Haunted

Three

"Bria?" the voice repeats, louder this time.

Where did Sam go?

He was right here, right in front of me.

And now?

Now he's just . . . gone.

A part of me wonders why I'm even worrying about him. Didn't I want him to leave me alone? I've been trying to ignore every specter I cross paths with, so why should Sam be any different?

Because he went and jumped between me and the darkness.

Fuck. I have to find him.

"Bria?"

The voice sounds urgent.

As much as I'd like to pretend I can't hear it, I'm pretty sure I recognize who it belongs to. So when the thud of footsteps rushes towards me, I rotate my head to the source of the sound.

Two figures are sprinting through the shadowed area beneath the broken lampposts. One by one they leap over the worst of the shattered glass, and when the faint light from the dormitory shines on their faces, my guess is confirmed.

Myka and Caleb.

Myka reaches me first. She slides to a halt so abruptly that Caleb bumps into her. He curses, but she pays him no attention as she crouches in front of me. Beside her, Caleb rubs his chest and does the same. Together, the two of them gaze down at me in concern while I remain curled up on the sidewalk.

"Hey," Myka says gently. "What's going on?"

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Caleb reaches his hand out like he wants to touch me, but he hesitates.

I stare at them blankly, then do another search of the area around us.

Still no Sam.

No malicious spirit either.

Problem is, I'm not entirely sure if the latter is a good thing or a bad thing.

Myka and Caleb are looking at me expectantly, so I slide a hand over my cheeks to make sure no tears remain before carefully climbing to my feet. They follow.

Moving slow, I think of an excuse to get rid of them and keep my expression neutral. But once my back shifts, I'm unable to maintain the calm appearance.

A pained gasp escapes my lips.

My entire body tenses, and the movement sends something warm dripping down my spine. I bite down on my tongue, struggling to conceal any outward emotion, but the wet fabric of my shirt is brushing against the injury and making me nauseous.

Great.

What sort of scar am I going to have this time?

Myka notices my wince. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" Her eyes dart between me and our surroundings, like she's waiting for something to jump out of the darkness.

"You're freaking us out a bit," Caleb adds when I don't say anything. I open my mouth, ready to lie, but laughter fills the air and diverts my thoughts. We turn to see people heading our way.

The sight of the broken lampposts makes the small group of students pause, and a few of them pull out their phones to take pictures. None of them seem bothered though. Two of the students even giggle like children as they hop over the glass shards that are scattered across the path, while the others make a smarter choice by avoiding it altogether and cutting through the grass.

Myka watches them as they casually walk by.

"We should get inside," she states.

More students appear behind the first group, probably heading back to the dorms after eating their dinner. I imagine most of them will pass by the broken lights like the other students did, without giving it much thought. But there are always outliers. So what happens when someone gets curious and decides to question what happened?