Chapter 323: Ghost Of A Friend
"Syd!" Alison's echo wavered before me, her blue eyes only a mirage of their old vibrancy. "Oh my God, Syd! You can see me!"
I glanced at Gram, unable to speak, unable to move, my entire body frozen in grief.
This could not be happening.
Gram waved at the echo. "You must go back," she said. "We did not summon you, ghost."
Alison ignored her. "I don't know what happened," she said, speaking rapidly, shooting off her narrative like machine gun fire, "I was driving, then there was water everywhere, Syd, it was dark and then I saw this light, but it was so bright and I was afraid. Then I saw Mom." She sobbed once. "She was crying! Syd, everyone was crying and my car, what happened to my car?" Alison spun around in a circle before returning her attention to me. "Where are we? You can see me!" She tried to hug me, but her echo only had enough substance there was soft resistance before she went right through me.
My blood ran cold as the vampire virus pulsed when she passed over it.
She turned around, shock on her face to find herself on the other side of me. "Syd?" She whispered my name though she suddenly looked more tangible. Had the jewel done something to her? "What's going on?"
"You already know," Gram said. "You're-"
I cut her off before she could finish. Gram scowled at me.
"You can't keep her like some sort of pet." My grandmother's lips pulled tight. "You have to send her back."
I looked in Alison's pleading eyes as Gram went on.
"This isn't your friend, girl," she said with a sigh as she sank to the floor, arms around her skinny knees. "Remember that. This is the echo of who she used to be. Just a sliver of her. And she will remain just a sliver of herself for as long as she is here. She will never change, never learn, never grow." Gram's voice was very sad. She wasn't really helping. "The Alison you knew has already gone on."
I knew without a doubt Gram was right. I was staring in the eyes of the last gasp of my friend, the part of her that wasn't eternal, the mortal bits carrying the weight of her existence. And yet, looking at her, seeing her again, knowing her death had been my fault, it was so hard to turn my back on her, to stuff her into the darkness again.
"Syd," Alison said, ghostly fingers on my cheek. "Please. Save me."
What could I say to that?
Gram shrugged though I could tell she was unhappy. "The echo won't last long outside a body without something to feed it. She'll fade away eventually, if you're willing to watch your friend go through that."
I couldn't meet her eyes. Instead, I turned my back on Gram and left, the weeping and thankful spirit trying to cling to my arm, Charlotte striding along beside me with a disapproving look on her face.
Charlotte was obviously watching what Gram had done and had the wall open before I had time to puzzle out how I was going to get out of there. Alison stayed quiet at least, all the way up and into the main part of the mansion. I let the weregirl handle the stones again and waited for her by the door, not wanting another chewing out over taking off without her.
It wasn't until I approached the main foyer I stopped cold.
Charlotte's rueful smile told me she knew what I was thinking.
What was I thinking? I couldn't just walk out there into a room full of witches with a ghost hanging from me. While normals wouldn't see her, witches certainly would.
"Al," I said. "You have to make yourself invisible."
She shook her head, pouty, no meeting my eyes. "That doesn't make sense," she said.
I sighed and relented. Fine. Let her pretend she didn't know she was dead.
I wound some spirit magic around her, drawing her to me. Instead of swallowing her like Gram had done, I pulled her in to share my space. I heard her gasp, the tension in her echo, but she didn't fight me. In fact, she was suddenly so taken by the glowing gem now also in the middle of her she stayed quiet until I reached my room.
Charlotte closed the door behind me before speaking. "Remain here," she said. "I must speak with the others."
She was taking the whole bodywere thing kind of seriously, but I was happy to stay put for the time being and didn't give her a hard time.
Not yet.
She left, though I knew she hated to go. It wasn't until the wood thudded shut that Alison peeked out. Talk about freaky. She peered over my shoulder, from my shoulder, and shuddered just enough I felt it.
"I don't like her," she whispered. "She scares me." She pulled free of me, though I felt the vampire virus hesitate to let her go. Did she seem even more solid now?
This could be a problem. What did Gram say about a something feeding her?
Alison looked around before turning to me, hugging herself. I'm not sure why I found it funny she was dressed in jeans and a sweater, hair in a ponytail just like always. What was I expecting? Wings and a harp?
"Syd, what is this place? What is going on?"
I sighed and sank into a chair and watched her do the same. She didn't fall through it at least. So no additional creep factor there.
"I have a lot to tell you," I said. "But not much time."
Alison wrung her hands, crying, ghostly tears glinting on her cheeks. "I don't understand," she wailed. "Mom was there, I tried to talk to her. She was crying so hard, Syd." Alison stood and paced. "No one would talk to me." She stopped, caught my eyes. "But I felt you, somehow." She frowned. "I knew it was you. It was dark where you were, but I went anyway. The light." She shuddered. "Syd, please tell me what happened."
"Al," I whispered, "I'm so sorry. The reason no one could see you, would talk to you... you're dead."
Alison froze, shaking her head a little. But she didn't run away, didn't scream. And after a moment she nodded.
"I know," she whispered. Looked up and met my eyes at last. "I think I knew then, Syd."
"Al," I said, "I'm so sorry." My guilt rose up again. "I wanted to talk to you, but there was so much going on and I just didn't... this is my fault."
Alison sat down again, arms wrapped around herself. "I remember water," she said. "So cold."
I nodded heavily. "Your car was in the lake." I hesitated, reached for her. "Al... was it... an accident?"
I might as well have slapped her. She surged back to her feet and stumbled away. She was definitely more solid. When she ran into the end table in her effort to get away from me, it rocked ever so gently.
Damn. What had I done?
"Of course it was an accident!" Alison's anger actually made me feel better. "What, did you think I killed myself?" She snorted and turned away, her old bitch persona shining through. "Over you? Don't flatter yourself."
"Then what, Al?" Maybe if I made her face her death, she'd be able to move on. As much as I wanted to keep her with me, this was no time to have a ghostly girl with a damaged essence hanging around me. The best thing I could do for her was get her to cross back through to the light.
Tears welled in my eyes as she shook her head, anger gone. "I don't remember. I was just driving, you know?" She smiled at me then. "Listening to that band, you know. We love them."
I just nodded, no idea which of the dozens of bands she adored she was talking about.
The air in the room grew cold, as if someone sucked out all the heat. I stood up, drew my power around me even as Alison once again sank down.
"I wish I knew what happened," she said as I turned in slow circles, frowning, searching for the source of whatever was going on, only half listening to her. "I've driven the lake road a million times."
A band of power suddenly snapped around the room, trapping me inside. I pushed against it, tested it. When I did, a flare of lavender magic answered.
Pressure built inside the room, pushing me down, trying to crush me. I drew Alison's echo to me while I formed a bubble of power around me and shoved back.
Surely the Dumonts weren't so desperate they would attack me openly?
The huge window at the far end of the room slid open and two familiar figures oozed through, one smirking and licking his lips, the other smiling at me like I might be good to eat.
I was wrong. They were that desperate.
***
