SHADOWS OF KAYLA

NOT HUMAN

Festus.

Okay, girl, that was totally far-fetched.

Why does she want to come to my house?

I bet she read all the messages of suspicion that poured out of my stares.

“I have every reason to take you for a terrorist, or a thief, or a kidnapper disguised as a high school girl, or someone working in cohorts with some bad guys to attack me. Did James send you here?”

“Please,” she cut in desperately with clasped palms. There was direness in her eyes, and her countenance suddenly grew bluer than I expected. It didn't rule out the fact that I was starting to have second thoughts about her. It could be that James or Vanessa sent her to spy on me. To be honest, I didn't trust dad so well not to be involved.

“I really need your help. I'm not a bad guy or whatever. Infact, I am nothing near whatever you must be thinking right now. I just don't feel it's safe for me talking to you out here in the open, or where people are…”

“So there's no people in my house?” I interrupted.

“I didn't mean it that way. I just…I just thought…hhh…look, you're the only one who can help me right now. At least from what I know now.”

“I am the only one who can help you?” I laughed. It was starting to get annoying. I watched people throw questioning stares my way again, which irked me.

“You see? That's why we have to talk somewhere extremely private,” she told me, likewise noticing how people were staring.

“Or if you have somewhere secluded we can talk too, I'm fine with it. We just shouldn't be talking out here. Please.”

I had a hundred reasons not to let go with me, but I allowed it anyway, preparing for whatever was coming. I said nothing and walked on, sure that she was following behind me.

“I'm behind you. Just pretend like there's no one,” she said.

***

Kayla.

“Water?” He offered nicely.

I shook my head gently, “No thanks,” forcing a smile and folding my hands politely over my legs as I watched him place the glass of water on the table.

He sat on the sofa across from me and clapped anxiously with a sigh.

“So, can we get talking?”

I did a weird smile and nodded, trying not to look into his eyes, they were intimidating.

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“I'm Kayla,” I introduced myself, feeling a little off that I had not done that in the first place. I was getting more scared of what was going to happen in that living room in the next few minutes.

“Festus,” he responded ever so casually, making me get the feeling that I was going to return home with disappointment.

“I need help, your help,” I started straightforwardly.

“With what?” Festus asked.

“I need you to help me deliver a message to my house. Specifically to my dad. There's something urgent going on that I have to alert him about,” announced quickly, only then raising my face to meet his.

.He looked straight at me for seconds without saying a word, and the whole situation with him was starting to tire me that I almost stood to leave, in my head.

“I don't get you. You're saying you need to deliver some information to your dad through me?”

I nodded affirmatively.

“Why can't you do it yourself? Why do you need a complete stranger to help you with that?”

He then squinted his eyes suspiciously at me.

“Did you run away from home?”

I figured it was going to be so much harder convincing him than I had planned.

“I didn't run away from home.” I blurted confidently.

Only if this jerk knows what I'm going through right now.

He should be grateful he's not like me.

“Then why don't you want to do it? Or are you in some kind of danger?”

“It's a dangerous situation anyhow. There's going to be lives at stake if I don't get this message to them,” I announced as desperately as I could, watching him lean back in the sofa with more confusion.

I prayed I wouldn't have to reveal that I was a ghost for him to help me.

“You realize how ridiculous this sounds, right?” He asked me.

I sighed exhaustedly.

“Look, there's a lot of things I can't explain right now. I just need you to get a pen and paper, write what I'm about to say and help me deliver it to my house…please.”

He chuckled,

“Okay, what? You can't write?”

He stopped smiling when he saw that I wasn't finding anything amusing.

Hell yeah, I would write an epistle and paste it all round the walls of my house for everyone to see if I could.

Humans are so…

I knew I would be able to write a message myself, if I tried hard with my newly discovered ability, but I didn't want to risk the chance of the message not getting seen again. I needed someone to deliver the message directly to dad, so that there's no chance of him not getting my message.

“Listen, Festus. Whether or not I can write, help me do this. I promise I wouldn't have even approach anyone if the situation were in my hands.”

“Fine. But can I ask why you approached me? I'm in a bit of a situation myself, you see? And I have reasons to believe you approaching me is someone's ploy.”

“For God's sake can you just help me?” I blurted impatiently, my voice louder.

“I swear I wouldn't even ask for help from anyone. And do you think I'm not writing because I don't want to? It's because I can't write. I would talk to Dad myself if I could, but he won't hear me. I'm so angry sitting here in front of you right now. But you're the only one who can see me,”

“It's not my fault I'm a ghost.”