AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Since I was little, stories have floated around town. Tales of people giving in to depravity, violence, darkness, but I never put any stock in it until now.”
“Thea told me about these stories. People claiming to be possessed.”
I nod, unsure of what I should say next. So I wait for her to make the first move.
“Are you trying to tell me you are possessed?” she asks, disbelief dripping from every word. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I know you’re not stupid,” I reply harshly. “I also know I never wanted to hurt you. I have never lied to you. Even tonight, not a single untruth came from my lips.”
“This is insane,” she mumbles, staring at the screen once more, looking at my mangled features.
“I know. I felt it come over me before I picked you up and slowly it swallowed me whole. Telling me what to do, using my body to do whatever it wanted.”
She stares at me with a look I can’t decipher.
“You’re apologizing?”
I nod and she stands, distancing herself from me. My phone falls from her fingers as she stares at me and I realize my mistake too late.
“You regret it,” she whispers, tears clogging up her throat and distorting her voice. “You’re using this as an excuse to explain away your behavior.”
“No!” I roar into the night sky. “I only want to explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain, Burke. I finally understand.” Her body shakes as a sob breaks free.
My heart stutters in my chest with the need to go to her, to hold her and comfort her, but still my legs won’t move more than an inch.
An apparition forms beside her, shimmering in the pale darkness.
“He isn’t lying.”
****
Sage
“What the fuck!” I scream, my heartache forgotten.
In an instant I find myself back in Burke’s arms, sitting against the tree. Figures I would run to the man who just broke my heart to keep me protected. Why, after everything, do I still feel safe in his embrace?
I stare at—no,through—the man standing before me. He is wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. But they aren’t quite real.
“My name is Marco.”
Both Burke and I stare without saying a word, waiting to understand what we are seeing.
“On Halloween, the veil is at its thinnest and we are able to walk the mortal world once more,” the apparition says. “I have watched from beyond the veil, seeing the two of you dance around one another. Around what you truly want. I decided to fix the problem.”
“Fix the problem?” I repeat in disbelief.
“When I was alive, I let what other people wanted and thought to dictate my life,” he continues. “I waited too long to claim the love of my life. She died before I ever got the chance to tell her how I felt.”
My heart breaks a little for what I now know is a ghost.
“I didn’t want Burke to make the same mistake.”
“So you possessed me?” Burke asks angrily.
“I did what you were too afraid to do,” Marco says without remorse. “I wouldn’t let history repeat itself. You can’t say I didn’t do you a favor.”
