Out of the Darkness

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She met my gaze and nodded. "I think so. This is just...very weird." "It's kind of cool though, right?" Sam asked, squeezing her hand. She kept her gaze locked with Anna's and smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool." Anna smiled back, timidly. "I've met a ghost. I've partied with a ghost. I loaned my clothes to a ghost! I should've known that something like this would happen eventually. I mean, look who I'm dating," Kat said, glancing at Sam. I grinned, happy that she was okay with all of it. "So, we're still friends?" Anna asked her. "Of course! This is amazing! I have to know though...why are you always picking on Addy? She's a nice person. At least, with the little that I know of her." "Oh," Anna replied. She looked down at her hands and started to pick at her cuticles. "I don't know. She was an easy target?" She looked back up and met Kat's gaze for a moment, before her eyes flicked to mine, then back to Kat. "Ohhh..." Kat breathed out, looking from me, to Anna. That's all it took. A look. It took a single look for her to remember that Anna and I had something between us. "How is that...? Hmm..." she let her words trail off, as her eyes kept flitting between Anna and I. "Anyway," I said, changing the subject. "Anna has a problem. A big problem. Something evil was holding her hostage. It still has some sort of control over her. It's the same thing that caused this to happen to me." I motioned to my arm. "We're positive that it's a witch named Lilith. She's human, or she used to be, over a hundred years ago. She still looks like she's 25. I'm not sure what she is now..." I watched Kat's throat convulse, as she swallowed. "Over a hundred years? How is that possible?" I shrugged with one shoulder. "We aren't sure...witchcraft?" Sam answered. "There's a lot that we don't know yet, but we're trying to figure it out. We're trying to help Anna get free. So, she can move on, or whatever it is that ghosts do." "Okaaay," she replied, looking at Anna. "If you can control it, does that mean that you're going to be around more often?" "Do you want me around?" Anna asked, still looking hesitant. Katrina smiled at her. "Of course I do! Oh, wait! Your clothes!" Anna looked down at herself, then back up to Kat. "Huh?" Kat jabbed her finger towards Anna. "Your clothes! That's why they look so retro! And why I've only ever seen you in that outfit. And why you say these weird things sometimes that I really don't understand. Oh, and why you don't know who Justin or Harry-" "Kat!" Sam said loudly, with a massive grin on his face. "What?! Everything that I overlooked because it was weird, makes so much more sense now!" "Oh," Anna laughed. "I guess it does." "So, why aren't you telling everyone else about her?" "Because, I don't know how they'll react. I don't know if Corey will be so freaked out that he'll try to have the house cleansed or Jake will become obsessed and try to use her for videos. I think I just want to keep the amount of people that know, really small. I feel like it's better that way. Safer. For them, for Anna, and for us. This witch is evil and super strong," I answered. Katrina licked her lips slowly, with her forehead creased. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she thought over everything that she had learned. "This is so strange," she said, quietly. "The way that we're sitting here talking about something that shouldn't be real. Something that only exists in movies or books. An evil witch?" She started to laugh then, so hard that it started to freak me out. "Um, baby, are you okay?" Sam asked her, hesitantly. She had tears streaming down her face, from laughing so hard. She nodded her head, and wiped the tears from her face. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry," she gasped out. "This isn't funny, but come on! There is an actual ghost in your room. We've partied with her. An evil witch is trying to come after her and you guys want to help save her. This isn't normal! This is something that would only happen to you guys." Sam grinned at her, one of his big ones. "It is pretty wild," he replied. "Um, hey," Anna said, bringing my attention back to her. "You think it's strange for you? Imagine being me. I'm the actual ghost here, and I can tell you, it's weird as hell. I should be the one wiggin' out! Not you guys!" This just sent Kat into another fit of laughter. Anna started laughing with her, and I couldn't help but notice how the sound literally warmed my heart. It was a beautiful sound. Sam and I exchanged glances, and smiled. This was how it was supposed to be. The girls that we loved were already acting like best friends. Wait...love? Where did that come from? No, I didn't love her. I couldn't. I hadn't known her long enough. Hell, I barely knew anything about her. She barely knew anything about herself. Oh yeah, and she was dead. I didn't love her. I couldn't. I shook the dreaded thoughts from my head, and cleared my throat. The medicine was finally starting to kick in, so the pain in my arm eased a bit. Unfortunately, Sam never brought me anything to eat, so I was starting to get nauseous again. "Uh Sam," I said. "Yeah," he asked. "I really hate having you wait on me, but can you get me some crackers or an apple or something? These meds are starting to make me sick again." He jumped up from the bed. "Oh shit, Colby, why didn't you remind me? I got caught up in what was going on!" "No, I forgot too. It's okay, but I do kind of need something now." "I got you. I'll be right back." He darted out my door, leaving me alone with the girls. I looked back over to them, to find them both staring at me. "Colby, what exactly happened to your arm?" Kat asked. I sighed and held my arm up to look at it. The black, bloody mess had seeped through the new bandages already. "I went to a demon realm, looking for a way to save Anna. While I was there, a demon decided that I looked like lunch. I stabbed it with a fire poker and ran away. That's it."