Soul Salvation

Rania groaned through her sleep as a chill wind settled over her, the cold bringing her from her slumber as she tried to burrow further under the covers. But nothing seemed to help. The cold in the room was bone chilling, and as Rania sleepily opened her eyes, gaze meeting the wall in front of her as she was laid on her side, she vaguely remembered the room getting stuffy earlier that day. She had opened the window to get the air moving, but she could have sworn she closed it before she went to bed.

Sighing, Rania sleepily kicked the covers from her legs, eyes half closed as she got out of bed and trudged her way across the room. She blindly reached out, fingers grasping the ledge of the window, and pulled down. Met with more resistance than she ever remembered having with that window, Rania forced her tired eyes open a little farther. Her brow furrowed as she realized the window was already closed when she got up. There was no breeze coming into the room from that point, but she still felt frozen inside.

Rania wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them to keep warm as she looked out the window. The moon was full that night, the trees in the forest unmoving. Shaking her head, as if it would help everything make sense to her, Rania turned and headed to her bed, intent on getting a few more hours of sleep. But what she saw standing near her closed bedroom door caused her heart to fly up through her throat, nearly choking her.

There by the door was the figure of a man, eyes piercing Rania through the dark. She wanted to scream, but when her mouth opened nothing came out. She was completely mute, eyes wide as she watched the man.

Rania stumbled as she backed away, realizing she really had nowhere to go. Her heart was beating wildly, threatening to kill her on the spot as the man slowly stepped forward. Feeling the hot sting in her eyes, Rania was certain she was about to break down and cry.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, voice wavering as the first tear fell from her eyes. She was certain this was the same figure she had seen the other night, and this time he had found her.

Suddenly the figure in front of Rania seemed less tense, stepping forward uneasily.

"I don't mean to frighten you," a smooth, male voice called out, though it still wasn't very reassuring to Rania.

"Who are you?" she whispered back, hitting the wall behind her. She watched as the figure stepped forward once more, the stream of light from the full moon falling over him. Rania's eyes widened as the man standing before her almost seemed to flow in the light. If she wasn't mistaken she cold see the shape and outline of her bedroom door right through him.

"You don't have to be afraid. I just...I want you and your family to leave my house. Now. You're...you're not welcome here," the man ordered, his voice calm yet commanding. Rania's eyes widened by the second.

"Your house? You must be mistaken. My parents bought this house nearly a month ago. We own it now," Rania explained, her fear waning as she realized that this man, whoever he was, was not going to hurt her. "Tell me your name..." she then ordered, eyes narrowing in curiosity.

"Brian Haner."

Gasping, Rania nearly fell onto her rear, her legs almost giving out. Her eyes were wide as she worked things together in her mind.

"Are you a ghost?" she finally asked. "You're the man that built this house and died here, aren't you?" she pressed further, growing more intrigued by the minute.

"Look, I just want you and your family to leave me in peace. I want to be alone," Brian said solemnly, and if Rania was seeing things correctly she could have sworn she saw sadness in Brian's dark eyes.

"The kids at school are never going to believe this..." Rania muttered to herself, taking a seat on her bed. She had long forgotten the cold that had swept into her room. "What the Hell...I shouldn't even believe this! Ghosts don't exist."

"Tell your parents I want them to leave," Brian ordered, unsure of what to do with the situation at hand. It wasn't often he was able to make contact with others.

"You're just a figment of my imagination," Rania finally concluded, a smile tugging at her lips for a moment before her eyes connected with Brian's. "I'm going to go back to sleep and when I wake up, this will have never happened. This is why Rani needs her sleep," she said, referring to herself in the third person.

Pulling back the covers of her bed, Rania laid back down pulling the duvet over her, and without another word she closed her eyes. In only a few moments, sleep consumed her, leaving Brian all alone in the center of the room.