The Death Curse

Chapter 8: Haunted

My eyes snapped open. I was in a car, a seat belt securing me in the passenger seat. It was dark outside but the headlights lit up a road lined with trees. I rolled my head on the headrest to look at the driver. It took a few beats before my brain recognized Natalie. She looked like she was sucking on sour candy.

"What happened?"

She jumped at the sound of my voice, jerking the car over the yellow line and then back again. "Christ."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I stretched in my seat. "Oh, I remember. Some jerk hit me with their car and drove off."

"I found you dead on the street and called Rhys. I can't really say I believed him when he said you'd come back. You were very dead. But hey, here you are scaring the bejeezus out of me." Natalie shook her head in disbelief.

"I thought you were dead too."

"God!" I shouted in surprise, making Natalie swerve again. I turned to face the girl in the back seat who had startled me.

"What?" Natalie anxiously glanced at the rearview mirror, trying to see what I was staring at.

"You were there when I got hit by the car," I said, remembering.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, that looked like it hurt."

"It did." I studied the girl. The fuzziness around her that I thought was caused by the lack of oxygen to my brain was still there. Actually, she was almost see-through around the edges. "What are you?"

"Dead," she replied matter of factly.

I let out a nervous laugh. I must be dreaming.

"Who are you talking to?" Natalie's expression said she was contemplating pushing me out of her car.

"Uh, a ghost, I guess?" There was a slight panic in my voice.

Natalie grimaced. "You can talk to ghosts?"

"It's a recent development. You are a ghost, right?" I asked the girl.

She nodded as she pulled her legs up to sit cross-legged on the backseat. "So, where are we going?"

"That's a good question." I turned to Natalie. "Where are we going?"

Her eyes were nervously flickering between the road and the backseat. "A safe house. Rhys will meet us there."

"Who's Rhys?" The girl asked.

"A friend. Who are you?"

"Vivian. And you are Layla. I heard our chauffeur call you that when she was on the phone." She leaned her head toward Natalie.

"Nice to meet you. Why are you following me?"

"Believe it or not, most people can't see ghosts. So I had to follow you to make sure that you really could see me and it wasn't just because you were dying. Lucky for me, it looks like you do have the sight."

"Why? What do you want from me?"

"I want your help."

I didn't like the sound of that. I couldn't even help myself so I doubted I could do anything for a ghost. "Help with what?"

"We're going to figure that out."

I tilted my head in confusion but before I could ask any more questions the car jolted to a stop.

"We're here," Natalie said as she jumped out of the car.

"I don't think she likes you."

I glared at Vivian. "And why do you think that is?"