Page 34 of Dancing with a Ghost

It'd been at least a few weeks since I'd been here and it smelt musty, and when I looked in the fridge, I shut the door quickly before anything escaped. I shuddered at the smell of sour milk. I'd need to clean that out sooner rather than later.

First, though, I needed to decompress, to go through the events of the day. How he'd slowly pulled away from me. It wasn't like him. Perhaps we'd been so entwined that we'd lost sight of everything else.

I'd picked up coffee on my way home, something I'd missed. I savoured the burst of coffee as it exploded on my tongue, and I wondered what Matty would think of it. Could he smell the aroma of it as it wafted from the coffee shop we had at the hotel?

There was so much for him to do with his life, and that doubt crept in again.

Perhaps I should go out tonight, try to step back into the real world for a while before going back to the hotel. Oh, I intended to go back, just maybe not until Monday. A day apart might be what we needed to reset, and for him to 'recharge his batteries', as he'd said.

Times like these, I'd go out with Georgie but with just a month to go until the arrival of baby number two, that wasn't going to be an option. I scrolled my phone as I leaned against the kitchen counter, realising how many friends I didn't have.

I could call Seb, I suppose. A friend from my dancing days. He and his partner, Joe, were always good for a night out, but then I remembered they were away with friends, so that was out. I really was a sad person with no friends. Guess it was a night in, then. Maybe a meal from the local takeaway, and my feet up in front of the TV was what I needed, Strictly had started after all. Another thing I wanted to share with Matty.

So many things, but we had time before the curse was due to take hold, time enough.

Sunday came and went. I visited Georgie and Giles, joining them for lunch. I stayed as long as possible, not wanting to go back to the empty flat.

I'd got so used to sleeping with someone, I'd tossed and turned both nights I'd spent at home.

By Monday morning, I was exhausted. Mother warily asked me to join her in a meeting, all the while asking for my opinion. Since my outburst that day, she'd taken a step back, allowing me to do my job. She'd not complained once about how I did things and actually sat back and listened to my ideas.

Business was booming and with Christmas fast approaching, there were many things to organise. Before I knew, it was Monday afternoon and I'd not seen or felt Matty at all. It was strange but he'd wanted time and space and I'd given that to him.

Monday evening arrived and I ate alone in the restaurant, constantly sniffing the air for any sign of him but there was nothing.

Where the hell was he? He couldn't go anywhere and by now, I was starting to fret.

I pushed my plate away, my appetite gone, every mouthful tasting sour in my mouth. Worry filled me, my stomach churning. I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what.

There was no one to ask either. Matty had only ever appeared to me.

Collecting my almost full plate, I took it to the kitchen, scraping the leftovers into the bin.

"Toby, darling. What's wrong?" Mother's concern was touching but there was nothing she could do. "You've been out of sorts all day. Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm okay, just a little tired. I didn't sleep well. I'm going to take a walk in the garden, get some fresh air." And hopefully try to connect to Matty.

I walked through the kitchen garden and sat on the loveseat we'd shared not long ago. The whole area had an air of serenity to it. It was all too quiet. There was no rustle of trees even though there was a breeze. Nothing stirred. It was as if I'd stepped into another world with no sound.

"He's been waiting for you, you know."

A shimmering figure stepped into my line of sight. A lady dressed in a nurse's outfit.

Sister Mary. It had to be her.

"I've been waiting for him too but I don't know where he is. What have you done with him? What did you do?"

"I gave him the final puzzle piece, the one to break the curse, but I fear it might have been too late to help him. As to what we did? Well, we needed to ascend. It’s what we were created to do."

I didn’t understand. Who was the ‘we’ she was referring to?

“I can see you’re puzzled. I’m from a race of ethereal beings, we harvest souls and bodies in order that we can ascend to a higher plane. It sounds cruel, but we only take those that need saving. We never take an innocent soul.”

“So why did you do that to Matty?”

“We made a mistake. He didn’t need saving, but we couldn’t stop the reaping so we did the only thing we could, and kept him here for eighty years. He understands that now.”

I stood, taking a step towards her only for her to reappear to my left.

---