Page 90 of Chasing Your Ghost

Riley repeated the message to Ella, who’d arrived wearing a pair of sunglasses and was now curled up on Riley’s bed. She looked a bit ridiculous with her legs tucked up tightly against her chest, but she appeared to be in too much pain to be made fun of, and mocking Ella wasn’t Riley’s expertise—it was Noah’s, and he and Chris weren’t there yet.

A migraine had apparently hit her as soon as she’d woken up that morning, and she hadn’t stopped massaging her temples and jaw since she’d arrived except to give Riley a hug and wipe away some tears when Riley had pointed to the spot where Asher had been standing.

“I’ll stop apologizing when we find you,” Ella said to Asher.

“Do you need something?” Riley asked her. She’d already closed the curtains, but that hadn’t seemed to help much. “Maybe some Tylenol?”

Ella waved her off. “I’ve already taken more painkillers than I should have. I’ll be fine.” She looked back at the place she knew Asher was, even if she couldn’t see him. “I still can’t believe all of this. My best friend’s spirit is detached from his still-living body. If he wanted to, he could say the phrase, ‘the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,’ and it would take on a whole new meaning. Can we reflect on how crazy that is?”

“My best friend can dreamwalk,” Asher retorted. “Can we reflect on how crazy that is?”

“You know I would have told you sooner if I’d thought anyone in their right mind would have believed me, right?” Ella quietly asked once Riley had echoed his words. “I never wanted to keep it from you or lie to you, but I didn’t think anyone would believe something so out-there.”

“Honestly, you probably made the right call. I don’t know if I would have believed you back then,” Asher admitted with a guilty wince. “Being a ghost kind of changes your perspective on that kind of thing.”

Riley repeated his words and was going to add her own by saying that Ella was right not to tell anyone about her abilities, but she was interrupted by a knock on her door.

“Riley?” Noah said from outside. “It’s us.”

“Come in,” she called out.

Ella groaned at the sudden burst of bright light when he opened the door. She covered her eyes and curled up even tighter.

“Woah, is there a reason you’re standing in the dark?” Noah asked after Chris had closed the door behind them.

“Ella has a migraine,” Riley explained.

His gaze moved to her, his forehead creasing with a frown when she saw how she was lying. “Oh.” By some miracle, he wisely didn’t add anything else.

“Where’s Asher?” Chris asked.

Riley pointed to the corner of the room. “Right there.”

Asher moved like he wanted to hug them but quickly remembered that was impossible. Riley winced. She hated that he couldn’t have a proper reunion with his friends. She made the same exchange of greetings as she had for Ella, relaying to them that Asher missed them and had been checking up on them as much as possible.

“Aw, you’ve been stalking us? That’s so sweet, bro,” Chris said, his joke not quite able to cut through the sad tension in the room.

“I bet he stalked me more,” Ella mumbled.

“Not a chance, Montgomery,” Noah argued. “We both know I’m prettier.”

“Trust me, I know,” Ella replied sleepily before going unnaturally still and turning a startling shade of pink.

Noah’s eyes were wide as he stared at her, and Riley couldn’t tell what he thought about the unexpected compliment.

“Did I just say that out loud?” Ella asked.

“Yes,” Noah told her, a grin slowly forming on his face. “Yes, you did.”

“Kill me now,” she muttered.

“Why don’t we get back to why we’re here,” Riley suggested, drawing the attention from the curled-up, blushing woman. “I’m sure Ella told you that Asher’s been in his body. He was pulled away a few minutes after leaving the house that night.”

“I assume you didn’t see or hear anything while you were back in your body?” Noah asked, looking awkward and unsure as he directed the question to what looked to him like an empty corner of the room.

“No, it was the same as always. Too dark to see, and I didn’t hear anything. I also couldn’t move. It’s almost like I’m tied down, only I can’t feel any ropes or bindings keeping me in place. My whole body is just…stuck.”

Riley relayed what he’d said, her mind getting caught on the part about him not feeling any ropes or bindings. “From what I read, I assumed you were in some sort of a coma, but what you’re describing sounds like it could be supernatural,” she noted.

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