Ghostly

by Samantha Combs

  Inviting Skylar to move in with us was almost a no-brainer. It seemed only natural that I would grow to love Serena’s twin brother. After all we had been through to rescue him from the demons, we had become very close. Plus, we had to save him from woman-town. If he stayed with Serena, Elizabeth and Tabitha, he would be stuck in a house filled with women. Witchy women, at that. Not that living there was a bad thing, per se, but when we asked him, he didn’t think twice about it. He had lived a pretty sheltered life with the Council and he was anxious to come live with us and learn all he could about our world.

  Besides, Serena had lately been haunted, there was really no other word for it, by visions of Christophe, the demon we had successfully defeated last spring. When I tried to get her to talk to me about it, she would play it off, as though it were no big deal. But I could see her mood darken in solemn moments and the telling glances she exchanged with her Aunt Elizabeth. I felt so much concern for what she might be foreseeing, I began revisiting that terrible night.

  Not a day went by that I didn’t remember what my beautiful witch-girlfriend looked like hanging limp in that demon’s arms as he headed toward that flesh wound in the air, trying to take her to some underworld realm where I would never see her again. I had never been able to communicate to her or anyone how empty I’d felt in that moment. She was, simply, the love of my life and everything I did came back to her. I remained crazy-mad in love with her. She existed as my sun and my moon.

  “Can’t we take a break, or something?” Sully broke into my thoughts, begging for a rest.

  “Sully, seriously, you can’t rest on the porch with a couch crushing my larynx. I am on the losing end of that proposition, dude!”

  “Okay, okay.” I couldn’t see him, but all of a sudden the huge weight of the sofa lifted and began sliding forward and I could hear him grunting above me.

  “All right! Here we go now!” Skylar called out encouragement as the sofa miraculously made it the last few feet and slid onto the level surface of the huge front entryway. I followed it up the steps and helped Sully shove it into the open door of our new place.

  Serena had helped us when I told her of our plans and of course, she had found the perfect place. She discovered a great little three-bedroom house on a hill with a couple of bathrooms, a good-sized living room, and a tiny kitchen; not that any of us would cook that much. Sully and I could afford the rent on our own and we figured Skylar could start pitching in when he found some permanent employment. In the meantime, we were letting him work part-time in the store with us. He became freakishly good with computers, and we were considering hiring him to build us a website, which the store had never had.

  “Wow, you guys finally made it! What took you so long?” Jade called out from the kitchen where she and Serena were busy unwrapping a million cooking utensils, which I had told my mom we wouldn’t need, but she bought anyway. I poked my head around the corner and winked at Serena.

  “Hey, Serena. You keeping busy?”

  She looked up at me from where she sat on the floor, surrounded by balled-up pieces of newspapers and stacks of dishes, bowls and coffee mugs. Of course, Zena, her guardian dog given to her by one of her coven sisters, lay next to her.

  “Logan. Did your mother buy every piece of mis-matched day china the Stop-and-Shop had?” She waved her hand at the array surrounding her, eyes shrouding her true mood. She was as closed-off and pensive as she had been for the past few weeks, since the visions had begun. For the millionth time, I tried to think of the right thing to say to break through her wall, and for the millionth time I failed. I let my sister Jade chatter on and slunk into the background, defeated.

  “Logan,” Jade was saying, “I tried to warn her about Mom. She hasn’t shopped with The Hurricane yet. I have to tell you; shopping with Lily Daniels is not for the weak.” She made a serious face and I laughed, a little too sharply. It sounded hollow, and I attempted to cover it up.

  “All right, that’s enough. Mom’s not even here to defend herself.” I leaned over and kissed my witchy girlfriend on the top of her head. “I’m going back for more loot. Skylar, too. We’ll be back in a while and bring some pizza.” Serena barely looked up.

  ****

  Skylar and I took Charlie and drove back to my house for some more of the secondhand furniture that my mom and Elizabeth had found for us. I wasn’t kidding about them buying out all the thrift stores. Besides the sofa, they found a couple of easy chairs, some end tables, a kitchen table with four chairs, and even some lamps. All great because the only furniture Sully and I had before we moved were our childhood beds. Both were only full-sized. Small for me, tiny as all-get-out for Sully, but still beds. And I remembered thinking at the time, full-size was still room for two. I’d hoped Serena didn’t mindjump me in the middle of thinking that little gem. She’d think I was some kind of fiend. I wasn’t. Just an all-American red-blooded male. Okay, maybe not all-American, maybe half warlock, I had recently learned, thanks to Serena. But still male, anyway. Enough to be thinking that a full-sized bed still left room enough for two. If the two wanted, that is. Oh man, I needed to think of something else or I might drive off this road. Thank the stars for Skylar.

  “How much more furniture do we have, Logan?” He sounded amused. Did he overhear my thoughts? I answered him, keeping my voice even. He didn’t need to know what I had just been thinking about. Plus, I didn’t want him to know about Serena’s visions.

  “Knowing my mom? No telling. But I think we got the bulk of it already.”

  “You and Sully sure about this?”

  “What? Moving out?” I turned the car down the streets, headed back to my Mom’s house.

  Next to me in the car, Skylar fidgeted with the window. “Me moving in with you guys. Serena says you’ve been talking about it since you were kids. Feels maybe like I’m intruding on a childhood thing.”

  “Not even, Skylar. We’d have never asked you if you were.”

  “So, it’s not just because of Serena?” I could hear the apprehension in his voice. I tried to reassure him.

  “Nope. She’d be a good reason, but she’s not it. You are.” I glanced over at Skylar and gave him a brief chin nod.

  Skylar looked down as though not sure how to respond.

  I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I tried to explain further. “I could do it because you’re her brother. That’d be an easy reason. But Sully and I, we think you’re okay. We like you. And seriously, we can’t just leave you in a house full of women. Trust me. I did it with only two women, my mom and Jade, and I couldn’t wait to get out.” I laughed, remembering fighting for bathroom time. “Three? Or more? With all those coven sisters dropping by or ‘flying in’? You’d go crazy, man.” I reached over and clapped Skylar on the shoulder. “You’re in, man. Don’t sweat it.”

  Now he seemed to be smirking. All of a sudden I knew why.

  “Oh, great. You can mindjump too, right?” I asked, referring to the witch trick we all had of listening in to people’s thoughts. I was suddenly sure he had picked up all my inner ramblings about full-sized beds and the uses of them. He nodded, still leering.

  “And you know exactly what I was thinking? About…” I could hardly repeat it. “…about the beds?” More nodding. I couldn’t look. “Please. Do. Not. Tell. Serena.” I enunciated every word carefully so as to fully emphasize the magnitude of their importance. Only then did I look at Skylar. He could barely keep in the laughter.

  “Seriously, dude. I will kill you. I think I could do it, too.”

  Skylar let loose. Even Charlie barked happily. I just shook my head. There is seriously no privacy in being a supernatural.

  Astraea Press

  Pure. Fiction.

  www.astraeapress.com

 

 

 
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