Out of the Darkness

143

"I don't think I understand, Anna. Why can't you speak?" I asked, watching her struggle with her words. "I can," she answered. "I just can't talk about anything involving what you have pla-" Her voice cut off again, and she groaned in frustration. "Our plans? We can't talk about our plans?" Sam asked. She nodded her head quickly. "I can't know," she replied. "Is she listening?" I asked, looking around my room like a dumbass. I don't know what I expected to see. I was pretty sure that she didn't need hidden cameras. Not when she might have one that we would never suspect, looking right at us. I looked back to Anna, who met my gaze and shrugged. "Is she using you?" I asked, quietly. I really hated the sound of that. I was going to kill this bitch, if it were the last thing that I ever did. From the way things were going, and how powerful she was, it just might be. "I don't know," she whispered, her eyes pleading with me for forgiveness. Why? She didn't have anything to be sorry for. This wasn't her fault at all. If anything, it was mine for meeting the bitch on her home turf. "That's okay," I said, wanting to reach out and comfort her, knowing that I couldn't. "We'll talk about everything later," I said, meeting Sam's troubled gaze. He nodded, then grinned at Anna. "Nothing to worry about, Anna. I'm going to go so that you and Colby and catch up. If you're not, you know, a ghost later, maybe you can come down and hang out with everyone. We're just having a quiet night. Maybe watch some movies or something." Anna smiled a little. "I'd like that," she answered. "Great!" Sam replied. "It's settled then. Colby, text me if you need me, brother." "Will do," I answered, watching him walk out of my room, and close the door behind him. "You really want to hang out with everyone?" I asked, looking back at Anna. She nodded, but held up her transparent hands. "I would love too, but I don't think it would go over very well, if I look like this." "Hmm," I said, catching her eyes, and smiling. "I don't know. We've been through some really weird things. I think they could get used to it." She laughed a little and chewed her bottom lip. "No, I don't think I want to do that. I know there would be so many questions. Questions that I can't answer. I don't want to get attached to...anyone, if I know that I can't stay." She looked down at  her lap. I didn't know what to say. I felt like I was already 'attached' to her, as she put it. I had no clue what the future was going to bring or if I was going to be able to help her at all. Whatever happened, I knew that she would leave eventually, and I would be left with a gaping hole in my chest. "What about if I go down with you, but stay invisible?" she asked, looking back up. "That doesn't sound like any fun," I replied. She grinned. "But it can be. Loads of fun. I'm up for a little haunting. What about you?" "Ah, ok, I see you!" I exclaimed, meeting her grin with one of my own. "Well, you do right now, but you won't later," she joked. I rolled my eyes at her cheesy attempt at humor. "Ugh, I'm excited! I feel like it's been forever since I've had any fun! It's going to be so rad!" I laughed, and shook my head. "I've missed your severely outdated slang," I said, moving to stand up. "Ah, oh shit," I groaned out, when I forgot to cradle my arm and it hit the arm of the couch. "Are you okay?" Anna asked, jumping up beside me. She tried to take my arm in her hand, but it just went right through it, leaving a cold chill in it's place. "Sorry," she whispered. "Are you sure you want to go down there? If you don't feel like it, we could just hang here. Talk or something. Watch a movie together." I thought about how badly my arm was throbbing right then, and then I thought about how her face had lit up with the prospect of scaring my friends. I imagined the looks on Corey and Jake's faces, and grinned. "Nah, I'll be okay. The salve usually helps, and Sam has a little pain medication left over from when he broke his back. One of those will help, I'm sure." "Is that safe?" she asked, concern on her face, as she started to chew on her bottom lip. "Yeah," I replied, shrugging. "It's not like I do it all the time or anything. Or ever, actually. My arm is hurting pretty badly though, and I can't exactly go to a doctor to get anything for it." I wasn't really about taking things to get high or whatever. I was telling her the truth. I had seen too many of my friends turn into addicts in this town. It wasn't something that I wanted to experience myself. "I promise," I said, giving her a half grin, when I noticed that she still looked worried. She returned it with a gorgeous smile of her own. "Okay," she replied, and nodded. I texted Sam to let him know that I was ready for my bandage to be changed, and to ask for the medicine. I knew he would be up soon, so I wanted to ask Anna a few more questions about the Darkness. "Anna," I said, meeting her gaze. "Yeah," she asked. "Why do you think that she's listening?" She knew who I was talking about. I could see it in her face. "I don't know. It's more of a feeling," she answered, her face screwed up in concentration. "I know that I had a conversation with her, but I don't remember what it was about. Usually, I do." "So,-" I started, but was interrupted by a knock on my door. "Come on in," I yelled out, knowing that it was Sam. He walked in, carrying the salve, gauze, and the stretchy, sticky ace bandage looking stuff. "Anna left?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at me. "Huh? No, she's right- huh..." I said, looking to where she had been sitting just moments before. She was nowhere in sight. "Maybe she just went invisible? I don't know. She was just here." "Anna, are you still here? Let us know somehow, please," Sam said, looking around my room, after he set all of the medical things down on my coffee table.