Chapter 2

I wondered for a moment if I could have been dreaming but after glancing at my wrist to see my name written in messy cursive, I knew it wasn't true.  Every letter sat where I'd written it earlier to prove that I wasn't in a horrible dream.

I hadn't made this up, it was real.

"You found me, didn't you?" His voice came out in a faint whisper. It was as though the thought had been worming its way through his mind ever since he saw me and now it had finally slipped from his tongue. 

I nodded, "yes."

"So I am...dead?"

"Yes."

"But...you're not?"

"No."

"So, I'm a ghost?" 

"Probably."

His lips tugged into a small smile. "You're excellent at the whole conversation thing, Rei." 

There was a moment of silence where only the sound of birds from outside as they screeched playfully could be heard. 

"Sorry," he muttered. 

I knew he wasn't apologizing for his comment but instead for the fact that I had found his body. Anyone could've seen it in the way my eyes hooded when met with the topic that bothered me greatly. I appreciated that he noticed but shrugged away the sympathy. I wasn't the one dead in this situation. 

Deshawn looked down at his feet that were dressed in expensive shoes, before hesitantly rising out of the desk chair. He wobbled at first, making the floor under him creak with the pressure. One foot stepped in front of the other as he jutted his tongue out in concentration. He looked like a toddler who'd found their feet for the first time and my heart raced. 

He turned his body slowly before his legs worked quicker than I could. Deshawn tumbled to my bed and I scuttered off quickly, my cheeks ablaze. The hair on my arms stood as electricity coursed through my body. 

I captured my bottom lip in between my teeth and pressed the back of my cool hands against my cheek.

"S-stay there."

Confusion flashed through Deshawn's brown eyes as he stared at me from my bed that he clung to. His eyes shouldn't have flashed with anything, his eyes shouldn't have even been open. Deshawn Cervantes's eyes should have been closed and locked in a casket six feet under along with the rest of his body. He should have been dead. 

With a deep breath, I stood. Never once leaving my back to him, I bit the inside of my cheek silently. 

"I'm going for a walk. You'll stay here, okay? I'll be right back, I just need to get some air." 

Deshawn nodded wordlessly, a smile of pity passed his lips. Then, I left. 

I raced out of my bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door within one breath. The cold air hit me full force as I stepped outside. It breezed past my hair and tickled my face. My heart, though still beating abnormally fast, felt as though it had time to relax finally. The clouds above me were murky grey and threatened a downpour. I wasn't bothered though, I'd welcome the rain at this moment. 

I hobbled down to my front gate and noticed my neighbor, Mrs. Tan, as she walked out of her front door at the same time as me. I gave her a tight-lipped smile but as she neared, I noticed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Mrs. Tan was an old lady with frail bones, grey hair, and normally kind, blue eyes. Today, however, they were both an eerie black. Like two pools of oblivion, I felt myself falling into horror. 

"I've been made aware of the spirit that you hold in your possession, Miss De Vega."

Her voice was not the typical gentle voice of Mrs. Tan. It was authoritative and demanding. Deep and intimidating.

Not Mrs. Tan. 

A shiver ran down my spine when she continued and I felt the numbness from my heart slowly spread around my body like poison, trapping my legs to the floor. 

"Reniella De Vega, you are messing with the laws of life and death. Time cannot move freely whilst you selfishly grasp onto pieces of the past."

My eyes were wide as I opened and closed my mouth like a blubbering fish for something to say. In an attempt to break free from the clutches of my fear, I forced my hand up and wiped away the sweat from my upper lip. Mrs. Tan continued to stare and as though she were buffering, the black pits in her eyes wavered from the horror to her usual color. 

My head screamed but my body wailed and painfully, I forced my legs to jump into action. I whipped my head away from the old lady and left. I walked faster than I normally would've down the pavement while glancing over my shoulder every other second to check she wasn't following. After concluding that I was safe, I crossed the empty road and rushed to the safety of the corner shop located at the bottom of my street. 

"Reniella De Vega!" I heard my name being yelled out once again and my muscles tensed. A red car rushed out of nowhere before slowing down when it was near me. 

The window lowered gradually and I was met with the same pools of black. This time, it wasn't Mrs. Tan but a middle-aged man. The eyes were distinct and captured me before I could think better of it. 

"If you do not return the soul, the balance will break." It was the same sinister voice that echoed from Mrs. Tan inhabited the driver too. 

I ran ahead of the car and turned a corner as it zoomed past me, the person inside didn't spare a second glance at my cowering figure. The corner shop with its faded banner and flashing open sign stood not that far away, it was the place I visited the most often in the village. At this moment, it felt like a haven. 

I followed the pavement to the end of the street when the doors of five or so white terraced houses snapped open. A person stood stiffly in each doorway, a blank expression painted onto each of their faces. 

"Reniella De Vega," they stated in unison. "You're messing with things you don't and won't ever understand. Something as intricate as time cannot be cheated and if the boy is not passed over soon, the consequences will be dire."