Out of the Darkness

61

"Maybe we'll figure it out, maybe we won't, but I promise you Anna. I PROMISE you with everything in me, that I won't stop until there isn't any other option." My voice had hardened but not with anger, with determination. I meant what I said. I didn't know anything about any of this. Sam loved his scary games but he was no expert at ghosts and the afterlife either. It was time to step up the research so that I could hold good on my promise. I hadn't known Anna that long, but in the short time that I had, she had come to mean a great deal to me. I knew she was a ghost but she had saved mine and my friends lives, not once, but twice now. That meant everything to me. The least I could do was try my best to help her figure out who she was. I kept telling myself that, but my heart started to thud in my ears when she looked up at me. I couldn't stop myself from letting my gaze drop to her full lips. She was a ghost, but she wasn't a ghost right now. She was a beautiful woman who I cared a lot for. I couldn't deny the attraction that I held for her. I found myself lowering my head closer to hers, enjoying the sound of her sucking her breath in, just before I let my lips barely graze hers. They were soft, and not quite warm, but close enough. There was a slight chill to them like she had been standing outside on a cool night. Before I could think better of it, I started to deepen the kiss. Until a loud bang broke my broke through my focus. Anna and I jumped apart, as I jumped to my feet. "Hey Colby, I need to borrow- oh...my bad. Didn't know you had company," Jake replied, smiling at Anna as she hid her face. "Do you not knock anymore?" I asked, my voice curt with annoyance. He just shrugged, and gave me a stupid grin. "Sometimes. So why haven't you introduced us to your...?" He nodded towards Anna as she peeked up at him through her hair. Damn it, why did she have to be fucking cute?? It really wasn't making this not falling for her thing any easier. I sighed, and held my hand out to her, giving her an apologetic look. She took it and stood next to me. "Jake, this is my friend Anna. Anna, my roommate Jake." "I've seen him-" Anna stopped talking and blushed hard, her pale cheeks tinting red. "I mean, nice to meet you Jake." "You too," he said, grinning at her widely. "Why's he keeping you hidden up here anyway? You guys should come downstairs. We're going to hang out, maybe play some stupid games, listen to some music. The usual. The girls are on their way over." He looked from her to me, and wagged his finger at me. "Tsk tsk Colby. You should really be a better FRIEND to Anna here. We're amazing people." Without waiting for an answer, he turned and started to close my door, but not before yelling loud enough for the entire world to hear him. "YO, DID Y'ALL KNOW THAT COLBY HAS A NEW GIRL IN HIS ROOM?" He turned and winked at me, before shutting the door quickly as I threw a nearby water bottle at him. It bounced off the firmly shut door with a loud thud. "Well, that was interesting," she said quietly. I ran my hand through my hair then automatically started fixing it. "Yeah, sorry. Jake is a little much sometimes," I replied. She turned and met my gaze, her eyes sparkling with a little humor. "That's not what I meant. I know how all of these guys are. The girls too. I've been here long enough to get to know them a little. I meant what happened between us before he busted in. What was that about Colby?" I froze, not expecting her to boldly bring it up like this. "Oh, um, I kissed you?" I replied stupidly. It sounded like a question. "Yeah, you did. But why? What's going on with us? Nothing can go on with us. I'm not real, or at least I'm not human..." She looked down at her solid body then back up at me. "Well, not usually. I don't know how long this will last Colby. It just doesn't seem like a good idea...for either of us." Her words hurt. She was right, of course, but that didn't change the fact that they hurt. Plus, if she like me, even a little, wouldn't she try to enjoy being human while she could? I guess it wasn't like that way for her, and that just made me feel stupid. I dropped her hand abruptly. "Yeah, sorry. Won't happen again," I replied curtly, her rejection making my tone harsh. "Do you want to go downstairs?" "Okay," she answered quietly. I walked to my door and opened it, waiting for her to walk through. She did, then waited for me to lead the way down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, I motioned towards the hallway. "Kitchen and dining room is this way. Probably where everyone is." "I know," she answered, quietly again. "Right. I forgot," I said, rolling my eyes inwardly at how stupid I was being right now. I felt off balance. I could appreciate how pretty she was when she was a ghost. It was easier to remember that there could never be anything between us because she was a ghost. But now she wasn't and it was screwing with my head. She had let me kiss her...hadn't she? Hadn't she kissed me back? I thought she had, but maybe I was fooling myself and she just didn't want to be rude. I led the way down the hallway till we reached the dining room. "There he is! The man of the hour! This the lady that you've been hiding from us?" Corey asked, smiling at Anna and giving her a little wave. "Yeah, I haven't been hiding her. Anna, this is Corey, that's Sam and Kat, you know Jake, and this is Tara. Anyone else headed over?" I asked, breezing through the introductions. I didn't meet Sam's hard stare, because I knew he was going to ask questions, seeing as how he had seen Anna is ghost form and he also knew that her name was Anna. "Yeah, Devyn said she'd be over in a bit," Kat said. "It's nice to meet you Anna." "Nice to meet you guys too." Anna was standing right behind me, moving her body to the beat of the music that was playing. "What's this song? It's dope," she said. "What?" Tara asked, incredulously. "You don't know this? Everyone knows this. Do you live under a rock?" Tara laughed to let her know that she was joking. She walked over to Anna, took her hand, and pulled her over by the speakers. Katrina followed them.