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Post by Friday on Jan 5, 2010 20:56:10 GMT -5
I took the proffered help and when I was on my feet, I pulled out my cell phone from my back pocket to flip it open and look at the blank screen. I hadn't looked at it since before the accident and I was almost scared to now. All those text messages from Dakota in my inbox, the picture of us as my background, him set on speed dial as two right behind my preprogrammed voice mail. “You don't have to look now, you can wait,” Allen said almost as if he was reading my mind. I nodded and the shut my phone and slipped it back into my pocket. I didn't want to deal with it now. “Can we go now?” I asked him. “Yeah, we can go, do you want to drive separately or do you want to drive together?” “Can we take your car?” I asked him not really feeling like driving over to his house. I was scared I would chicken out and not be able to go if I was driving by myself. I wanted to see them, to know that I wasn't alone. At the same time, I was worried that maybe they would blame me like I blamed myself. I know no one else blamed me, but I felt like it was my fault all the same. No one had said it at school, the police on the scene and said it was all the other guys fault, my dad repeated the litany over and over when he held me as I sobbed that none of it was my fault, that it was going to be ok. I didn't, couldn't believe any of it. Like I always blamed myself for everything, I blamed myself for this. Five minutes later, we were pulling into the driveway of Dakota's house. Allen turned off the car but neither one of us moved to open the doors. I looked up at the second floor where the window to Dakota's room was. The curtains were drawn and you couldn't see in but I knew if the curtains weren't there you could see into the room and see the white walls, and all his sports paraphernalia hanging there. “You ready?” Allen asked placing a hand on my shoulder. I took in a deep breath and held it there, for a moment before I slowly let it out and nodded. He didn't say anything just nodded back and then pushed his door open. I followed pushing my own door open. We walked up the front steps together, and we both just stood looking at the door for a moment. Allen was the first one to move, as he reached out and knocked on the door. My heart thudded in my chest and I could feel the dull ache still settled there. Even breathing seemed to take effort and I twisted my hands together in front of me in nervousness. I had never been nervous around Dakota's family before, but this time was different. Dakota wasn't here. A moment later I heard the lock turn in the door and Dakota's mom was standing there. Her hair wasn't in it's usual made up style. Her eyes were red and swollen, and you could see the tear stains on her face, and the crumpled up tissue held loosely in her hand. Despite the fact that just like me, she had probably cried since she got the news of the accident, she gave me a slight smile when she opened the door and saw me standing there. I couldn't help it, seeing her like that made me cry, and the tears started flowing again. “Oh Kasey,” she exclaimed and then came out to the front steps and wrapped her arms around me and enfolded me into her arms. Just like I wished every time she did something like this, I wished for my own mother. But right now I was more than happy to have her, and more than happy that I could be there for her, because more than anything I needed a mother figure. It wasn't long before Dakota's dad appeared at the door and seeing the rush of intense estrogen from his wife and me, that he took control and ushered us all inside. He got us sat down in the living room, and I slowly gained my my senses about me. The four of us sat down in the living room and it wasn't long that we were joined by Emma and Cade joined us too. I looked at Emma curiously, when she came and sat down in my lap, her own eyes showing the same hurt mine were. But before I could even ask, Dakota's mom answered my unspoken question. “I kept them home, I won't make them go to school at all this week if they don't want to. I'm surprised you went to school, I talked to your dad, and he told me,” she said answering all the questions I could want to have answered in that moment.
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Post by Friday on Jan 5, 2010 20:56:48 GMT -5
I swallowed the lump in my throat before I was able to say, what I had wanted to come here and say all along. “I'm sorry about Dakota,” I stumbled over his name, like it was a foreign thing to me. “Oh Kasey honey, this wasn't your fault. Don't ever think that it was,” Mrs. Woods assured me faster than I thought would be possible. The look on her face was so sincere, that since the accident, it was the first time I had truly felt like it wasn't my fault. “This wasn't your fault,” she repeated standing up to come give me a hug. With those few words, relief flooded over me. It wasn't my fault. “Thank you,” I said quietly not really knowing what else to say. “I don't know if your father told you or not, but the funeral is on Wednesday, it will be closed casket, no way to avoid that,” her voice shook as she spoke but there was still strength behind it. I hadn't thought about it before, but this was probably harder on them than it was on me. They had had Dakota for eighteen years, I had only had him for a few months. “I'll be there,” I said without a doubt. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I knew it would help in the process. I stayed there for a few hours with Allen and Dakota's parents just talking and sharing stories, and just being with other people who know how I felt, and who felt the same way. Afterwards Allen dropped me off at school to get my car, and I went home to an empty house just like it always was before Dakota came along.
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Post by Friday on Jan 6, 2010 21:38:54 GMT -5
Chapter 9: Samantha
Later that night I woke with a start, and I stared out into the black room, trying to orientate myself. I could have sworn I'd heard a dog whining and that's what had woken me up, but now staring at the ceiling and listening hard I heard nothing but my own breathing. I sat up slowly and when the blanket slipped off my shoulders I shivered in the cold air. That's when I noticed how cold my feet were. I frowned and rubbed them with my hands, they felt like ice. Reluctantly, I left my warm bed to grab socks and my hoodie doing it quickly so my bed wouldn't have time to get any colder. For some reason I wasn't tired at all despite the fact that it was four in the morning. I sat in my bed with the blanket pulled around me as I leaned against the wall. Once again I was troubled of dreams of Dakota and that unknown woman talking. I couldn't figure it out and it puzzled me. A huge part of me felt like it meant something, but the reasonable side of me said it was just a dream. I sighed, and pulled my knees to my chest and rested my head on top of them. Looking around my room, everything looked different in the dark, the bright green walls were darker, and all my pictures and other items hanging on my walls cast shadows everywhere. I was sitting there studying my room, when the noise of paper rustling caught my attention and I froze. “Hello?” I whispered into the dark, and pulled my blanket closer around me. I know it didn't make any sense, but I felt safer with my blanket around me. No voice answered my call and silence filled my room once more my ears straining to hear a sound. “I guess it was just the fan,” I told myself, thinking that maybe the blow of the fan might have rustled the papers hanging on my walls. Nothing happened for a few more minutes, and my tightened body slowly relaxed. I slipped down into my bed so that I was laying down under the covers, and closed my eyes trying to get back to sleep despite the awakened state I was in. It hadn't been two minutes when the rustling sound was back. I sat as still as possible, trying not to move. I was almost positive now that it was not just my fan blowing things around on my wall. That's when I felt something move onto my bed. I moved faster than I ever remembered moving before. I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, and my eyes were wide as I stared at the foot of my bed. What I saw astonished me. It wasn't a person, or any material item. Sitting at the foot of my bed, with it's head cocked to the side was a dark gray puppy. I stared at it and then blinked my eyes, unable to believe that it was really. However the dog didn't go away. I pinched myself, and yet it wasn't a dream, I didn't wake up and it definitely hurt a little bit. The dog crouched down into a play stance, and gave a little yip, as it hung it's tongue out panting. The only thing I could do was look at it curiously. It barked at me and pawed on the bed giving me a look that could only be described as a doggy grin. I frowned. I didn't know what to do. I was torn between going to my dad, and ignoring it and going back to sleep.
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Post by Friday on Jan 6, 2010 21:39:48 GMT -5
It was kind of like at school, when I had been talking to Amy, and when Allen had come up she had disappeared. He hadn't seen her at all, yet she had been so real to me. I wasn't one to have mental problems, and I had never had hallucinations of anything of the sorts. But now, with Amy and now this dog, I wasn't so sure. That's when another thought struck me. The dog like Amy was very bright. And this was very odd to me, I could see the dog clearly even though the room was dark. I scooted back until my back hit the wall as far away from the glowing dog as I could get. “What are you?” I asked it watching it warily. I didn't understand the dog or Amy, and was starting to think I had a very vivid imagination. Glowing dogs and disappearing girls, what was next? The dog barked at me again. “Hush,” I said automatically trying to think. As soon as the words had left my mouth, the puppy set back on it's haunches and yawned like it hadn't been doing anything at all. That just made me look at it even more curiously. It was definitely a puppy, it couldn't have been more than a few months old. The coat was a brown gray color, and if I could guess a breed I would say bloodhound. She, because it was a girl, was a pretty little thing with her folds of skin and giant paws that were bigger than she was. I would have said she was a normal dog except the silver lining that outlined her form, and if I looked carefully enough, I could see right through her. “Come here, girl,” I said quietly and patted the bed in front of me. The dog sat up and walked over to me in the distinctive clumsy puppy walk. She got to where I had patted my hand on the bed and then sat down again just looking at me. And I sat just looking at her. Slowly I reached out a hand and held it just above the silver lining around her head. She cocked her hand to the side and the pushed her headd up into my hand. I let out a gasp as she touched me but I didn't pull away. Instead of the warm fur I had been expecting to touch, the dog was cool, almost cold to the touch. Once I got over the shock of touching her cold form I stared at her in awe. I ran my hand over her fur, and it made my fingers tingle and grow cold as I continued to pet her. “What are you?” I asked her not really expecting an answer. But watching the dog I swear she understood me. Every time I said something she would thingy her head to the side and lift one ear up just like she was listening to me. When I said this she gave a low woof and then jumped off the bed. She turned to make sure I was watching her and when she saw that she had my full attention she took off at a full run. “Watch out!” I hissed at her when she was getting close to the wall. But it didn't even phase her, she didn't slow her loping run at all and continued heading straight towards the wall. I shut my eyes and cringed, and waited for the thunk, that would signal she had hit the wall but it never came. I opened my eyes and looked at the wall where the dog had been heading towards. Nothing was there. I stared at the wall for a moment longer, and then I saw the dog coming at me, walking right through the wall. I could only see her front half, and I looked at her with my eyes wide and jaw slack. This was obviously not a normal dog. I just stared at it as she loped over to the bed and jumped up on it easily to come sit in the exact spot she had been before she had walked through the wall. I reached out to her cautiously with both hands and put both of them on her. I half expected them to pass right through the puppy, but instead like before, the just met solid dog. The fur even felt normal, all soft and fluffy, except for the slight tingle it left behind on my skin. I put both hands over her body and then lifted her up into my lap still petting her. “What are you?” I asked again, and she squirmed in my arms until she could look at me. Even though dogs really didn't communicate I could easily see what she was thinking, which was probably that I was stupid and should know what she was. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe I was talking to a dog that wasn't even real. “Well what's your name? I guess I'm going to have to guess that one, huh?” I asked her still stroking her fur absentmindedly. I would worry about what she was later, I wanted something to call her first. When I asked she bobbed her head up in down in what I took as a nod. If she could understand me it didn't surprise me that she knew what a nod was and could do it as well. “Floppy, Skip, Spot, Fifi?” I asked throwing out standard dog names. She shook her head so hard that her ears flapped against her and I couldn't help but smile a little bit. “So a more human name? Maybe?” She bobbed her head once, so I was getting somewhere. “Miranda, Dixie, Roxy, Sarah,” I said listing off names. She sat still until I said Sarah and she cocked her ear up and looked at me expectantly. I took that to mean I was getting close. “Scynthia, Sylvia, Sally, Samantha?” I said and when I said Samantha she started barking and wiggling around in my lap like crazy. “Samantha,” I repeated and her tail beat against my leg, in what I took as confirmation. “Well Samantha, Sam if I may?” she nodded and I continued my sentence, “Well, I'm Kasey May Parker, and it has been interesting meeting you.” When I said this, she held up her paw, and I did the only think I could do. I followed her shake command and shook her paw.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 12:13:23 GMT -5
“Come on,” I said scooping her up into my arms, and holding her in my arms, I scooted off the bed and plopped down in my desk chair and opened up my laptop. It took a few minutes for my computer to wake up, and when it did I clicked on my Internet browser and went straight to Google. I just sat looking at Samantha, with the home page for Google pulled up. I didn't know where to start with her. The first thing I looked up was her breed. I had been right about that one at least. She was a bloodhound puppy, and compared to all the pictures online and even with her weird otherworldly attribute she was still the prettiest dog I had ever seen. It was then flipping through pictures that it finally dawned on me. It was a simple picture really that made me realize the truth. It was a Halloween picture that some family had taken. The whole family was dressed up in costumes. The dog included. It was the dog that caught my attention. It was dressed as a ghost. Then I was shocked that I hadn't seen it before. How Samantha was cold to the touch and probably why I had been getting so cold at night. The way she could run through walls and probably anything else without it bothering her or slowing her down at all. The way she glowed with a silver lining that made her look unreal. And the way my fingers tingled after running them through her fur. “Ghost...” I whispered my voice trailing off. Samantha whined in my lap and rubbed her paw across my leg. So she had gotten her message across. And I was convinced I was crazy. I was seeing ghosts.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 12:16:14 GMT -5
Chapter 10: The Runner
When my alarm went off at seven thirty I was still staring at my computer screen scrolling through pages and pages of accounts of ghosts sightings. Most of them seemed like bogus accounts to me. Hauntings of houses, damaging things, scaring people. I couldn't ever see Sam as part of any of that. She was too sweet and kind, and not at all scary like the ghosts these things described. The rest of what I found was about psychics communicating with these so called ghosts and helping people contact loved ones. I had never believed any of that. I had never thought any of it was real. But maybe it had been. If I could see and talk to a ghost dog, then why couldn't they talk to dead people too? I rubbed my eyes, and yawned. It had been a short night for me, and now I had to get up and go to school. Samantha was curled up in my lap where she had fallen asleep a few hours ago. I couldn't imagine ghosts needing sleep, but maybe it was a habitual thing carried over from their time alive. I scooped Samantha up into my arms and then sat her on my bed where she stretched and yawned before she curled back up to sleep. I stood over her looking at her for a moment before I walked away to get ready for school. I didn't understand any of it, why she was here, or why I could see her. I got ready quickly, constantly checking to see that Sam was still there. I kept thinking she would just disappear if I wasn't watching her. And if she disappeared, I'm not sure what I would do. I was half convinced I was crazy anyways by seeing ghosts. The last thing I needed was the ghost I was seeing to disappear. I gave Samantha a pet on the head before I left my room, and when I was standing in the doorway she cracked one eye open at me. When she saw that I was leaving, she hopped up off the bed and trotted over to me and sat down at my feet wagging her tail. “You going to come with me?” I asked. She nodded her head once and then trotted off down the stairs leaving me to follow. I shook my head and did the only thing I could do. I followed her. I didn't see her when I got downstairs but when I went out to my car she was sitting in the passenger seat of my locked car. I shook my head and got in. I started the car's engine and before I had a chance to back out of the driveway, Samantha whined. I looked over at her and she pawed at the button to roll down the window. I laughed and hit the button on my side and she yipped it what I hoped was excitement and leaned her head out the window and let her tongue hang out in the wind. I smiled when I saw her acting like a normal dog. Who would have guessed that my ghost dog wanted the same things real dogs did? That day it was hard for me to pay attention. Allen didn't follow me around all day, but Samantha did. She sat beside my chair in all my classes, and walked next to me in the halls. She didn't notice when people walked through her or stood on her anything. She took it all in stride like it was an everyday occurrence. Which for her it probably was. This was a new thing for me however. I still cringed whenever someone walked through her. Which that brought up another question. Why could I touch her and feel her? She just passed through any other solid object, but she was a solid, furry little puppy in my hands. I didn't understand it.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 12:18:34 GMT -5
Once again, I refused to go to sociology. What I wanted was to see Amy again. To talk to her. Because unlike Samantha, Amy could talk back and maybe, just maybe, explain some things to me. I didn't even go talk to Dr. Solon or the attendance people, I just went straight out to the courtyard and sat down at the same bench where I had met Amy yesterday. Samantha jumped up on the bench next to me and curled up but didn't go to sleep. Like me, she seemed to be waiting for something. “Hey Kasey, What's up?” Sure enough, I didn't have to wait long for Amy to show up. And today I noticed that she, like Samantha had a silver lining. It was hard to see in the sunlight, but it was there none the less. “Hey Amy,” I said easily, not really sure how to go about talking to her about what I wanted to. I mean it was hard enough seeing, and talking to ghosts, but how did you even begin to talk about it with the said ghosts. “I see you've found a friend,” Amy said nodding at Samantha who proceeded to climb over me to say hello to Amy. “Speaking of friend,” I started, stumbling over my words a little bit, “Are you a ghost?” I was still a little nervous thinking about ghosts. I had no idea what they could do. Amy clapped her hands and got excited just like a little girl would when she got a new puppy. “Very good Kasey, I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out,” she said giving me a smile. “So you knew?” “Of course I knew silly. All ghosts can spot Runners.” “Runners?” “That's what you are, a Runner, you run between Ghostland and the real world. You might have heard different names for it. The medicine man to the Indians, some psychics are real, but you can't believe them all, shamans in other ancient tribes, they've gone by different names, but the most recent one is the Runners,” Amy said causally as if this was everyday knowledge. I, however, had never heard of such a thing. “What does that mean?” I asked listening to every words she said. “It means whatever you want it to mean,” Amy said giving the most vague answer I think I had ever heard as she just shrugged her shoulders. It was frustrating to hear this, but I guess the point was for me to figure it out on my own. It was like I was told, 'Oh you can see ghosts', but I was still waiting for an answer to the now what question. “Amy, can't you tell me more than that,” I pleaded wanting a real answer. “Kasey, different people do different things. I can't answer what your path will be. I haven't been around long enough to tell you anything for certain,” she said looking away from me. This gave me a lot of insight into this 'Ghostland', probably more than what she wanted to give away. There was obviously some sort of hierarchy in place that gave different ghosts different amounts of power. And from the sounds of things, it was probably based on how long they had been around. “Alright,” I said slowly counting to ten in my head, trying my hardest not to get frustrated. “Then who do I talk to?” “I can't answer that one either,” Amy said biting her lip still not looking at me. “They will come to you,” she said quickly, as if trying not to let anyone overhear her. “When?” “When you're ready,” she said simply and then she looked around. “I have to go, I'll see you later alright?” And before I could reply, the air shimmered silver around her and she disappeared. I just stared at the spot where she had been and sighed. Sure she had answered some questions. At the same time though, she had given me twice as many unanswered questions. “Stupid ghosts,” I muttered under my breath and Samantha looked at me with doggy frown.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 12:20:26 GMT -5
“Sorry,” I apologized to her, and then petted her head. That seemed to appease her because she jumped of the bench and then walked a few steps to look at back at me. This was her actions that I had taken to mean was come follow me. So as stupid as it sounded, I followed my ghost dog out off of campus and out into the woods that surrounded the school. I sighed as we picked out way through the trees, thankful for the fact that we were following a small trial. “Sam, where are we going?” I asked her, but she didn't look up from the ground where she had her head down and was shuffling her nose through the leaves. I wasn't worried about anything happening to me, but now thinking about it, I probably should have been. I had the new found ability of talking to ghosts, which apparently made me something special, at least to this ghost world that they all inhabited. Which looked like I was a new inhabit of too. It wasn't long before I started to hear voices shouting from further along in the woods. And it wasn't long before I realized that's where Sam was leading us. I couldn't make out any of the words at first, it was just a bunch of boys from the sounds of it shouting. As we got closer I could make out the words and I didn't like what I heard. “Get up you little brat!” One of the voices shouted, and I could hear a little whimper. Samantha let out a dark and started running as fast as her clumsy little puppy legs could take her. The voices kept shouting, and the first voice that I heard was the one that seemed to be the leader of the group. It was that voice that kept shouting actual words and seemed to be making decisions. The others, of which I figured there were two, or maybe three, were just hollering and making a general racket. I followed Samantha as she dove through the trees leaving the path. I could feel branches pulling at my shirt and hair while leaving scratches behind on my arms. Finally we burst through the trees into a clearing where the source of all the commotion was coming from. Sam stood a few feet away from the group of boys and was barking wildly at them. The scene I saw before me wasn't one I was expecting to see. All four of the people there glowed with that silver lining and were all slightly translucent. There were three boys, all crowded around a little girl that looked to be about ten, while all the boys hovered around the age of fourteen. The girl was curled up on the ground covering her head, as she whimpered. “Oh hey, what's this?” One of the boys with dark hair, and definitely not the leader I had identified earlier. “It's just a stupid mutt,” the tallest of the boys, the voice of the leader said. “Get rid of it Charlie,” he said with an evil smirk on his face. Obviously none of them has seen me yet. The third boy, the one that hadn't said anything, came forward with his own smirk on his face. “Come here,” he whistled at Sam and started walking towards her. “Come here you stupid dog,” he said and then lunged for her as she started backing away from him. His lunge place him right next to her, and clumsy little Sam couldn't scramble away quite fast enough. The boy, Charlie landed a glancing kick into Sam's ribs, and she yelped and scrambled away from them limping slightly as she ran to stand behind my legs, he barking laced with little whimpers telling me that she was in pain.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 12:56:37 GMT -5
“Stop it!” I yelled and ran into the middle of them to stand over the girl. I had startled the boys and they all looked at me in confusion for an instant, and the the smirk on the leaders face returned as he took me in. “What do we have here?” he asked grinning at his two lackeys. Both the other two boys, Charlie and the dark haired one, looked at each other and grinned. “A little Runner huh? What's your name sweetheart?” he asked but didn't give me a chance to answer. Instead he lunged at me, his fist leading the way. I ducked and was able to miss the full force of the blow but his punch still glanced off my shoulder and left an ache in it's place. “Oh you think you're hot stuff huh?” He asked grinning wildly. “Leave me, my dog, and this girl alone,” I said trying to appear brave the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins was bolstering my courage quite a bit. I was older but I was by no means bigger than they were. And there was three of them, and one of me. I had no idea how to fight a ghost. “Charlie, Adam,” he said calling to his cronies, “What did this little twit say?” “Uh, she said to leave her alone boss,” The dark haired one Adam said, and just from the way he said it, and the way he spoke, I could tell he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. “We ain't going to our we boss?” Charlie asked, an expectant look in his eyes. “Of course not,” the leader said the smirk on his face growing. I started to get nervous as they all took a step closer. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had taken some self defense classes, and growing up on military bases, I had been trained to take care of myself. But I had never had to actually put those skills into use. I balanced myself on the balls of my feet ready to move if one of them did. I was more worried about the little ghost girl at my feet than I was about myself. I could defend myself, but I was guessing that she couldn't. Sam was finally quiet and I could see her pacing just out of reach of the boys. I wasn't exactly alone in this fight, but what good was a tiny puppy and a little girl against three fairly strong looking boys. I saw the three of them exchange looks, and I knew it was coming and I braced myself. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Samantha tense too, she knew it was coming. All three boys lunged for me, and as soon as they moved and ducked to the side away from the girl that was still on the ground. Adam and the leader made it to follow after me, but Charlie was held up but Samantha's teeth digging into his heel. I heard Charlie curse and try to get Samantha off of his leg, but she was firmly hooked in. So Samantha was taking care of one of them, that left me with two. Adam and the leader. Adam lunged for me again, and once again I was able to side step out of the way, and as he rushed past I stuck out my leg and and gave him a good push and he went sprawling to the ground. The other boy the leader, stood back, just watching, waiting for me to make a mistake. Adam scrambled to his feet in the leaves as he turned to face me with his lip bloodied. “That's not fair. You're a girl, you ain't supposed to be able to do that,” he complained close to whining. “Shut up Adam,” the leader snarled. “Get up! Charlie, stop playing with the stupid mutt and get your ass over here,” he snapped. And I watched as Charlie was finally able to shake Sam free and limp over to join his friends. “I'm sorry, Keith,” Charlie mumbled as he came over, which made me now surrounded by the three of them “So what's your name, Runner?” The leader, who's name I now knew to be Keith, asked me. “Kasey,” I said not really sure why I was giving him an answer. I stood there my breathing only slightly faster than my usual rate. “Ah,” he said as if my name meant something to him, “So you are this, Kasey, that everyone has been talking about. I'm surprised that you found us so fast, you obviously know what we are. Now what is it that you do?” I looked at him confused. It seemed like according to Amy and now him that there was something that I was supposed to be doing. What that something was, I really wasn't sure yet. “Well now,” Keith said when I didn't answer. “You don't know do you?” Once again I didn't answer, I just stood looking at him and with my continued silence he started to chuckle. “Oh my, boys, we have an untrained Runner. She has no idea what she can do. Not one clue do you Kasey? You know I've talked to your boyfriend, Daniel? Well, anyways, he said you would figure it out fast, obviously you haven't gotten the hang of it yet,” he said, and as he talked he walked closer to me.
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Post by Friday on Jan 9, 2010 13:00:29 GMT -5
At first at the mention of Dakota I froze. How could he have talked to Dakota. And then it hit me, Dakota, just like they were, must be a ghost to. That single thought made me happier than I thought I could ever be, especially since I was on the verge of getting beaten up. But at the same time, he was insulting Dakota. “It's Dakota,” I corrected him not replying to anything else he had said. I was still reeling over the idea, that Dakota was still here, that he was in this so called Ghostland. “Well now, feisty aren't we?” Keith asked and without a warning he threw a punch at me. I was able to jerk backwards quickly but I wasn't fast enough as his fist still clipped my face, leaving what I could already tell would be a black eye. I turned around only to find Adam waiting behind me. Instead of slowing down I took the few steps to close the gap between us and rammed my shoulder into his stomach bringing him to the ground. I heard steps coming up behind me and I took two quick steps backwards and ducked my top half down. Charlie, sailed right over my back to land squarely on top of Adam who had started to get up was knocked right back down. Charlie and Adam were a tangle of arms, legs, and silver lining on the ground as I spun to face Keith. As I turned to face him he threw another punch at my face which I had no chance of dodging. Instead of feeling an impact, a brown silver blur flew in between us locking onto his arm as the weight of it threw him off balance and spun him to the ground. Sam had saved me from at the very least a broken nose. Now that Keith was on the ground I took my chance and scrambled over to where he was laying face down. I grabbed on of his arms, and twisted it up behind him, effectively pinning him to the ground, “Get off you wench!” He yelled under me, and I just twisted his arm up more. Surprisingly, Charlie and Adam didn't do anything to get me off of Keith. The.y just stood over where I had knocked them together, staring at their downed leader. “Now, I want you to leave, and leave this girl alone, or next time I'll do more than just this,” I said to him. When he didn't move I gave his arm a good yank, and he gasped and then quickly nodded. I let go of him, and he was up in a flash as he stood in front of Charlie and Adam. “I'm not done with you yet,” he threatened, but all three of them disappeared leaving silver shimmers to fade in their absence. I turned to look around at the girl who was still curled up on the ground where she had been when I had arrived. She was watching me with intent eyes, as if I would turn on her next. “Are you ok?” I asked taking a small step towards trying my hardest not to appear threatening. Although I'm not really sure how well it worked since I had just fended off the three bully ghosts that had be harassing her. She scrambled to her feet and backed up until her back was against one of the many tree that ringed the clearing. “Hey it's ok I'm not going to hurt you,” I tried to reassure her. I didn't take another step toward her, but I wanted to. I really didn't want to scare her away though. Samantha however did not hesitate the way I did. She walked right up to the girl and sat down, wagged her tail, looking up at the shy girl. And like any alive girl I knew, she couldn't resist the charms of that sweet puppy. The girl knelt down and ran her hands over Samantha's body her loose skin just sliding around. With Sam there to help the girl feel better, I moved closer to the two, hoping that I could talk to her. She must have heard my footsteps in the leaves, because as soon as I got close she stood up from petting Samantha to watch me again. “What's your name?” I asked her, stopping where I was a few yards away. I stood with my arms at my sides and didn't make any sudden movements. “Heather,” she said quietly and I could barely hear her. “I”m Kasey,” I said and Samantha scratched lightly me at my leg and gave me a look that said pick me up, so I obliged and held the floppy puppy tightly in my arms. “You can come pet her, this is my puppy Samantha,” I said petting Samantha's head softly. I held Sam in the girl's direction and she slowly took a few steps towards me. Heather placed hesitant hands on Samantha, and Sam wagged her tail willingly, and the floppy little puppy put the girl at ease. “Why are you different?” She asked. I frowned at her. “What do you mean?” “Well,” she started and swallow, obviously nervous, “You don't look washed out like the others, and you glow a lot brighter than anyone else does too.” I thought hard about this. What others did she mean? And then it dawned on me that she thought I was another ghost. Talking about being washed out and glowing. So to the ghosts I glowed too. Interesting. But I didn't have the washed out appearance that their transparency gave them. “Heather? Are you knew to this?” “I died a week ago,” she said, and that explained a lot. “Those three, Charlie, Keith and Adam, always terrorize me and no one has told me anything about why I'm here, or what I'm supposed to be doing, or what I can do,” she continued close to breaking down. “Hey it's alright,” I said and pulled her into my arms with Samantha in my usual girl response. Heather tensed for a minute and the wrapped her arms around me. “You're so warm,” she said surprised by that fact and as she buried her head against me, I felt the coldness of her and Sam seeping into my clothes. Sam wasn't so bad because she was so little, but Heather, a full size preteen was a different story. I suppressed the shiver that I wanted to give and just held still. “I take it you think I'm a ghost,” I said easily trying not to startle her. “Aren't you?” “Heather, I'm still alive.” I didn't know how else to say it, how do you tell a ghost that thinks you're a ghost that you weren't really dead. “What?” She pulled away from me to look at me closer. “You're not dead?” I shook my head and then looked around trying to think of a way to explain that I wasn't dead. “I'm kind of new to this two, I started seeing ghosts, oh, two days ago. I haven't learned much either. Because apparently, the inhabitants of Ghostland don't tell anyone anything,” I said quoting her from earlier. “So, you're alive, but you can see and touch ghosts?” She asked and I could see she was just as confused as I was. “Yes. I've been told I'm called a Runner, that's what those boys were talking about earlier,” I said trying not to overwhelm her with information like I had been. She looked at me with a puzzled look still on her face. Who would have thought I'd have known more than a ghost? I would have never guessed that myself. It was all so new to me. It shouldn't surprise me that it was all new to her too, and probably worse since she had died to get to where she was. “Don't worry, it confuses me to,” I said giving a little chuckle trying to lighten the mood. She nodded slowly not taking her eyes off me and then said, “Well, Runner, thank you for helping me with my ghost problem.” She took a step away from me and I could tell she was about to leave. Half of me wanted to stop her, but another part of me wanted to let her go. It was trouble enough trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing much less, try to tell a new ghost the same thing that I didn't know. “No problem,” I replied and waved to her as she disappeared leaving the ghostly shimmers behind. I sighed and turned around and when I did so I saw Amy standing on the edge of the clearing. She just winked at me, and then shimmered away. “Stupid ghosts,” I muttered under my breath, and with Sam in my arms I trekked back through the woods and up to the school to make my home.
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Post by Friday on Jan 11, 2010 22:40:06 GMT -5
Chapter 11: Jeanine's Followers
When I got home I was surprised to find my dad's jeep in the garage, maybe he had been coming home early for me but I highly doubted that. As soon as I walked into the house, I knew that he wasn't home for me. “Jeanine, you're early,” he said, from the kitchen where he couldn't see the door and me. “Hey dad,” I called from the door and hoped that I could make it to my room without him seeing me. I had forgotten about the mess I had made of myself during the fight, and run through the woods. There were scratches on my arms, and dirt on my jeans and probably everywhere else too. The bruise on my shoulder my dad wouldn't be able to see, but my black eye which was almost swollen shut now he would definitely notice. I had one foot on the bottom step ready to run up the stairs when my dad walked out of the kitchen. “Kasey, what happened?” I winced when he said that. He hadn't even seen my front side yet. “Nothing,” I said and took another quick step up the stairs. “Come here Kasey,” he said with a tone of steel in his voice. I froze and stepped down the stairs keeping my head down hoping he wouldn't notice. However when I heard his sharp intake of breath I realized there was no hiding it. I stood in front of him and looked up to meet his eyes. I felt his cool hands touch my face and turn it to the side so he could look at my eye better. It was my turn to wince and inhale sharply when he touched it with cool fingers. I hadn't realized just how bad Keith had gotten me. It hadn't hurt when he had done it. It had however started to ache when I was driving home, and my adrenaline had finally calmed down. “Kasey what happened?” My dad asked again. “I fell down,” I lied as he looked me over. He frowned and I could tell he didn't believe me, but the truth was even less believable than that tale was. Oh yes, dad, I got into a fight with these three ghosts, because my ghost dog wanted me to. “The truth Kasey,” he said as if he could read my thoughts. He crossed his arms across his chest and just frowned down at me. “Well you see,” I started, “Allen and I were messing around after school walking out to our cars, just goofing off. Well I tripped over a curb and fell into some bushes,” I finished trying to keep it simple. I hoped my dad wouldn't check my story with Allen, and I hoped that if he did check it with Allen, that Allen would cover for me. He frowned at me but didn't say anything. I didn't think he believed me but he wasn't going to press me for the actual truth. He knew what it was like in a military base. I had spent most of my life on a military base. If you got into a fight, you never told anyone. If you did you just got beat up by everyone later. Everyone knew that you lied, but it didn't matter. So now, I reverted back to those same rules. “Come in here, sit,” he said leading me into the kitchen and pointing at the dining room table. I did as I was told not wanting to get into anymore trouble than I was already going to be in from the looks of it. He went to the freezer and pulled out a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. He massaged the bag in his hands, breaking up the bigs chunks before he handed it to me. Without being told what to do I put the bag up against my eye and winced as it touched my tender eye. “Leave that there for fifteen minutes, then go shower and clean up, and we'll ice it again. Take these too,” he said pushing Advil and water at me. I again did what I was told without complaining the more I did without arguing with him, the better he would handle me coming home like this. So I did was I was told trying hard not to talk to Sam or really even look at her. She just laid quietly at my feet like she knew that I couldn't pay any attention to her at all. As soon as my fifteen minutes was up I went up to my room to shower and clean up some before my dad made me ice my eye again. I studied myself in the mirror and was impressed with what I saw. My whole left eye was swollen and it was almost completely shut. It was all purple, black and green, and I whistled impressed at it. I had had a black eye once before when I was little, but this one was definitely more impressive than that one had been. “Pretty isn't it?” I asked looking at Sam who was at my bed. She looked up at me and then hid her face under her paw. “I don't blame you.” I showered and changed clothes before I headed back downstairs. When I got downstairs, I immediately noticed a change. The very air was colder, and I cold feel their eyes on me. I couldn't see them. But I knew they were there all the same. I heard my dad and Jeanine talking in the living room before I was even downstairs. This time Sam, had stayed upstairs in my room and it was probably a good thing. I just wanted to hold her close to me and stay as far away from Jeanine as I could. It was cold down here, and I was starting to think it was because of her. The first night she had been here I had been cold too. It made me wonder just what it was that was making it so cold in my house. It had happened twice now, but this time I knew the difference. This time it was the cold of ghosts.
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Post by Friday on Jan 11, 2010 22:41:12 GMT -5
I tried to be quiet going into the kitchen but my dad heard me. “Kasey, get your vegetables and come in here,” he said and I rolled my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was be with Jeanine especially if I was having to ice my black eye. But once again I listened to my dad and grabbed my vegetables from the freezer and moved into the living room. As soon as I walked in the room I saw the source of the cold. There were five male ghosts spread about my living room, and it took everything I had not to stare at anyone of them too long, especially since all five of them couldn't take their eyes off of me. I took as seat in to love seat as far from Jeanine as I could get. I placed the vegetables on my eye and discreetly tried to study the ghosts as my dad and Jeanine ignored my presence at first. One of them was sitting on the couch next to Jeanine, and he was dressed in a nice tuxedo, he sat with his arms crossed as his eyes were on me. A younger looking ghost, dressed in torn up jeans and a nice, almost designer, looking t-shirt that looked like he belonged on a stage stood in a corner leaning up against a wall that I knew he could go right through like the first ghost, he too was watching me. The other three stood out less than these first two. One was just wearing swim trunks and he was sitting cross legged in front of the TV. The two others looked so much like each other that I guessed right away they were brothers if not twins. They were just dressed casually like they had spent a day at the mall. All five of them were just staring at me, and I knew from Heather that they were seeing my glowing aura that all ghosts saw around me. I wished I knew what I looked like to them so maybe I could understand why I garnered so much attention from every ghost I ran in to. “So Kasey, how was school besides your fall?” My dad asked looking over at me for the first time since I had walked into the living room. I honestly couldn't remember the last time my dad has asked how my day was. And if he was trying to impress Jeanine, it wasn't working. As soon as my dad's attention was off her she put on a disgruntled look and studied her perfectly manicured nails. “Um fine, we didn't do much,” I said and strategically didn't mention that I didn't pay attention too much either. “Good, good. Do you have any plans for tonight?” “No, planning on reading some, maybe, sleep,” I said thinking of my short night mainly because I had found Samantha. “Have you been having troubles sleeping? I saw your light on this morning when I got up,” he said, trying to start a conversation that I really didn't want to have with him, or anyone else for that matter. At least anyone living. “I woke up early today and couldn't sleep,” I said explaining it away with a simple excuse. He turned to say something to Jeanine and that was the end of him really talking to me. He addressed a few comments to me, and I made short replies. Jeanine didn't even look at me and that was one thing I was fine with. If she didn't look at me or acknowledge me I didn't have to be civil and polite to her. I waited impatiently for my fifteen minutes of icing my eye to done with. Because I knew there was no chance in me leaving without it being there for at least fifteen minutes. I waited as long as I had to and when I knew I was done I stood up and walked out of the living room stopping long enough to say to my dad, “Hey, I'm going to go read, come get me if you need me.” My dad nodded and dismissed me with a wave of his hand, all his attention on Jeanine. And it didn't surprise me when I said this that the two ghost sitting down stood up, while the one leaning against the wall straightened up. All five of the ghosts followed me out of the living room and up the stairs silently. I closed my door shut behind me but that didn't stop the ghosts as they still followed me passing through my closed door one by one. I turned my stereo on so the talk that I knew was about to happen wouldn't alert my dad and Jeanine to anything. I picked Sam up off the bed and held her in my lap and sat down at my desk chair and then looked around to face the crowd of ghosts that seemed to fill my tiny room. The twins, because now that I had a better look at them I could tell that's what they were, sat down on the end of my bed. The ghost that looked like he was in a band leaned up against the door. Swim suit ghost, sat down on the floor and leaned up against my dresser. The one dressed in the tuxedo stood in the middle of the room facing me, with his arms crossed across his chest in the typical gesture of masculinity. “Can I help you?” I asked, not sure what they wanted with me. “Runner, it is not us that seek your help. We are here to offer our help to you,” The one in the tuxedo said. Unlike me, he at least seemed to know what he was talking about. “I don't understand,” I said and pulled Sam closer to me. I felt like she was the only thing I could really hold on to right now.
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Post by Friday on Jan 11, 2010 22:41:46 GMT -5
“The one you know as Jeanine,” the band member said, “She is not all she appears. She is not someone you can trust.” And despite the fact that all these ghosts seemed to be fairly modern ghosts and of this time, they spoke in cryptic riddle like sentences that confused me. “Runner, we come to warn you. To spare your father the fate that we all share,” the one in the tuxedo said picking up the train of conversation. “Wait, Jeanine is planning on killing my dad?” “That's what we think,” the man in the swim suit said much more chill than the other two had been. The man in the tuxedo looked at him sharply and the swim suit man just shrugged. “Sorry Matthew,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Runner, just like you this Jeanine as she is calling herself now, is not normal. She too has unearthly talents bestowed upon her. By using the life of others, she prolongs her own life. The longer she lives, the more she needs,” Matthew said uncrossing his arms to let them hang at his side in a less threatening stance. “We are the last five, Ted and Fred, being the most recent to join us since the last Runner sent the previous ones on to their final destination,” the band member said gesturing at the twins who were sitting on my bed when he said their names. “Please understand us, Runner, we are not asking to be sent on as might have been implied by Clyde. Our last desire is to get rid of this monster that has destroyed our lives and now tries to destroy your father's. We are asking you for help, we cannot do this without the aid of a Runner,” Matthew said gesturing with his hands. And if I hadn't been confused before I was now. All this talk of prolonging life, and sending people on had me even more confused. “Wait,” I said throwing my hands up in front of me trying to convey the sense of lostness I felt at that moment. “What is it, Runner?” Matthew asked, and I could tell by the look on his face that I was confusing him too. “I have no idea what you are talking about, sending people on, unearthly talents, I don't know,” I said hesitating with my last few words. “She's the new one,” The man in the swim suit said as he stood to his feet and walked closer to me. He looked at me like he was studying me, and I automatically pulled into myself more, not liking being under such close observation. “Don't be ridiculous, Logan, that's impossible, she obviously knows what we are and she can sense Jeanine's corruptness as well,” Matthew said turning to argue with Logan. “Then why does she not know, why can't she understand what you are telling her.” I wanted to say something but I didn't want to interfere with ghosts again. The last time that had happened a few hours before I had left with a black eye which I still proudly had. But the longer I let them argue, the more I knew that they weren't going to stop. I cleared my throat, “Excuse me.” Neither one of them heard me so I tried again and raised my voice a little bit trying to be heard. “Excuse me!” “What?!” They both turned to snap at me at the same time and then both of them looked embarrassed and mumbled apologies for yelling at me. “I'm new, I've seen and talked to ghost for two days, I got into a fist fight with three a few hours ago, and I swear there's two ghosts that come and talk in my room at night,” I said hoping that I could convey just how much I did and didn't know. Matthew stared at me for a moment and then pulled his fingers through his hair making it stand on end. “So we find a Runner, and it's a green kid that hasn't even learned how to do anything. She can't phase, she can't send people on, she can't disappear, I bet she can't even share memories,” Matthew went on like I wasn't there at all, and the more he talked the more interested I got, and the less worried about this psycho woman who may or may not be trying to kill me dad. “Hold on, I can do all that?” I asked looking around the room at the five of them who were suddenly silent, which was more than enough answer for me. It was obviously one of those things that they weren't supposed to tell someone who was alive like myself. “Look, kid,” Clyde said stepping closer to me, “Just forget that we told you that alright? We can help you help us, all we want is justice and for Jeanine to be stopped.” I nodded and looked at them all still slightly in shock. There was a lot to this ghost business that I didn't know yet. All of a sudden all five of them started to shimmer all at once. “Damn it,” Clyde said as he as well as the other four started to fade away. “We'll be back, Runner, your dad's life depends on it,” Matthew said looking around the room to focus on me. The look on his face was so urgent and serious that I knew that I had to listen to them. Which meant they were serious about my dad, and they needed my help to stop Jeanine, whatever she was. I stared at the five spots of shimmering glitter that remained around my room until they disappeared. They had left me with a lot to think about. And it was a lot for one girl to take in all at once. And on top of all that, I had no idea what they expected me to do about it.
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Post by Friday on Jan 19, 2010 15:49:42 GMT -5
Chapter 12: The Almost Final Goodbye
Wednesday dawned rainy and overcast in the typical weather you would expect going to a funeral. Sam was curled up in my bed, an eternal cold spot on my side. I hadn't dreamed that night, and I was almost thankful that I hadn't. I stayed in bed longer than usual, not really wanting to get up. If I got up it would all be real. The little Ghostland had distracted me for the past two days, but today all that didn't matter. What mattered was that today made it all so real, and the real world was catching up with me today. Dakota's funeral was today. Today was the final goodbye for the boy I had fallen in love with, and hadn't even gotten the chance to tell him just how much he meant to me. Part of me wished that I could find Dakota as a ghost, to talk to him one more time, to be with him just one more time, so that I could tell him just how much I loved him one last time. But at the same time, I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to make it real. Maybe if I never saw ghost Dakota it wouldn't be real, that I could just move on knowing he was gone. I didn't know what was worse. Never seeing him again, or seeing him and not getting to be truly with him. I stayed in the same depressed mood throughout the morning. I donned my black dress and left for the church trying to make myself numb to the world. I had put make up on trying to at least delay the tears that I knew would come. I was there early but Dakota's parents were already there to meet me. They were astonished that my dad had let me come alone, and I just wanted to point out that I wasn't. That I had Sam. But I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't sure that a ghost dog counted as to whether I came alone or not though. I laughed inside when I saw the sign that said no dogs on the door leading inside and Samantha just walked right through. Ghosts didn't have to follow rules, at least the rules of the real world. They had their own rules they had to follow. We walked into the main room of the sanctuary and a froze when I saw Dakota's casket sitting in front of the room. I stopped dead in my tracks while Dakota's family kept walking right by me. Samantha actually bumped into the back of my leg. I swallowed the lump that had just appeared in my throat but still wasn't able to move. I didn't see Emma turn around to come back to me but I felt her small hand slip into mine and tug at me. Her grasp broke through my frozen state and I looked down at her. “Come on Kasey,” she said in her sweet little girl voice. I smiled down at her and this time when I followed the Woods' I didn't look up at Dakota's casket. If I could just make it through the funeral without looking at it, then maybe, just maybe I might be alright. I couldn't tell you what all happened before other people started arriving for the funeral. All I know was that without Sam, and sweet little Emma hanging onto my hand, I probably wouldn't have been able to hold back my tears. When people started arriving, I was invited with Dakota's family to stand at the front doors to greet everybody coming in. If had had to guess just by the sheer number of people coming in, that over half of the Crystal Ridge student body had showed up and was missing school. Dakota had been popular with everyone, but I was just now figuring how many people cared for him. And everyone was carrying black umbrellas to stay out of the rain. How cliché, I guess the man upstairs decided to make it the perfect day for a funeral. When the funeral finally started I found myself sitting at the far end of the first row with Dakota's family. I heard the priest speaking but I couldn't focus on the words at all. It sat looking at my feet where Sam was curled up against my shoes. It was all I could do to keep myself from completely losing it. And even that wasn't enough, half way through the funeral I lost it, and I could feel the hot tears slipping silently down my cheeks.
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Post by Friday on Jan 19, 2010 15:52:35 GMT -5
“There, there, it's alright. I'm right here,” A voice whispered into my ear and I thought I was dreaming for the voice I heard was Dakota's voice. I felt an arm slip around my shoulders and and then another hand come around to cover my hands in my lap. It was the one hand in my lap covering both of my folded hands that caught my attention. I could see through it and it it had a silver lining, the tell tale signs of a ghost, not to mention how cold I started to get when I actually paid attention to the arm around me. I followed the hand up to see strong arms, and a broad chest, up and up until I got caught by the hazel eyes that were now laced with silver, but still the same eyes that I had gotten lost in so many times before. “Dakota....” He placed a cold finger against my lips and I could feel the familiar ghost tingle where he touched my lips and it made me want to press myself against him. I missed him so much. “Shh... Don't talk, they can hear you, but they can't hear me, just listen to me,” he said seeming to search my soul with those beautiful eyes of his. I swallowed and gave a little nod. It was so hard not to say anything when the love of my life was sitting next to me, dead or not. His body might be in the black coffin in front of me, but his spirit was right here. Now that he was sitting next to me, dead or not, I couldn't even imagine why it would have been easier to not see him like this. It was all I could do not to say anything to Dakota sitting beside me. His hands kept stroking my hair softly, not enough to make one strand fall out of place though. “I'm here Kasey, I'm so sorry I left you for that long, I'm never going to leave you again I promise,” he said and repeated this and other litanies into my ear throughout the entire service and held is one hand over mine. By the end of the service I was holding back shivers from his cold form around me, but it was all worth it to be with him. The funeral could not have been slower, especially with Dakota and Sam constantly at my side. It was extremely hard to ignore two ghosts, even if both of them were doing their best to help me ignore them. Sam sat quietly at my feet and Dakota stood quietly by my side. Everyone going out was almost worse than everyone coming in too. There were a lot more tears, and surprisingly none from myself. It was hard to cry over someone when they were in essence at least, standing right next to you. Everyone gave me hugs with Dakota's family, offered me help, and promised to be there for me. Honestly, I liked the show of support. If Dakota hadn't made me feel better just by appearing, all these people who were willing to care would have. Even with Dakota's presence they were helping me. Dakota's mom invited me over for lunch, and I wouldn't have minded going but I really wanted to talk to Dakota, so I politely declined. They said I could come over anytime, which I fully planned on taking full advantage of. And with those last goodbyes, I got in my car with Sam and Dakota and drove home as fast as I could. We didn't talk much as I drove home, but Dakota's hand stayed on my leg the whole drive just like he did when we was alive. As soon as we got to my house we rushed inside and and Sam disappeared but I didn't care. Dakota swept me up into his arms, and crushed me against him picking me up so that my feet were completely off the ground. His lips pressed against mine, and it sent tingles through my entire body at his touch. “Dakota!” I exclaimed, holding to him tightly, not caring how cold he was.
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