In the dim light, I searched for anything that could be lit. A fireplace. A candle. In the dining room, I found a five-handle candelabra with its candles still intact. Next to the fireplace, matches.So thankful!I lit the candles with trembling fingers, and their tiny fires swayed a little, shadows climbing up the walls like dark liquid. One of the flames hissed out when a droplet of water from my hair fell on it.
It had only been five or so minutes since I’d been inside, but…I was almost ready to brave the storm. Deep in the pit of my stomach, something didn’t feel right. Even though the villa looked empty, it didn’t truly feel that way. It felt like I wasn’t alone.
“Hellooo?” I called out again.
Nothing but the returned voice of the angry storm. I could hear the water beating against the rocks outside. Turning, with the heavy silver candle holder, I started to walk closer to the front door. At the same time, a rush of wind surged inside from the broken glass, and the candles hissed out. The voice of Rosaria Caffi seemed to come through the walls in a chilling tone that sent goosebumps scattering on my arms.
Suddenly, my neck felt too exposed.
Vulnerable.
The ghost who had taken his position behind me at thetrattoriahadn’t even made me feel that way.
This was the opposite of that.
This was my gut screaming at me torun for your life!
I didn’t run but picked up my pace—substantially. I couldn’tsee for shit, and didn’t want to trip over anything. But the closer I came to the door, the faster I moved.
I screamed when I collided with what felt like a boulder blocking the doorway. The heavy silver candelabra hit the wooden floor with a thud that I knew had gouged it.
Lightning lit the world from behind the strong figure, and rain came down in sheets.His head was bowed down, and he was dripping water like a sieve.
Hishead.
A man.
Not a ghost.
Until he looked me in the eyes.
They were flat. Dead. Maybe even already buried.
Looking into those pools void of life, I found my ghost.
“Oh my God.” My voice trembled, but my feet refused to move.
He stared at me, the color of his sea-green irises almost neon in this light, but they were dilated, black forcing out the glass color, and it didn’t even seem like he could blink. He was as still as a statue carved by some legendary artist, the rain sliding down his face like tears, making a liar out of the void in his eyes.
My eyes devoured him. The panic in my heart was already forgotten, considering his arrival. It was that rush again, the dopamine flooding my system and causing my heart to overreact. I grabbed for the pendant, feeling it safely still around my neck.
Something hard—the candelabra, probably—hit me in the back of the head.What was this? The effing phantom of the opera!?The thoughts spun through my head as I flew forward, right into his arms. After I was safely in them, hanging like a damsel in distress, I inhaled the faint scent of blood on his chest, and then the world faded from gray to black.
Chapter 15
Carpe Diem
“Ow,” I mouthed when I went to sit up, my trembling hand not sure if it wanted to touch the sore spot or not. Even without feeling behind my head, though, I knew a knot had formed. It was tender and sore—my entire neck. And my skull ached so badly, it felt like my whole head had morphed into a throbbing pulse.
“Thankful” didn’t even come close to the feeling I had that all the lights were turned out in the room, and my eyes didn’t have to strain against the light or try to bring anything into focus. That would have been just too much pressure. I would have vomited if I did anything but lay in this hospital bed. My stomach was already on edge, along with my entire body.
I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths to quell the trembling inside of me, focusing on one breath at a time to get me through each minute. After a few of them, I felt slightly better, but I was on edge.
Firstly, the ghost had showed up for me.
Secondly, I got caught in a terrible storm where it seemed like lightning was coming down just to claim things with its electrical fingers and shock themfor fun.
Thirdly, someone had tried to impale my skull with a real silver candelabra.
