Guardian Ghost

Chapter 6: The book rekindling life

I shivered. A chill seemed to run down my whole body, from my head, along my spine and down to my toes. Groggily, I realized that I was cold; I had managed to kick my covers off during my dream. Right. A dream... I sighed, rolling over and pulling the warmth of the down blanket back up to envelope me. That was all it is. Kurt and me...

My thought wasn't finished as, suddenly, I heard the slow creak of my door opening. Without turning my head too much, I glanced over at the digital clock on the desk near the front of my bed. The time read 1:53 a.m. So it was the middle of the night, and someone was entering my room. Definitely not my parents or my brothers... I tensed, remembering the events of the previous day now that my dreamy daze was over. Though my memories weren't exactly to my advantage. Wait, don't tell me...

This is when I die?

Without a second thought, I bolted straight up in my bed—

"Woah, lots of energy for such a late hour...!"

"Xiang..." I seethed under my breath, not wasting a moment to lie back down as soon as I had made out his figure against the hallway lights outside my room. "You're a ghost aren't you? Can't you be more subtle and just walk through the door?" Though my words were delivered with more than a bit of venom, I was secretly glad—relieved even—to have Xiang return. The rest of the afternoon had been quiet and peaceful without him and, though I hated to admit it, I had been afraid my ghost protector had abandoned me to my fate after my harsh words. Assuming all of what he's said is true, and that fate does play a factor...

While I was lost in my thoughts, Xiang closed the door quietly behind him. "Sorry, coming in from the door was a force of habit. And frankly, you'd be more than a little bothered if I just magically appeared by your bed."

"Very true." I yawned, trying to mask my mixture of fear and relief. "Where were you the rest of the afternoon?"

"Well, I gave you some room after your breakdown." I was not impressed by his description of events, but I didn't cut in. "Afterwards I laid low and did some research." Now that he was again shrouded in the darkness of a room past its bedtime, I had to squint to make my visitor out. "After observing quietly throughout the whole afternoon, I'm fairly confident you have nothing to fear from your family."

"Tell me something I don't know." I couldn't resist a derisive snort. "You suspected my family?" I should have said my accusation with more anger, but I was too tired to care at the moment. Technically, I should kick strange guys out of my room... But where would he go? Realizing the answer was, in fact, nowhere, I decided to pity Xiang for the night. "Look, it's late. If you say I'm safe, then I'll believe I'm safe. Just... go to sleep."

"Lesson five: ghosts don't actually need to sleep." Xiang's voice was deadpan. "It's a luxury, but we're never actually tired."

"Uh huh... Then use your luxury." Lesson five? My groggy brain identified something suspicious. How many other lessons is he keeping from me? However, I decided to ignore the thought, instead rolling over in bed and closing my eyes. It didn't take long for me to interpret the silence in my room as Xiang continuing to stand guard over me. Reluctantly, I turned back around to face my bored, but far from tired, ghost.

"Look, it's creepy to have you watching me the entire night. You should find yourself something to do..." Using all my willpower, I forced myself to sit up and crawl to the back end of my bed, reaching for my bookshelf and pulling one of my favourite books out. "Do you read?" I loved the book I was holding, so I didn't need to examine it in the dark to know I had taken the right one. The weight and the texture were all I needed.

"What book is it?"

Knowing I had his interest, I held the book out to him. I was only mildly surprised when he plucked it out of my hand, as if he were an actual flesh-and-blood presence in the room. "It's a bit... juvenile. I started reading this back when I was ten. But it's a good story about a magic-wielding, witty detective who cheated death." I pointed at the skeleton on the cover. "That's him. And he gets an apprentice—a girl named Stephanie—and together they fight crimes and save the world. Over and over." I gave a wry smile that I wasn't sure he would be able to see in the darkness. "You might be able to relate. I mean, my life is pretty important. It's basically equivalent to saving the world. And your sass is on par with the main characters'."

"Uh huh." He was already flipping through the pages. It seemed that reading was more of a luxury than sleeping was for this ghost. While he was checking the novel out, I made a quick and efficient grab for my phone, sitting on the bookshelf and charging, and fired off a text I was sure my intended contact would see before tomorrow morning. Now that that's done with...

"Here." I crawled back over to the front of my bed and flicked on the lamp atop my desk. As Xiang drew closer to the light and sat in my chair—using whatever ghostly powers he held—I realized with a strange unease that the light seemed to go right through his pale figure, reflecting off of the leather chair he sat in and not his skin.

"Will it bother you if the light remains on?"

"Sorry?" I turned my attention off of my guest's ghostly properties and back to the book he had placed on the desk, under the light.

"Can you sleep with a light on?" he asked again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," I lied. Well, not a complete lie... It was likely I would be able to fall asleep, but it would take time. And R.I.P. the deep slumber I need for tomorrow's school day... "Don't worry about me." At least it'll keep dreams like that from happening. Even now, I could still picture the shape of my name and Kurt's intertwining on the metal floor of the structure...

"You're sure?" Xiang seemed unsure about my answer. "I don't actually need the light. Lesson five point five: ghosts can see just as well at night as during the day." He shrugged as I stared at him with a yeah, right expression. "Well, it's not exactly a rule, per se. When you've been around as long as I have, it just so happens that your eyes adjust to darkness very quickly."

"Don't worry about it," I said again. "Keep the lights on. Reading in the dark isn't good for your eyes—and I don't care if ghosts' vision can't get worse!" I blinked a few more times than normal as I spoke—my nighttime contacts weren't sitting well in my eyes. "If you don't have any other questions, then I'm going to sleep!"

"Nah. Good night." I yawned and saw Xiang slip his hand into his jean pocket and pull out a case of some sort. Through heavy lids, I watched as he took out a pair of glasses and slipped them on in a fluid motion. Then, he brushed his dark bangs to one side, flipping open the novel on the desk.

I smiled, recognizing the avid curiosity in his gaze that must have resembled myself when reading. The expression was so normal, it almost made me forget I had an undead, reading right beside my bed, who had informed me I was guaranteed certain death in a matter of days or weeks if left alone.

As a matter of fact, all I could think about as I drifted off was the way he flipped through those pages with the enthusiasm of a child discovering—or rediscovering—the wonders of life.