She was tired. She was in a car with Sharon to see an old friend of Sharon's that was good at fortune telling and exorcism.Even though Geneva wasn't really interested, Sharon had dragged her into the car after listening to her ordeal.She was currently suffering from jet lag. Having arrived at Sharon's apartment a few hours before dawn, although she finally got to have a proper bath, she felt anything but refreshed.She was still sleepy. Even when she managed to get a little sleep, the horrifying series of dreams she was suddenly having was taking a mighty toll on her.She had had quite a number of dreams that felt so real in the past seven hours or so. They had all appeared intermittently and frequently that she couldn't tell which dream belonged to which.At the same time, they had been vague but she could somehow remember just two scenes that had been as clear as day and had a strange effect on her. Exactly how she had felt while holding that peculi
Trembling, Geneva sat on the bare floor. She glanced at Sharon and her eyes popped. A rare sight it was, seeing a serious faced Sharon who sat with shoulders rigid in an upright posture. This is serious, Geneva thought. The room was small, narrow and dimly lit by the red candle on the table. It had only a small window whose curtains kept making different shapes as it danced along with the wind. On the walls and the table they surrounded were bones of various sizes. Geneva hoped those weren't from humans."We have seen it all." The old woman hummed.What was with this we, are they really three witches?"We?" She squeaked as meekly as a rat."The universe, land, ocean, trees, wind, sky and I," The woman said with an air of mystery."Oh.""Give me your hands." The woman demanded as she stretched her own thin hands over the strange items on the table.Geneva swallowed and sat still but not for long. Sharon grabbed her wrists with the power of an elephant and threw them to the waiting pa
"You're late," he said, "to our wedding."The way you say it as if I couldn't intend to escape angers me! A frown grew on her face with this thought. "Yes, yes, I'm late." Despite her pursed lips she still sweetly said, "but I made up for it by making arrangements for the wedding singlehandedly. Okay, Sharon did help a tiny little bit. Look, I even bought candles, wine, flowers — aren't I a good wife-to-be?"Don't you dare get angry and murder me, one could almost hear her silent plea. But he didn't reply. His eyes never left her as it watched her every movement intently.She suddenly became self-conscious but that did not deter her. To be honest, it was quite unsettling to be given such unwanted full attention. She set to work however, setting up and setting up and setting up... all the while still under his watchful gaze!Phew. Geneva wiped her sweat and checked the time. 7:02pm, it was time to prepare. She took a step back to stare at what she'd spent the rest of the day doing.
"I bought drinks, let us drink to our fill." The silence had become so unbearable that Geneva had to do something about it. She must get him drunk to avoid the horror - the unspeakables of a wedding night. But could ghosts drink? The look on his face answered the question. Time for plan B! "Let's talk for a while, shall we?" Geneva sat down and watched him do the same on the single sofa in the room, right beside her. Feeling that familiar iciness in the air surrounding them, the hairs on her body stood instantly. "Let's start with the basics, what is your name?""Nicholas." What an ordinary name. So ghosts do have one. "You said something about being half dead and second chances, what does that mean?" "Recovering my memories gives me access to my body and its location." Oh, so he doesn't know where his body is. Poor ghost. "But, why me?" "I told you. Soulmate." All strength left her. Conversations with this ghost led nowhere. "Ehen, the most important one. Okay how to ask
Geneva cleaned up the mess she'd made of the flowers and candles. It was faster now than the previous night she spent setting them. Then, she silently made her way back into the bedroom and to the bathroom. It's better to finish all these affairs while he is his strange self, she muttered to herself. She was through in less than ten minutes, made it to the kitchen and prepared a breakfast of milk and toast in another ten.As she set them in the little space meant for dining in the small kitchen, she glanced again at him. Noting that Nicholas was still in that same position like a statue, she felt an odd feeling which she would like to dismissively call pity, prick her heart, so she walked to him.Wiping her hands on her jean skirt to heat them up, Geneva lightly touched the cold body.Goosebumps that bore standing hairs traveled from the tip of the finger that she had nudged his shoulder with and down to her toes.Sad blue orbs met her dark ones and she shivered from its intensity.
A game of ten questions. The perfect way of finding out from someone exactly what you want to know. At least it was a perfect technique Sharon used on her. It simply involved taking turns to ask each other questions. Once you've gotten the other trapped in a leading question, you proceed by asking the other a series of 'whys' for each answer given. More than ten questions weren't allowed. "Nicholas," she called softly, "what is your full name?""I know not the answer to your question."She frowned. "Your family, do you remember your parents? Any siblings? Surely, they must know where your body is.""I know not the answer to that question either." He said, his tone neutral.Geneva was beginning to get frustrated again so she said, "it's your turn now. Ask me any question you want to know the answer to."He once again became mute. Geneva was exasperated. Her husband, she sadly realized now, was as interested in knowing more about her as she was in knowing why ants don't fly.Freeing h
The next morning when Geneva woke, she came down the stairs yawning. She saw Nicholas in that same frozen stance as the day before and in the exact same place. Noticing this, she silently tiptoed to the bathroom and washed up.Just like the day before, she beckoned on him before going to have breakfast. And just like the day before, his eyes had a firm stand on her like steel making her feel like she was a ten year old sternly supervised as she performed a task.She almost regretted calling on him before being done with eating. At a point, she even choked on her food but had to repress the violent thunder in her throat.In a free world like this I'm not even allowed to freely choke on my own food! She grieved internally. When she was done eating, Geneva took the plates to the sink and started washing them. In less than a minute, Nicholas was already beside her placing the glass cup there for her to wash too.Geneva's head turned to him at breakneck speed then she squinted her eyes at
That night she sang till her voice became dry. And the husband she had been trying to irritate had appeared unaffected at all. It made Geneva want to leap onto Nicholas' side of the bed and choke him. She looked up from the laptop on her lap to glare at Nicholas. Two hours of singing was just too much, but he wasn't stopping her, not to mention how frustrated she was with him right now. Geneva snuck a glance at him again. He was lying on his back and his elbows were bent so that he could support his head with his arms. Geneva was beginning to think that that was the only way he slept. She had an idea. One night, she would observe him and know if he ever changed positions.With slight caution, she called him. "Nicholas?" "Mm?" Nicholas replied, still in the same position. "Take a look at this." She passed him a book. He finally opened his eyes and looked at the book in silence, then to Geneva too before collecting it. He opened a page and said with a flat voice, "You wanted to sh