Seven Souls

Liar

Sophia’s POV

I took off my sunglasses, staring at the tall brunette woman with a smile on my face.

“Who’s she again?” Milo asked, and I slapped his arm to silence him as I watched Kylie rub her bump, stopping in her tracks.

That caught Marley’s attention, and she sighed helplessly at us. “That’s Kylie, Christiana’s sister,” I answered.

I can’t believe I finally found Kylie. The corner of my lips twitched into a small smile, glad to see someone I know.

“Yeah…” Milo started and turned around to look at me with a teasing smirk. “How will you explain to her what happened?” He trailed off and my smile disappeared.

“Stop giving her a hard time, Milo,” Allegra scolded him and he narrowed his eyes at me while I stuck my tongue at him.

Allegra was right, though. The past two weeks were the toughest. You don’t wake up every day in a coffin buried six feet underground.

Well, nothing has been ordinary in my life for the past two months.

Two weeks ago.

My eyes flew open, seeing nothing but darkness. Since I was claustrophobic, I felt my chest tighten, making it hard for me to breathe.

It took me a second to realize I was in a coffin and it made me panic more, so I started banging on the closed casket, screaming for help at the top of my lungs.

This went for god knows how long until someone finally heard me. “The sound is coming from that grave,” a disembodied voice croaked out, and I stopped banging on the casket.

“We shouldn’t mess with dead people.”

“There’s an alive person down there calling for help. Bring that shovel and help me now!”

“That’s Hazel’s grave.”

Next thing I was out of the coffin, lying down on the dirt and staring at the dark sky. A shiver traveled down my spine at the chilly breath and the light dress I was wearing wasn’t helping.

I was still breathing hard, hearing tons of questions from the strangers who had just helped me.

“What day is this?” I asked after I calmed down.

No one answered, probably still freaked out from finding an alive person buried, or a dead person alive in general.

“911, what’s your emergency?” I heard the faint sound of the operator.

I sat up and looked at the teenage girl, who held the phone with shaky hands. “Um…” she stammered, and I took the phone from her grip, hanging up.

“Telling them you found an alive person buried isn’t a good idea, you know why?” I asked her and she looked at her friends before locking her gaze with mine.

“Because… you’re supposed to be… d-dead,” she faltered, and I forced a tight-lipped smile.

“Clever girl.”

I pushed the phone to her chest and got up, looking at the other three strangers. All of them were teenagers, ranging from fifteen to eighteen.

“Beside me looking like a total zombie, what are you four doing in a cemetery in the middle of the night?” I asked, crossing my arms against my chest.

My gaze fell on the ouija board one of them was holding and I rolled my eyes.

“H-how are you…” the girl who was calling the operator mumbled before falling unconscious to the ground.

“Is she okay?” I asked, looking oddly at their pale faces.

It wasn’t long enough before the other three followed their friend, falling unconscious as if they had seen a ghost.

In this case, I was the ghost.

Back to the recent time.

“She traumatized those teenagers,” Milo teased, and I threw him a death glare.

Yes, those teenagers had the right to be traumatized. I still can’t forget their pale faces or how they screamed after they woke up.

I didn’t leave them until I made sure they were okay, and also made them drive me to Allegra because she’s the expert in my situation.

So, my body rejected me and I was in the body of Hazel Brown, a seventeen-year-old teenager who died in a car accident just a few days before my soul jumped into her body.

Those teenagers were her friends, and they were trying to contact her through the ouija board. Instead, I woke up in her body.

How was that possible? Allegra didn’t find an honest answer to that question. All she said was astral projection, known as a soul traveling.

And we are currently waiting to hear from a friend of hers who is an expert with soul traveling.

“So, how are we going to explain this to Kylie?” Milo asked, his eyes darting between Allegra and me.

I wanted to bring up how we explained this mess to Hazel’s friends. But then I remembered how terrified they looked.

Well, they had every right to be terrified. Their dead friend was alive. The only difference was my soul, which was just an intruder.

I have to remind myself that Kylie is pregnant, and stress isn’t good for her baby.

“You killed her sister. Do you think she will be glad to meet you?” Milo didn’t give up on getting an answer.

He was right, Kylie finally had her sister back. I was about to tear her apart from her sister again.

I nibbled on my lower lip as I looked at Allegra for an answer. Her eyes held some worries, and I knew she didn’t know what to say.

There was no answer again.

“Great, no answer.” He retorted with a mockery grin and Allegra shot him a warning glare. His expression morphed into a blank one and he looked forward.

“I hate being the sidekick who doesn’t know any part of the plan,” he complained and I knitted my eyebrows, turning my gaze to him.

“Because there’s no plan, dumbshit,” I added, and Allegra let out a deep sigh.

There was never a plan. We just follow the wave and wait for the outcome. Hopefully, it won’t be pretty bad.

“I’ll just go to her, and be honest,” Allegra confessed and looked at Milo, who rolled his eyes. “Stay in the car you two, especially you Milo,” she trailed off in a strict tone.

He didn’t bother to answer, and I decided to break the tense weather. “Marley left,” I spoke out, seeing her enter the candy store.

Allegra offered me a small smile before opening her door and leaving me with Milo, who didn’t waste a second to annoy me.

“So, dead girl, how excited are you to see the girl who stole your body?” Milo nagged me and I threw him a death glare.

She walked to Kylie, and I chewed on my lower lip, already feeling my nerves crash as she started talking to Kylie, who was smiling nicely at her.

“You never said how you got caught up in this mess,” he tried to have a conversation with me to make me less worried.

But this was Milo, and having an open conversation without being rude or offensive is a trait of his multiple ones.

“It was all bad luck. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I mumbled, earning a look of mockery from Milo, along with a teasing smile.

“Dead girl.” He repeated, and I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to curse him or break his nose.

I was raised among boys, and we always argued over everything, but Milo was something else.

So, I learned the best thing, ignoring him. Most of the time, I ignore whatever sarcastic, offensive comment Milo says.

I focused back on Allegra and she was still speaking with Kylie, whose smile disappeared within seconds.

Then her gaze snapped to mine with complete shock and all I could do was smile awkwardly at her.

She covered her mouth, and Allegra was quick pulling her into a hug, trying to comfort her.

“Something is wrong,” Milo muttered, narrowing his eyes as he observed Allegra and Kylie.

Kylie was shaking her head in denial, then she pulled out of Allegra’s embrace and locked her gaze with mine.

The tears ran down her cheeks as she stared at me.

I know that look on her face and I know why she’s shocked.

“Christiana lied,” I whispered.