Saphora vol.1 Retention

by Jaz Johnson

Chapter 8

  “Saphora?” Maverick called out as he approached her.

  There was a light shush from the cashier as Saphora picked her head up from the book she was looking at. She had been at the book store for about twenty minutes, just to get a feel for the place. And since she had been walking, instead of flying, she overestimated the time it would take for her to reach the store. So she had been walking around, skimming over a few books that caught her attention. She had stopped on a book on the supernatural. It made her laugh, the thought of her going to such an obviously obnoxious book for help. But for some reason, she couldn’t put it down. She was a little embarrassed when Maverick walked up, catching her with the book. She closed it, turning to face him and giving a tight-lipped grin.

  “Hey, Maverick.”

  Maverick smiled, like the gitty boy he was. He huffed, standing in front of her, doing everything he could to keep eye contact.

  “How are you? You haven’t been here long, have you?” he asked, glancing around the nearly empty shop. Saphora shook her head, holding the book to her chest and crossing her arms around it.

  “No, no. I just started walking a little too-“

  “Walking? You walked here?” Maverick asked, dipping his head forward in shock. Saphora slowly shook her head, not expecting to be cut off. “Oh god. Why didn’t you let me pick you up? That must have taken ages.”

  “No … I mean, not really. Like forty minutes, maybe. But it’s okay, I’m – it’s something I’m doing for staying calm, like you said.”

  “Oh … good,” he said, smiling at the fact that she was taking his advice. “So how are you?”

  “I’m … I’m alright. You?”

  “You don’t sound too sure. Did something else-“

  Saphora put her hand up. She sighed, looking back up at him with a sheepish smile.

  “Can we … hold off on my life for a little while?” Saphora asked with some strain in her voice.

  “Yeah … Sorry. Uh, what’s that you’ve got there?”

  Saphora’s mouth fell agape as the embarrassment came back. She lowered the book, holding it against her thighs as she shook her head.

  “Oh – just some book I was looking at. It’s … It’s silly, really.”

  “What is it about?” Maverick asked, trying to get a good look at the cover.

  “It’s, err, supernatural stuff. I was just curious, that’s all.”

  Maverick smiled, nodding.

  “Are you into that kind of stuff? It’s okay if you are.” Saphora shook her head somewhat.

  “Uh, just recently. I saw some show about it and just … thought of it when I saw this.” Maverick nodded.

  “Do you believe in ghosts?”

  “Ghosts? No … No, not really.”

  “Oh, I thought maybe you did, since you didn’t want to go to the abandoned house. And now the book and all.”

  “Why would a belief in ghosts keep me from going to the house?”

  “Well, because it’s rumored that a ghost lives there. That’s all – not that you’d be afraid of ghosts or anything …”

  “There’s a ghost in the house?” Saphora asked, her attention captured. The first thing popping into her head being the voice that she had heard that night. Could the voice have been the ghost that he was talking about? Maybe the ghost had been following her around since that night.

  “Well, it’s just a rumor,” Maverick nodded. “But if you see the inside of the house, it really looks like there could be. There’s like - it’s like, destroyed in there.”

  Saphora looked down at the book, turning it up so that the cover was visible. She ran her hand softly along the glitter-covered cover of the book, considering the possibility of her theory.

  “What’s the rumor about?”

  Maverick shrugged.

  “Oh, I don’t know the whole thing. It started like fourteen years ago. Something like that. I was still in elementary school when I first heard it. There’s stories that a little girl was murdered there, and that her ghost still wanders around the house,” Maverick said, pausing. He chuckled. “Some people say there was a crash landing, and that the ghost is the ghost of an alien,” he laughed, shaking his head.

  “Heh … the things people come up with, right?” she said, averting her eyes.

  “Yeah, but I don’t know. That house is pretty wrecked. I kind of believe the second one.”

  Saphora’s grip on the book tightened, as she wondered just how many people believed that rumor. And if they did, if they had any idea of what actually happened that night. Another thought brushed by her – that maybe she was the ghost.

  The alien.

  “What do you think?”

  “Oh, I don’t know … I can’t really say I believe either,” she said, glancing to the side.

  She walked over to a nearby sofa that was placed in the store. There was a young woman sitting on reclining chair across from the sofa on her laptop. Saphora took the book with her as she sat down at the edge of the sofa, Maverick following closely behind. He plopped down next to her, sighing softly as he did.

  “Ah, come on. Which one do you think is more likely?” he asked, gesturing to nothing in particular. Saphora sighed, pretending to take the two options into consideration. She shrugged, shaking her head.

  “I guess the alien,” she admitted reluctantly. Maverick nodded.

  “Right? Cause I mean, if there was abuse going on in that house, I’m sure it would have been noticed before someone was killed.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So if you didn’t believe in ghosts, how come you didn’t want to go to the house?”

  “Oh, it’s not that … I go there all the time. I was trying to avoid Fran. I knew she would be looking for me there.”

  “All the time? Why do you go there so much?”

  “I … It helps me think, up there. It’s the last place I remember.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My amnesia … That house is the last place I remember being in before Fran took me in,” Saphora explained.

  “That house?”

  “Yeah …”

  “What happened at that house?”

  There was a long pause. And Maverick prepared to take back his question, feeling the tension in the air thicken.

  “I’m … sorry, I-“

  “No,” Saphora said, shaking her head.

  She gave a soft smile, looking up at the apologetic Maverick. She gazed into those light brown eyes, and sighed. Her life was changing enough as it were. What would sharing a story with one person do? After all, she doubted that he would believe anything she told him. She looked back at him, then down at the book, before setting it to the side.

  “Do you want to go there? I’ll tell you.”

  Maverick’s eyes widened, hearing her offer. He didn’t know how to react initially. There was a mixture of excitement, doubt, and curiosity coursing through his thoughts. Excitement was the first thing his emotion decided to act on.

  “Really?”

  Saphora was silent with her answer, but Maverick heard it loud and clear. He nodded, standing up and looking down at Saphora, who now had her neck craned to look at him.

  “Yeah! Sure,” he breathed, adjusting his jacket. “My car is out front.”