Page 62 of Ghosted in Arkadia

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“You made him up.”

I remember the feeling of his hand wrapped around my throat. Firm. Strong. Real.

“Ghost is real. He is coming to rescue me.”

“You created him because the world couldn’t love you.”

I remember the feeling of my hand punching his hard chest. The way his arms wrapped around me, holding me steady as I hit him. Understanding why I need the pain.

He was there.

He is real.

“I am Kira Blackwell.”

Must be time for medicine.

They keep trying to give me food.

I keep pushing it away.

I’m not hungry.

Food makes me sick.

Medicine feels good.

I am Kira Blackwell

The walls are louder than the voices now.

Or maybe they are the voices.

Hard to tell.

They hum in my molars. In my spine.

In the space between my bones.

The camera winks at me.

I wink back.

I am Kira Blackwell.

I saw Ghost.

In the ceiling tile.

In the ripple of water from the sink.

In my shadow, it moved when I didn’t.

His voice echoed in my head.

He said, “Run, kitten.”

So I tried.

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