Return to the Haunted Mansion | BOOK 4

6. Double Vision

There's a hospital around me now. Beeping. Worried voices. Embraces.

My eyes flutter like the wings of a butterfly. I'm not entirely sure what's happening. What happened. I can't understand anything they're saying; the words aren't reaching my ears.

My mother's face comes into focus, something strange about it. About everything I see.

A sheen of blue covers everyone like trapped smoke. I rub my left eye because it feels heavy, realizing it's that side that's seeing the strange hue. My right one is seeing normally. My brow furrows as everything gains volume quickly.

"...were so worried about you, honey. Oh, I'm so glad you're okay."

My mom hugs me again and I wince, apparently really hurt.

"What happened?"

My dad chimes in. "You swerved and hit an oncoming car. The other guy wasn't hurt at all."

My hand lifts to my mouth as a shudder washes through me. I couldn't breathe and my panicking caused me to swerve. And then the whole nightmare factor... I'd be convinced that it was real if I'd had some kind of proof that other world existed. But I don't.

"I couldn't breathe suddenly," I admit to them, mirroring my thoughts hazily. "It's like I was having and asthma attack."

"You don't have asthma," my mom says, staring at me intently.

"I know," I sigh, feeling exhausted and disgusting. I need to shower. I need to get out of this place. "It was weird." Guilt overtakes me. "I'm so sorry I crashed. The mustang is probably totaled--"

"Don't worry about it," my dad shakes his head, interrupting. "We're just glad you're okay."

I nod and swallow as my dad squeezes my ankle. They tell me they'll get the doctor and be right back and I nod. When the doctor came back, I'd have to tell him about my eye.

My parents make their way out of the door and as my eyes trail over the doorway, I take a sharp inhalation of breath. Standing in the middle of the doorway is Megan, my parents ghosting right through her body. She stares intensely at me, eyes narrowed in anger. Her whole body is the blue color, the trapped smoke a part of her too, only she has no color to her besides the one hue. Heart pounding, I cover my left eye.

She disappears from view.

Startled, I leap backward slightly, the heart monitor speeding up with the pounding of my heart. Megan, realizing I can see her, lifts her chin and grins widely, her eyes on fire.

"So you've woken up," she says. "Two more hours until Halloween is over, and I plan to make it last a long time, traitor."

Her body fazes out and reappears right next to me, hand pressing against my throat once again. Her free hand slaps against my mouth, making me grunt. It feels like frozen needles are being pressed against me as her laugh rings out.

"You can't hide in this fable forever, Katelin!" she screeches as I struggle to breathe. There's a howl in the distance as the world begins to darken and I begin to lose consciousness, that black void flickering in and out, the only thing lit up being the mansion before me. "You can't keep fooling your mind!"