Spirited

by J. A. Hunter

  My eyes widened as I noticed the hole in his chest disappeared. He was whole again and looked perfectly normal.

  "Didn't you have…?" I began to ask, but I didn't need to finish before Paul interrupted.

  "Our ghost form shows any wounds we had when we died, but as you communicate with us, they fade and disappear." He explained.

  "I have so much to learn." I sighed.

  "Paul has kind of taken me under his wing." Reed stated.

  "Not that he listens very well." Paul chuckled. His voice was much deeper than Reed's.

  He had the build of a lumberjack and the suspenders to match. It would only make sense that he died in a wood cutting accident, catching an ax to the chest. I shivered at the thought of dying that way.

  "Come on, I'll introduce you to the others." Reed directed.

  "The others?" I swallowed a breath and followed closely.

  I could see the scattered apparitions throughout the house. They were in small groups talking with one another, in a way that reminded me of school. Even ghosts had their own cliques.

  "Before we enter this room, keep your eyes away from the left corner. Gary was hit by a bus and he isn’t very pleasant to talk with, so I don't think he will get any prettier." Reed advised.

  My curiosity got the best of me and I took a quick glance. His torn and bloody form made my stomach turn.

  "Oh my God!" I screeched.

  "I warned you." Reed laughed.

  As we entered the room a tall slender kid scurried up to Reed, reaching his hand out, a small hole on the side of his head was evident of a gunshot.

  "Hey Ronnie!" Reed welcomed him, taking his hand and wrapping one arm over his shoulder in a bro hug.

  "Hey Reed!" Ronnie greeted back.

  "This is Ally." He introduced me as he placed his hand on Ronnie's shoulder.

  "Nice to meet you." The kid smiled.

  "Nice to meet you too." The hole in his head disappeared.

  "How are you able to touch him?" I asked confused.

  "Ghosts are able to touch each other the same way as humans." Paul whispered behind me.

  I was slightly jealous of Ronnie, but that would be shadowed by a stronger jealousy.

  She was beautiful. Her long blonde hair flowed in waves as she glided toward Reed. Her perfect smile flashed across the room and I could see seduction in her eyes. She stood inches taller than me and filled her dress better than I ever could.

  "Hi Reed!" She pulled him into a hug without hesitation.

  "Hi Sarah."

  "Sarah, meet Ally." He pulled away from her as she approached me.

  "Hi Ally." Her smile was replaced with catty smirk. I was the competition. But how could I compete?

  "Hi."

  I looked her up and down, trying to catch sight of an imperfection. There wasn't one. Her death must have been peaceful. By the look of the spoiled beauty queen, I was almost sure it was suicide.

  My blood boiled in my veins as I watched her flirtatiously touching his arm. They were whispering an entire conversation- her fake laugh fed his ego. I felt like an outsider.

  I was more discouraged than before we arrived. If he had the option of being with someone as beautiful as her, whom he could touch, what was he doing with me? How could I convince him that a relationship without physical contact was a better option than what she could give him?

  I felt like Gary- smashed, mangled and tossed to the side.

  "Ally?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Do you want to see the rest of the house?" Reed asked as Sarah started walking away.

  "I don't know. It's getting kind of late." I wanted to get Reed away from Sarah.

  "Ok, we can go if you want." He offered.

  "Paul? Can you get the door?" He asked and Paul jumped into action.

  Before Paul could reach the door, the windows and walls started to shake violently. There was a loud hissing howl echoing through the house. I watched as the apparitions turned toward the front door, where Paul was now standing.

  "CARSON!" Sarah screamed from the top of her lungs.

  I didn't have time to process what was happening before feeling Paul's strong arms grip me and drag me to the corner of the room, sheltering me. I caught a glimpse of Sarah leaping in the air and tackling Reed to the ground, hanging tightly onto him.

  The plywood covering the front door shattered into splinters as I saw the screaming poltergeist fly into the house. The loud screech popped my ears as I lost my breath in fear.

  His ghostly form was dark and fierce as he flew around the room, shattering everything he touched. Everyone jumped out of its path as the howling made my ears ring. I watched in awe at the violence that radiated from it.

  As it reached the second floor, all the ghosts disappeared from the balcony and reappeared in the corner across the room- all but one.

  The young man stood, shaking in fear as the poltergeist bore down on him. It paused for only a second before I watched in fly through him. His eyes popped wide as he cringed and screamed in pain. His form burned from the inside out until he disappeared.

  It felt like minutes passed before the dark wraith flew out of the house as quickly as he flew in, leaving the room in shambles.

  I turned to Reed, to make sure he was ok. My heart tightened as I saw Sarah wrapped tightly around him. Her cheek pressed hard against his. They seemed like the perfect couple.

  "Are you ok?" Paul's deep voice asked.

  "Yeah, I guess." I couldn't take my eyes off Reed and Sarah.

  "Ally!" Reed called out as he left Sarah and flew toward me.

  "Are you ok?" He asked as I stood, dusting myself off.

  "I'm fine."

  "Is everyone else ok?" Reed asked.

  "It looks like we lost Chris." Paul replied.

  "What was that?" I stuttered.

  "That was Carson." He stated as if I should have known who Carson was. "He used to hang out with us." Reed continued.

  "You used to hang out with that thing?"

  "He wasn't always like that. He started spending time with the wrong crowd." He tried to explain.

  "We feed off the emotions of the living." Paul chimed in to explain. "If we hang around positive people we feel positive. If we hang out around too much negative energy, well, you saw." He added.

  "You feed off our energy?" I imagined myself as a battery for Reed.

  "Yes, but most of us don't need to feed that often. But Carson just used a lot of energy- he will be out feeding tonight."

  "Was Chris taken?" I asked as the image of his burning form flashed in front of my eyes.

  "Yes. We can take each other, but most don't, there is no real benefit to it."

  The thought of Carson taking Reed away from me scared me to death. I didn't think much about losing him as much as I thought of him losing me.

  "Come on Ally, let's get you home." Reed suggested.

  Carson left a giant hole in the door, so I didn't need Paul's help to leave the house. I started out the door as Reed said goodbye to his friends. I paused and glanced back as I saw Sarah hugging him. The jealousy was overwhelming and I wished I had a way to exorcise her off him.

  I didn't speak on the way to the bus stop, on the ride home, or even walking to my house when we left the bus. I wanted to wait until I could get him alone.

  We stopped at my driveway, where we would normally say goodnight.

  "Can you meet me in my room?" I asked.

  "Sure." He smiled and disappeared.

  I walked in the house and said hi to my parents who were watching TV together. I excused myself for bed and went upstairs. Reed was sitting on my bed waiting patiently. I shuffled over and sat beside him.

  "Busy day today huh?" He asked.

  "Why are you with me?" I didn't waste time. I couldn't understand my role.

  "What do you mean?"

  "We are facing so many limitations, but with Sarah…"

  "I have no interest in Sarah." Reed interrupted.

  "B
ut you could have a real relationship with her, instead of this."

  "What makes you think we can't have a real relationship?" He asked.

  "How could we possibly have what you and her could have?" I felt my emotions taking over.

  "Listen, the day I met you, I was immediately drawn to you. I can't explain why or tell you what our future holds, but I can't imagine being with anyone else." He tried to console.

  My heart stopped a beat, my palms were sweaty and I felt warmth throughout my body. The words he spoke, the looks he gave me, I couldn't understand the depths of his feelings but I could see myself all the way through him.

  "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

  "Of course, anything you want."

  I knew the conversation wasn't going to end there, but after all that happened, I was ready to end the day on a good note. Even as he explained his feelings I knew Sarah was still going to have more of him than I could.

  He sat at the foot of the bed like a protective dog while I closed my eyes. I would like to say I didn't have ulterior motives, but the thought of him popping in and being around Sarah made my stomach turn. I still wasn't convinced that he would be better off with me. She was so strikingly beautiful I was jealous just being in her presence.

  The next morning I woke alone. The faint smell of coffee was stinted by the aroma of one hundred roses placed around my room. I admired the variety of yellow, red, white and even purple buds that covered every surface with available space. My harsh alarm was replaced with the love song station playing softly. I had never seen anything like it.

  I dropped my feet to the floor. My eyes surveyed the room, looking for clues. Against the middle bouquet on my bureau leaned a small card- I almost tripped running to it.

  "Outer beauty fades, it wilts and dies, but the beauty of a memory lasts an eternity. Never doubt my dedication to you or to us and I will continue making memories."

  It was signed "Reed" even though I knew it was Paul who wrote it. I didn't even care that the ghost scribble was almost illegible, or that Paul would have had to be in my room while I slept to place the roses. I had never woken to such beauty or sense tingling fragrance.

  Even though I was dating a ghost who couldn't even kiss me, I felt like the luckiest girl alive.

  I almost floated my way downstairs. I turned my smile into a simper before joining my parents in the kitchen- I wanted to try and hide my happiness.

  My mother sipped her coffee loudly as she read the morning paper. My dad stole the crossword and was concentrating harder than usual.

  "Good morning!" I announced as I pranced to the coffee pot.

  "Well, someone is in a good mood." My dad smiled as he looked up from his puzzle.

  "It's just a beautiful day." I smiled back.

  "That is an odd mood for someone with a geometry test today." My mom pointed out- buzz kill.

  "I almost forgot about that. I am so not ready for it." I declared.

  "I'm sure you'll do fine honey, you're a smart girl." My mother reassured.

  I sat at the table with my coffee, thinking of the "smart" choices I had made lately.

  So far I fell in love with a ghost, put myself in danger of being mauled by a poltergeist, and became competition for a dead girl who could ultimately take my life if she wanted- not to mention I had been lying to my friends and family.

  Yeah, I was brilliant.

  I spent the morning classes dreading the test I had to face. My textbook didn't even have a crease in it. I had no time to study and didn't even know what we were studying. Reed had taken over my thoughts when I was awake.

  I had to find some kind of middle ground or I was going to have to repeat my senior year.

  Before the class started, Mr. Carlone instructed us on the test he started handing out. Once we were done we were able to leave class early.

  It was definitely an incentive for me to finish it quickly, which wouldn't be a problem since I was planning on guessing at the answers anyway.

  He laid the 4 page test on my desk- maybe I wasn't going to leave early.

  I let out an anxious sigh and started to write my name on the top of the paper. A cold chill ran through my body and my vision began to blur. I suddenly felt nauseated and as everything started going dark his voice rang in my head.

  "I got this." He assured me.

  I couldn't see anything, feel anything, or hear the rest of the class. All I could hear was Reed mumbling, reading the questions one by one. It felt like an eternity before my eyes cleared and I was able to see the lockers lining the hallway and Reed standing in front of me.

  "What the hell happened?" I questioned him.

  "I felt bad that I haven't let you study, so I took the test for you." He smiled proudly like a dog bringing home a dead bird.

  "How did you take the test for me?" I started feeling my temper raising as I realized what he had done.

  "I jumped in."

  "You jumped in? Without my permission?"

  I tried keeping my cool, but the thought of not having control over my body infuriated me.

  "I wanted to help." He confessed innocently.

  "Rule number 2…DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" My demand echoed through the empty halls.

  "I'm sorry…"He began to apologize.

  "DON'T!" I interrupted. "Don't apologize, just don't do it again." I started walking off as he followed.

  "Do you think I passed?" I asked calmly.

  "Of course, I aced geometry when I was alive." He smirked.

  I was so upset by his intrusion I had almost forgot about the sea of roses I woke up to.

  "Thank you for this morning." I hinted.

  "Did you like them?" He smiled, already knowing the answer.

  "I loved them. They were beautiful."

  I wanted so badly to kiss his lips and show my appreciation but at the same time I wanted to kick his shin for jumping into me.

  We made our way through the halls toward the parking lot where I would have to wait for Alex and Heather. It didn't make sense to let us out early if we had to wait for our ride or the buses. It made me think of how my birthday was only weeks away and I wouldn't have to wait for anyone. I could just drive off.

  As we left the building and entered the courtyard Reed suddenly stopped.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I don't feel very well." He cringed as he held his stomach.

  "You don't feel well? Can ghosts get sick?" I laughed but my smile was replaced with concern as he fell to his knees.

  "It hurts." His voice trembled.

  "What can I do?"

  His blue eyes lost the gray swirls as he looked around the courtyard. His stare latched onto a darkened figure standing in the shadows across the lawn. I squinted, trying to see who it was.

  "It's him." Reed shuddered. His eyes closed tightly as he gripped his stomach firmly.

  I looked back at the dark corner, but he was gone. Almost immediately Reed rose to his feet, catching his breath. His eyes opened and I could see the gray swirls returning.

  "What just happened?" I stood confused and helpless.

  "It was him." He replied.

  "Who was he?" I looked around for him again.

  "I think he was the one who killed me." Reed confessed.

  "Killed you? You mean…"

  I pieced it together. His heart suddenly stopping during the game, the woman at the retirement home, Reed didn't die naturally, he was taken.

  "Yes." He agreed.

  "It was the last memory that came back to me. Let me show you."

  "How?" I asked before he placed his hand near my head.

  I could feel the chill running through my blood and my vision was suddenly replaced with the images he saw right before he died.

  I watched as he made his way down the soccer field, juggling the ball between his feet. I could feel the sweat dripping from his head, the ache of his muscles as he ran. My chest was tight as I tried catching my breath from the extreme exertion of ene
rgy he was putting out on the field.

  Just as he passed it to another player everything went dark. It reminded me of how I felt in class just minutes earlier. A voice echoed in his head- a dark, malevolent voice.

  "Your life is mine." It was almost a low growl.

  My chest burned as I felt the last heartbeat leave his body. The supernatural grip tightened around his heart and his lungs failed to expand. I felt the impact of his body hitting the field before his senses went numb. All of his emotions, memories, and thoughts immediately left him.

  I saw through Reed's eyes as he woke up on the dark field alone. The bleachers that were once filled with fans were empty. The only light came from the bright moon overhead. I watched with clemency as he stumbled around disoriented. My heart broke for him.

  I was quickly brought back to the courtyard and to Reed. The look in his eyes was that of dysphoria. I could see how it hurt him to share his death with me.

  Before that moment I had imagined it with rose-colored glasses. But knowing how it felt, how he felt when it happened- it was like I died also.

  "That was intense." I stood wide-eyed, staring at Reed.

  "I know. But I needed you to see." He muttered apologetically.

  "Does every taken soul return?" I asked.

  I flashed back to the lady at the home and how she took the elderly man. If his soul was displaced, I would have seen him resurrected.