Knock Knock... Don't Invite Me In

Chapter 8: Fixation

I stood up and tried to walk out, anger rising through me, but Caleb pulled me back.

"Just listen." He said. I decided it wasn't worth the fight, so I sat back down, rolling my eyes as I did so. "Look Karoline, I couldn't sleep after I had that dream so I did some research when I got home last night. It can't be him."

I gave him a dirty look. "You're wrong, it is him."

"NO, it isn't. Jake died happy. His last night with you was happy, was it not?" he asked. I reluctantly nodded. "Happy ghosts don't come back to possess. And it wasn't an unsolved death either, they found the driver that night while you were passed out."

"And that proves what..?" I asked, getting impatient.

"Most spirits that come back are ghost that had a sudden, unsolved death." I rolled my eyes again as he continued. "You were weak, which is the ideal time for a spirit to come into your life. It also doesn't help that you invited him in." I decided not to tell him about last nights invitation, not that I was going to in the first place. "Karoline, don't you see? It showed up while you were weak and got into your head. You really think Jake would make you steal or sneak out? Because judging by how much he liked you, I don't think he would."

"Oh yeah? How would you know how much he liked me, you didn't even know him."

"By the way he looked at you that day I met you. I can tell he loved you." I looked down, not knowing how to respond.

"Well then who the heck do you think it is?" I asked, not because I believed him, but because curiosity got the best of me.

"The question isn't who, it's what." I looked up at him, eyes wide in shock. He read the confusion on my face and continued. "Well, I believe it is a demon, not the spirit of a person, meaning it never walked as a human on Earth. I figured it out. Demons possess people, particularly fixating on those who are weak, like you were. I think that was the darkness following you in my dream." I laughed and he look at me in disgust.

"Then who was the guy in the dream, huh?"

"That's the part I haven't figured out yet." I began to laugh harder.

"That is the funniest thing I've ever heard! Oh my goodness Caleb, I knew you were crazy, but not that crazy. You seriously think I would fall for that story?" I continued laughing, hitting my hand on the table.

"I am not kidding Karoline!" That made me laugh even harder. I sensed his impatience but couldn't stop laughing. Suddenly, he blurted, "I think it killed Jake!" At that, I looked up wide eyed.

"What the heck are you talking about Caleb? A drunk driver killed Jake. Plus, the spirit is Jake, so its not like he can kill himself with his own ghost."

"Karoline, it all makes sense, there's just one part of the story I haven't figured out yet." I looked at him, waiting for him to continue, but he sat there in silence, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Nervous habit?" I asked, rolling my eyes. His cheeks turned red as his attention turned back to me.

"Karoline, it all makes sense. When they found the driver sitting in his car a couple blocks from the accident, he wasn't drunk."

"What?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"They tested him, he wasn't drunk, just in a daze. He didn't speak or snap out of it until he was behind bars two hours later. All he would do was stare blankly and mumble 'he made me do it' and when they would ask who, he would reply 'the voice.'"

"And how did you find all this out?" I asked.

"I called the Sherriff's office, telling them I was a friend of his so they told me the details. The thing is, two hours later, he started screaming at the top of his lungs. When they checked on him, he didn't remember anything, not even the voice. He couldn't even name where he was that night, he could only remember he was visiting his mom that evening. When they told him what happened, he was in complete shock." He paused, looking down at his hands. "They checked on him the next morning, and he was dead. He had killed himself, out of guilt I guess."

"Then that proves he's guilty." I said confidently.

"No, it proves he's guilty about the things he doesn't remember doing. That doesn't mean it was on purpose."