The Edge of Reality

Chapter 24: The Ghost of Friendship Past

I didn't tell anyone what happened, but a part of me felt changed from that moment on. I heard from Ashika that Matillo had died, and I was curious as to why, but emotionally felt nothing at the news. I did, however, feel increasing emotions towards Ashika. After she had "ditched" me the day after I got out of the hospital, we had actually made a lot of plans together- only half of which we could both make, but it was definitely something. Each time, we got a little closer, and I was starting to feel confident that she had feelings for me as well. I didn't want to be so blunt as to tell her yet, because I wasn't 100% sure yet and I didn't want to ruin our friendship if she didn't like me, but I had very few other tactics. There was, however, a winter formal being hosted by the University and I thought it might be a fun event to test the waters with Ashika. One day when we were walking back from a coffee shop next to my apartment, I brought it up.

"Did you know the University hosts formal galas every year?" I asked her, pulling the topic out of the blue.

"Vaguely," she said. "Never been, but I heard they're really nice."

"Would you want to go?" I asked, having trouble being specific. "With me, I mean? It might be fun."

"Yeah, sure!" she said excitedly. "When is it?"

"Couple weeks I think," I said. I didn't think I got the point across that I was asking her as my date, but I didn't want to push it by clarifying. "I guess I better pull out one of my nice dresses!"

"Me too," she laughed. "I might even have to buy one." At this point, we had reached my apartment and she gave me an extended hug goodbye. I waved after her when she drove away, and I sighed as I walked through the front door. I had a really good feeling about going with her, and I knew that no matter what happened it was going to be a good night. I was daydreaming about her when I entered my room, and was in such a daze that I almost didn't notice the figure sitting on my bed. I let out a yelp and jumped backwards- I couldn't tell who (or what) it was.

"Get out," it said in a low but feminine voice. It sounded like... Des? It was a shadowy form that looked vaguely like a transparent person, and as I looked closer I realized that it was Des.

"Des?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Are you alive?"

"Of course not," she growled. "That's why I'm here. I want you the fuck out of my apartment."

"You're dead!" I yelled, gesturing wildly at her in fear. I'd never seen a ghost, but it felt appropriate that the hauntings of my past were coming out in a physical form. I must deserve it.

"Who cares? I've still got more going for me than you. And I've got Lela," she said coldly, bragging. "Get out. Now."

"I know you hate me, and trust me I hate you just as much- maybe more!" I said. "But you can't do shit to me. You're gone, let me live my life."

"If I hate you so much, why would I do that?" she smirked. Her face morphed into a grueling dark hole, and the entire apartment filled with a horrendous, screeching wind. I fell to my knees, hands covering my ears. What was she doing to me? The walls dripped with black tar, flooding in from nowhere, and fire surrounded me. As the smoke floated threateningly through the room, I realized I had to run or else I would join Desdemona. I stumbled to stand up, half crawling with my hands still covering my ears. The disturbing wind pushed against my back, and my belongings were whirling out the front door along with me. As soon as I was out, everything went silent. My few earthly possessions rested around my feet, and I shoved what I could into a couple bags. Looking back up at the apartment, there was no damage- it looked as though nothing had ever happened. I wondered if I could have imagined it, but as I watched the front door fade into the wall I knew I had been visited by a ghost. No, a demon. Desdemona faded back away to wherever she came from and I stood alone on the street with nowhere to go. I didn't let the shock or fear set in, but starting texting everyone I knew in a panic. It was way too cold to sleep in a park, I would die in my sleep from hypothermia before morning. I made enough money to feed and clothe myself, in addition to utility bills, but not enough for an apartment. I might be able to afford a cheap, crappy one, but that would take time and I wouldn't even have a place to go for weeks at the least.

"I just got evicted. Do you know anywhere I can go?" I sent over and over to my limited contacts. I got a few words of sympathy and a lot of radio silence, but nothing of help for a long time. About half an hour later, I got a call from Valtura.

"Hi Tesha, how long do you have to move out?" she asked, not beating around the bush.

"I was just removed half an hour ago," I replied, avoiding talking about the supernatural.

"Oh shit, dude, hold on," I listened to muffled talking for about two minutes before she finally returned back to the phone.

"My roommate and I," she said. "We've got you. We're coming to pick you up now, and you can stay with us until you get it figured out."

"Oh my gosh," I sighed into the phone, on the verge of tears. "Thank you so much. Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes, of course!" she said, emphasizing each word meaningfully. I gave her my address and she told me she was leaving right away. Sure enough, she pulled up on the street next to me in under a half hour later. I picked up my bags and gratefully crammed into the car next to her.

"Thank you so much," I repeated.

"Don't mention it," she said. "Are you okay? They just kicked you out all of a sudden?"

"Basically," I said quietly.

"They're supposed to give you several weeks notice aren't they?" she analyzed. "Something doesn't seem right there."

"You wouldn't believe me if I explained," I laughed, brushing her off quickly. She turned away from the wheel to look at me meaningfully for a few seconds.

"Try me," she said. So I did. I explained everything to her. I told her about the demon of Desdemona, and enough of my backstory for it to make sense. By time I had finished, she was wide eyed and I could tell she believed me.

"So is she haunting you now?" she asked, voice full of awe. "I've heard of this happening before."

"I don't know," I said weakly, tired from the day, tired of being stressed about it. "I hope not, she's already meddled with my life enough, I just want to move past this all..."

"You might have to put up a fight," she said hesitantly. "But I don't know. We'll take care of you in the meantime." She started telling me about how they lived on the rest of the way there. Their schedules, chore divisions, movie nights, sleeping arrangements- she was really going to make me feel at home. All the while, we were slowly creeping up a mountain I hadn't known existed, and light snow started coming into view. It was barely Winter, yet it looked like the freeze up here. Their house was on the side of the mountain, and was huge- I wondered how (and why) they had gotten it. As she escorted me up the stairs to the front door, slippery because of the ice, I was hit by a blast of heat from inside the house. A man, probably in his early 30's, had opened the doors and was introducing himself as Gareth. I had to suppress a laugh as I shook his hand and introduced myself, because he looked a lot like Valtura- just older and bigger. It seemed they had just been finishing dinner when I had called, because they resumed clearing dishes from the dining room table after I declined their offer for leftovers. I left them and started looking around the house instead, noting that it was huge but had a simple layout. The living room and dining room took up most of the space, and one of the couches had been made up into a bed. They didn't have a spare room for me, but had clearly made efforts to make me comfortable, and I was happy in that. Most remarkable was the view from the windows- most of the walls in the living rooms were ceiling-to-floor windows, actually, and they displayed a magnificent view of the snow filling in the mountainscape; I looked forward to seeing it in more depth in the morning.

As it turned out, Valtura was just as eccentric at home as she was around me- acting must have come natural to her. Gareth was far more docile, but their personalities seemed to complement each other. We spent the evening chatting over mugs of tea, and I was feeling really good about staying with them by time we said our goodnights and they left me alone to the pull out couch. In a span of a few hours, my life had been flipped upside down, but I suppose that was nothing new. I couldn't count on one hand the number of times my life had gone through drastic changes, so this was just another chronicle to the story. Once again, I decided I didn't want to dwell on the things ripped away from me, so I pushed the negative thoughts out of my mind. I allowed my mind to wash these thoughts away to wherever my trauma was stored as I fell asleep.