Forever

Chapter Six - Caught

It had been a week since the remote incident. Amara originally wanted answers, but when they never came, she eventually shrugged it off as a figment of her imagination. After all, her head hasn't been in the right place recently.

Amara felt quite isolated from the world. She still hadn't made up with Chloe and it was beginning to worry her. Normally if they're in an argument, they'd make up within a week or two. It's been almost a month now. Amara has never been particularly social and this fallout made her realise Chloe was her only true friend. Sure, she had 'friends' but no one could beat her friendship in which she was so happy within. As well as feeling lonely, Amara has fallen extremely behind with school work; it is very unusual for her being an A+ pupil. Some teachers asked if she was ok but Amara didn't know where to start, so her response was the ever-so-fake "I'm fine."

It wasn't until one Thursday evening when another clue to the never ending mystery took place. Amara had been going up to bed absentmindedly. Her whole life felt like it didn't matter. It was passing her in a great blur, flashing before her eyes, and she was in a complete emotionless daze. Because she was without thought and unable to pay attention, she tripped on the last step on the stairs.

It made her stomach drop as she began to fall backwards...And then a miracle happened. Amara felt herself stop midair. She was floating at a weird angle, hovering just above from the stairs. It was as if she had paused time and was frozen within that position. Slowly Amara cocked her head to the right and her muscles clenched when she saw the steps descending below her. She felt so close to falling, yet she wasn't.

As if to make it even stranger, Amara swore she felt two hands wrap around her back, quickly yet gently, and pushed her up. She managed to regain her balance and as soon as she did the sensations of the hands disappeared.

"Stop doing this to me!" Amara had had enough. She was not herself anymore and she missed it desperately. Her father used to call her 'the curious girl' because—hence the name—she always wanted to learn more. The fact that the spirit was mocking her, teasing her, made her boil with undeniable rage. "Are you real or are you not! I want to know! Am I going crazy? Bonkers? Insane? Is this my mind trying to protect me from the depression I'm slowly developing? A barrier from reality? Tell me!"

Fuck this!
Amara kept walking until she approached her room. It wasn't until she face-planted herself dramatically onto her bed when she thought of a potential problem.
If I can't see ghosts then chances are I can't hear them either!

Amara ran to the bookshelf in the corner of her room. It only had a couple of novels but plenty of textbooks and schoolwork. She scanned the shelf until she found what she was looking for. A notebook.

Amara opened it to the first blank page she could find and reached onto her desk for a pen.
"Listen, I'm fed up, I want answers! If you are truly real and truly here, write something. I don't care what!"

Amara stared at the blank page for almost ten minutes without breaking her gaze.

And then the pen rose.