To Free a Phantom by Carrie Pulkinen

Author:Carrie Pulkinen [Pulkinen, Carrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-07T05:00:00+00:00

Erica opened her eyes and lifted her head from the desk. Had she fallen asleep in the theater? She rubbed the sore spot on her temple and gazed into the mirror. Her skin felt dry and flaky, as if she’d washed it with hand soap and forgotten to moisturize. She glanced at her watch. Six-thirty p.m.

“What the hell? How did I lose seven hours?” She tapped on the mirror. “Colette?”

The ghostly image appeared, though her translucence made her barely visible. “What are you still doing here?”

Erica opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it. What was she doing there? She’d gotten to the theater around ten that morning. Discussed her plans with Colette, and then… What? “I’m not sure. I think I fell asleep.”

“I’m not surprised. You were very busy today. You’d best check your messages and go home. The scripts will be here tomorrow, and we’ve got rehearsals scheduled every night until show time.”

She blinked, her mind reeling as she tried to connect the pieces of what the spirit was saying. “Wait. We do? How are the scripts getting here tomorrow? I haven’t ordered them.” Or had she? A vague memory, as translucent as the spirit before her, flashed in her mind, but she couldn’t grab onto it long enough to make it seem real.

Colette shook her head. “You ordered them this afternoon, dear. Overnight shipping. Well worth the cost, if you ask me.”

Okay, so that part was real. Why couldn’t she hold on to the memory? “And the rehearsals?”

“E-mails sent out to everyone. All the actors are on board. I really must recharge now. Have a good night.”

The ghost faded until only Erica’s sallow reflection stared back at her. Had she really done all that today? The entire day seemed like a fog in her mind. She rose from the chair and shuffled to her office. Pulling up her theater e-mail account, she found a group e-mail sent to all of her kids requiring rehearsals five nights a week plus Saturday afternoons.

A vague memory of typing the message flitted through her mind, but nothing solid would form. The proof she’d done it stared her in the face, though. Was she going crazy?

What had the kids said about Mrs. Spencer? That she didn’t know upstage from down by the time her life had ended. Was something in the theater affecting her? Mold? Asbestos? Maybe the so-called friendly spirits weren’t as friendly as Gage thought. She said hello to them every morning, and they hadn’t caused her any more problems… Unless they were making her brain foggy.

She could ask Gage, but… An image of him standing in the wing flashed through her mind, and her mouth went dry. Of him sitting in the chair, her straddling his lap. She shook her head. That had to be a dream. She may not remember sending an e-mail, but she would never forget having sex with Gage.

She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She’d been spending way too much time in this place.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.