Haunting

The Mysterious Missing Chapter

Hello lovely readers. I was just going over what I had written and realised that there was an intre chapter missing. No idea what happened to it, but it is lost in the abyss aparently. So I quickly typed up a new chapter, that is probably not as good and definitely not as long. But here it is and hopefully I will have a proper update sooner rather than later.

Shannon woke the next morning and saw Reggie standing across from her, staring out the window, watching as the sun emerged over the ocean.

“How often have you done that,” Shannon asked, and was pleased when she saw Reggie start.

Reggie turned around and gave Shannon a sad smile that almost broke her heart. “Every day for a hundred years.”

“I’m sorry Reggie,” Shannon said and patted the bed next to her. “Do you want to watch it with me?”

This time Reggie gave her a real smile, albeit a small one, and floated over to lie down next to Shannon.

They lay together in silence until the sun was well over the horizon. “Do you want to watch TV?” Shannon asked. “Hang on, do you even know what TV is?”

Reggie rolled her ghostly grey eyes and turned over to face Shannon. “I haven’t been living in a cave for the past century, I know what a television is.”

Shannon had to repress a smile. “Technically you haven’t been living at all.”  

Reggie, intelligently, chose to ignore that statement and continued her original thought. “Admittedly I don’t know much about recent technological advances, being trapped in an abandoned house for 30 years, but I’ve done my best. I even know about cell phones and the internet.”

The passion in Reggie’s voice glowed on her face, and Shannon felt herself fall just a little bit more. “I apologise,” she said and enjoyed the smug look on Reggie’s face. It wasn’t a look she ever expected to see on a good little 19th century girl.

Shannon turned on the TV the switch the channel to cartoons, and they sat together and talked quietly, Reggie asking questions that mostly Shannon couldn’t answer. Eventually the sounds of construction drowned out the sounds of their conversation, so that nobody could hear Shannon talking to herself.

Shannon spent the day locked in her room with Reggie, talking mostly, but soon the lure of Star Wars too much.

Reggie leaned forward, her face in her hands, and her eyes trained on the computer screen. Shannon had stopped watching quite some time ago, instead all she could see was Reggie. She was enthralled and Shannon couldn’t take her eyes off her. Shannon couldn’t believe that anyone could be so intense about anything in her life.

Shannon’s phone buzzed on the nightstand and Reggie turned to glare at Shannon before her eyes quickly reverted to the screen. Shannon smiled and turned to read the message, it was from Joanie.

“Hey,” Shannon said and paused the movie so Reggie would look at her. “Joanie just told me about a party, did you want to come?”

Reggie closed her eyes and let out an invisible breath. “No,” she said and shook her head. “What would be the point?”

“Okay,” Shannon said. “I guess we are staying in.”

“Shannon, just because I’m not going doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Go and have fun with your friends.”

Shannon paused. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” she said. “I’d rather watch this than hang out with you anyway.” Reggie smiled so Shannon would know she was joking.