The Unlikely Resident of Room 313

Chapter 26

Aside from the whole dead thing, being a ghost had its perks.

Roy didn't have to worry about eating or sleeping; he could phase through walls and make things move without touching them. His senses were so much broader, and he felt the true, immortal vastness of existence, time, and the universe.

Now, due to fate and a stupidly wonderful spellbook, Roy felt Asteria, too. Her worry. How lost she felt after leaving her opulent cage for the first time in her life. But also her unyielding determination to break those pearlescent chains both inside and out.

Their connection felt like a chain at first. It was a strange feeling: too tangible, persistent, and electric. And then that chain felt like a golden thread: warm, consistent, and comforting.

But now—now, he felt nothing.

Like a giant pair of scissors rose from the darkness and snapped it in half.

The break in the connection felt like a physical blow to his entire body. He intended to keep his distance while Asteria blew off the steam of that disastrous dinner. Now, he rushed through the frat house, grabbing onto any wavelength and feeling, searching for her. The last thing he felt—a ripple in the connection—was her confusion, and then her fear.

Where are you sweetheart?

No response. No fucking response.

Asteria!

The house guests were too drunk to detect the small tremor in the floorboards. Even before the spell, he never had to look far to find Asteria. When she stepped onto the grounds of Oracle, the world around him rumbled, quaked, and shattered to pieces. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel—he couldn't do anything. But from the fragments, he saw a light he had never seen before. It was warm. It was inviting. She wasn't what he expected. Something felt wrong.

When he touched the light, it stuck to him. And no matter how many times he tried to let go, he couldn't. It entered his skin, wound through him to become the veins he once had, and touched the essence of him.

Panic consumed every fiber of his being. Now, it felt like Roy was moving in quicksand and he didn't know how he would be able to get out of it. But even worse, he didn't know if Asteria was okay. Her fear still coursed through him. It stabbed him like a knife and crashed into his body to the beat of the music pounding throughout the house. He had to get to her. And what was worse, the people around him laughed and smiled and drank as if the world wasn't falling apart.

"Has anyone seen Asteria?"

Eric.

Asteria's "date".

The Douche of DTE.

Well, not maybe the douche of DTE, but a DTE was a douche regardless.

The thought dissipated when he saw a panic similar to his on Eric's face. Eric moved from the back door into a room connecting the kitchen, his eyes searching the crowd frantically.

"Have you seen my date?" he asked his housemate. "Asteria? Tall brunette?"

The other man shrugged and Eric's frustration became palpable. Before he knew it, Roy stepped out of the shadows of a nearby closet, and a terrible chill entered the room, sending Eric's gaze up and directly at him—as if he also shared a shard of Asteria's gift. His eyes narrowed as he wracked his brain on why Roy looked so familiar, and he asked,

"Where did you come from?"

"I'm here for Asteria," Roy said quickly. "She's here, right?"

The panic returned to Eric's gaze. "She was. I left her outside to get some air but—" his expression crumbled. "I thought she came back inside but I have no idea where she could be. Did she call you?"