Ghostly Tomlinson.

Chapter 12

Louis and I are in front of his house. We’re getting closer to the door and we hear some weird noises coming from inside the house, like cries and screams. 

Louis and I share a worried look. He opens the door and the screams are much louder. 

I recognize the voice. It’s Niall. Niall is screaming his lungs out and is crying very loudly upstairs. 

- NIALL? LIAM? ZAYN? HARRY? Louis screams when he hears Niall’s screams. 
- OH MY GOD! I hear Niall scream while sobbing. IT’S HORRIBLE, OH MY GOD!
- NIALL CALM DOWN, OKAY?! I then hear Liam scream over Niall. 
Louis runs to the stairs, myself running behind him, when Zayn rushes downstairs.

- What is going on?! Louis asks, panicked.
- Niall hurt himself, Zayn replies. 
- What?! NIALL! Louis screams going up the stairs. 
I follow him but Zayn puts his arm in front of me to block the passage. 

- He did it… Zayn whispers in my ear. He did it. Just like your arm.
I give that “wtf” look to Zayn. 

- What are you talking about? I say, confused. 
- Be careful, Zayn simply replies, taking off his arm from the passage.
Actually, I know exactly what Zayn is talking about. He’s talking about the scratch on my arm the groom. But how the hell does he know? He can’t know it, it’s impossible!

I stare at him one last time before running upstairs, Zayn following me behind. 

Niall keeps on screaming and crying.

- LIAM, DO SOMETHING! OH MY GOD!
- NIALL THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING, CALM DOWN!
I get into the bathroom and that’s in there that I see everything.

Niall is sitting on the ground in front of the bath, his arm into the bathtub and he’s crying out loud. His arm has the same exact wound as I have. But his scratch is deeper than mine. It’s bleeding profusely. Liam is sitting beside him and he’s cleaning up the wound. Harry is sitting on a chair near Niall, trying to comfort him. 

I get near to Louis, who’s standing in front of the boys.

- Cassandra! Niall says. his puffy and red eyes full of tears. Show your arm to Liam! Look, it’s the same! It’s not normal!
- What? I reply, holding my arm and staring at Louis meaning “what do I do?”
- Niall’s sure he has the same wound as you, Liam says while sponging the blood. Both of your scratches were accidents. It happens sometimes that different people have the same wound without doing the same thing.
- An accident? Niall exclaims with a sob. I was only talking and BAM! I have that horrible scratch! OH MY GOD IT BURNS!
- We were just talking and then he started screaming, Harry explains. He looked at his arm an there it was. It was bleeding a lot… I guess he had scratched his arm earlier but the pain was not immediate. 
Zayn suddenly appears into the doorway. 
- Liam, are you okay? Do you need help? Louis asks.
- No, Liam answers. I’ll clean it all up then put on a bandage. No need to go to hospital. But Cassandra, you should maybe clean up that ice cream on your shirt, he adds with a wink. 
- Alright, Louis says. Oh yes, follow me Cass, I’ll give you one of my shirts, we’ll wash yours. 
We walk through the door but I stop in front of Zayn. 

- What were you talking about… well… when it happened?
- You, Zayn replies.
- Me..? I repeat, frowning. 
- Yes, he wasn’t happy.
I get goose bumps as I outface him. I get back to Louis, now at the other side of the corridor. 

Zayn is scaring me to death. It looks like he knows something about the groom. Maybe it’s just a bad joke…. He maybe takes benefits of my madness to make fun of me…

I resign myself on that idea. I prefer keep it all to myself for now. If Zayn is aware of something, I don’t want him to get hurt like me. I should stay in my guard. I don’t want something bad to happen to the boys, or at least, something even worse than Niall’s wound…

We get into Louis’ room and he opens a drawer. He takes out a striped shirt and hands it out to me.

- There you go, he says with a smirk. You can put it on while we’re washing yours full of ice cream.
- Thanks… I say speechless. 
We stand awkwardly one in front of the other for an endless time. 

- I… Louis finally says. I’ll let you dress up. I’ll be downstairs. 
I nod then Louis leaves the room. I take my shirt off and throw it on the floor. 

I walk towards the standing mirror. I put my eyes on my wound. It’s the same exact thing as Niall. 

But what is happening? The groom is hurting everyone around me! I should definitely stop him! But how..?
I delicately stroke my fingers on the scars then look into the mirror. 

I tilt my head, quizzically; the reflect of my face is blurry and it gets even more blurry. I get nearer to examine it, maybe it’s just dirty?

I delicately put my fingers on the fresh surface. The mirror is cleaner than ever, but my face is still very blurry. 

I straighten up, terrified. Traits of my face are changing slowly. I’m not moving, I’m petrified and I’m watching that weird phenomenon. My face is changing and becomes pearl white. I touch it again with my hands, but still nothing changed on the mirror. Suddenly, my eyes push into their orbits and my hair retracts into my skull and turns black. It’s when a big wound appears on my neck that I realize who this is. The groom. 

- Maria…. he whispers.
- I am not Maria! I exclaim to the mirror, stomping and trying to keep my voice low and to contain the angry tears in my eyes.
- Why… he tells again. WHY!!!
Everything happens in a second. The groom screams his lungs out. His face becomes bigger and bigger and the mirror explodes and falls over, face to the ground. It breaks into million pieces in a real racket. I am propelled to the ground and I scream in turn, frightened like never before.

- CASSANDRA?!
I hear hurried footsteps outside the room. The door opens violently and Louis gets in with Zayn and Harry.

I get up hardly then face Louis. 

- Uh… Louis whispers looking me from up to down, his cheeks turning pink. 
Harry and Zayn burst out laughing. 

I realize I have no shirts on and that I’m showing in front of the boys with just a bra. I blush. I take the striped shirt and put it on quickly. 

- What happened?!? Louis asks, worried. What was that racket?
- L-Louis… I… the… I stutter. The mirror blew up… I didn’t do anything…
- Oh it’s not your fault, he says getting nearer to the mirror. The foot of the mirror was broken. It could’ve fall at any moments. I’m sorry, you weren’t hurt?
- N-no… I say joining Louis beside the broken mirror. 
I examine the foot of the mirror and it is really broken. But it wasn’t the reason why it blew up; I know it was the groom.

I breathe deeply three times. 

- You wear it beautifully, Louis compliments, pointing his shirt I’m wearing. We’re identical now, he adds with a wink.
- So my little lovebirds, Harry tell us, laughing with Zayn. Will you get down and help me? I’m cooking dinner. 
- Harry! Zayn! Louis says, blushing. 
- Oh, I don’t think I can stay for dinner… I say with a little voice. 
- Why? Louis asks, disappointed. Come on, stay!
- I’m working tomorrow…
- It’s still more economic to eat with us than to go to the restaurant, isn’t it? Zayn says.
- Alright, I’m staying, I accept. But I can’t leave too late.
- Perfect! Louis exclaims with a radiant smile. Go downstairs with her, boys, I,ll clean up that mirror.
I get a little heart attack. The groom was in the mirror, so that means he’s maybe still in here. I can’t leave Louis alone with him.

- You don’t want help..? I ask, desperated.
- No thanks, go downstairs, Louis gently says.
Zayn pushes me out of the room. 

I’m walking behind Harry when Zayn whispers those words in my ear: 

- Don’t worry, he’s not upstairs, he’s gone.