To Love A Ghost

REFLECT -2

I came out of the shower after about an hour. I changed into my pajamas and sat on the bed for hours thinking of what to do before going to sleep.

"Kara." I whispered to myself as her name popped into my mind.

Picking up my phone, I dialed her number and called her. she answered after a few rings.

"Hey best friend." She said happily. 

"Hey Kara." I said in a low voice. 

"What's wrong?" She asks. 

"It.... It happened again. This time it was the gardener that Mr Patrick hired."

She gasps then finally asks in a worried tone.

"Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?"

"I'm fine. He didn't do anything. At least he didn't hurt me."

"Thank goodness." She sighs. 

"Are you going to be able to sleep tonight or do you want to stay up late and talk?" She asks. 

"I.... I don't know. I want to try on my own this time but if I fail, can I call?"

"You can call anytime. I'll be ready to sacrifice my sleep. Did you call the police?"

"I didn't. I don't..... Know whether I should or not."

"If he didn't cause you any harm then I don't think it'll be that serious. Just make sure you're always safe. Are you willing to talk about it?" She asks. 

"Yeah." I say and we spend a few minutes talking about what happened. I deliberately decided to leave out the glass that hit Mr Johnson and Kyle because she wouldn't understand the situation with him.

By the time we're done talking it's gotten late and it's time for me to pray for Kyle's spirit. We say our goodbyes and I head to the living room. Before praying, I make sure the doors are locked and windows are closed. This time I put a few chairs by the door to keep it completely closed just in case Mr Johnson comes back. After I'm done with all that, I go to the alter and pray for Kyle. When I'm done praying, I go back to my room and sit on the bed for a while.

"Can I come in?" Kyle asks from the wall behind me. 

"Yes." I say and stand up as he comes into the room.

He comes in and the first thing I notice is that I can clearly see him now. His body isn't as faint as it was before. We stare at each other for a few seconds before he speaks up.

"I came to.... " Before he finishes his sentence I quickly walk over to him and stop right in front of him.

He remains quiet for some time and I speak up.

"I can feel it when you touch me. It's like the touch of a normal person. Is it the same for me if I touched you, or would I go right through you?" I ask.

He looks at me in confusion for a few seconds then answers.

"It... It's the same. You're the only one who can actually see and hear me so to you, I'm just a normal living human." He says and I quickly wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. 

"Thank you." I say as tears start to well up in my eyes.

He remains stiff for some time and as I'm about to let go of him, he wraps his arms around my waist and embraces me.

"Please, stay like that for a while longer." He begs me.

I start crying and eventually bury my face into his shoulder. 

I hear him chuckle a bit before he speaks into my ear.

"You know, I'm a ghost but you kind of make me feel human again." He says and that makes me calm down a bit. 

"Do you want to.... Talk about what happened?" He asks a bit hesitantly.

I let out a sigh then nod my head to let him know that we can talk about it.

The first thing I start by telling him is why I was traumatized.

FLASHBACK

"Mia!"

"Yes Dad!" I shout and quickly rush out of my room. 

"Go and get me a bottle in the fridge." He commands and I do as he says.

I was seventeen at the time and all I was focused on was the book I was eager to finish typing. As for my father, alcohol was all he ever knew and all he ever wanted. It's his third bottle today and he's practically drunk to stupor. As for my mother, she left a few minutes ago to go and buy some groceries by the nearby store.

I took the bottle and handed it to him. As I was leaving, he called out to me and told me to sit next to him.

As an obedient child, I did as he said.

"Do you love Daddy?" He asks.

I hesitate to answer but still do as not to annoy him.

"Yes."

"Then come and sit on my lap. I want to hold my baby girl for a while." He smiles. 

"I.... I can't. I need to go back to my room." I say and slowly stand up to leave.

Mom always warned me to stay away from Dad whenever he was drunk and I wanted to do just that.

"Don't leave just yet." He says and takes a hold of my hand.

His grip is so strong that it starts to hurt.

"Dad you're hurting me!" I yell as tears start to well up in my eyes.

"I wouldn't hurt you if you just listened to me."

"Let go!" I scream and yank my arm out of his.

I turn to run up the stairs but he grabs my hair and pulls me back. 

I scream in pain and grab the nearest thing to me, the umbrella that was hung up on the wall. 

His grip on my hair is tight and painful but I still manage to turn and hit him on the head with the umbrella. He wails in pain and let's go of my hair.

"You stupid and naive girl! Look at what you've done!" He yells and grabs one of the empty bottle.

He smashes the bottle against the wall and comes closer to me.

"You've always been a burden." He starts.

I start crawling up the stairs while still looking at him.

"I've always wanted to get rid of you but your stupid mother wouldn't let me. She should have had an abortion while she had the chance." He says and tears start rolling down my face.

I never knew he felt that way about me.

"Just die already!" He screams and lunges at me with the bottle.

I scream at the top of my lungs when he uses the bottle to cut my left arm. The pain is so excruciating that I kick him off the stairs and try to get up but the minute I lean on my injured arm, a gush of blood flows out of the wound and I scream again.

That instant, the door to the living room bursts open. Standing at the door is my mother. She looks at us in shock and the next minute she grabs the broom that was next to the door and attacks my Dad.

He tries to fight back but she hit him so many times that he falls to the ground and eventually she knocks him out. The whole time I had been holding on to my arm to help slow down the bleeding but it was no use. The wound was too deep and I had already lost so much blood.

"Mia! Mia! Stay with me! It'll be okay." She says in a panic. 

"Mom, mom please help me." I cry out to her.

I suddenly feel dizzy and everything around me starts to fade. I tried to stay awake but I couldn't do it. I had lost too much blood. The next thing I knew, I fell into a deep sleep.

"When I woke up I was in a hospital room, I was scared to death and it took the doctors a while to stabilize me." I tell him.

I was laying on the bed and he gently played with a few strands of my hair as I told him the story. He was seated next to me and was quietly listening to what I said.

"Where was your mom?" He asks. 

"She was trying to find a lawyer."

"What for?"

"Apparently my father died from the loss of blood and all the injuries he took. He died a few minutes after the paramedics started attending to us. The police said my mother murdered him."

"Was she found innocent?" He asks and I go quiet for a few seconds. 

"No. She was sentenced to thirty five years in prison."

He stays quiet after that and I get up. I lean onto the edges of the bed and look at my laps.

"She died a year later because she committed suicide in prison. She couldn't take it anymore. She was too fragile." I smile. 

"I still miss her." I finish off.

"You need to get some sleep Mia." He says and gets off of the bed. 

"Kyle?" I call out to him before he disappears into the wall.

"Yeah." He looks at me over his shoulder and I say what's on my mind. 

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you warned me."

"Shut up and go to sleep Lavenski." He says and disappears into the wall.

I flop onto the bed and close my eyes.

Kyle. I say his name in my head and let out a sigh.

"Who are you really?" I whisper and drift off to sleep.