Visible Ghosts

19

Scenes flash too quick for me to remember what I just saw. But it's enough to have me trembling. A single image repeats itself so much that I'm finally able to see what it is. A man with dark brown hair cropped close to his head. Silver rings adorn his hand, and a solo tattoo covers his left arm. The blood red rose stark on his pale skin tone. The thorns wrapped all the way down to his wrist. He's standing in a damp underground basement, a wicked snarl on his face depicting his crooked teeth. He opens his mouth to say something, but the wrong voice comes out. "Sugar, Sang, come back to me." I frown in confusion, that voice sounds familiar but it's not the sinister voice of the man in front of me.

"Nathan, go get some water. Marc, grab North and Brandon." Another voice comes from the dark-haired man, but this time it's baritone. He takes another step in my direction and I feel myself flinch. I know there's no one coming to save me, there never is.

Sweet vanilla and a soft berry scent fill my senses. It's wrong, this room always smells like moldy fruit and decaying leaves. I force my body backwards trying to find the cement wall, trying to prolong the inevitable.

"Sang baby, wake up." A deep voice commands. The man in front of me reaches out but instead of pinning my arms, he grabs my shoulders and gently shakes me. "It's just a dream, wake up."

Startled, I force my eyes open to see concerned dark brown ones. I try to sit up, but two arms pull back into a firm chest.

"Shh. It's okay, sugar I've got you."

"Luke?" My voice comes out crackled, clearing it, I try again. "Luke, you can let go of me, I'm fine." I untangle myself from Luke's arms and hurriedly pull my legs out of Victor's grasp. Rising, I see that North is still hovering over me, one hand out as if he wants to touch me. Shying away from it, I turn in a circle slowly. Nathan is behind the couch, water in hand, Gabriel sits stunned in a beanbag chair, North and Brandon are watching my every movement, and Luke and Victor are staring up at me from the couch. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get everyone worried. It was just a bad dream."

"But we couldn't wake you," Victor stresses, his fire eyes completely dimmed. "We tried to and you just kept whimpering."

"Here, have some water." Nathan offers, reaching out the glass to me. "It'll help."

"Thanks." I take tentative sips while trying to work through what just happened. Obviously it was a nightmare, probably triggered by what Brandon asked me earlier. I couldn't have been asleep long though; Zane was supposed to be here in 20 minutes. Normally, the nightmares start much later in the night. "What time is it?" I ask.

"11:30." Brandon answers, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Where's Zane?" I panic, where's my phone. He was supposed to be here 45 minutes ago.

"Trouble, calm down. Your phone is right here." Gabriel hands it to me and I frantically swipe it open and pull up the texts from Zane.

Zane: Got side-tracked with dad, will be late. I can call you an Uber if you want to go home?

Zane: Buttercup?

Zane: If you don't answer me in five minutes, I'm sending someone over there to check on you.

The last text was over an hour ago. I type out a message to him.

Sang: Sorry, I fell asleep. Are you on your way? I'm ready to go home.

"When I noticed Zane blowing up your shit, I called him," Gabriel tells me. "I figured he was worried about you, and I told him you were asleep. He said he would try to be here by midnight and to let you sleep as long as possible."