The boots come into focus first. Spit-polished to a shine, I recognize them immediately. My half-frozen brain refuses to let me speak his name. He paces slowly into the light of the bare overhead bulb. My gaze travels up the perfect crease of his uniform trousers as I turn to face him. I lean heavily against the work table, gripping its edges behind me.
I close my eyes against the sight, and this melts my reserve. Memories play against my eyelids, and I say his name in a half-sob.
"Henry." The shaking takes over my whole body. How is this possible? He's been dead for over 10 years. He's a ghost, a figment of my imagination. Why now?
I look off to the side as I open my eyes. He is still there, but closer now, even in my peripheral vision. I blink back the hot rush of tears.
"Hazel." His voice tears at something inside me. "How I've missed you."
"No -- " I start shaking my head, as if to shake loose the pain inside of me. I release my right hand from the table and cover my mouth. The sob still escapes. "No no no..."
He steps closer. "You think I'm a ghost, don't you?" Looking behind me, he makes a gesture with his hand. I hear Jacob grunt and slide to the ground. A scream, far off, jolts me. I look at Henry.
"Ghosts can't do spells, can they?" he says with a grin. He cocks his head and smiles, eyes searching my face. "Please don't be afraid, Hazel."
I flinch as he raises his hand again, but it is only to stroke my cheek briefly. His touch is like a whisper -- not warm, but not cold, either. Like a butterfly. I close my eyes again as he drops his hand and steps closer. I can smell the wool of his uniform as he leans in and whispers in my ear, "Come with me."
My eyes fly open and I look into his - they are morphing before me, one eye a different color than the other, one pupil fixed and slightly dilated.
This is not Henry, I think, as I grip the table with both hands again and lean away from him.
I am grabbed from the left and jerked away from this imitation of my lost love.
"Hazel!" Newt barks in my ear. Henry steps back and glares at Newt, then disappears back into the darkness.
YOU ARE READING
Dark House
Fanfiction"We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already." -J.K. ROWLING- With no magical powers of her own despite her pure-blood parentage, Hazel spent summers with her wizard cousins, Theseus and Ne...
