Fire and Magic (The Jadori Book 1)

Chapter 2 - Don't Look. Don't Answer

Holly's smile grew wider. "Doctor Calthorpe will see you now."

I tried to smile back and kept my eyes locked on her face. "Thanks."

I stepped to the side and hoped it didn't look like I was stepping around an imaginary person as I headed to the doctor's office.

"Hey! I know you saw me. Where are you going? Don't ignore me! I need your help. No one else can see me."

I cringed, but kept walking.

Not now, not now, not now.

He was going to ruin everything.

I followed Holly down the hallway with the ghost trailing behind, trying to get my attention, but I couldn't let on that I could see him or hear him. Everything depended on the next few minutes.

I tried to calm my nerves. Took a deep breath. Let it out slowly.

Spirits looked like regular people to me, but they gave off a different energy than the living. This guy's energy was completely different to anything I'd ever felt before. I couldn't explain it.

I tried to act normal, like my emotions weren't trying to swallow me whole. Like he wasn't about to ruin everything I'd spent so long cultivating.

Holly's smile faded a little. "Don't look so worried. You got this." The smile went back up to full brightness.

I gave a half-smile back. "Thanks."

As I entered Dr Calthorpe's office, Mr Newbie followed me. He would've been able to just walk through the closed door anyway, but he wouldn't know that if he didn't know he was dead.

Dr Calthorpe smiled. "Hello, Maddelyn. How are you today?"

He gestured for me to sit down in one of the comfy chairs in front of his desk.

I lowered my butt into the seat. "Hi, Doc. I'm good. How are you?"

"Well, thank you." His response sounded automatic, like he was bored already.

Mr Newbie stood with his back to the desk and his body was blocking half of my view of the doctor. "Stop pretending you can't see me!"

My eyes stayed glued to the doctor's face.

"I wanted to speak to you about your progress," Dr Calthorpe said. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "We've seen good results from you, especially in recent weeks," he continued. "I've been pleased with what I've seen and what I've heard from the staff."

Mr Newbie inched closer to my leg. "What's wrong with you? Why won't you look at me? What's going on? Why won't someone tell me what's happening?"

I tried not to react.

Don't look at him. Don't look at him.

Those tears threatened again. It was sad that someone so young was dead. I was reminded of how fragile life was. How easily it could be snuffed out.

I tried to concentrate on what the doc was saying, but it was almost impossible.

Mr Newbie moved toward the far wall of the office and ran a hand through his hair, then turned to look at me. "I don't know what happened to me. I don't know how I ended up like this. I can't remember anything. I can't even remember my own name. I don't know if it's just some weird spell. I don't know of any cloaking spell that mutes sound as well..."

Weird spell? Cloaking spell? What?

Dr Calthorpe frowned. "You're very quiet. That's not like you."