“I just wanted to check in with you,” Debbie says, shifting her weight on the porch. “You’re my first tenant not to call me within a day or two of living here.”
I blink at her. “Why would they do that?”
“Because everyone thinks it’s haunted.”
There’s breathing behind me. Close. Right at my shoulder. The kind of breathing you hear when someone’s standing inches away, trying to stay quiet but not quite managing it.
I don’t turn around. I don’t react at all. This is just another normal day for me. I’ve heard breathing behind me in empty rooms since I was a kid.
“Ask her how she’s doing.”
The voice is right in my ear. Female. It takes me a second to place it, but then I do. Nicole. The same voice from the AIM messages, except now it’s here, in the actual air, with breath and concern threaded through it.
I keep my eyes on Debbie. “No, I don’t think it’s haunted. I haven’t noticed anything wrong at all.”
Debbie’s eyebrow lifts. Just one. The other stays exactly where it is.
“In the twenty years I’ve rented out this place,” she says slowly, “no one has ever said that to me after a few nights.”
“Well,” I say, shrugging. “I love it.”
Debbie makes a sound that’s almost a laugh.
“Do you want to come in?” I gesture behind me with my thumb.
“No.” The word comes out sharp and immediate.
“Okay.”
She folds her arms, and her expression settles back into that practical tiredness. “You know, if you decide later it’s haunted, I’m not letting you break the lease easily. You signed for a year.”
“This place could be filled with demons for what you’re charging in rent.”
That gets her. An actual laugh this time, short and genuine.
“You’re funny,” she says.
“Thank you.”
“Come on,” Nicole’s voice says in my ear. “Ask her how she is.”
I can feel the presence of her body close behind me, the weight of someone standing too close. My brain is really committing to this one today.
“So how are you?” I ask Debbie.
Debbie squints at me. Her expression shifts slightly, not quite a frown but close. Like I just said the wrong line in a script she thought we were both following.
“I’m fine,” she says slowly.
“That’s good.” I nod, trying to make it seem natural. “I just figured I’d ask since you’re checking in on me.”
The pause stretches out longer than it should. Debbie’s eyes narrow just a fraction, and I can see her doing the math in her head, trying to figure out if I’m being polite or if there’s more to it.
“That’s...” She stops. “That’s nice of you.”
But her tone says it’s not nice. It says it’s weird.
“Ask her if her kids are doing well,” Nicole whispers.
I keep my mouth shut this time. Debbie is already looking at me like I’ve grown a second head. If I start asking about her sleep schedule, she’s going to think I’m some kind of stalker.
“Well,” Debbie says, taking a half-step back from the door. “I should get going. You’ve got my number if anything breaks.”
“Yep.” Get faster updates on g.com.
She turns to leave, then pauses on the second step down from the porch. She looks back at me over her shoulder.
“You’re sure you’re doing okay here?”
“Yeah. I’m great. Really.”
She studies me for another second, then nods once and keeps walking toward her car parked outside.
I watch her pull away from the curb and disappear down the street. Then I step back inside and close the door.
Nicole’s standing in the middle of my living room.
She’s exactly like she was in the dream. That same bloodless, near-glowing skin. Black hair hanging straight down past her shoulders. The flannel shirt open over the short skirt, frozen in an aesthetic that died before I learned to walk. And her eyes. Pure white, colorless, catching light that doesn’t exist in the room.
She’s stunning.
She’s also staring directly at me.
“Hey,” I say.
Her eyes go wide.
Then she just drops through the floor like it swallowed her whole. One second she’s standing there, the next she’s gone, sinking straight down through the hardwood like it’s water.
A quiet chuckle slips out.
It comes out as this short, surprised exhale, but it’s genuine. That was the most awkward exit I’ve ever seen anyone make, real or imagined.
I walk over to where she was standing and look down at the floor. Just normal hardwood. No hole, no disturbance, no evidence she was ever there.
“Nicole?” I say to the empty room.
No response.
I wait another few seconds, then shrug and head back to my desk. My work laptop is still open, the claim still waiting for me to finish processing it.
The AIM window pops up on my gaming laptop before I even sit down.
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: I HATE YOU
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: I HATE YOU SO MUCH
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT
I drop into my chair, grinning at the screen. “What?”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: YOU WERENT SUPPOSED TO SEE ME
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: AND THEN YOU TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED RIGHT AT ME
“I didn’t turn around,” I point out. “You were in the living room when I came back inside.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: BECAUSE I DIDNT THINK YOU COULD SEE ME
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: NO ONE CAN SEE ME IRL
I lean back in my chair, folding my arms. “Well, I can see you. You’re very beautiful, by the way.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: SHUT UP
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: UR SO EMBARRASSING
“I’m embarrassing?” I grin. “You literally fell through the floor.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: I LEFT
You know… I’ve never tried to date a hallucination before, have I? And it’s not like it matters if I shoot my shot here, right? What’s the worst that happens? My own brain rejects me?
“Are you single?” I ask.
The text field blinks at my audacity.
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: THIS IS A HAUNTED HOUSE
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: IM HAUNTING YOU
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: A DEAD WOMAN
“Okay, but did you die dating anyone?”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: FUCK YOU
I hold up my hands even though she can’t see me. “I wasn’t making fun of you. I’ve never been able to maintain a relationship because of my disorder. People find out I have schizophrenia and they run.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: u a virgin lol?
I let out a breath. “No. This girl in high school took my virginity. I found out later she told everyone she did it because she felt bad for me.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: omg thats so mean
“Yeah. And she lied about the whole thing. Told people I kept acting like different people in the middle of it, making it into this whole story about how weird I was.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: ...
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: that sucks
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: ppl r the worst
“Yeah, they really are.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on the desk. “How about you, are you a virgin?”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: ...
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: I didnt have irl friends
My chest tightens a little at that. Not in a bad way, just in that way where you recognize a piece of yourself in someone else.
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: but if i lived id have done way more sex than u
I nod. “That’s so sad.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: y do u wanna know so bad?
“I want to know if I have a shot.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: u wanna date me even tho u think im in ur mind?
Heat crawls up the back of my neck. It’s not quite a blush, but it’s close enough that I feel it. “I mean, yeah. I guess if I got back on antipsychotics you’d go away. But I’m not planning on that anytime soon.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: i dont date gross losers
The laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. “Your loss.”
Nicole_luvs_NSYNC: lol
I stare at that last message. Just “lol.” Not all caps. Not followed by fifty more lines telling me how much she hates me.
Progress