I’m in love with him. His distance or distraction hasn’t changed that. I don’t even feel mad about it. Igetthat he feels the need to fix and control things, and when things are spiraling out of control, he spirals right along with them.
I just wish he’d let us in. Spread the load—and not in a fun, dirty way.
My daydreaming works for a few hours. I should probably be spending the time planning our next move, where to go next once I get out of here.
But I can’t seem to get my mind to focus on any one thing. It flits from thought to thought, never landing on one for long. Hours have passed by this point. I don’t know how long, since they confiscated my phone and I don’t have a watch.
The minutes drag and the only way I can tell that it must be evening is the sandwich and bottle of water that’s thrust through the little metal hatch in the door. My mouth waters and I blink a few times.
I hear the guards outside greeting someone and then there’s the sound of boots stomping, growing quieter.
I guess that means the next shift has started.
I shove the food into my mouth and chew mechanically, swallowing mouthfuls of water as I go, since my mouth is so damn dry. Don’t want to eat it all up or drink all my water when I don’t know the next time I’ll get anything. It’s been a while since I had to stop eating before I was no longer hungry, even longer since I had to ration water.
My brain goes kind of fuzzy after that, and I can’t tell if it’s from fatigue or something else. I flop down onto the bed, suddenly drained of all energy.
It’s another couple of hours of lolling around in silence before I fall into a restless sleep. I’m pretty sure I only snatch a couple of hours before I wake up. A ghost pops up from out of nowhere, appearing right in front of my face and lying down beside me like we’re two best buds sharing a gal pal chat.
She’s lucky I’m still feeling the effects of whatever drug they must have fed me, or I’m pretty sure I would have screamed the place down.
“Fuck, what are you doing here?”
“You can see me,” she says.
I rub my eyes tiredly. “Yep.”
“You’re the one they’re talking about outside. Aren’t you? The one who can send people to the next place. You got power over us ghosts that way.”
I try to push my body to sit up but kind of flop back down while the ghost watches on, looking highly unimpressed. “I, uh, I haven’t tried it. I’m not sure what I can do. I have got necromancy magic, but that’s about as far as I’ve ever gotten.” I hesitate before risking asking, “Do you, uh, happen to know a way out of here?”
She snorts. “Do you think we’d be here if we knew a way out?”
Good point. Dammit.
“I heard you want information,” she says.
Right. Yes. Information.
This is good. Maybe she can take a message, tell my mages where I am if they don’t already know. Although, they won’t be able to see or hear her, so I’m not sure what good that would do.
“You got a busy schedule then? Too much on your plate to help little ol’ me and all the rest of us too? We’re just stuck here.”
Ugh, that’s what the snarky ghost said earlier. The same one that brought me down to the riverside,
That nagging guilt I’ve been carrying for over a month now hits even stronger than ever. Dammit. She’s right. I’ve not been trying hard enough to see what I can do for the ghosts of this city. They’ve been holding up their end of the bargain by feeding me what information they can, and I’ve done nothing on my side.
I haven’t tried seeing how far I can push my necromancy. Mostly because it scares the shit out of me, and using it on the zombies made me feel gross for days afterwards.
I’m here though, with nothing but time and a desperate need to distract myself.
“All right then,” I say. “Just warning you, I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to send you somewhere good, if I can send you anywhere at all.”
“You can practice before you get to me, then,” she says. “I’ll round up some of the less scrupulous assholes from around here, and you can give it a shot with them first.”
“All right.” I nod.
“And I’ll get a message outside the walls. I can’t get far, but there are a bunch of ghosts right outside the building. I’m guessing they’re here for you. I should be able to say something before I get dragged back inside.”
