Jerrie Oneshot Book

Haunted pt 3

Claudia called her on the Thursday morning.

Perrie almost dropped her phone in her haste to pick it up. Already, her heart was pounding, just about every scenario possible of what could have gone wrong flashing through her mind. Claudia quickly assured her, though. Everything was fine; the plan was still on for tomorrow; but she wanted to talk with her before they went through with it.

Her first instinct had been to give a time she could come to the house, yet Claudia had only quietly said it'd be better if it was just the two of them. Something tightened in her gut, and when eyes flicked up, seeing movement in the corner of her eye she watched as Jade wrote Go with her across the wall like she'd expected this.

Those nerves still hadn't left her stomach even by the time she was cautiously settling into the café chair.

Claudia didn't look at ease, either.

This wasn't going to be a good conversation.

"If this is you backing out," Perrie said slowly, trying to pick her words with care even if her hands were fisting under the table, "then you will point me in the direction of the next witch."

Claudia only shook her head. "No, dear, this isn't that. I'm a woman of my word. Witches take promises quite seriously, you see."

Perrie worked her jaw, but she nodded in surrender. "Alright. Then why'd you bring me here, so Jade couldn't know? I know you weren't saying something before. When you came to the house."

"Perceptive," Claudia commented with an acknowledging head tilt.

Perrie forced her hands to relax from where they were digging into her thigh. "This isn't about me. This is-"

"It is, actually," Claudia interrupted, though her voice remained infuriatingly gentle. Perrie frowned and Claudia merely sighed. "It's about the both of you."

"What about us?"

Claudia took a minute, leaning back into her chair. They were sitting outside. The sun was out today, finally, made the pavement warm and left the inside of cafes empty rather than the out, servers having to regularly kick the door open and hoist up the shade umbrellas. There were more than a few couples dotted around them, with their faces barely inches apart without even realizing, knees brushing each other's under the table and completely oblivious to everyone around them. It meant you could say anything you wanted with little fear of being overheard.

When Perrie had first sat down, she had gotten caught up staring for a minute or two at the sight. Something that tugged in her chest, made the backs of her eyes burn.

"Do you know how ghosts come to be?" Claudia asked out of nowhere.

Perrie's frown deepened. Having a question be conveniently sidestepped was never reassuring. "No."

Claudia smiled sadly like she'd expected this. "Well, how do you think ghosts form, then?"

"I don't know. Unfinished business, probably. That's what everyone says, right?"

"Maybe," Claudia nodded. "But think about it. If everyone with unfinished business became ghosts after dying, then none of us would ever leave. That's the point of living – you can't finish it. There is no end goal, no finish line waiting for you. There'll always be something left unfinished when you leave. That's just the nature of it. Maybe it's something small, like you never admitted your love to those who held it; maybe it's the name of your killer that no one knows."

"So... then what? What's your point?"

"My point," Claudia went on, patiently ignoring the interruption. "Is that we move on. All of us do. The dead stay gone. The living pick up the pieces. It's what we're made for. As mysterious as the universe is, that is a rule that it abides to, that it wants us to. The one thing it didn't quite account for, though, is love."