Mind Over Mask

19. Angie

"When I was 6, I had a near death experience," I said, pointing towards my gimpy leg. "But believe me, there wasn't anything near about it — I'm pretty sure I died that day."

The Howler looked at me as though I had just declared myself to be a purple flying cow. Arya pursed her lips, slowly digesting what I had just said.

"I was sitting in the back of my dad's van," I continued. "The next thing I know, all the airbags are blown and the car is totaled."

"The only thing I clearly remember from that day is dying," I whispered, a hard knot forming in my throat.

"The first ghost I saw was Dahlia," I said, gesturing to the girl with the long hair. She waved to Arya and the Howler, whose paranoia was beginning to fade. "She was standing at the foot of my hospital bed."

"The doctors don't know what woke me up, but I'm sure it had something to do with her presence," I said, smiling at Dahlia. She had always been a security blanket for me.

"At first I thought I was hallucinating," I continued, thinking back to all the pain medication I had been on. "But after blinking and rubbing my eyes more times than I could possibly count, she was still there."

"And it's been that way ever since," I said, putting my arms in my lap.

"So..." Arya said after a long time. "You've had your ghosts watching me?" she asked with a glint in her eye. The corners of the Howler's mouth slid upwards.

"No!" I exclaimed, my cheeks flushing a deep red.

"She couldn't control us anyways," I heard Maurice say. "We may be dead, but we have agency."

Maurice flicked his tail at me, and I rolled my eyes. He always liked to one-up me, and now, for the first time, there were others to witness it.

"I like you," the Howler said to Maurice. Maurice looked away from him and licked his paw indignantly.

I watched Arya and the Howler as they both looked around the shop with a newfound sense of wonder. Arya smiled upon seeing a bird perched upon my bookshelf, and the Howler looked positively appalled by all of the ghosts crammed into the tiny room.

"Why are there so many of them?" he asked.

"As far as I know, I'm one of the only people that can see them," I explained. "They're just like us — they want company."

Except now I wasn't the only one — I guess by establishing a mental link between us, I had inadvertently given them the ability to see the ghosts as well.

"So what's your secret then?" Arya asked, turning to the Howler.

"My name's Kyle," he said with a grin, taking off his mask. I rolled my eyes and moved to punch him jokingly.

His face darkened, and my arm froze. He had a haunted look in his eye.

"And I think I know why the supers are going rogue."

A/N: any theories?? I want to hear them!