A Pocket Full of Posies (Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen

Thankfully, I didn't end up having to tell Jamie what the hell just happened. Ava interrupted to take us home before I could answer, but I know the inevitability of having to explain myself to him is fast approaching. As such, I've been avoiding him all morning. It's not even eleven yet, and he's knocked on my bedroom door about five times, and when I headed into the kitchen for my hangover bread, I ordered Annabel to check it was empty beforehand. I know I can only ignore him for so long, but I've got no goddamn clue what I'm going to say to him. The fact my eyebrow feels like it's falling off isn't helping.

I've managed to escape the flat unnoticed to grab a well-needed full English breakfast at one of the uni cafés. Annabel and I are about to go over the shitstorm that was last night, which I refused to bring up until I had some food in me, much to her annoyance. Considering the alcohol rendered my abilities non-existent last night, I've got nothing to give anyway. We're sitting in the corner of the café, and I'm facing the wall so that no one thinks I'm having an in-depth conversation with myself.

"Right, okay, hit me with it," I say as I take the first bite of my breakfast. I go for the bacon, and it's good. It's so, so good. "What dead bastard is after me now?"

"This isn't a joke, Felix." Annabel's voice is the most serious I've ever heard it. "You've had a spirit warn you you're in danger, you're seeing flashbacks to the moment our parents died--the moment I died, you're being stalked by something demonic not even I can see, you've had your brain turned to mush by underground caves, and now you've almost been killed by a poltergeist. Something really, really bad is happening."

Jesus, way to kill the mood. I don't really know how to respond in a way that won't piss her off, so I just take another bite out of my breakfast and shrug. Turns out that's the perfect response to piss her off.

"Felix!" she snaps. "Why is everything a joke to you?"

I drop my knife and fork onto the plate and sigh. "It's not, I just--Look, let's start with last night. What happened?"

Annabel tucks her hair behind her ears and clears her throat. "Well, you were being an idiot and almost revealed to everyone that you can see spirits, so--"

"What? No, I didn't."

She shakes her head at me. "You asked Ava if there was such thing as the Ghost of Christmas Past, then proceeded to tell a story about that spirit--David, I think his name was--we ran into a few years back."

"Oh, yeah! I remember David. God, he was an ugly shit." I laugh, but Annabel just glares at me. "Oh, so was the spilled drink your doing?"

"Yeah, and the head flicking. Everything else... wasn't." I nod for her to continue. "The poltergeist was already outside when you left the building, but it wasn't... it wasn't random. I think it had been waiting for you. It wasn't in a human form or anything, just a pool of darkness like the one we saw a few years back, but I could sense it come to life when you stepped outside. I don't know why, but it didn't start attacking until Jamie appeared, it's like it... it--I don't know, wanted something from you, and then Jamie interrupted it."

"You sure?" I ask. "It might've just been a coincidence that it started attacking then."

Annabel immediately shakes her head. "It's a poltergeist, it's their instinct to mess with the first breathing thing it sees, and it didn't bother you straight away. It wanted something."

"You don't reckon it has something to do with my gangly stalkers, do you?" I ask with a mouthful of toast, to which Annabel nods as if I'm stupid. "Alright, alright, sheesh. Everything has to be connected--it has to be. I just have no idea how. Maybe we should try Ava again. She knows when you're around, so she must at least have some kind of--"