Thanks for joining. At least you have to witness me dying if what I’m doing for you is going to get me killed.
I pull out the file filled with documents from beneath the pizza cartons and hand it to him. “Stanley gathered evidence before you made sure he couldn’t talk. This isn’t the only folder. I’ve made sure that one of them will be leaked to the press ifanything happens to his family or if you don’t call off the man you have watching his wife and daughter.”
“Tell him, girl!” Stanley yells beside me, his fists clenched.
Mayor Thomson opens the file and skims through it. “I see. Let me make a phone call.”
As he disappears into a room on the right, I seize the opportunity to voice my fear, which has turned into frustration. My voice is hushed as I cuss Stanley out. “Fuck, you better be right that this is enough to keep him in line, or we’re all in deep shit.”
“No, Sloan, the documents, the evidence, it’s enough to break his neck. He won’t risk it. He won’t hurt you or my girls.”
“Stanley, I swear if you’re wrong, I’m going to haunt you in the afterlife. I don’t give a fuck if we’re both ghosts then,” I mutter, still not convinced I’ll make it out of here alive.
When I turn my head, I see the mayor has already returned. He looks at me with interest, his head tilted and a cruel smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Did he just see me talking to air?
Fuck, what did I say?
“It’s done. There is no one watching anyone anymore. I don’t take kindly to being blackmailed by girls in my own home, so I suggest you leave. Now.” His tone is neutral, but his eyes burn with hatred as he points to the door.
Wakingup in the cramped confines of my van, I’m drenched in sweat, and my heart is pounding against my chest like a prisoner trying to escape.
It’s early morning, and a chill hangs in the air, seeping through my clothes. The remnants of the nightmare cling to my mind, and I shiver, trying to shake off the memories.
Last time I helped a ghost help their family, it brought the worst thing that has ever happened into my life.
I fought against a giant and lost.
Everything.
I have no idea what happened with Stanley’s wife and daughter, and sometimes, it haunts me. When I got out of the facility, I hid in Nan’s and my home, working on the van at night, not talking to anybody out of fear they would come for me again, even though they couldn’t put me back in the facility. Nan and the lawyers made sure of that. Butaccidentshappen, and I didn’t want to end up as a casualty.
As soon as the van was ready and the house was sold, I was gone.
Never to be seen again.
I hope they are okay.
I tried to help, but did I in the end?
Yesterday comes rushing back—the confrontation with North, the rejection, and the realization that I might have lost my chance to help Lio as well. Tears well up in my eyes, and I can’t hold them back. The cold tears stream down my cheeks, mingling with my hard reality.
“Nan,” I whisper through choked sobs. “Please, Nan, tell me what to do. I’m lost.” I look up to the roof of the van, biting my lips. “I told you, I can’t do this without you.”
But there’s no response, no comforting presence, just the harsh silence of the empty van. I reach out, hoping for some sign, some guidance, but there’s just nothing. Nan’s absence is like a gaping hole in my heart, and I feel utterly alone.
I thought I had found it.
A place where I wouldn’t be alone again.
I’m a fucking idiot.
But then, a thought strikes me. Nan may not come to tell me what to do, but she doesn’t need to.
I know what she would have done.
She would have fought for Lio, no matter what, and she wouldn’t have given up. No matter the outcome for herself.
