Damned

Chapter Eighteen

I couldn't stop screaming.

"You need to stop,"  I heard Phantom in the back of my mind tell me. I knew he was right, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. At least, not at first. When I heard the front door open, it shut me up. It was Gran, how did I know? No clue, but I knew it was Gran. I stared down at Phantom.

"I don't--

"You need to move the body."  He assured me. Phantom was right, I knew this, but that didn't make it any weirder to hear it. If they found another body at our house the Police were seriously going to wonder about this family. Especially, if they found a body in my bed. I tried to see who the body was, but I didn't recognize her. She had brown hair and pale skin, but that was because she was dead. 

Dead. 

A dead body in my body. I shivered, absolutely grossed out.

"What do you suggest?" I thought towards Phantom. He seemed to have all the ideas. I ran my fingers through my hair, almost yanking hair out. What was going on with my life? Why were there so many dead bodies?

"At least to the porch, but preferably further than that."  He continued to tell me how to do the spell. It took me a couple of tries, but eventually, I was able to lift the body without touching it. Carefully, I made it down the stairs. Gran was in the kitchen cooking dinner. I didn't know if she knew I was home, but that didn't really matter.

I was levitating a body. I needed absolute concentration.

At one point, I had to close my mind, conjuring in my mind what it looked like to move a dead body. It actually, worked better. I took a deep breath, filling my chest with oxygen. Phantom, in the background, urged me on. He was the best motivating, surprisingly. He was a small cat but had a big voice. 

One foot in front of the other, I kept moving. I tried to only think about the big plan. I needed to keep moving. Phantom was right if the Police found another body here, they were going to be more than suspicious. Except, I didn't know where a non-suspicious place would be for a dead body to appear.

The more important question was how far could I levitate this body without someone noticing? 

My question was answered before I could even finish that thought. I saw Dolores' car pull into the driveway. My concentrate broke and so did the body. She dropped to the porch in almost the exact spot as Thana had been left in. My heart sank, but I shut the front door and rushed upstairs. I grabbed my blankets, pillows, and anything else that had been on my body and ran downstairs to the laundry room. I was going to bury myself in the laundry.

Phantom had decided to stay upstairs. It was the best idea. Gran knew I had a Familiar, but no one else needed to know. I knew Gran would keep it a secret until I brought it up. I shoved my comforter in the washer, trying to not touch it. A dead body had been nestled up inside it. It took everything in me not to gag on that thought.

I heard Doll's turn her car off, then yell. It wasn't a scream, but a definite holler. She called my name and Grans. I froze, elbows deep in shoving my dead-body covered comforter. I finished shoving it in the washer, dropped a cleaner pod inside and started the washer. I didn't leave until it was drenched in water. 

I didn't want to take any chances. Hopefully, any traces of a dead body were being cleaned this moment. I turned towards the hallway. I had to face the music. How did people do this on purpose? My heart was about to jump out of my chest and I wasn't even the murderer? I passed the hallway, spying Phantom at the top of the stairs. I shoeed him away and went to face the music.

"Cornelia! Evanora!" Doll's called again, this time a little high pitch. Gran entered the room before me, an apron tied around her. She had her eyebrows narrowed, curious as to what was going on. This surprised me. Did the dead people tell her what was happening?