Shadow Kiss

Chapter 14

What in the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn’t solve this thing in three and a half minutes! And when I had been about to tell her my answer, she interrupted me to tell me she had added on some ridiculous guess and time limit. Shortly after that she had disappeared. Did I have to call her back if I wanted to tell her my answer? Or would she come back when the five minutes were up?
I pulled at the hair on either side of my head in frustration. I was still stuck on the idea that she had somehow stabbed herself with the pocketknife, but that led to the question as to how? I recalled the girl’s questions: what was holding her back and what killed her? If the knife had killed her, then what held her back? Paralysis from fear maybe? That’s been known to happen sometimes where you become so distraught with fear your body becomes paralyzed, but that still doesn’t really answer the question on how she died. If she died by stabbing herself with the knife, the more logical question is: if that happened, how in the fuck did she not know?
I fell back against the wall and let out a scream of frustration. I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure of how much time I had left and my brain was about to explode from being able to answer one question logically only to run into a brick wall with the answer to the other question.
That’s when the image of the little girl twirling around in a circle flashed into my mind. That rip on her dress. How on earth could a little girl get a rip like that in her dress unless she got caught on something? My eyes widened in realization. That was it. THAT was the answer.
I pushed myself off the wall and walked out into the center of the room.
“Little girl! Little girl I know the answer! Please! I know the—”
“Stop shouting, I’m right here,” she huffed with a roll of her eyes.
She stood in front of the window completely illuminated by the moonlight. Her tiny arms were crossed over her chest with her doll secured tightly to her chest.
“Lucky you. You called out with only 26 seconds to spare,” she informed me tapping her foot on the wooden floor.
“So? Tell me your answer then,” she demanded.
I took a deep breath and reassured myself that there were no other answers other than this one that made logical sense all the way around.
I smiled down at her transparent face. “Well…”
****************************************************************************************
~~~~~~Zak’s P.O.V~~~~~~

It had only taken me a few minutes to find Nick and Aaron and let them know what happened. I assured them that everything would be okay, so it was pertinent that they keep investigating other areas of the house, but to stay off the second floor. Fortunately, they didn’t argue and complied.
When I had come back to the room, I had been about to rap on the door to let Aerolynn know I was back, but had stopped myself when I heard a girl yelling.
“You can’t ask him for help!”
“I wasn’t going to!” I heard Aerolynn snap back.
Everything after that was muffled by the door as their voices were too hushed now.
Figuring it was best to leave her alone to talk with the little girl I leaned up against the wall beside the door. I had stopped recording a long time ago and was now staring absently down at the LCD screen wondering if Aerolynn was ok. I tilted my head back to rest it against the wall. I should have just kicked the door in anyways ignoring Aerolynn’s protests. If I had then we could have just gotten out of here and my mind wouldn’t be so consumed with worry right about now. We could always come back and investigate this place later when Aerolynn wasn’t with us. I sighed. That didn’t matter now that I had already made my decision.
I jumped away from the wall startled when a sudden scream of pain came from the other side of the doorway.
I lifted my fist to bang on the door when I felt a small tug on my shirt. I glanced down and saw the ghostly hand of a small child. I turned and came face to face with, more than likely, the child Aerolynn had wanted to communicate with.
“What did you do to her?” I nearly growled as my hands clenched into fists.
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine. And if not?” The girl shrugged. “She’ll be spending the rest of eternity playing games with me.”
Her smile sent shivers down my spine.
“What do you want with her anyways? Why did you go after her instead of me?”
The girl’s smile faded as a look of melancholy befell her face. At that moment, she appeared to be wise beyond her years.
“I didn’t go after you because you ultimately have the same fate as me. Both of our souls are being consumed by the darkness that dwells within us. The only difference between us is: you are still alive. You have a better chance at vanquishing that darkness that is eating away at you. Since I am dead…it is slowly eating away at the little humanity I held on to when I died. It’s turning me into something vicious and cold-hearted. Even so, I want to see if I can save what little piece of humanity I have left in me. I want to try and save my soul,” she quietly confessed as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
“But what does that have to do with Aerolynn?” I asked still confused. I wasn’t even going to ask how she knew about the darkness surrounding my soul.
The girl’s eyes widened. “You can’t see? Do you not feel it when you are around her? She—”
“Little girl!” A dulled voice shouted out from inside the room. The girl sighed as her form began to fade away.
“Wait!” I quietly shouted reaching out to her. “What were you going to say about Aerolynn? Tell me! She what? She what?!”
“If you can’t see it, then I’m afraid the darkness may have already made you blind to any light that surrounds you,” she answered sadly before vanishing completely.
I stood there stunned as to what had just happened. I had just had an intelligent conversation with a full bodied apparition and for once hadn’t cared about being able to catch it on camera.
But still my mind reeled with what the girl had said.
If you can’t see it, then I’m afraid the darkness may have already made you blind to any light that surrounds you.
What had she been about to say about Aerolynn? And what was with that parting statement?
I turned around startled when Aerolynn emerged from the room breathless, but smiling and alive.
“Zak!” she breathed in excitement running toward me. I opened my arms and hugged her tightly against me. I had been so afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold her in my arms again, but I should have known my fears were for not. She really was a strong woman.
The little girl appeared behind her and smiled sadly.
“A deal is a deal. I will answer your questions,” she replied.
Aerolynn gently pulled herself away from my embrace and bent down on one knee so she could be at eye level with the girl.
“Then answer my—” I began.
“I didn’t make a deal to answer your questions. I made a deal to answer hers,” the girl interrupted.
Aerolynn nodded at the girl and flashed me an apologetic look over her shoulder. I gave her thumbs up to let her know it was ok.
“How about we start with your name and how you died,” she told the girl.
“My name…is Mary,” she began.