Chapter Six

Cyrus stepped through the door cautiously as if waiting for me to tell him to leave but I said nothing as he came in,  observing the small confines of my apartment. The kitchen table sat up against the wall with a single chair tucked underneath it. My bedroom wasn’t far from it. The coffee pot sat on the counter near the stove and right next to it was the toaster that I used too often. I wasn’t much of a breakfast person and when I was hungry, I resorted to something light. I couldn’t say that wasn’t normal for some people but I went with it. “Do you want something to drink?” I asked him just to break the awkward silence that seemed to hang between us. Cyrus looked at me and only nodded. I went around him to open the fridge then back at him. “Anything in particular?”

Cyrus took a breath and mumbled. “Coffee if you have it.” He looked at the dining room table and I noticed Jem giving me faces. I gave him a cold stare and mouth before Go Cyrus turned his attention to me again. “You don’t need to hide the fact that there is someone sitting there.” He pointed to Jem and I instantly felt my heart rate rise. “Don’t worry,” he continued. “I have someone with me too. Just glad that I’m not the only one.” He half grinned at me as he sat across from Jem who had fully appeared before him. Jem stuck his tongue out at me and I glared at him in return.

“How long have you been able to see spirits?”  I asked as I went over to the cupboard to retrieve a mug and then the pot of coffee that was still warm from earlier this morning. I poured him some and placed it on the table because I didn’t know how he liked it.

“Since I was ten.” I said quietly. “It came with dreams that I couldn’t really explain to my parents or else they’d send me to the loony bin.” I chuckled at that. 

“I was that age as well.” I said bluntly. “My parents wouldn’t have done that though.” I looked at Jem who was still sitting in the other chair, “May I?” I asked politely. Jem was reluctant to move, deciding on the sofa in the living room to get comfortable even though he was a ghost that needed to move on.

“What’s his story?” Cyrus asked as he took a sip of his coffee and grimaced slightly at the taste. “How did he get stuck here?”

I drummed my fingers on the table. “He doesn’t remember what happened to him.” I said softly. “I told him that I’d help him figure it out so he can move on.”  I gazed at him and thought of something else to say but drew a blank so I stayed silent. 

“It must be hard,” Cyrus said. “To live with one and not have a decent answer on why they are haunting you.” I heard Jem laugh from the living room and I looked over and saw him get up from the sofa that he sat on.

“I am just a visitor.” Jem defended. “And it's not a haunting because if it was I'd be doing some messed up stuff right now that would have Cora leaving.” he huffed and vanished leaving Cyrus and I alone with shock on our faces.

“Did he though?” Cyrus asked his gaze traveling to me again. “Haunt you?” I only shook my head.

“Jem is a nice person,” I replied. “For a short period after I moved here, he did move my stuff just to mess with me but after we kinda bonded.” Cyrus raised his eyebrows at me.

“You should never bond with a spirit because then it would give them a reason to stay.” Cyrus said.

“As if you didn’t?” I asked him as I stood from my place on the table and went to the window. “Jem has kept me company since I moved here. It gets lonely after a while and when you're experiencing things that you can’t explain, it’s best if you try to do it on your own.”

“You shouldn’t have to do things by yourself,” he said. “No matter what it is. You should have someone to confide in when you're stuck or just needing someone to talk to.”

“I don’t think I had much choice,” I stated. “When I found out, I couldn’t tell anyone.” My head lowered and I felt a hand on my chin. My eyes met Cyrus and I felt my heart do a flutter motion.

“From now on,” he said. “We can discover our powers together.” 

My eyes met Cyrus’ and for a brief moment something in me had this urge to do something. This is something that I haven’t done to anyone ever but I controlled this impulse by slowly looking away from him. “I appreciate your help but the only thing that I don’t know is what my own abilities are.” I moved away from him because my body felt a little awkward being close to him. “I mean where would we even start?” 

“That’s the million dollar question isn’t it?” Cyrus’ humor made me smile and I felt a faint blush creep slowly to my cheeks but I hid it from him. “Lucky for you though,” he continued with an air of confidence that I wish that I had. “I’ve done some research about all this before coming to see you.”

I turned to him again. “How did you find me?” I asked him slowly, unsure on how he managed to find me within two days.

“It’s easy once you learn the ropes,” Cyrus replied. Pieces of his hair hung over his eyes and my fingers twitched to brush it away but his voice continued like a harp to my nerves. “I traced the mental path a few times and found a few other people with the same ability to communicate like us but each person is special. After sifting through who was who, I found yours.” 

“It must have been hard to concentrate on doing that.” I said and in return Cyrus nodded. “I haven’t done much practice nor have I had the interest to.”

“Why not?” I felt Cyrus’ gaze on me and I started to pace a little out of being nervous. “Trust me when I say, it gets easier.”

“The thought of it was scary.” I responded. I brushed my hair behind my ear. “Same as discovering our other abilities.”

“It’s not that scary once you know what you're doing” Cyrus shot me a reassuring smile and it made my heart flutter again. 

“Where do we begin?” I asked as I put my trust in him completely.

Cyrus sighed and said sternly. "I have no idea but we can get a head start tomorrow if you like," his gaze wandered to the floor and I had this instinct feeling that I knew what he had been thinking. He was feeling slightly awkward about this entire situation. Showing up on my doorstep after telepathically finding my 'mental path' whatever that meant. His voice had snapped me back to reality and when he did, his tone was soft like a satin pillow. "I'll give you my cell number to stay in touch." He reached inside of the jean pocket after he had stood and placed a piece of paper onto the table top that clearly had his number scribbled on it.

"Thanks." I all but whispered. "Does this mean that you're not going to do that telepathic thing you did?" The question seemed to linger in the air between us and I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I bit my lip and glanced at the piece of paper sitting on the table to distract me.

"For now," he said lightly. "I won't but when it comes time to practice and hone our skills then that's when I will." He gave me a faint smile. "Deal?"

"Okay." I had said with a nod. Cyrus walked around me and toward the door, he paused and looked back at me.

"Keep in mind that there could be others like us out there." He warned but his tone was calm like he knew what he was talking about. I gave another nod and waved goodbye.

Ch 7

"That Cyrus guy seemed off," Jem said that very same night. "Couldn't you tell?" He had appeared in my bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest while a concerned look was knitted across his brows. Cyrus did act weird but that was because we had just met and though he and I were the same with abilities that were unknown and bizarre to the both of us. I couldn't help but think about how unaware I was of it. I could only chalk it down as me not wanting to fully believe that things such as this thrived in the world that I lived in today. After a brief moment of silence to which Jem must have realized, he asked. "Everything alright? You seem quiet."

I fiddled with the seams of my sleeves as I attempted to process all that was recently happening. "Yea," I said in a quiet voice. "M-my brain is still processing what Cyrus said." I stammered. "I can't help but think that my life had....has...more meaning to it than I led myself to believe." My gaze strayed to my window where the sun was still peaking behind the horizon.

"When my existence was still," I heard Jem say. A part of me noticed that his tone held sadness and I knew that he suffered a death that he couldn't possibly remember...aside from the fire and how my apartment was rebuilt where he had died. "Tethered to the physical plane, I had this belief that all of us were meant for something much greater."

 "You're not talking about Christianity and God are you?" I turned my head away from the window and gave him a side glance that told him that I was paying attention but didn't bother to say anything else only because I was waiting for him to reply.

Jem shook his head in response. "My beliefs went beyond that Cora," He replied once more. His eyes sparkled as if he wanted to say something else but he didn't at that moment.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked clearly, wanting to make sense of what Jem was talking about. I heard him breath a sigh to which there was a light sound in the confines of my bedroom.

" I'm saying that," he said as he uncurled his arms from his chest and used his shoulders to push off of my door jam. His tone was light as he glided across my room and sat down on the bed next to me. "There are other religions and deities that we...the people on this earth....worship."

"I am well aware of that," I replied as I too breathed a sigh and continued. "I just don't have any sort of belief in anything, toward anything." The truth behind why I don't believe in God or anything outside or above was because of how my parents spoke and acted and in a way I didn't want to end up like them even at a very young age I saw and learned that I could be better than my own parents.

"Everybody is different," Jem replied, pulling me out of my thoughts. "This applies to you as well. Just..." his voice trailed off as he brushed loose strands of my hair behind my ear.. His touch was solid which felt weird because he was a ghost. "You are more than what you appear to be." He gave me a smile, his teeth were whiter than pearls against the soft glow of the lamp.

"So it seems," I said calmly. "Do you think that my parents have something to do with what is happening with me?" The question hung there like a piece of thread hovering in thin air. My Parents didn't want anything to do with me so the answer might not get answered.

Jem only shrugged as if he didn't have a clue. I hardly spoke of my parents while living here and I couldn't ask him something that he doesn't even know. "That is a matter that you should discuss with your parents." Jem made the suggestion as if it were easy and it was not. 

"I haven't been able to bring myself to talk to either of them since," I stopped myself only because of what had happened last time. A memory flashed before my eyes. My younger self standing in front of my mother who was lying unconscious while my father knelt beside her looking up at me with disgust. I took a deep breath and decided to tell a white lie instead of explaining the whole story. "I got emancipated." The last part was just the above whisper. and with Jem sitting next to me I was certain that he heard that.

"You don't need to explain," Jem assured me. "Whatever happened back then is in the past. If you choose to tell me then I will only listen," I let my breath out slowly I stayed silent. :Just like I have when you didn't realize that I was here." He grinned and by the look of it, it seemed cocky.

I chuckled lightly. "I knew that you were here the first week that I had moved in." The confession rolled out of my mouth without me thinking about it and I quickly covered my lips with my hand as I felt a blush creep its way to my cheeks. I bit my bottom lip as I fell silent.

"How come you never asked?" Jem wanted to know. "I believe that you and I would have gotten acquainted faster." He laughed, the sound making my insides feel a tad weird but in a way it felt nice.

"I was clearly busy at the time," I began, my hand indicating my room and the apartment before us. "So there was no time to ask questions on whether anyone resided here, spirit wise that is." I gave a small grin. "Plus I didn't know what to say."

"Based upon my observation you," Jem said with a light chuckle. "Cora," he said, brushing his fingers across my cheek. His touch was cool and still semi-solid. "Didn't you have any loyal friends to rely on growing up?" I shook my head to tell him no because in some way I always remained the outcast of anyone that I befriended. A loner who believed that trusting others was as dangerous as inviting them over to your house. It was better this way at least for me anyway. As for Jem, he was the only person that I have called friend and with him being around and talking to him...it meant a lot that he was there.

"I wasn't one to make friends or to open up to anyone,"  I said, breaking free of my thoughts once more. "When I was growing up," I stopped myself for a moment debating on whether to tell him another memory from my childhood. "I remember an incident at my elementary school when I was younger. I had spoken to spirits and ghosts before and the other students that stood by watched and later told me that it was creepy that I could do such a thing. Soon after they began to call me the freak of the school. I was constantly bullied even by the people that said that were my friends." A few tears  had slipped from my eyes revealing the hurt that I had kept inside of myself since then. "I shut myself off from everyone and everything. My parents didn't know anything about me until I decided to tell them a few years later." I scoffed at the thought of them both. "That was a mistake because when I did both of them decided that I was crazy and delusional. Disowned me right on the spot." I realized that I was rambling but I didn't think that Jem would have cared. I quickly wiped my tears and got to my feet, going to my closet, I pulled out a pair of sleeper shorts and a soft blue tank top. "It's alright though,' I said, turning to face him. "I think that I was better off without them." My voice broke at the end and while Jem sat there on my bed in silence, it made me wonder what he was thinking.

Jem scratched his brow. "What happened to you wasn't your fault," he assured me softly. "Nobody in your past couldn't accept that you were...special. No matter how difficult it was on you to get past it. You did it on your own." He got up and went to the window but turned to look at me instead. "Cora," his voice seemed to rumble through every fiber of my being. "You pulled through the harshest of struggles and came out stronger and more beautiful than ever." At that last statement, I blushed. I couldn't grasp the comment but it soon sank like a ship going under the ocean.

"Thank you," I whispered softly but it sounded shaky to me and I ignored it. "You're the first person who has said that...and of course the other thing as well." My heart did a flip and it thudded loud enough to the point where I heard it beat like a drum in my ears.

"A past like yours Cora," He said again his gaze never leaving mine and there was something about his eyes that made me want to drown in them. I never had a boyfriend and all these emotions and feelings were in fact all new to me. If I only had supportive parents to explain all of this, then I would most likely understand. His voice brought me back to earth. "Defines you as a person and how you go about your future...all depends on you." Jem soon glanced down at the articles of clothing that I still held in my arms then looked back at me with a small smirk. "I will let you get changed and ready for bed."

I could only nod my response because in some way I nearly had forgotten that I was even holding my pajamas and though the warmth was clear on my arm. I didn't say much in return and with that he disappeared in thin air. I shook myself a little bit before turning towards my bathroom that lay off to the right of my window, pulling out the elastic from my hair, I picked up the brush off of my vanity and began to run it through my hair, freeing it of any type of tangles and then turning the shower. While I waited for the water to heat up, I quickly undressed and hopped in, hoping that this would help relieve the stress and aches from my body.

 As midnight came tolling, I found myself still awake in my bed. The restlessness that I was feeling didn't go away. I was concerned about sleeping. About dreaming. I was scared if I was being completely honest. These nightmares or whatever they were...was getting to me. I wasn't about to get trapped into another dream without a way to escape. And also by an unknown being who was clearly after me. I felt like it needed something from me aside from causing terror and destruction but in my thoughts it made me wonder what it was. Outside of my window, I heard the owls hoot and insects chirp their night song but at the corner of my eye I saw movement then a voice. "Can't sleep?" I heard Jem say lightly but he still somehow scared me and once he realized after I put my hand to my throat in defense. "I didn't mean to startle you." Jem apologized and hid a grin on my behalf.

"It's alright," I said as I clicked on my lamp which rested on the table side next to my bed. I rubbed at my eye and peered at him through squinted lashes. "What are you doing?" I asked as I sat up in bed and leaned on the back board and waited for him to reply.

"Spirits like us don't have the ability to sleep," Jem said sadly. "So in a way I am restless." He bit his lip and looked down at the floor. "I should be fine though, Cora."

"It makes sense," I told him. "Would it make it any easier for you to..." My voice trailed off, debating on whether or not I should invite him to lay down next to me. The thought of someone else in my bed aside from myself, caused my heart to skip yet again. What was so special about Jem that made me body do things that it shouldn't? In the time that I had lived here, it never occurred to me that I never even had a single person over as guests let alone a man but this was Jem. A spirit that had died here and can't seem to find any peace. I promised him that I would help the best I can to get him the answers he needed. The only thing was...Where was I even supposed to start? In a sense, however, asking Jem to lay down next to me was still innocent especially in that department but as I sat there, with my bed head and sleepy expression, it made me wonder if me asking was a mistake and since Jem hasn't responded; I felt a surge of heat rush to my cheeks. I bit my lip and looked away, placing my gaze on my cell that was on the nightstand. The screen black and on charge. "I'm sorry..." I began but Jem slowly raised a hand to stop me.

"You don't need to explain anything," he assured me with a smile. "The nightmares that you have been having must not be easy for you." The look that he was giving me made my insides churn and yet again I questioned why he made me feel this way. I haven't tried dating or anything of the sort but the thought was running through my mind made me think. Does Jem care about me? Like in that sort of way or was it more friend than..?

"I've been on my own for the longest time," I gave him a half grin as I tried my hardest to explain. "As you already know, I grew accustomed to being alone and a part of me is truly scared of what is to come." I made the confession as easy as drinking water. The fear that I felt was still there right in arms reach just waiting to escape. It lived inside of me, like a virus, dormant and waiting. For how long....I don't know. These nightmares had a vice wrapped around my very soul and what these beings wanted from me were unknown. "I have no clue why these beings want me but it's enough for them to crave. To taunt me until hey get it"

"Do you believe that these dreams are real?" Jem asked with a hint of concern, peaking his tone and I quickly nodded in return.

"If I had some type of power ability and seeing spirits wasn't real." I attempted humor but it didn't ease the tension that I was feeling. "So yes I do believe that these nightmares or whatever they are...is real." I licked my lips and continued wearily. "I'm hoping that Cyrus is doing his part in searching up whatever is happening to the both of us."

"I doubt that he has," there was a hint of mistrust in Jem's tone as he spoke of Cyrus that I instantly caught. I looked back at him and saw that he had rolled his eyes back. "I already know that I can't trust the guy but how can you?"

"I'm not trusting him," I said back in a tone that reminded him of who I was. "I am being on guard and super cautious." I wasn't around many people but I also learned the true value of trust. It needed to be earned one way or the other. It 'trusting others'' wasn't on my bucket list. I think it never will be if I was being honest with myself. I threw my blankets off of my legs and stood all the while relieving myself of any tiredness that might have come over my body.

"So trust but also vigilant?" Jem's eyes seemed to say, No damn way am I trusting some guy that I don't even know. To which I couldn't blame him. Neither of us knew Cyrus and with him just showing up at random soon after the mental connection that he did on me, it raised red flags for the both of us. It made me feel uneasy about the entire situation but there wasn't anything done about it. How would I know how to place a block up on someone who willingly chose to stalk me and come to my home unannounced? In my opinion, however, I was still new and quite inexperienced at this power thing. As if sensing my tension, Jem said softly, "Cyrus showing up yesterday wasn't at all your fault Cora." As Jem was saying this, however, I had been walking towards my door to head to the kitchen to make some tea to calm my nerves but as Jem said this, I turned.