Author Notes: The first chapter will be short, but the chapters will get longer from there. Each chapter will be published serially on this blog until the story is complete.
The audiobook version of this chapter has been removed, but an updated version will be available soon.
Content Warnings for this chapter:
- Blood
- Reference to an attack
- Depression
- Hurt/comfort
If you believe J.M. Elam has missed an important Content Warning, please contact her so any necessary warnings can be added.
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Listen to a playlist on YouTube while you read.
The songs that fit the vibe for this chapter are:
- “Son of Nyx” by Hozier
- “If It’s Real, then I’ll Stay” by Bonjr
Adoration: A Ghost Story | Chapter 1
I brought a ghost home from the forest. At least, I assume it’s a ghost. Maybe it’s some other spirit. All I know is that I can’t see them, but I can feel them. I’m not looking for an exorcism. I’m not interested in cleansing my house or myself of their presence.
They found me lying on the ground. I’m not ready to tell you the rest. I felt their fingers lightly caressing the wounds on my face. At first, I flinched, but then a soothing sensation spread across my skin.
A deep quiet replaced the fear and betrayal in my chest. The pain somehow became less. An invisible palm caressed my back as I stood, staring through the darkness. I was confused and dizzy. There was a tug in the center of my chest, like a hook in a fish’s mouth. I let myself be caught and lured forward.
The rest was a blur of tears, and every once in a while, invisible arms wrapped around me, a chin on my shoulder. I walked so long, I might have given up if they hadn’t kept urging me forward. I didn’t look back, but sometimes I looked down at my feet, bare and bloody.
When I reached my cabin, I locked the door. I might have started crying, but I’m also not sure I ever stopped. I turned on the shower and stepped in, fully clothed. I sank beneath the hot water and sobbed as though I might shatter, and I wanted to finally shatter.
First, their arms wrapped around me, and then that same quiet came back.
I said, “Don’t go,” and the heat began to feel like them, soaking into my skin, heating my blood and bones. When I got out of the shower, all the cuts were gone.
It’s not like I expected. They weren’t confined to my house. They didn’t haunt me day and night. It was more like they returned to me. They didn’t possess me, but sometimes I let them in. They liked to be invited and allowed close.
For the next two days, I barely left my bed. Sometimes, the covers were too heavy to move. On the third morning, while sobbing into my pillows, their arms wrapped around me and then disappeared.
“Come back,” I whispered.
A soothing sensation spread across my back, and the heavy pain in my chest lifted. It was like remembering how to breathe again.
Slowly, things changed to a new normal. About a week later, I saw an article in the newspaper.
The remains of three men were found. A wild animal attack is suspected.
Shhh, they whispered, as a soothing touch ran down my back.
That was the first time they spoke to me, although it was more of a sound than a word. Sometimes, they used words to communicate as time passed, but other times, it was more like a feeling in my chest.
One night, while making dinner, I felt their arms reach around me, and I remember the relief. I’d been depressed all day.
I whispered, “Hello, sweetheart,” as I leaned into them, and an answering chuckle reverberated from my back through my chest.
They never make me do anything, but sometimes they give me advice. Maybe they aren’t a ghost. It’s not like the stories. It’s less like they haunt me and more like they adore me.
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