Fading Out

Chapter 2

Nick’s POV

Forget about a cold draft when passing through a ghost spot, this entire place was cold. Despite the fear that threatened to paralyze me completely, I had managed to search a room that seemed to belong to the head of the family for the necklace but there was nothing there. She hadn’t hidden it there. And then, the thought of her made me paranoid again. Was she still watching me? If not, what was she doing? I had a feeling of being watched but I had passed it off as fear. I had just reached back the main stairs when I heard it and my blood turned cold.

“Samuel?” The disembodied hopeful voice was enough to freeze me in my spot. I had no idea who Samuel was but apparently, Miss Ghost here knew someone named Samuel and expected me to be him. The feeling of being watched had intensified ten-fold as I had felt all blood drain from my face. And just when I was going to chalk it up to my mind playing tricks on me, she was directly in face, about to touch me. There was no other way I was going to respond.

“Aah!” I screamed and backed up from her. In my hurry, I stumbled and fell backwards but I didn’t stop moving back until I touched the wall. Even then, it wasn’t enough. “Who are you?” I asked and my mind immediately responded with a Duh, ghost. Her expression was pained and that momentarily put me in doubt about her intentions but then my mind figured out that she might be playing tricks on me. Sympathy before… torture?

It takes her a few moments before she recovers and her face becomes an emotionless mask. “Who are you? And why are you trespassing in my home? I saw you go through my father’s room. What are seeking, thief?” I open my mouth to immediately protest that I am no thief but I stop as I realize that in this instance I am the thief.

As I search for an excuse, I remember how she seemed hopeful to see me and I pray to God it wasn’t a joke. Then I try to answer in a strong and confused voice. What comes out is a small and intimidated voice. “I… uh, I have been having vision, dreams about this place. How this place would have looked a long time ago when people lived in here. So I came here looking for clues. Can you help me? In my dreams, I also saw a necklace. Do you know where it is? It might help me recover my memories.” It was a long shot but it was also the most believable theory I could come up with. Unfortunately my right eye twitched as I lied. Thankfully though, she didn’t know about my tell.

“You’re lying.” She plainly declared. Okay, maybe she does know. “I have been watching you since you entered. You showed no sign of recognition. Not even when you entered my father’s room. Not even when I called you by a name I knew you in. I can see that you searched for my room. If you were Samuel, you would have known which way to go.” Her voice quietens a little. “He always did.”

Okay, time to come up with a new lie to cover up the loopholes of this previous one. Think, Nick, think. Your life is on the line here. “I’m not lying. I…uh, I… um, my dreams never had any voice. All I saw were scenes. Things that I shouldn’t know but I do.” Oops! Wrong sort of lie. What was I thinking? Please don’t ask. Please don’t ask.

“Yeah, like what?” She asks in a disinterested voice as she puts her right hand on her hip and my heart skips a beat in fear. Shoot! She did ask.

Come on, Nick. Come up with something. At least try some generic things. She did say that this Samuel guy knew her room. They must have been friends. “I remember a vision of a girl, possibly you, laughing towards me. The memory is selective and I only remember your face from it.” Then, as I see her standing in front of me, I describe her. “She had a face that I could only describe as angelic. Her light blue eyes always made me think of the open sky, free and uncontrolled. Her complexion was slightly dark than others but I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Her smile takes my breath away but I don’t tell her that and her hair… her brown hair was looking like a hornet’s nest.” I pause as I realize as I just insulted her. The complexion part was a guess because she was an almost faded white ghost now.