& breakfast?
I lean back in my chair and stare at that message, unnerved. He knows where we’re staying? My heart begins pumping wildly in my chest. The last time someone found out where we were staying—it didn’t end well. I immediately push back from the table and walk to the front door to make sure it’s locked.
I double-check the alarm system when I pass by it to make sure it’s set. I check the other doors as well as every single window in the house. It takes me a while because this house is huge and there are a lot of windows, so by the time I make it back to the kitchen, I’m not surprised to see Willow is finished eating.
I am surprised to see that she’s looking at my laptop. She points at the screen and looks up at me like I’ve betrayed her.
“What’s this?”
I can’t tell if she’s upset or not. I shake my head and try to close the laptop, but she forces it back open. “Who is he?” she asks.
“I don’t know.”
“How does he know about me?”
“It’s just someone I met in a forum. I thought it was anonymous, but he figured out how to contact me.”
Willow’s jaw hardens. She stands up and paces the kitchen. “Is that why you seemed anxious while I was eating?”
“I’m not anxious.”
“You are. You checked all the windows and doors because whoever he is, he knows where we are.”
“Don’t worry. I’m overly cautious now. Everything’s locked up.”
Willow’s shoulders are tense. It’s only the second time I’ve seen her stressed while inside Layla. She pauses her pacing and says, “Why have you been talking to him? Do you want me out of this house?”
“No. I’ve been talking to him because when this first started, I thought I was going crazy.”
“Why are you still talking to him?”
“He keeps contacting me. I’m not hiding anything, Willow. He’s just adamant that he can help you, but I haven’t taken him up on the offer because it isn’t what you want right now.”
She blows out a quick, frustrated breath. Then she walks to the freezer, opens it, and grabs a half gallon of ice cream. She retrieves a spoon and sticks it into the ice cream, then takes a big bite.
“We both know what answers mean for a ghost,” she says, talking between bites of mint chocolate chip. “It means I’ll be done here. Whatever the reason is for me being stuck here, if that man is right, I’ll get unstuck. I won’t be here anymore. You’ve seen all the movies. Patrick Swayze had to die twice in that movie. Twice!”
“They’re just movies, Willow. Written by people in Hollywood who get paid to use their imagination. We don’t know what actually happens next.”
She waves her spoon at me while she paces, tucking the ice cream tub against her chest. “Maybe not, but it’s a consensus. It’s the theme in every ghost story. Every ghost is a ghost because something went wrong. They were either evil in a past life, or they have unfinished business, or they have to find forgiveness. Or give forgiveness.” She plops down in a chair at the table. Her energy is all channeled into a frown. “What if I don’t like what I find out? What if I don’t like what’s next?” She takes another bite with the spoon upside down, and then she just lets the spoon hang from her mouth while she leans forward, clasping her hands behind her head, digging her elbows into the table.
The spoon is just dangling from her mouth.
I never intended to upset her.
Before Layla and I showed up, Willow didn’t have these concerns. She didn’t even consider herself a ghost. She just existed in whatever realm she’s in, and she was content with that until I came along. Nothing good has come from her crossing into this realm.
It’s only caused Layla to stress about her fatigue.
It’s turned me into a liar.
It’s instilled a fear into Willow that wasn’t there before.
“Willow,” I say quietly. She looks up at me and pulls the spoon from her mouth. “Do you think what we’re doing is wrong? Using Layla like we’re doing?”
“Of course it’s wrong. Just because we’re able to do this doesn’t mean we should be doing it.”
As much as I don’t want her to be right, I know she is. I’ve known all along, but the selfish side of me has been excusing it because I’ve been telling myself I’m helping Willow.
But before I got