Out of the Darkness

31

"Yeah, I'm right here." Her voice was literally right next to my ear, almost making me jump across the room. "Shit! Don't DO that!" I exclaimed, pressing my hand over my heart. Her tinkling laughter filled the room. "Sor-ry," she said, stretching the word out as she said the syllables in between her laughter. I grinned at her as I held my hand over my racing heart. "You're actually going to give me a heart attack," I replied, shaking my head, staring at her form as it came back into view. "Can you control that?" I asked, nodding my head towards her transparent body. "What?" she asked, looking down. "The way you fade in and out. Like can you disappear when you want too, but be visible when you want too. Or can you be visible to only certain people and not to others? If Sam had seen inside my door, would he have been able to see you? Or I am the only one that can see you? Maybe because of the doll," I mused, rubbing my chin. "Why are you asking so many questions?" she asked, biting her bottom lips. I shrugged and walked to the closet. "I don't know. It kind of fascinates me. You're a ghost. Like a real ghost. I'm interacting with you, talking to you. I can see you, sometimes feel you or smell you." "You can smell me?" she asked, with a surprised giggle. I grinned at her reaction. "Yeah, sometimes. It's like this fruity scent. Watermelon maybe, strawberries with a little citrus mixed in. It's nice." "Hm." She let out a thoughtful little noise and scrunched her face up. I picked up the doll and carried it back to my bed. "Are you good?" I asked, wondering why she looked like she was constipated. I didn't think that ghosts had to use the bathroom. "Yeah...I guess. I'm trying to remember if maybe I wore that kind of scent in my real life. You know, before I died or whatever. Do I even like that kind of scent? I don't know. I don't know anything about myself, and it's driving me crazy," she replied, grabbing the sides of her head. "Anna, I know that it has to be frustrating," I replied, stepping towards her. "But you are you, whoever that may be. You're sweet, kind, loving. You have a smart ass mouth sometimes, sarcasm that I love, and you told Jake to fuck off with a Ouija board. You're amazing. So, even if you don't figure out who you were, it doesn't matter. It's who you are that counts." She looked at me in a way, that made me think she was about to cry. I wanted to hug her, comfort her again. This was starting to frustrate me, so I knew she had to be feeling so much. She shrugged and looked away. "I guess it doesn't matter. I'm a ghost, stuck to a doll that looks kinda like me. This is all just mind blowing. If I could touch things, people, maybe not be able to go through walls and float, I would almost feel like I was still alive. Why did you bring that thing out anyway? I don't like her." I looked down at the doll that I had placed on my bed, then back to Anna. "I don't know. I want to help you figure out who you were, and I feel like she might be able to help us. How can you not like her? She's you." She shook her head still staring at the doll. "It's not me. It's like a cage for me. I'm connected to it, and I have to go wherever it goes. I think that when I'm in the darkness, I may be back inside the doll. I didn't feel any kind of frightening cold this time tho, or a weakening. It'll come back. It always comes back. He'll find me." I furrowed my brow as her frightened gaze met mine. "Who will find you?" I asked quietly. "Him. It. I don't know. The Dark One. That's what I called him, Me and the other ghosts or souls who happened to connect sometimes in the darkness." She shivered, and closed her eyes. "I don't want him to find me. I know that I'm already technically dead, but I can still feel the pain. The cold permeates through my entire non existent body, making me feel like my life is being slowly pulled out of me." She opened her eyes again and met mine. "But I don't have any life, do I? I'm already a ghost. So is that what it's doing? Is he stealing my soul? Will I cease to exist? Oh God, I hate this so much!" I didn't know what to say, so it was my automatic reaction to step closer to her and try to put my arms around her. They slid right through her, shocking my system with the deathly cold feeling. I gasped and pulled back. "Sorry," I said, stepping back. "I forgot." She let out a sad laugh and shook her head. "Wish I could. Anyway, enough of that. How do you plan on helping me? We don't even know where to start." "Well," I said, walking to my computer desk and pulling out the chair to sit down. "I've thought about that and I think we should start with the house. It's the only place that we know is connected to you and there are so many more dolls there. Do they all have spirits in them? And why do they keep changing in the pictures over the years if no one has lived there? Something doesn't add up." I pulled up several articles about the house and read them out to Anna, who was floating next to me. That's what we did for the next few hours. While my friends were out living their lives, I stayed locked in my room, searching the internet to try and help a ghost girl. What the fuck was my life? It didn't matter. This felt important and once I decided to do something, I was doing it. I would find a way for Anna's soul to be put to rest, even if I hated the thought of her leaving. After a couple of hours, I took a break. "Okay, I gotta stretch my legs, and go find something to eat. I'll be right back," I told her, then headed out my door.