I'd Sell My Soul

Chapter 18: Haunted

Allison's POV

Sophie's head slipped off her propped up arm and into her cereal bowl, sending milk and Cheerios everywhere. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the roll of paper towel off the kitchen counter and rushed to her side as she was sputtering.

"What the hell." She blinked wildly as milk dripped off her face. I picked a cheerio off her eyebrow and offered her the roll.

"Yeah okay...I'll call the school and tell them you're sick." I sigh and walk over to the landline mounted on the wall next to the refrigerator.

"I barely slept last night. This whole break in thing has me freaked out." Sophie says as she dries her face, following with the table and floor.

"I'm sorry kid. I promise though I won't let anything happen to you." I offer her a smile as the dial tone hums in my ear as I press the phone to my ear. I watch Sophie disinfect where the milk was and wash her hands as I talk to the attendance office. For a second the light from the kitchen window hit her face at a strange angle and I didn't see Sophie, I saw a teenage Farrah and it tugged at my heart. Sophie turned and faced me as I set the phone back on the receiver.

"I'm going back to bed. Are you going to see Katie at the saloon?" She asks with a yawn, walking around the corner and into the hallway. I follow her down the way to her room.

"Yeah she wanted to talk Halloween plans and honestly that sounds more fun than doing laundry." I chuckle as I lean on her doorframe. She collapses on her bed in a huff.

"Okay but lock the deadbolt when you leave too. I don't want the creek killer getting me." She snorts.

"So I'm returning to work tomorrow...I'm working remotely now so I wanted to ask you how you feel about some changes to our setup here." I gesture around me.

"Like to the house?" Sophie pops up to a sitting position.

"How would you feel about me moving into the master bedroom and turning the guest room into an office?" I fold my arms to stop the awkward hand gestures I do when I'm nervous for a response.

"You would move into mom's room?" Sophie blinks.

"If you're not ready I can just use the dining room for now but ideally I need a designated space eventually. I have a lot of paperwork and files." I explain.

"No I mean...well...Mom's stuff is still in that room...what happens to her stuff?" Sophie pulls her knees to her chest.

"We can go through it. Is there stuff you want to keep?" I ask. Everything about her body language is telling me this is not a conversation she wants to be having.

"All of it." She snaps, almost cutting me off.

"Okay, we can keep it in the garage, I don't have my car in there so there's plenty of room. I'll just get some boxes." I offer.

"I'm tired. Let's talk about this later." Sophie lays down and rolls over so she's facing away from me.

"Okay no worries. I don't mean to be pushy Soph. I understand change is hard...you know this room used to be your mom's room when we were teens." I smile. Sophie doesn't respond to me. I walk around the bed to her front face and she digs her face deeper in the pillow but not before I catch a glimpse of the tears coming down her face. "Kid, I didn't mean to upset you." I sit on the bed.

"I don't want to talk anymore Ali." She says muffled from the pillow. A wave of sadness washes over me. She's hurting. I should ask her if she's ready to see a counselor but that's a conversation for another time. I pat her calf.

"Okay hon, I didn't mean to upset you. We can talk later." I stand up and walk away but I still in the doorway. "I love you, kid. You're not alone. You still have me." I say before I leave.

I made sure twice that I had locked the deadbolt when I left like Sophie had requested before I got in my Subaru and drove to Dawson's. Daria reluctantly sat me at a booth in the corner of the restaurant and I ordered a strawberry milkshake. I was spinning my straw around the thick treat when Levi slid in the seat across from me.

"If my memory serves me right, strawberry milkshakes are for hard days." He says with a disheartened look on his face. I look up at the deer antler chandelier and wipe both my eyes with the backs of my hands.

"Sometimes it's really hard being here. Everything reminds me of Farrah and I'm starting to understand Sophie feels the same way." I lay the left side of my face on my propped up hand.

"It feels like you can't escape their ghost right?" Levi folds his hands on the table.

"Yeah...I'm wondering if I should take her back to Seattle and start fresh." I swallow and another tear hits the wood table.

"Why didn't you have her move in the first place?" Levi asks me.

"After the funeral I promised Sophie she didn't have to move. I told her she could start and finish high school with all her friends. I felt like it was unfair to take away her support system." I explained, still stirring my milkshake.

"Well there you go that's why you shouldn't take her back to Seattle right there! Her people are here. I get it you know? What it's like to be haunted. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about the men I lost in Iraq. I hold a lot of regrets. But you can't let it eat you. Farrah only just died back in August. Not nearly enough time has passed for Sophie to feel any healthy emotion in regard to her passing." Levi looks out the window to his left. I'd never thought to ask about his deployments and the horrors he must've endured. It started to hit me, he wasn't the same guy from 15 years ago. But either was I. Or Katie for that matter. I reach for his hand and grab it. He looks down at our hands and I offer a weak smile right as Katie launches herself into the booth, sitting next to Levi who lets go of my hand.

"Did you guys hear the update on the murders?!" Katie wheezes as my own blood runs cold.