All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) by Jamie Campbell Page B
Authors: Jamie Campbell
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to the apartment buildings.
All were filthy.
All were hopeless.
It was as safe a place as any. I sat on the bottom of three stairs that led to a red front door. It was hanging on its hinges, it wouldn’t last long before it would fall off completely.
Oliver’s words were still ringing in my ears.
Open your mind to the spirits .
It was useless. The voices spoke of nothing but nonsense that didn’t mean anything. I should know, having listened to forty-three of them for endless months in my house on the hill. If they had something important to say, surely I would have heard it in that time.
The only spirit I had truly engaged with was Agatha. I wondered what she was doing, whether she was still in the house and awaiting my return. I never thought I would, but I missed her. She always knew the right thing to say, offering some comforting words that I needed to hear.
I really needed some comforting words right now.
But I wasn’t going to rely on other people for those. I was stronger than that. I didn’t need anyone. Not Agatha and not Oliver. I had survived for over a year after the Event when so many had perished.
I could do it.
I opened my mind.
Instead of pushing away the voices and desperately trying not to see the spirits, I let them in. They rushed at me. Like opening a floodgate in a deluge of rain, they came. One after the other, the voices encroached into my consciousness.
At first it was just a din of noise. When I blinked my eyes, there were hundreds of them. I could no longer see the buildings across the street. The filthy kids were blocked out. All I could see were spirits as they jostled to get to me.
And they all spoke at once.
“Tell me they’re okay.”
“Find her.”
“It hurts so terribly.”
“I can’t see the light.”
“It’s gone, it’s just all gone.”
“You have to help.”
“They’re in danger.”
“We’re in danger.”
They went around and around like horses on a carousel. The voices drifted over me, assaulting my senses. They soon felt like a wall closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think. I no longer existed, only the voices of those experiencing so much pain. I would rather have died myself than suffer along with them.
“Stop!” I yelled, covering my ears. “I will listen to you, but you have to take it one at a time. Please.”
They stopped.
But only for a moment.
It started again. Their voices were merely a loud wave of sound, inescapable. If I continued to sit here, I would go insane. They would drown me before I had a chance to breathe again.
That was exactly what I had wanted to explain to Oliver. I wanted to tell him how difficult it was, make him understand it wasn’t easy like he thought it was. But I hadn’t been able to find my voice then, I had been too stubborn to explain.
I cradled my ears in my hands and stood up. I had to get away from them. I had tried and failed, my own belief that I couldn’t do it had been confirmed. There were too many of them, the hurt too great. There was nothing I could do for the spirits.
Trying to get around them was impossible. I had to walk right through them, feeling the cold as it shivered down my spine. They didn’t feel pain when I walked through their transparent bodies. It was like walking through a waterfall when going through one. Yet hundreds were like drowning in a frozen lake.
I made it to the road and turned. I got only a few feet before stopping. She was there. Standing with the rest of them. Looking at me with her haunted eyes.
Lilia.
A shiver ran through my body that had nothing to do with the spirits. Images of her lifeless body, the way I had found her, washed her, buried her.
I hurried over and crouched down until we were at eye level. “Lilia, I’m so sorry.”
The spirits surrounding me hushed so the little girl could be heard. I expected anger at leaving her alone, her sorrow at dying at such a tender age, anything than what she actually gave me.
“It’s
All were filthy.
All were hopeless.
It was as safe a place as any. I sat on the bottom of three stairs that led to a red front door. It was hanging on its hinges, it wouldn’t last long before it would fall off completely.
Oliver’s words were still ringing in my ears.
Open your mind to the spirits .
It was useless. The voices spoke of nothing but nonsense that didn’t mean anything. I should know, having listened to forty-three of them for endless months in my house on the hill. If they had something important to say, surely I would have heard it in that time.
The only spirit I had truly engaged with was Agatha. I wondered what she was doing, whether she was still in the house and awaiting my return. I never thought I would, but I missed her. She always knew the right thing to say, offering some comforting words that I needed to hear.
I really needed some comforting words right now.
But I wasn’t going to rely on other people for those. I was stronger than that. I didn’t need anyone. Not Agatha and not Oliver. I had survived for over a year after the Event when so many had perished.
I could do it.
I opened my mind.
Instead of pushing away the voices and desperately trying not to see the spirits, I let them in. They rushed at me. Like opening a floodgate in a deluge of rain, they came. One after the other, the voices encroached into my consciousness.
At first it was just a din of noise. When I blinked my eyes, there were hundreds of them. I could no longer see the buildings across the street. The filthy kids were blocked out. All I could see were spirits as they jostled to get to me.
And they all spoke at once.
“Tell me they’re okay.”
“Find her.”
“It hurts so terribly.”
“I can’t see the light.”
“It’s gone, it’s just all gone.”
“You have to help.”
“They’re in danger.”
“We’re in danger.”
They went around and around like horses on a carousel. The voices drifted over me, assaulting my senses. They soon felt like a wall closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think. I no longer existed, only the voices of those experiencing so much pain. I would rather have died myself than suffer along with them.
“Stop!” I yelled, covering my ears. “I will listen to you, but you have to take it one at a time. Please.”
They stopped.
But only for a moment.
It started again. Their voices were merely a loud wave of sound, inescapable. If I continued to sit here, I would go insane. They would drown me before I had a chance to breathe again.
That was exactly what I had wanted to explain to Oliver. I wanted to tell him how difficult it was, make him understand it wasn’t easy like he thought it was. But I hadn’t been able to find my voice then, I had been too stubborn to explain.
I cradled my ears in my hands and stood up. I had to get away from them. I had tried and failed, my own belief that I couldn’t do it had been confirmed. There were too many of them, the hurt too great. There was nothing I could do for the spirits.
Trying to get around them was impossible. I had to walk right through them, feeling the cold as it shivered down my spine. They didn’t feel pain when I walked through their transparent bodies. It was like walking through a waterfall when going through one. Yet hundreds were like drowning in a frozen lake.
I made it to the road and turned. I got only a few feet before stopping. She was there. Standing with the rest of them. Looking at me with her haunted eyes.
Lilia.
A shiver ran through my body that had nothing to do with the spirits. Images of her lifeless body, the way I had found her, washed her, buried her.
I hurried over and crouched down until we were at eye level. “Lilia, I’m so sorry.”
The spirits surrounding me hushed so the little girl could be heard. I expected anger at leaving her alone, her sorrow at dying at such a tender age, anything than what she actually gave me.
“It’s
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