Out of the Darkness

100

"To you, maybe. To the person who lost their grandfather suddenly, and needs closure before he passes on to wherever he is going, no. It's not more important. You see, both of you are in danger of losing someone, so what makes yours more important than theirs? They knew their grandfather their entire life. You've only known your friend for what? A few months." I was chastised into silence again, feeling horrible about what I had said. "Sorry," I muttered, another minute later. He didn't acknowledge my apology, at all. "So, I've managed to push a few appointments around, but it still only brings you up a day. I can see you next Thursday. Until then, do not try to interact with your friend. I'm not sure what is going on, but I feel like this is bad. Let her be. Also, there's someone telling me to tell you to stay away from the house. Whatever that means. I'll take your number down from caller ID, and call you if anything changes. See you next Thursday." He hung up before I could even reply. I was frozen for a second, then snapped my mouth shut. I texted Sam really quickly and told him to free up next Thursday, so we could go meet Ash. I didn't know what to think about him telling me not to interact with her. Why not? Was I supposed to just ignore her? This whole situation kept getting weirder and weirder. And what did he mean by someone told him to tell me to stay away from the house? A spirit told him that? Were ghosts just making a habit out of watching me now? I glanced around my room, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. I shook my head at myself, and decided that I'd had enough today. I needed to get away from my thoughts and the urge to not call out for Anna to see if she were still around, if she were okay. I went downstairs to Sam and Kat in the kitchen. They were hugging, staring at each other. The way they were looking at each other caused my heart to twist a little. I was fine being single. I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and I didn't have anyone to answer too. I did enjoy spending time with women, but it was always short lived. For some reason, seeing Sam and Kat together like that, it was almost too much. I sidestepped them, and opened the fridge. I saw the White Claw boxes and grabbed a can out of one of them. "What's up man?" Sam said, letting go of Kat to grab himself a can. I shook my head. "Nothing. Just sick of being in my room," I answered. He nodded, his eyes narrowing just a little as he searched my face. "Is Anna still around? I wanted to" talk to her," Kat asked, leaning into Sam. Again, I shook my head. "No, she went home. We needed a little break, so she may not be around much." "What did you do, Colby?" She asked exasperatedly. "I didn't do anything Katrina," I answered in the same tone. "It was just going to fast for her." She groaned and narrowed her eyes at me. "Please tell me that you did not try to push her to have sex with you!" "Kat, he wouldn't do that," Sam replied. "Of course I didn't!" I exclaimed, raising my voice. "It's my problem Katrina. You really need to stop butting in." She sighed, and held her hands out in surrender. "You're right. I'm sorry. I can just tell that you both really like each other, and I want you to be happy. As happy as Sam and I. You're like my brother, Colby...but I admit that I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. It won't happen again." I raised my eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine! I'll TRY to not let it happen again." We all laughed, the tension between us broken. "Come on, let's go outside and see what everyone is up too," Sam replied, taking Kat's hand. I followed them outside, my drink in my hand. There were more people in my yard than I expected. Corey was with his friends, Chazz, Tavan, and Joey, on the basketball court. I couldn't really tell if they were playing or not. Sometimes, it seemed like they were but they were breaking out in a dance, so I had no clue. I saw Tara, Jake, Griffin, Xeph, Devyn, Cassie, and Reggie in our lounge area. There weren't quiet enough seats, so Reggie was standing behind Cassie, and Tara was sitting in Jake's lap. As I looked around at everyone, I realized that I hadn't really been in this reality, my real world, in a long time. Jake's hair was cut, the back shaved and died bright red. Tara had gotten a haircut. It looked nice. Xeph was dressed in one of her hard, unique outfits, talking to Devyn. Griffin was speaking to Reggie and Jake about another song that Jake had been working on apparently. I hadn't even known about it. It made me feel like shit as I took a seat on the edge of the small couch, next to Devyn. These guys, my friends, had just been living their lives, with exciting things happening to them, and I hadn't even know. I had been too wrapped in my own world, in Anna's world, to notice that my actual human friends were doing amazing things. "Hey Colby, what's up man? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Griffin said, turning towards me. "Yeah, sorry bro, just been busy," I replied, leaning over to grab his hand in greeting. I turned my drink up, guzzling it for a couple of seconds. I chatted with everyone, and didn't even think about Anna for at least hour. It surprised me when I thought of her. "Hey Addy! It's about time you got here!" I looked up at Tara's voice, greeting someone new to the house. A blonde girl I didn't know was just let out into the yard by Jake. Tara ran over to the girl and hugged her.