Truly Madly Ghostly

Thirty-four: Fixing Fate

For so long, Charlotte had blamed Alex and her Fate for the failed, impossible paranormal romance she had been living. Whenever she looked ahead, the future had always looked bleak to her. And after spending this long staring at that bleakness, she had lost the hope of having a glimpse of any light.

But here it was—the light.

It was staring back at her with its arms open.

Charlotte returned from Rebeccas with her face lighted up. Her heart beat with thrill. Every other minute, her eyes filled with the joy of a transformed future. 

She found her ghost sitting in the shadows of the corner of her semi-darkened room. She wouldn't lie that it made her jump for a second. She felt she saw the other shadowy places in her room, and some strange figures lingered for a second or two. 

Sucking in a breath, she stared around her and then fixed her eyes on Alex. He sat on the floor with his arms hugging his knees and his face tucked in them. 

Tenderly, she called him, "Alex?" 

When no reply came, she retook his name.

Startling her, his face snapped up. Simultaneously, one of his hands had its long fingers with a monstrous grip circled her wrist. 

She shrieked at the ice-coldness of his touch. 

His form was more solid than ever. 

His reaction shocked her. But his words next removed the earth beneath her feet.

"Who are you?" he snarled. 

"What?" she squeaked.

"Are you one of them?" he snarled more furiously. "Answer me!"

"What—" His eyes were black, and his pale face quickened her heartbeat. "What are you talking about, Alex? Who are 'them'? Can't you remember me—" she breathed in deep to try and calm her nerves. 

He sneered. "Are you, too, here to try and take me down that freaking abyssal dark hole? No! No! I am not bloody going in there. You hear me! You freaking hear me!"

"It's me," she screamed, her voice choking. "Look at me! Look at me, Alex!"

But he was still snarling profanities at her, looking unstable, growing violent with each passing second.

"I'm Charlotte!" she screamed again, tears streaming down her face in frustration and fear. "Remember, Alex! Please."

Suddenly, he stilled. It must be her name or her tears—she didn't know anymore. But desperately, she tried jerking her hand out of his still steel grip. After multiple tries, she succeeded. 

Snapping to her feet, she rushed out onto the balcony and collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Her shoulders trembled as the cold breeze cruelly brushed her wet face.

One of her hands rose to clutch her chest, directly over the spot where her aching heart lay.

Why was there so much pain in love?

--

A surreal tune slowly dragged her out of her sleep. It soothed her mind—made her feel like she was dreaming. As she moved her head slowly, light burned her eyes even before she opened them. She hissed as almost all parts of her body ached. It nearly did permanent damage to her eyes as she tried opening them. She moved her face in the other direction, realizing the sun was on her face. 

She was still on her balcony, she discovered. She had slept on the hard floor all night.

Her head ached, and her nose was stuffed. Even her throat felt sore—consequences of sleeping out in the cold, that too directly on the floor. Damn.