“Have you always lived there alone?” I asked.
“No, no, I’ve been here for just a few days,” she said. “My parents died last year, and my brother’s supposed to visit in a few days, but…until then it’s just me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“It’s okay. I’m…I’m used to the silence, but this is different.” There was a sadness in the way she said it, it wasn’t heavy or a pity show, it felt like an extension of herself, like something worn out from being used too long.
I wanted to keep her talking, so I asked, “You say you haven’tslept since you got in?”
“Not before 3 am.” She hesitated. “I keep seeing him…it,” she corrected, and that stuck, but I let her continue. “Feeling things, and hearing things. But maybe it’s just me being stupid.”
“You’re not stupid, Elena,” I assured her faster than I had planned.
Her voice went quiet again. “You really believe that?”
“I do.”
Another small laugh, but this one was warmer. “You sound too sure of yourself. You don’t even know me.”
“That’s part of the job description, and I do know you. You’re Elena, are you not?”
She chuckled this time, and I could only wonder if that made her less tense. “You said your name was Damian?”
“Yeah.”
“Damian,” she repeated slowly. “You sound…calm.”
“I have to be,” I said with a smile she couldn’t see. “Otherwise, who’d believe me when I say I see ghosts?”
That got a real laugh out of her, it was light, melodic, a sound I hadn’t realized I needed to hear until it filled my truck. I found myself wanting to hear it again, so I kept her talking for the next ten or so minutes. I asked harmless questions to keep her anchored, why she was back home, where home was, what she did for work, her friends. Something about her was off, sentences she almost slipped out but stopped, but as I tried to keep her talking, I realized that somewhere in there, I didn’t want to hang up.
Eventually, the clock on my dashboard blinked 1:13 p.m., and I forced myself to speak.
“Elena…I want you to try and get some rest. Keep the lights on if it helps, and eat some food. I’ll be there later this evening to check things out, alright?”
“You will?” Her voice brightened just a bit.
“Promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you, Damian.”
“Anytime.”
There was a pause. Neither of us ended the call, so I just listened to her breathing again, how it was softer now, steadier even.
“Well,” I said finally. “I guess I’ll see you soon, Elena.”
“I’ll be here,” she said, her voice smiling through the line. “You sure you don’t need the address?”
“Everyone in town knows your house, Elena. I’ll find you.”
“Okay,” she laughed right before the call ended, but the echo of her laughter stayed long after.
As I started the engine, I caught myself grinning like an idiot. I didn’t know her, not really, but her voice clung to me, like a quiet melody threading through the noise in my head. And for the first time in a long time, I wanted night to come faster.
Chapter Ten
damian
