Ghostly Plea

Bella

I awake to an empty room. I'm all by myself, the rocking chair creaking, and the wooden horse rocking in the corner. It's pitch black, but somehow, I know Poppy, and Ash are gone. I sit up and quickly dash to the door. I am not going to be left alone in this room. I look to the rocking chair, only to see it has stopped. It has gone completely still, as has the rocking horse. I stare at both, hoping it's only my imagination creating the images. The horse starts to rock again rapidly, then it stops.

I freeze as I see an outline of a little boy start to appear on my bed. He looks up at me with the saddest chocolate eyes I have ever seen.

"Mamma?"

My eyes go wide in fear, and I let out a blood curdling scream.

***

Poppy

Whintle and I race up the stairs in a panic. Is Bella, okay?! Did Liam get to her?! I slam the door open and find Bella frozen in terror looking at a tear struck little boy. I glance at Eliza and am shocked, and terribly creeped out to see her looking straight at Bella. I have never seen her this aware. The rest of our friends rush out of their rooms to see the commotion. Finn rushes in and envelops Bella in his arms.

"Bella, look at me. Are you okay?" He whispers soothingly to her. Now that she's taken care of, I kneel in front of the boy who must be Danny.

"Danny sweetie, it's okay." I tell him softly. He shakes his head hard.

"No, it's not! I didn't mean it!" He hides his face in his hands and weeps.

I look back at my friends making sure they can see this too. They all look terrified. They're not ready to have yet another ghost reveals themself. "Danny, listen, we're not here to hurt you. Just stop crying please!" I've never been good with children. I know exactly how they are feeling by their aura, but I never know how to help them with that need.

Danny looks at me startled by my outburst. He then starts to cry harder. I look at Whintle for help, but he just stares like the rest of them. "Mommy!" He cries and cries. I look to Eliza only to find her still staring at Bella. Where's Ashlyn?! She's always been great with kids. I look around the room and realize she's missing.

"Bella, where's Ash?!"

"I-I don't know," she says while her hands clutch at Finn.

This is not good, Ashlyn disappearing two nights in a row is not a coincidence. "Someone go find her, now!" I shout.

Bella nods and runs out of the room, Finn not far behind. Eliza gets up from the creaking chair and floats after Bella. I'm about to follow where Eliza is going when Danny starts to hiccup.

"What should I do?" I ask everyone.

"You're the ghost whisperer!" Charlie shouts.

"She can only see them! She's not their freaking therapist Charlie!" Whintle yells back.

Audrey's face begins to turn red at him defending me. "Haven't you ever babysat before Poppy!"

My face falls. No, I haven't babysat before. Everyone at my church knows something is wrong with me. Why would they trust me with their children?

"You have younger siblings, right? Whintle encourages.

"Yes, but I've never been left alone with them." I say defeated.

"Because your bible loving Jesus freaks for parents don't trust you!" Charlie shouts. I feel like I've been slapped in the face.

"Charlie!" Riley and Whintle scold.

Hot angry tears start to slide down my cheeks. I swipe at them angry at myself. I didn't choose to have this curse. It's not my fault that my parents don't trust me because of it. It's the devils.

***

Ashlyn

I run smack into Bella as I run into the house. "Where's everybody? Are you okay? I heard a scream." I say, frantically.

"Where have you been?" Bella hugs me. "Why did you leave?"

"It's not important. Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, everyone is fine. I was the one who screamed. Danny showed himself." Danny? Danny is Liam's son. Yes, that's right.

"Is Poppy with him?" She nods.

"Poppy needs you; we all know you're the best with kids." I nod and follow them upstairs.

I walk into the room and Poppy's eyes are red like she's been crying. I see her kneeling in front of Danny trying to get him to calm down. Danny looks to see who entered and stops crying. His face lifts, and he jumps off the bed and runs into my arms.

"Sissy!" He shouts. I pull him closer, trying not to think of him as a dead person. He's just a kid, any regular old kid you would babysit, that's slightly glowing around the edges and thinks I'm his sister. He snuggles into me and starts to get heavy. The little ghost boy falls asleep in my arms.

"How can I touch him?" I ask Poppy. Aren't ghosts supposed to be able to go through you?

"He's shown himself. Like Geoffrey, he can choose when he wants to be seen. When he's in this state he can hold or be held by anything. When he doesn't want to be seen he can go through anything. I'm the only one who can see any of them in that state." I nod my head in understanding and shift Danny in my arms making him more comfortable.

"Everyone should go back to sleep. Poppy, Bella, and I will watch him." They all nod, not wanting to have to deal with him.

Finn kisses the top of Bella's head and leaves with the rest of them. Leaving the three of us to take care of a ghost child. 

***

Finn

When I first saw the kid, my heart broke for him. He wanted his mom, like me. I'd do anything to be back with my mom right now. I didn't even want to come on this dumb trip anyway. I hate being far from her, and now I'm trapped in this hell hole while my friends and I are in danger. Usually when I get this restless, I call one of my usual hook-ups to take the edge off of reality. But no girls will wake up in bed with me tonight, no matter how lonely I am. I could ask Bella to spend the night, but I know she's not the type of girl.

Being in this house has changed me and her. I no longer see her as a friend. I want to be way more than friends. But she's the type to take it slow, so for now I'll be there for her. When we somehow get away from here, I'll take her on a proper date. I'll even ask Ashlyn what I should do. Those two are always talking about romantic stuff.

Some might think I'm going through all this just to get in her pants. But Bella's different. Yes, she's gorgeous. She's breathtaking. I would do anything to see her in my bed. But being friends first really let me get to know her before feelings got involved. I know she can be embarrassed easily, is sassy at times, and I know she loves her friends. Those are all of the things I like the most. I need someone to take care of me. The world has done a crappy job of that, and I know without a doubt, Isabella will be there for me.

"Finn, wait up!" Charlie says. I nod at Arthur to follow Whintle into the bedroom. "So, you and Bella?" She asks, mock innocent. I roll my eyes. I've dealt with enough jealous girls over the years to know how to handle them. "I didn't think you were into girls like her. I thought you like girls who knew how to have fun."

"Leave it alone Charlie." I don't want to have this conversation with her. She smirks.

"If you start to feel lonely tonight, you know where to find me." She smiles seductively and walks away. I've never liked Charlie. Sure, she's hot, but she goes around acting like she owns the world. I don't like people like her. It makes them think they have the right to screw people like me over. There's only one person who owns the world, and he can barely control it.