evenly. “Fuck you.” I closed my eyes, laid back down, and tried to imagine myself back in my own bed with Angelica next to me.
Landon laughed. “You think it’s that easy? You can just close your eyes, and I’ll go away?”
I tried to block out his words and hear Angelica’s heavy breath next to me. I imagined the feel of my soft flannel sheets and the weight of my down comforter. I imagined the aroma of flowers that wafted up from the flower shop even in the middle of the night. I imagined myself safe in my own bed and, gradually, I stopped hearing and smelling the ocean and Landon’s voice.
When I opened my eyes again, I was home, in my own bed, with Angelica sleeping soundly beside me. I didn’t know if Landon had released me or if I had escaped on my own, but it didn’t matter because I was home and safe. Sleep, however, was out of the question. So I got up and headed for the kitchen where a new recipe for vegetable soup was waiting for me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Angelica bounced into the kitchen around 6 AM. “I was worried when I woke up and you were gone, but then I smelled yummy food cooking, so I knew you had to be okay. What’s for breakfast?”
“Vegetable soup. I’ve got two batches, one with mushrooms and tofu, and one with just veggies.”
“Yum. I’ll try a little of both, please.” She grabbed two neon green bowls from the cupboard and filled them from the two pots on the stove. I stopped washing the dishes, got a bowl of my own, filled it, and followed her to the table.
She took a couple bites of each and nodded. “Delicious. There’s nothing better than veggie soup for breakfast.”
“Do you like it better than the one we had last week?”
“Kelsey, honestly, it all tastes good to me. You’re going to have to find someone with a more sensitive palate to tell the difference.”
She ate a few more bites and looked at me. I had taken one bite and laid down my fork. I knew I must look only slightly better than death, after getting beaten up and not sleeping.
“You want to tell me what happened after we went to bed last night?”
I knew I shouldn’t tell her the truth, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was too scared or too desperate, and I just needed someone to talk to. “Landon visited me last night, in a dream. He manipulated everything down to my clothes, or lack thereof.”
Angelica gasped. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.” I stood and started to pace. “He doesn’t know. He doesn’t care. He says he can get inside my mind like that whenever he wants and that he will keep doing it until I give him my body.”
“Well, that’s not an option,” she said, but her voice came out a bit shaky. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a bad dream?”
“Yes. No. Damn it, I don’t know. It felt real, really, really real.” I sat back down. “Last night, at the hospital, Alice told me she’s seen this before. She’s seen ghosts attack a living person and try to take them over. Angelica, she said that the living person always loses.”
She shook her head. “Alice is the ghost you were talking to last night?”
I loved her more than life for her calmness in that moment.
“Yes, I knew her when I was a little girl. She says that she’s been watching me all this time.”
“That’s so sweet. She’s like a guardian angel.” Angelica’s face stiffened with seriousness and determination. “If she’s been watching you all these years, she hasn’t been watching everyone else, right. I mean, she couldn’t know for a fact that no one has ever escaped, could she?”
I felt a moment of hope. “No, of course she couldn’t.”
“Okay, so we just have to figure out how to fight Landon.”
“Landon and his legion of evil ghosts.”
“What?” I filled her in on the rest of what I’d learned from Alice and Landon, and we spent the morning making a plan. Angelica would use her occult connections to try and track down the group of ghost
Landon laughed. “You think it’s that easy? You can just close your eyes, and I’ll go away?”
I tried to block out his words and hear Angelica’s heavy breath next to me. I imagined the feel of my soft flannel sheets and the weight of my down comforter. I imagined the aroma of flowers that wafted up from the flower shop even in the middle of the night. I imagined myself safe in my own bed and, gradually, I stopped hearing and smelling the ocean and Landon’s voice.
When I opened my eyes again, I was home, in my own bed, with Angelica sleeping soundly beside me. I didn’t know if Landon had released me or if I had escaped on my own, but it didn’t matter because I was home and safe. Sleep, however, was out of the question. So I got up and headed for the kitchen where a new recipe for vegetable soup was waiting for me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Angelica bounced into the kitchen around 6 AM. “I was worried when I woke up and you were gone, but then I smelled yummy food cooking, so I knew you had to be okay. What’s for breakfast?”
“Vegetable soup. I’ve got two batches, one with mushrooms and tofu, and one with just veggies.”
“Yum. I’ll try a little of both, please.” She grabbed two neon green bowls from the cupboard and filled them from the two pots on the stove. I stopped washing the dishes, got a bowl of my own, filled it, and followed her to the table.
She took a couple bites of each and nodded. “Delicious. There’s nothing better than veggie soup for breakfast.”
“Do you like it better than the one we had last week?”
“Kelsey, honestly, it all tastes good to me. You’re going to have to find someone with a more sensitive palate to tell the difference.”
She ate a few more bites and looked at me. I had taken one bite and laid down my fork. I knew I must look only slightly better than death, after getting beaten up and not sleeping.
“You want to tell me what happened after we went to bed last night?”
I knew I shouldn’t tell her the truth, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was too scared or too desperate, and I just needed someone to talk to. “Landon visited me last night, in a dream. He manipulated everything down to my clothes, or lack thereof.”
Angelica gasped. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.” I stood and started to pace. “He doesn’t know. He doesn’t care. He says he can get inside my mind like that whenever he wants and that he will keep doing it until I give him my body.”
“Well, that’s not an option,” she said, but her voice came out a bit shaky. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a bad dream?”
“Yes. No. Damn it, I don’t know. It felt real, really, really real.” I sat back down. “Last night, at the hospital, Alice told me she’s seen this before. She’s seen ghosts attack a living person and try to take them over. Angelica, she said that the living person always loses.”
She shook her head. “Alice is the ghost you were talking to last night?”
I loved her more than life for her calmness in that moment.
“Yes, I knew her when I was a little girl. She says that she’s been watching me all this time.”
“That’s so sweet. She’s like a guardian angel.” Angelica’s face stiffened with seriousness and determination. “If she’s been watching you all these years, she hasn’t been watching everyone else, right. I mean, she couldn’t know for a fact that no one has ever escaped, could she?”
I felt a moment of hope. “No, of course she couldn’t.”
“Okay, so we just have to figure out how to fight Landon.”
“Landon and his legion of evil ghosts.”
“What?” I filled her in on the rest of what I’d learned from Alice and Landon, and we spent the morning making a plan. Angelica would use her occult connections to try and track down the group of ghost
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