Page 47 of Amnesty

He smiled against me, and I cuddled into his chest, dipping my face into him. Our bodies rocked back and forth a little as he held me. The comfort he surrounded me with was unmatched.

The moment we created between us was short lived. Interrupted by a few tentative knocks.

Eddie straightened and spun, tucking me behind him and holding me there with both his arms. “Who’s down there!” he called, his voice deep and low.

There was another knock, louder this time.

“Hello!” a muffled voice replied.

“Stay back,” Eddie said. “It’s probably a trick.”

I nodded, wide-eyed, and watched as he stepped closer and drew his gun. After undoing one of the deadbolts, he placed his hand on the other.

“I’m opening this door, and I have a gun. I’ll fucking shoot you dead, so don’t try shit!” he spat.

I shuddered.

“Please, no!” the voice yelled, still muffled from where I stood.

Eddie’s face twisted. It was the oddest expression I’d ever seen him wear. The gun in his hand went slack for a moment.

Then shaking it off, he threw back the lock, grasped the metal ring, and pulled open the door.

The door banged back against the ground when I threw it open. Everything below was dark and still. The scent of earth and must rose and wrapped around my nose.

Lifting the gun, I trained it at the opening because, frankly, I expected something to launch itself out in a planned attack.

“Hello,” I called down into the dark hole, puzzling over the fact someone had just been there but was now swallowed up by the dark.

“Who’s down there!” I called out again.

Amnesia shifted, and I glanced up, making sure she was okay. She looked nearly haggard. The stress of this island, the feelings it brought up, or maybe the memories—hell, could be a cocktail of all three—were hurting her. Draining her.

It scared me.

“Is it him?” she asked, her voice small.

My teeth gnashed together. How anyone could hurt her shocked the shit out of me.

“Show your face!” I roared, this time with an underlying threat in my tone.

The faint sound of movement below made me stiffen. I raised the gun again, aiming it and holding steady with both my hands.

Slowly, achingly slowly, a figured moved into the light streaming inside.

I caught a flash of white fabric before a face lifted, and my breath caught.

Of all the things I expected to see down in that manmade cave, I saw the very last I ever imagined.

It wasn’t a man.

Or an animal.

It was a ghost.

“Eddie,” she whispered as though she too couldn’t believe her eyes.

I tore my stare away and looked at Amnesia. Then back down into the hole.

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