Possessed

Chapter 1

My name's Annie Parker and I'm nearly fifteen. A big thing is about to happen in my life. No one would understand properly if I literally told them. So I'm writing it down. From the beginning - even though I'm not completely sure when that is, but I think it was when my cat, George, wasn't eating. 

We'd had George since before I was born and I was devastated when he died. I've never really been into cats; I'm more of a dog person. But George was different. 

Once he died we cried for weeks, my mum, my dad and I. He was all I'd been used to. And it crushed me, the thought of never seeing him again. But that's what I thought. 

Back then, I was so interested in the supernatural. Drawn in by the thrill of spirits living after death, absorbed in a world of life on other planets and drawn in by the shudder of the thought that there are vampiric creatures that sleep upside down and sink their bloodcurdling teeth into an innocent victim's neck. 

That was why I thought I was psychic or something when I saw George after he died. 

When he was alive, he slept at the end of my bed and I felt the silky fur of his back on my feet. The night after he died I felt it. Then I remembered he was dead. I thought it was amazing! I was psychic, supernatural, just like I always dreamed I would be. So I got up straight away the next morning and ventured to George's grave to check I wasn't dreaming. He wasn't there. But I wasn't going to give up yet. I wandered down the back of the house to the place where George would sleep if he was sick of my bed. It was just a plank of old wood with his bed by it but he must have thought the world of it. 

I looked and there he was. For the blink of an eye, he was purring and sleeping just like he always did. My eyes filled with tears but I was happier than ever. I could see ghosts! I must tell Emmy and Natalie. 

The next day at school I was so happy I blurted it out to them. "Guys, guess what? I can see ghosts! I saw my cat, yesterday! It's so amazing!"  

After that they treated me like an outsider. It all happened so quickly. And that was my one chance of being a relatively normal person after I'd moved schools in the middle of year seven. My one chance of fitting in again. 

But it was the loss of Emmy and Natalie that meant me meeting Javan Harrad. He usually kept to himself, mostly because other boys made fun of his name. He's ashamed of it but I never thought much of him until then. 

Javan came up to me after school. I was about to mock him because it was my first instinct but I realized there was no need anymore - we were both as low as each other.  

"Before, were you talking about ghosts? It's alright if you weren't, I'm just interested." 

"No, I was," I insisted. "You see, my cat died the other day and... I saw him. You probably think I'm stupid." 

"I don't. I believe in them too." 

"Cool." 

And that's how it all started. If it weren't for that moment, none of it would have happened. 

We were kind of friends after that. Speaking to each other at break, eating on the same table at lunch and occasionally he came over to my house. We could always talk about the paranormal freely and sometimes other things. Boring things like homework. Interesting things like our old schools and all the gossip that came along with it. I guess that's just what a friend is. 

As friends, we started to look for more ghosts. We wanted to make the most of our gifts.  

The dialer beeped. 

"Hi, where should it be?" 

"Graveyard, duh." 

"Rude.... can we go?" I asked.