Nancy is waiting for me in her car so I quickly slip on some adidas pants and a white shirt. I slip on my white slides and grab my purse. I leave the note on my dresser and grab my phone before running downstairs and out the door. "Ready?" She asks as I slip into the car. "Yea." She nods and pulls out of the driveway. "So where are we going?" She doesn't answer so I decide to focus my attention out the window. We drive past Donny's house and I frown but remain quiet.
She drives past the "thank you for coming" sign which means we are leaving town. "I didn't pack." She smiles and looks at me. "We aren't staying." I return my attention to the passing scenery. About 20 minutes go by before she finally comes to a stop in front of a burned house with police tape around it. "What is this place?" I look at Nancy and she motions for me to get out. I do and she follows behind me. "Do you know where we are?" I look around and frown because I have no clue. As I look back at the burnt house everything becomes familiar to me. "Why are we here?" She comes closer to me. "Did you forget you almost died doing exactly what you were doing yesterday?" Looking at her she lifts the police tape. "Come in." She walks up the path to the house and I run after her. "I said I'm sorry." She opens the front door and the smell of smoke fills my nose. Even five years later the place still smells the same.
"YOU almost DIED here. Do you get that?" Nancy places her hands on my shoulders. "Yes." She nods. "You almost died last night doing the same childish bullshit that almost killed you five years ago." My eyes widen and I stifle a laugh. "I don't want anything to happen to you and I'm sure Donny wouldn't either." At the mention of his name my heart tugs and I look away. "Please stop with this. I love you like my own and I would be devastated if something happened to you." She wraps her arms around me and I hug her back. "Okay I'm serious. I'm done with the ghosts and gouls. For good." Nancy's face breaks into a smile and she looks around at the house before leaving out. I follow behind her and get into the car.
As she makes the drive back to our town I start to get sleepy. I lean back in my seat and let my eyes drift close.
"Come here you little shit!" Donny's father appears in front of my eyes and dread fills my heart. He grips the front of my shirt and before I can figure out what's going on his fist connects with my eye. My vision goes black and I let out a scream. I feel his fist hit me again this time in my mouth and blood fills my mouth forcing me to spit it out. "Oh so your gonna spit on me now? You disgust me." Darkness takes over and the dream changes. "Where the fuck were you Donny?! She almost died!" Ray screams in my face. "Who was it?" My voice come out low. "I don't know but it was waiting for her. It wanted to kill her. It's energy was so strong that it clouded my mind and I couldn't see her anymore." I start to pace back and forth. "Damn it."
I bolt awake and Nancy gives me a strange look. "Sorry. Bad dream." She lets out a laugh and pulls into my favorite burger shack in town. "How long was I asleep?" I ask her as she parks the car. "About 45 minutes." I open the car door and the smell of the burgers waiting for me sent my stomach into a frenzy. "I'm starving." My hand goes to my stomach and Nancy lets out a laugh. "You eat like a garbage disposal." I nod in agreement and we make our way inside the restaurant. "Hailey, Nancy!" The waitress by the door greets us and I give her a smile. "Hi Amy." She gives me a quick hug and then kisses Nancy's cheek.
"Just you two?" I nod and then follow behind her as she leads us to my favorite booth. It was by the giant mosaic window they installed. Amy hands us two menus then disappears into the kitchen area. I look at the menu and have a hard time choosing what I want to eat. "Hailey?" I look up at Nancy and she continues. "You two will work through this I promise." My heart sinks as I think about what I said to Donny last night. "Maybe your right." I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze. "I think I want the pepper jack and cheddar burger with a side of fruit." She says as she looks down at the menu. I continue to look through the menu and something new catches my eye. "Ghost pepper burger." Nancy looks at me with uncertainty and I can't fight the devilish grin that covers my face.
When Amy comes back we tell her what we want and she once again disappeared through the double doors. "You know, when Donny moved away I thought you two would keep in contact." Nancy says to me out of the blue. "Moved?" She nods and I frown. "People grow apart." I say to her and she agrees. "You're right. You two were children at the time." Before I can say anything back our food in places in front of us and my mouth begins to water as I look at the juicy burger in front of me. Amy leaves our table and we dig in to our food. I take a bite out of the burger and let me just say, that shit was spicy. It took two glasses of milk to finish it and man, the after affects were the worst. Through out dinner Nancy kept making little jokes about the color of my face, she said I was a darker red then a beet.
"It was hot as hell but it definitely was worth it. The spices and seasoning from the burger blended together nicely." I tell Nancy on the ride home. My phone goes off and I reach into my purse to see why. I see a text from the group chat and instantly reply.
Tia: so did you die?
Me: unfortunately no I did go to the burger shack with Nancy tho
Sophia: we missed you today!
I smile at the small message and place my phone back into my purse. When Nancy pulls into the driveway I tell her I'm gonna sit in the car for a while. She leaves the keys with me and I turn on the heat then lean back in my seat. I dig around in my purse until I find the lipstick container that I keep in my purse for occasions like this. Once I find it I open it up and pull out a lighter and one of the prerolls I bought off Tony before him and Sophia broke up. I take it out of its container and light it up. I take a slow puff and let the smoke fill my lungs. I exhale slowly and let the feeling take over me. I take another hit and then another soon after. I let the smoke fill the car and my body, the calm I feel from it puts a smile on my face.
"Really?" Donny's voice fills my ears and I jump. "Can you not do that?" He's in the backseat watching me. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I shouldn't have spoke to you that way." He looks at me and I smile a small smile. "I'm sorry too. I know I went too far with what I said. I couldn't stop myself and before I knew it the words were rolling off my tongue." He leans forward and places a soft kiss on my lips. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean what if when I come back you realize you don't want me the way I want you?" His eyes filll with fear and I place my hand on his cheek. He leans into my hand and I smile. "I wouldn't turn my back on you. Your the one thing that makes me feel normal now. My parents aren't around as you can see and the twins try but I just don't feel the way I do with you." He stares at me and I'm the first to look away because his gaze is making me nervous.
"I understand." I hit my smoke again and then blow the smoke in Donny's face. He coughs and I tilt my head in curiosity. "Remember how you said each time you become apart of this world a little every time I have one of those dreams?" He nods and I look at my preroll. "Sooo does that mean you can get high?" He takes it from me and hits it.
He coughs as he hands it back to me and I break out into a fit of laughter. "Here drink this." I hand him my drink from the restaurant and he gladly takes a sip. I put out my smoke and motion towards the house. "Come on." He follows behind me as we walk to the house. I stop in the kitchen and grab the bowl of fruit that was in the fridge. I lead Donny upstairs and he makes himself comfy on my bed as soon as we enter my room. "Come on, let me tell you why I love you." My heart races as I crawl into the bed next to him.
When I look up at him I find him already staring down at me. "Reason number one, you're one of the strongest people I've met.." the night goes on like that and I fall asleep to the sound of his voice.
YOU ARE READING
A Ghostly Love
Horror"Come on break a few rules with me." He said as he stared into my soul. "Ohhh no you don't Donny. Last time I did anything with you, I ended up in a holding cell." He looked over at the cemetery behind us and sighed. "Fine, I'll go alone." Next thin...
