Audrey Claire - Libby Grace 01 - How to be a Ghost (6 page)

“You broke the light,” he informed me. “The energy you give off disrupts electrical devices, and if it is strong enough, it can fry them. That is the main reason you cannot use a phone, particularly a cell phone. You would break it, but if by chance you did not, your voice would come across as inhuman.”

“When I’m upset,” I whispered, and he looked at me with a question in his expression. “Back at the hardware store, the lights did the same thing. It was when that busybody Sadie Barnett told the chief my car was still parked in the lot. I didn’t tell you. George Walsh has been murdered, and my body wasn’t there.”

He nodded as if I hadn’t just told him there had been a murder.

“Ian?”

He flicked an eyebrow skyward. I wrung my hands, not sure if I wanted to learn more about him and about me, the way I was now. However, if I wanted to get out of this predicament, I had to face whatever came my way.

“Why would it be inconvenient for you if I’m a ghost? You said I feed on humans.” I almost gagged at the thought. I would fade into nothingness before I ate a person. “Is that why?”

The amusement which turned up a corner of his mouth took me by surprise, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. “By feed, I mean you absorb their energy. The only way you can exist is by taking in the energy of living beings. It is involuntary for the most part, and you cannot turn it off. Not completely. You can control the rate of absorption.”

“Do you absorb energy too?”

“You cannot convince me you have not heard of how a vampire feeds.” Skepticism dripped from his words. I resented his repeated implications of my ignorance, even if it was true.

“Of course I have. I just wanted to be sure of what is myth and what is true. You drink blood?” I ventured.

He neither confirmed nor denied, and then I had a new thought that shook me to my ectoplasmic core.

“You have been feeding on me! That’s why you said it’s inconvenient for me to be a ghost.” I paced in the space before his desk. “That’s why, isn’t it? Tell me the truth, Ian. You sucked my blood.”

I raised a hand to my neck but felt nothing. As far as I knew, there were no scars there or pinpricks. Not that I had ever looked closely. Horror struck me, and I almost wept.

“Did you suck my son’s blood too?”

“No!”

“Why should I believe you?”

The response came right away. “Because you are enough. You…
were
…enough.”

“When I lost my body, you had no one to feed off of. That’s why you went after that man.” I was thankful for the time being he hadn’t attacked Jake or Monica, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the near future. “Don’t vampires go around killing people, driven by their insatiable hunger for blood?”

He sighed. “I will tell you a few more facts, and then we will not discuss me or my kind any longer. Do you understand?”

I put my hands on my hips. “You will tell me everything I need to know until I am sure you’re not going to hurt my family and my friends.”

We had a staring contest, and I held on as long as I could. I was afraid of the odd spell he used against me, and I knew I had nothing to combat it with. I had no power, no knowledge, and no body. Who would believe me if I told them Ian was a vampire? For that matter, who would hear me? I depended on him, and he and I both knew it. Still, I held my ground. My mama had always said I was stubborn, and she was right. I would not give up.

“When I told you not to allow yourself to be seen as a ghost, I mentioned those who could banish you.”

I nodded. “Exorcism or something like it.”

“It is not just humans you have to worry about. They are nothing compared to vampires. As I said, you are a vampire’s enemy by your existence. Most of them will banish you upon sight, no questions asked, and no chances.”

A lump formed in my throat. “You didn’t.” I whispered the words.

“You are mine.”

I bristled at the words because they didn’t sound like the declaration of a lover. I hadn’t spoken two words to Ian before this incident. At least I didn’t think I had.

“A vampire does not care for much,” he said, oblivious to my offense. “He has an obligation to look after his wards—those he has made into vampires. And he protects his food source. That would be you.”

“I am not a food source.”

He shrugged. What did he care if I was in denial? I thought back to how long ago it had been since Ian moved to Summit’s Edge. Three years. All that time, I had been giving up my blood to him involuntarily, and he considered me to be his personal fresh-squeezed orange juice.

I stuck my finger out and pointed at him, my expression firm. “You will never take my blood again, nor Jake’s or Monica’s, or anyone I love. Is that clear?”

To my annoyance, he leaned back in his chair and tucked his hands behind his head. He made no attempt to appease me or to promise he would behave. I could say nothing else, but at least, he appeared to want to help me. I had to accept that much, and at some point while I searched for my body, I needed to look for an answer to how not to be a vampire’s meal.

The conversation at last turned back to how I could become visible. Ian explained I could be invisible to humans, as I was now, and visible enough to hold up clothing, or solid as if I were alive.

“Each of these states takes energy,” he told me. “Because you expect that you have to, you appear to walk on floors.”

“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I walk on the floor?”

“Is the wind confined to the ground, or does it sweep here and there, low and high?”

He had a point.

“The first time you were semi-visible was the result of a desperate need to be seen. Fear and shock at what you saw at the hardware store robbed you of visibility.”

“You’re probably right about that. I never expected anyone would…” Emotion choked me, and fear. What if someone had done the same to me but dumped my body somewhere?

“Concentration,” Ian barked. “You are easily distracted like a child.”

I compressed my lips and focused on him.

“You must learn to keep your concentration even faced with danger. If you forget for an instant, you risk exposing your existence.”

“Is that what you have to do?” I asked, curious, “focus on hiding what you are unless someone finds out and…” I gasped when I realized I’d been about to say someone might stick a stake in his heart, but I did not want to make him angry at me again. Not to mention getting staked must be a scary prospect to a vampire.

“What are you doing, Liberty?”

I smacked my forehead. Once again, I forgot about my situation and was thinking of his. He had encouraged me to visualize being visible as he explained some of the ghostly rules, and I had flickered into view but lost it the moment I began to think about him being staked.

“Sorry,” I squeaked.

“Do it again,” he instructed. “You are low on energy and will not be able to keep this up long. Under no circumstances must you ever allow yourself to deplete your stores to zero.”

“Why?”

“Concentrate,” he ordered rather than answer. I was learning Ian never volunteered information unless necessary.

I shut my eyes and visualized myself as solid. Like someone had stuck a pump in my ankle, I felt energy drain from my head to my feet. I opened my eyes and gaped at my solid form. I stayed that way for all of a minute, and then I sort of deflated, drooping to the floor, forehead resting on my hands as I bent over. My hands were still visible, but the carpet threads were defined through them.

“That’s enough.”

I looked up. “I can’t stop. One minute isn’t enough. I’m running out of time! I’ve got to talk to Monica, and I need to explain to Jake.”

He stood and strolled to the door. I floated after him, too mentally weary to walk like a normal person.

“Explain what, Liberty?” Ian stopped in the living room and faced me. “Will you say, go ahead and hold my funeral because I’m dead?”

“You are a cold man, Ian McClain.”

“So I have been told.”

I pursed my lips. He was right. I had no idea what to tell Monica and Jake, but I had to say something. Monica might have already called Clark and told him I’m missing. I wanted to head her off before she contacted Mason. I was not ready to concede defeat. That man would not get my little boy.

“How can I get a bunch of energy that will last me all day?” I bit my lip. “I don’t want to drain anyone.”

He looked at me as if he knew what I insinuated, that
he
had done his share of draining people.

“A superstore such as Walmart or Target,” he suggested. “A mall would be better.”

“Where there are a lot of people.”

“This poses more of a risk,” he explained. “You have not learned to see those who aren’t human.”

A chill raced down my spine. “Okay, so I could go during the day. That way, most likely there won’t be vampires. Right?”

“As long as you are invisible, you should be fine. However, there are sensitive humans who will feel you.”

“What about children? Aren’t young children able to see ghosts?”

“They are. However, you can suppress yourself enough that they will not. Even if there are still some who will see you, it is likely they will be too young to express what they see.”

A short while later, I left Ian’s house feeling positive and hopeful. I could do this. Without the vampire threatening me with a spell to banish me to a pit, there was no reason why I couldn’t concentrate enough to show myself to Monica. Well, not exactly solid because that took more energy than I imagined, but I could show myself enough so Monica could hear me, and that was the most important thing. If she didn’t scream her head off and phone an exorcist, everything would work out fine.

Chapter Four

In my own living room, I sat next to Monica and studied her as she watched TV. Sounds of Jake playing video games in his room reached me, and I was glad for the opportunity to speak with my friend alone. I’m not sure if it was because I was so exhausted or because Ian taught me what to look for, but for the first time, I noticed my energy increasing. Not fast, but steady. Right then, being so close to Monica, I was feeding on her. The knowledge hurt, and try as I might, I couldn’t turn it off. All I could be thankful for was that I hadn’t inadvertently sped it up, which Ian had indicated I had the ability to do.

Monica fiddled with her phone, heaved a sigh, and then pressed the button to dial. I needed to come clean now or never. Rather than just appear nearby her and scare the bejeezus out of her, I drifted into the hall and stood outside the doorway beyond her view.

“M-Monica?” I called.

“Libby!” She must have leaped over the couch because I heard a crash when she hit the floor.

“Wait,” I squeaked. “Stay in there. Don’t come into the hall.”

“Are you nuts, girl?” Intense relief filled Monica’s voice, but to give my friend credit, she did pause. “Where have you been? Get in here and let me hug you and then knock some sense into you.”

“Shh,” I whispered. “Please, keep your voice down. I don’t want Jake to come out here yet.”

When Monica spoke her voice came from nearer to the doorway. Her shadow fell on the floor, extending across to the opposite wall. All she needed to do was take a step or two, and she would know the truth.

“What’s going on?” she whispered, matching my tone. Then she gasped. “Are you hurt? Did someone… Oh goodness, Libby, don’t tell me the person who attacked George hurt you too? Whoever he is, I’m going to find him, and he’ll wish the police got to him first!”

I smiled. That was Monica. She always told me she had my back, and she had proven it more than once. I didn’t doubt her threat for a second.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what happened to me,” I said and wracked my brain for how to explain my current state. “I…I’m not like I was.”

“You mean bruises?”

“No.”

“You know I don’t like cloak-and-dagger stuff, Libby. Not when it comes to real life. Out with it. What’s up?”

I glanced down at myself and was relieved to find I could hold the semi-transparent form without much effort, but I hadn’t gathered much energy from Monica, so I didn’t know how long before I ran close to E again. I needed to tell her everything I knew. As I thought about where to start, I came to the swift conclusion that I would not reveal to her that Ian claimed to be a vampire. I still hadn’t seen any evidence. At most, he had cast a spell, but as he put it, even a human could do that. Not that I had met any with those kinds of powers. Either way, I would keep Ian’s secret for now and ponder later what it meant to my situation.

“I’m a ghost,” I blurted. “Sort of.”

“A ghost,” Monica repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Promise me you won’t freak out, okay?”

“Libby,” she warned.

I licked my lips. “Go sit on the couch.”

She grumbled, but I picked up the sound her steps receding from the doorway, and her shadow disappeared. Tentatively, I peeked around the doorframe. I thought she would be looking at me, but she sat on the couch with her back turned. I had the feeling she was nervous about learning the truth. Monica might be bolder than me and probably crazier, but sometimes I saw how she hid her fear behind her actions and her words. I knew her probably as well as her Grandmama knew her, Monica’s only remaining family. Seven years ago, Monica’s parents and her younger brother had been killed in a car accident. I had been the one to sit up all night long with her while she chattered about how much each of them had bugged her in one way or another, and I had been there when she broke down at five in the morning and cried her eyes out.

Thinking of my precious friend having to face possibly losing me too choked me up. I moved behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, but my fingers passed through. She shivered, and I pulled away.

“I woke up in Jake’s room while he slept,” I explained.

“You fell asleep holding him?” she asked, but I knew she guessed that wasn’t what I meant.

“I
appeared
in his room.”

She didn’t face me, and I didn’t move around the couch to force her to look. Choosing my words with care, I explained everything that had happened up until that point, and Monica listened. The way her shoulders drew up and how she kept tugging at her dreads, I knew she had trouble accepting what she heard. At least she hadn’t screamed yet. Then again, she hadn’t seen me with her own eyes.