Endless Night

Paradise Lost

AN: So I hope you LOVE this story! It's SOOO different from my original story, but I like it! I'm going to be alternating POVs like I do in my TNLOCK story, BUT there are only two POVs to this story! Enjoy!

Sophia's POV:

"Promise you'll write to me all the time." I look at my best friend and smile. "I will." She smiles back and starts crying. "What am I going to do without my dear best friend?" I start crying, too. "Come visit me in Nashville." Sarah rolls her eyes. "I mean before I get a chance to visit." I laugh and look at my childhood home one last time before I get in the car. It's going to be hard to adjust to life in Nashville after having such great experiences in North Carolina. "Sophia, it's time to go. Time is ticking, darling." I cringe at my stepmother's voice beckoning me to the car. I sigh and turn around to leave, but stop when Sarah holds out her hand. In it is a gold necklace I instantly recognize. "You're mom's locket? Sarah, I can't take this!" She grabs my hand and drops it in my palm before I can argue any more. "You can and you will. She'd want you to have it." I cry more and nod. Betsy died from cancer last summer. I never got the chance to say goodbye. Sarah and I have been inseparable since kindergarten so Betsy was like a mother to me after my mom left us. I put the necklace on and hug my best friend one more time before turning away from her and getting in the car.

The drive to Nashville is very scenic and I take out my Canon EOS Rebel T5 to take pictures. I take pictures of trees, the mountains, and this tunnel you have to pass through to get out of North Carolina. I feel myself being lulled to sleep and put my camera away. I pull my Snuggie and Pillow Pet out of my backpack and get settled in a comfy position.

"Sophia, wake up. Sweety, we're here." I slowly open my eyes to see my dad smiling down at me. "Hey! There's your beautiful eyes!" I smile and look around. I slowly sit up and throw my Snuggie aside to get out of the car. "Sophia, darling, come help me with this box please." My stepmother's voice wakes me up more and I get out of the car. I walk up to her and smile sweetly. "I can take this big box if you take those two small ones." I motion to each box in turn and pick up the one I put myself in charge of. The house is located on the corner of a street and I spot a swing that I plan on going to later. I spend about an hour unloading boxes and then go over to the swing. I wonder what-Ring! Ring! Ring! My thoughts get interrupted by my phone's ringing and I dig it out of my pocket. It's Sarah and I immediately answer. "Hey, Sarah! What's up?" I pause and wait for her response. "Hey! Are you at the house?" I look up at the house. "Yeah. I just got here." I wait again and Sarah finally speaks. "Well, I did some research on your address out of curiosity. It says a family died in the house and that they now haunt it." I burst out laughing. "What? Are you for real? Ghosts don't exist, Sarah. You know I don't believe-" Sarah interrupts me again. "No! It's the truth! There have been sightings. Oh! They're from the Revolutionary War." I sigh. "Okay. So the ghost family is from the Revolutionary War? Uh-huh. Sure. What else does it say?" I wait and listen to Sarah. "Well, apparently it's a couple and their son. Damn! He is CUTE!!! Also..." I start to spin myself as I speak and roll my eyes. "Sarah, I-" She doesn't notice the interruption. "They were murdered and-" I get a bit annoyed. "SARAH!!! I don't believe in ghosts."

She sighs. "Okay. Fine. Your loss. This guy is a HOT ghost." I stay silent for a second. "HAHAHA! Okay! Bye, Sarah!" Sarah sighs again. "Bye! Say hi to the ghosts for me!" I think about my response for a second and decide to humor her. "Uh-huh. I'll say hi to the ghosts for you." Suddenly, I hear laughing and fly off the swing. Okay. That was really weird. I thought I just heard laughing. "That was foolish!" I hear shushing after that and start to panic. I swiftly look around and then spin around. There's nothing there and I immediately dash up to my house. I slam the door and rest my back against it. Was I going insane or something? The laughing, the talking, and the shushing couldn't be real, right? Jessica walks past me and stops when she sees my facial expression. "Sophia, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."