Phriek (For the moment, She is on hold.)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

                "Are you alright?" Jayce had come into the kitchen, staring at me with wide green eyes filled with concern.

                "Yeah... I'm fine..." He took me by the shoulder and led me into the living room, pushing me gently onto the chair Jason usually occupied. Where the hell was that blasted ghost when I needed him? Any other time, he'd never leave me alone, but let him be needed, and he's nowhere to be found.

                "Post traumatic shock, I'd say, from everything you've been through. It's catching up to you." Jayce sat down beside me and stared. It was starting to bother me.

                "Could you not do that, please? I'm not a mental patient you need to diagnose."

                "No, you're not. But you're not exactly a normal teenage girl, now are you?"

                "Well, I've never really been accused of being normal."

                "Who you?" Jason popped up behind me and whispered in my ear. I jumped in my seat.

                "What's wrong?" Jayce looked at me like I was an alien.

                "Nothing. If you don't mind, I think I'm gonna go lie down for a bit. Thanks for bringing me home."

                Jayce stood up and headed towards the door.

                "If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to call." He put a card down on my kitchen table and left.

                "Gods, Jason! Don't do that!" If it would have been possible, I would have smacked him.

                "Sorry, Phriek. Where've you been?"

                "In the hospital." I flopped back onto the couch as he took up his usual chair.

                "What'd you go and end up in there for?"

                "Like I did it on purpose." My voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If you must know, I got hit by a car."

                "What were you walking in the middle of the road for?" He had an eyebrow cocked at me, and I could tell he was trying to hold back laughter.

                "I saw someone."

                "So you decided to take a stroll in the road?"

                "Good gods Jason! Shut your face!" I knew it wouldn't do any good, but I threw my empty pop can at him.

                "Hey! I get it! You don't want to talk about it!" I got up to go take a shower. "Oh, hey! Odd came by and dropped some stuff off in your room!" Jason yelled this last line at me, trying to catch my attention. As much as I wanted to see what my little brother had brought, I wanted to feel clean more.

                Thirty minutes, a change of clothes, and a Pepsi later, I was feeling much better. My head wasn't pounding as much. I took off the bandages and saw the nasty gash above my temple and under my eye. It would leave a scar that much I was sure of. But hey, it may very well add to my image. Like I'm not weird enough, lets add a crescent scar around my eye. Joy.

                "Jason! Come here, I need to talk to you!"

                "What's up, darling?" Jason appeared in his chair, running a hand through his raven hair.

                "I don't really know how to ask you this..." I knew what I needed to discuss with him, I just didn't know how to bring it up.

                "Cat got your tongue?" I didn't think it was possible for a ghost, but he looked tired.

                "About Lila, when was the last time you saw her?" My words rushed out before I had the chance to think about them. He seemed to contemplate my question for a moment.

                "The day she had her baby. A little girl. Lila named her Jessie. I couldn't ever find her after that."

                Well, at least I knew Jayce wasn't his son. This realization didn't really make me feel any better since they still looked so much alike.

                "What about Jessie?"

                "Lila's parents raised her. She's a grandma now. I haven't seen her in ages. She may be dead for all I know."

                "You can't sense other dead people?" For having seen the dead for two years, this was news to me.

                "Sure I can, sometimes. If they decide to move on, though, I have no way of knowing if they are dead or alive."

                "Oh..." I was receiving way too much information to process with a recent concussion. "Can we talk about this later? I want to go see what Odd brought."

                "Sure thing, darling."

                "Stop calling me that." I glared at him half heartedly before heading back to my room. Odd had left a huge box on my bed. I took the letter off the top and read it before opening the box.

                Phriek,

                Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. You could call your little brother every now and then, ya know? Anyway, this box showed up at the house a few days ago addressed to you. Mom and dad said you threw them out of the hospital, so I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to let them see this. There's no return address and I didn't open it.

                Well, I have to head to work or I'll be late again. Sorry you got hurt, wish I coulda came and seen you but I couldn't get away from the parents or work. Call me when you get a chance. I miss you.

                                Love Always,

                Your favorite Odd ball.

                What a strange little brother I have. I made a mental note to call him and thank him before tearing the tape off the box.

                Inside the box with no return address was yet another letter. I opened it first before delving any deeper into the boxes contents.

                Dear Ms Andrews,

                I realize you don't know who I am, but I know quite a bit about you. I thought you might like to show your roommate this. It was his, after all.

                The best of luck to you Ms Andrews.

                I was puzzled by the strange letter. I didn't have a roommate unless you count the insufferable dead guy. I pulled the contents out of the box and gasped in surprise. Holding it in my hands, I walked back to the living room.

                "Jason." I was glad to see that Jason was still sitting in his chair.

                "What'd the odd one bring over this time?" I held up my hands to show him. He looked utterly surprised. "Where did you get that?"

                "Odd brought it over. The letter said it was my roommates."

                "What the hell?"

                In my hands was a black leather jacket with a bullet hole over the breast. Even with it being almost fifty years old, I could still make out the blood stains.