by Polen, Teri
“She’s out of town, but will be back in a couple of days. I’ll call and give her the details and see when she can meet with us.”
“Okay, so we’ve got a game plan now. Good to know. How about we discuss the sleeping arrangements for tonight?” Finn asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Lindsey stood and teasingly punched Finn in the shoulder. “My sleeping arrangements include me sleeping by myself in my own bed in my own room.”
Finn huffed heavily. “You’re no fun, Lindsey. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
Chapter 19
Sarah was waiting for me after school the next day. In a daze, I walked into my bedroom, thinking about the kiss with Lindsey after the concert, and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Sarah sitting on my bed, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at me, her face twisted into a menacing expression.
“Don’t you want to know what happened to me?” she spat. Compared to the last time I’d seen her, Sarah’s features were disturbingly solid, and not very ghostly at all. Except for those empty, soulless black eyes.
Any other time I found something otherworldly waiting for me with a look like that, I’d be cowering. Not this time. My anger overrode the fear. “Maybe later,” I said, throwing my backpack on the desk. “What I’d really like to know is where you get off high-jacking my body?”
Sarah raised her barely-there eyebrows in surprise. “So, you finally figured it out. After your head injury, your body’s natural defenses were compromised and left you wide open, so I just slipped in. It was too tempting of an opportunity to pass up.”
Just. Slipped. In. “You have no right to take over my body! What makes you think it’s okay to do that to someone?” My hands were clenching and unclenching at my sides. “Finn and I wanted to help you, but you’ve crossed a boundary – you’re miles over it. How can you expect us to trust you now?”
Sarah lunged at me, but outrage fueled my courage and I stood my ground this time. She stopped a few inches away and although a good six or seven inches shorter, she hovered so that we were eye level with each other. If I’d stopped to consider that a ghost was literally in my face threatening me, I’d probably rethink my decision to stay here, but in some way, I felt as if this was a test. If I backed down now, there’s no telling what else Sarah might do.
“I say it’s alright! The loss of my life gives me the right to do whatever I want! I was just a bet between the three of them so they could see who I’d choose to sleep with once they got a few drinks in me. I was nothing to them.”
Sarah’s anger and hurt seethed out of her with an intensity that made them almost tangible. She’d wanted to believe that for the first time in her life, someone liked her for who she was, not because of what they could get from her. I’d seen the types of girls those three guys hung with, and they were nothing like Sarah. Even though she’d committed the ultimate invasion of privacy when she’d leaped into my body, I could understand her feelings. But that still didn’t make it alright. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened to you, I really am, but using me to spy on them, or whatever else you’re planning to do isn’t an option! Do you get that?”
Her unwavering gaze never left mine, but I could feel her withdraw a little, reigning in the fury. “Yes, Cain, I get it,” she sneered.
I felt my muscles unclench slightly, relieved to see she’d backed off somewhat. “I’m serious, Sarah, no more, or you’re on your own.” Backing away, I sat in the desk chair, fixated on her. My gut was telling me not to relax just yet. “Now, do you want to tell me the rest of the story?”
Sarah lowered herself so that her feet touched the floor. She studied my face, as if trying to determine whether I was sincere and if she should continue to trust me. Imagine that. After I’d experienced the whole invasion of the body snatchers ordeal, she was questioning my trustworthiness. Whatever she’d seen must have reassured her, because she continued.
“So you were a bet between them? What do you mean?”
“Liam and Nathan bet Jacob he couldn’t get me to go out with him. But I did, and once I figured out the real reason they’d asked me here, the stakes changed and I tried to leave. I just wanted to go home.”
“But you didn’t make it home. What happened?”
Sarah moved to the window overlooking the street while she spoke, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, like she enjoyed the sun shining on her face. “When they realized I was leaving, they tried to convince me to stay. I refused, so they decided to physically restrain me. I screamed and fought, but it was three big guys against one of me. We scuffled, there was pushing and pulling, and I fell, hitting my head on one of the boards lying on the floor. I was hurt, but knew what would happen if I didn’t leave. When I tried to run again, the room was spinning and blood was running down my forehead into my eyes. I took off the scarf I was wearing and used it to wipe off the blood, then tied it around my head. The blood scared them, and they backed off when I staggered across the floor toward the stairs. I just wanted to get out of there and go home, pretend the whole thing never happened.”
She seemed detached, like she was reading the story from a book or talking about someone else. “But then I felt someone push me down the attic stairs. The end. My life was over because of an idiotic bet between three guys who went on with their lives like nothing happened. I never got to accept that scholarship and go to college. I never had a boyfriend. I never got to see what I could be on my own, away from my parents and all their restrictions, and I’ll never have the opportunity to spend my life with someone and grow old together.”
The air of detachment vanished as she turned to face me, her anger rushing to the surface again. “So when I had the chance to stow away in your body and watch them, to find out if they had turned themselves in, or were at least suffering and feeling guilty, I took it. You’re damn right I took it.”
Her callous, piercing black eyes sparkled with rage and I felt the negative energy swirling around me. It wasn’t a good feeling – as if Sarah was leeching the life force from my body and replacing it with darkness and emptiness.
“I’ve never hurt you, Sarah, and I don’t owe you anything, but I’ll say it again. You cannot use me like a Trojan horse to spy on Jacob, Liam, and Nathan. I get why you feel cheated - who wouldn’t? You lost everything. Finn and I want to help you, but you’re making that pretty difficult, so do something like that again and you’re out of my house.”
Sarah continued her stone cold glare and my body was poised to run, but I was afraid if I turned my back on her, she’d attack like some wild animal and take me down.
“I already told you, Cain. I get it,” she hissed. “I’ll stay out of your body.”
The tension I’d been holding in my shoulders began to melt away. “Great. Awesome. Now, can you give me anything, some kind of proof we could take to the police? Did anyone know you were here with them that night?”
“No one knew. I had no close friends and my parents thought I was somewhere else. They didn’t allow me to date, not that anyone had ever asked, and never would have let me go if I’d told them the truth.” Sarah now sat on the bed like statue, unmoving. When she wasn’t on the verge of a maelstrom of destruction, she was perfectly still, with no human gestures like touching her face or hair, shifting around. It was unnerving.
“I know the police found traces of your blood here, but the newspaper said there were no leads. Do you think Jacob, Nathan, or Liam told anyone?”
“Who knows? Even if they’d told someone, it looks like no one came forward with any information, so they’re probably keeping the secret for them, and there’s no way they’d turn on each other.”
She was right about that. It had been several months since her death and the three of them were still tight, so it w
as doubtful that would change. I had another question for Sarah, but was hesitant to ask, afraid of her reaction. My body could wind up splattered against the wall, in the yard two stories down, or in pieces scattered about the house. But it had to be asked.
“Um, Sarah, there’s something else that might help,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck, my gaze focused on the floor. Reluctantly, I raised my head. “Do you know where your body is?”
The room had been cold before, but it felt as if the temperature plummeted in the span of a heartbeat, making it a distinct possibility I could be flash frozen. Sarah was immobile, absolutely no movement. Behind her eyes, I could see something going on, but they remained glittering steel orbs, giving nothing away.
“No. I have no idea,” she answered in a flat voice.
“Can’t you maybe sense where it might be? Some kind of connection? A strong feeling?”
“No. There’s nothing.” And then Sarah was gone.
The temperature of the room began to climb and I could breathe freely again. I was relieved she’d left, but felt something heavy in the air, the weight of it on my shoulders. Sarah had lied to me. I was almost positive she knew the location of her body.
Chapter 20
“So, not only is she a body-snatching, man-hating ghost with breathtaking anger management issues, she’s also a compulsive liar? Do you think there are support groups for ghosts? Is that a thing?”
After having Finn as my best friend for over ten years, you’d think I’d know how his mind worked and nothing that fell out of his mouth would surprise me. But you’d be wrong. He was completely unpredictable at times, but I could always count on him for an honest answer or opinion. Freakish and out of left field occasionally, but honest. And highly entertaining. “So, you’re suggesting we get Sarah into therapy? Maybe having an intervention?”
“Seems like it would make her afterlife a little more pleasant, don’t you think? I mean, we’re talking a long period of time here, right? Maybe if she interacted with more ghosts, she’d learn to fit in better, make some friends. Stop living in your body. Just saying.”
“If you’re finished, I need to ask you something. Should we talk to Jacob, Nathan, and Liam? Tell them she’s still here and what she’s saying?”
Finn sat back heavily in his cafeteria chair and blinked once, slowly. “There are so many reasons not to do that, I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Why?” I asked, pushing away my tray that held a half-eaten cheeseburger. “I just feel like maybe we should warn them. Sarah seems on the verge of something, but I’m not sure what. She’s oozing anger from every pore and that can’t be a good thing.”
“So let me get this straight. You’d go up to them and say, ‘Hey, guys, I hear you tried to lure Sarah Butler into a house under construction, get her drunk, then rape her, but the whole plan went sideways, and you wound up killing her. Sarah’s ghost told us this herself. And by the way, can you tell us where you put the body?’ Do you think they’d laugh first or just commence with the beatings?
“Seriously, Cain, if they find out we know anything, and that’s assuming they believed us, they’d try to stop us from turning them in. If we even had proof. We can’t walk into a police station and tell them we know what happened to Sarah Butler because her ghost is living in your attic.”
Well - there was that. They’d probably jump me first, then stand back and laugh about it. But they had to be held accountable for what they’d done. “What should we do? Lindsey’s aunt won’t be back in town until tomorrow, but I hate just sitting around, waiting for Sarah to do something else.”
Finn shot a glance over his shoulder, at the table where Jacob, Nathan, and Liam were sitting and laughing with their friends. “If Sarah is really lying about knowing where her body is, and I don’t know why she’d do that, but if she is, maybe she’s also lying about how everything went down. If the four of them were struggling, especially at the top of the attic stairs, who says she was even pushed? Seems like it would have been easy for her to lose her balance, or trip and fall down the stairs on her own.”
Finn had a good point. As much as I despised those three for what they’d done to Sarah, if that was truly what had happened, it might have been an accident and Sarah was either confused or looking for someone to blame. “How could we even find out if she’s telling the truth?”
Finn gulped down half a bottle of water before answering, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m not sure yet, but if those guys are guilty, yeah, they should pay, justice served, and all that. But unless Sarah’s body is found, there’s no new evidence because no one’s going to believe her ghost is living in your attic. I think what we need to be concerned about right now is meeting Lindsey’s aunt and seeing if she can A, keep you from being Sarah’s plaything, and 2, send her to the light, her grave, or wherever she should have gone in the first place.”
“You’re getting your 1’s and 2’s and A’s and B’s mixed up again. Anyway, and try not to let this go to your head, but you’re right. We don’t have any proof right now. If we figure out where her body is, maybe the police can find more evidence, something that could prove those three are responsible.”
“Ah, my young Padawan, when will you learn to place your trust in Finn, who is all-knowing and all-seeing.”
“If you were all-knowing and all-seeing, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”
. . . . .
Since Sarah had been making her nocturnal visits, I’d become a light sleeper, which also explained why I felt exhausted much of the time. When the attic door creaked open that night, I immediately heard it.
“Come on, Sarah,” I said, pulling a pillow over my head, “I need some sleep tonight. We can talk tomorrow, alright?”
No response. I knew she was here because of the drop in room temperature, but I felt Eby tensed up at my side, surprised he hadn’t dashed out of here. I let out a huff, rolled over and sat up, figuring she was going to do what she wanted anyway, and sleep would have to wait. She was standing at the foot of my bed, light from the street lamp creating an aura around her. But something was different.
Watching various nature shows over the years, I knew some animals sensed when a predator was near, their self-preservation instincts the strongest they possessed. That’s exactly how I felt right now. I was the prey. Sarah looked nothing like the innocent, victimized, shy high school girl she liked to portray. She was the embodiment of evil, her black eyes reflective pools of malevolence, hands stretching towards me as if reaching for my throat.
As she cocked her head very slightly to her left, a confident, victorious leer stretched across her face. Everything inside me said to run, but I couldn’t get to the door without going by her and knew I’d never make it.
With my hand on Eby’s back, I felt a rumble go through him as he growled at Sarah. Crouched on all fours, his body was rigid and I figured he was as nervous about running by her as I was. Sarah slowly rose off the floor, and I felt the muscles in Eby’s haunches grow even tauter in anticipation.
What happened next was over in the blink of an eye, but I saw everything as if in slow motion. Sarah shot toward me like a bullet out of a gun. Simultaneously, Eby leaped in front of me, attempting to block Sarah from reaching me. Although a valiant effort, Eby had no effect on Sarah and sailed right through her semi-transparent shape, but I loved my brave furry friend for trying.
When she hit my chest, I felt it at my core, like a wrecking ball had plowed into me. But she didn’t just hit me, Sarah was inside me again and I could feel her moving, as I felt myself fading, my life energy being drained. When Sarah had been a passenger within me before, I’d never felt her presence. This feeling was completely foreign to me. She was something palpable, not
like an internal organ, but more of an extension of myself, an extra arm or leg. Just before my world went black, I had a brief connection with Sarah’s corrupted mind and the atrocities I saw made me welcome the darkness as it enveloped me.
Chapter 21
“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty. If you think I’m kissing you first, think again, Cain.”
“Finn, did it occur to you maybe he wants me to kiss him and not you? Get out of the way and let the princess rescue the prince for a change.”
Lindsey’s soft lips pressed against mine and if this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up. Maybe if I pretended to be asleep she’d keep kissing me. It was worth a try.
“Seriously, Cain, I know it’s Saturday, but you’ve gotta wake up. There’re some massively important things to discuss and then we need to get over to Aunt Mona’s at hyper speed. Quit with the kissing and slap him, Lindsey. I know my boy and I guarantee he’s awake and just hoping you’ll keep kissing him if he stays quiet.”
How did he know? Finn should have invoked the guy code rule number 8, section B3 that said if a friend was otherwise engaged in kissing and/or related activities, said activities couldn’t be interrupted unless blood or death were involved.
“I know what you’re thinking, Cain, and I have grounds for interruption. Death is involved.”
What? My eyes snapped open as Lindsey’s warm lips left mine, focusing first on her, sitting on the bed gazing down at me, then Finn, standing behind Lindsey, a serious expression on his face. Stern, even. An entirely foreign appearance for Finn.
As I tried to sit up, I realized my arms wouldn’t move. Or my legs. Could I talk? “I can’t move.” I guess I could. So, everything above the shoulders seemed to be in working order, but everything below was motionless. My extremities strained to shift even an inch, but they might as well have been dead weights attached to my body.