Out of the Darkness

41 Anna's POV

The girl, Tara, leaned back and glared up at him. "Not this again Jake. I told you not to joke about that again." "Tara, I'm not joking! I told you that I didn't do that." She rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms. "Whatever. Kat do you want to go help me mix a drink? I need a breather." Kat, the girl sitting in Sam's lap, nodded. "Yeah," she said, standing up, then leaning down to kiss Sam again, just a quick peck against his lips. In that instant, I was so very jealous of her. Not of the guy, although he was extremely good looking, but of the fact that she was able to do that. She was able to freely give her love to someone. She was able to live her human life. I sighed, and started to float back up to Colby's room, but then changed my mind. I wanted to stay. I wanted to be a part of this group of friends. It was clear that they really loved one another, even if they fought sometimes. I had that with my friend. Wait...was I remembering something? I knew that I had a close relationship with someone, another girl, when I was alive. I felt that, but I couldn't remember her name or what she looked like. Damn it...I guess it was a start though. Maybe my memories would eventually come back. Maybe the Dark One had somehow suppressed my memories or stolen them from me even. I felt a chill go through me when I thought of the Dark One. I hated him...it. I didn't know and I didn't care. I never wanted to be around it again. The Dark One terrified me. Colby walked back into the room then, a can turned up at his mouth. When he finished, he let out a loud belch and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Damn brother, did you breathe?" Corey asked, his eyes wide. "Nope," Colby replied, walking over to what I assumed was the radio. He took his screen thing out, tapped it with his finger a few times, then the music changed. "We partying tonight then," Jake asked, his eyebrows raised. "I am," Colby replied. I didn't really like the look in his eyes. It was almost like he was emotionless in that moment. He was shutting himself down, wanting to forget. Somehow, I already knew that look. I stayed downstairs and watched them, observed them, and the way they interacted. They danced, played beer pong, used the flat screen contraptions they had to take pictures, it seemed. So I guess those things were camera's. I would have to remember to ask Colby what exactly they were. Others showed up to their little get together, but not many. Just a few more people, a couple of guys and girls. I watched as one girl started dancing against Colby and felt myself start to get angry with jealousy. I knew it was irrational. I was a fucking ghost for fuck's sake. There was no way that him and I would ever be able to work. Either I was going to be a ghost forever, or he would find some way to help me move on. Either way, there would never be an us. It didn't stop the anger or jealousy from raging up inside of me. The wind whipped around the room, as I clenched my fists, staring at the girl pressing her ass all up on him. "Is there a window open?" Sam asked, fixing his hair. I heard him ask this question but it was like it was far away, like I was hearing him from underwater, his voice warped and muffled. My anger grew even more when I saw the girl start laughing and fall against Colby. He grinned and put his arms around her so that she wouldn't fall. My jealousy raged even more, and the lights in the room exploded, sinking the room into darkness. "The fuck was that?" I heard Colby's voice say in astonishment. I shook my head, bringing myself back to my surroundings. Did I do that? What the fuck? Why would I do this? I needed to get away from them, unsure if why my emotions were so unstable right now. I floated away from them, noticing that Colby's eyes stared at the spot I was at as I moved back through the room, and up the stairs. Once I floated back through his door, I sank down onto his bed. I wanted to cry. I didn't know if I could. I had felt like I wanted to a few times, talking to Colby, but it had never actually happened. I wished that I could just let everything that I was feeling pour out of me through tears. I missed the release that crying had once given me in my human life. Did I remember that? I guess I did, even though I didn't have an actual memory of it, I did recall the feeling that it had once given me. This was so frustrating. I had a fucking crush on a living, breathing guy. It could never happen and I knew it, so why did I feel this way? "Screw this," I muttered, then floated over to his mirror. I was still transparent so I willed myself to manifest. Surprisingly, it worked. Maybe I was getting better at this. I admired myself in the mirror for a moment. The girls downstairs were prettier than me, and their style was definitely different from what I was wearing. I didn't understand this time. How long ago had I lived? What all had changed? I hated this. Living...I guess not living, in this limbo stage, unable to comprehend what was going on around me. I felt the anger raging up in me again, so I turned my back on the flashing eyes in the mirror. "I will find you," a ragged voice whispered, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back to the mirror and squinted my eyes at my reflection. Was I hearing things or had someone really just said something? I felt a coldness spread through me, and I knew. The Dark One. How had I heard that? Was I connected to it somehow? Fear replaced the anger quickly. The image in front of me started to change, my face warping, my eyes turning stark white as they rolled back in my head. I couldn't move. I was stuck in this trance, watching my image contort it's body, the joints popping out of socket as it stared at me with an evil, terrifying grin. I couldn't help it. I opened my mouth, and let out a blood curling scream of terror, as blood started to drip from the eyes of my reflection. I reached up and wiped my fingers across my face. I was scared to look away but I forced myself to look at my hands. They were clean. This wasn't real. This was just a hallucination or something. Did ghosts hallucinate? Apparently we did because this wasn't real. The image started to laugh as I met it's gaze again. Not a cute little giggle, but a terrifying cackle that froze me in terror, yet again.