of the stairs, I expect to find Three, since he has trouble sleeping. He has full days where he crashes to make up for all the times he’s been awake.
But it’s not him.
I catch a glint of silver as a man passes right through me, the dark house hiding his face before I can even process what’s going on. I turn to see him moving silently up the stairs, sans the occasional light creak that won’t wake them.
They sleep heavier than that, even if they don’t all sleep soundly.
The silver glistens again, and my heart catches in my throat when I realize it’s a sword. I have no idea if a sword will kill them, but I sure as hell can’t watch them die.
This house is enormous, and yet he’s on the exact wing where they all four sleep? He knows his way around.
I pass right through him again, and he doesn’t even blink. Walking backwards up the stairs to stay in front of him, I study his face, trying to see who he is. I have to find a way to stop him, and his identity won’t help, but at least I’ll know who to curse.
“Stop!” I shout.
He keeps walking, not seeing me or hearing me.
“Wake up!” I shout to the guys as I turn around. The man passes through me again, and my non-existent heart beats that much faster as it thumps in my ears, echoing the sound of a ticking clock.
Panic seizes me when I make an attempt to block him again, and almost scream when he barely cracks open the door to One’s room.
He peers inside, and I rush through him and the door, looking around for anything I can find. I strain, needing something to happen, feeling completely useless and terrified as that door starts opening wider, the shred of hallway light spilling into the room more with each inch.
One doesn’t even stir, even as I pass through him over and over, running through the bed and his body.
“Wake up! Wake up!”
Nothing.
Just as the man snakes into the room with the silence of a seasoned killer, he raises the sword.
I react without thinking, screaming as I launch myself at the man, putting every single bit of my fear into that one action as desperation chokes me.
His eyes widen seconds before the first thing I remember ever feeling comes in the form of blunt, mind-searing pain. Then just as quickly as it appeared, it’s gone, as the man and I topple to the ground. I pass right through him, barely managing to stop myself from passing through the floor.
It took me a long time to get the hang of not falling through floors.
Then I dart to my feet, gasping. I just knocked him down! Holy shit! I did that!
The man is staring at me in wide-eyed horror, fear and recognition in the depths, until his throat suddenly starts bubbling blood from a slice I never saw.
One is standing over him, sword in hand, as the man’s head starts to slide away.
I jerk my eyes away, not keen on watching a head fall off, even though I’ve seen them do this before. I’ve never actually been so close.
It figures the one person who I was able to touch, and the one person who has ever been able to see me, would be a monster who wanted my boys dead.
What a waste.
There’s suddenly a sword swiping through me, and I look down, seeing it swipe thrice more before I peer up in confusion at One.
He stares at me like he’s confused, and swipes again with that sword. I notice it’s his weapon, the one he reaps souls with.
“What the hell?” he asks on a breath.
It’s then I realize it’s me he’s trying to hack to bits, and my eyes widen as my heart thumps a little harder.
“You can see me?” I ask on a choked breath, cautious hope and tempered excitement bubbling inside me.
“What the fuck are you?” he snaps, swiping at me again.
I fling myself at him, ready to finally touch one of them! And, much to my dismay, pass right through him. I should have known that since that sword was doing the exact same thing to my middle, but I got a little excited. Understandably so.
But it’s the weird tingle I feel when I pass through him that has everything on me stir to attention.
I whirl around as his eyes glimmer with flakes of gold for a second, and his sword falls to his side as he cants his head.
“What are you?” he asks a little calmer, sounding more curious and less hostile.
“I don’t know,” I tell him, still entranced by the fact he can see me. Hear me. “You can really see me?” I ask, stepping closer.
He lets his gaze dip, and he bites down on his bottom lip. “I can definitely see you.”
So much relief floods me at once that it’s a little dizzying. After spending five years being completely invisible, I can finally be seen? I can talk to them?
Tears cloud my vision. How am I crying?
I never knew ghosts could faint.
At least not until it all goes black.