Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas

Author:Leah Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781547604647
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

MIRACLE-GRO

I don’t know how I found it in the smoke, but seven scratches later, I made my way to the door, the squeaking kitten zipped up in my hoodie. As much as it had fought when I dragged it out from under the filthy coffee table, the little creature settled once it felt the warmth of my body. Its little heart beat against my bruised ribs. Together we stumbled through the scorching living room and kitchen—those newspapers had been kindling for the flames.

In the room behind me, I thought I heard Addy cry out.

How many times did Dad hit Mom before we finally left? How many times did he hurt us before it was enough? How close were we to death, to resignation?

Why was I able to leave her there?

I burst out into the frosted air and was met with the glare of amber headlights. I threw my hand up, squinting in the light.

“Sarah?”

But it wasn’t her. I knew this silhouette and gait.

Seiji Grayson. His expression wasn’t unreadable anymore, but horrified as the motel caught fire behind me.

“Seiji?”

“Hi. I called 911.”

“Seiji?”

He pointed. “Your motel is on fire.”

I fell to my knees in the snow.

Seiji helped me to my feet, but I cried out when I put weight on the foot that had taken the brunt of my fall, so he hefted me up over his shoulder. I was too relieved to feel resentful or anything else as he led me to his truck and lifted me onto the open truck bed. The flames rose higher. Moments later, he joined me on the truck bed. My legs dangled, but his hardly did—he was so damn tall.

“Why are you here?”

“Your backpack.” His face was calm again, but his eyes reflected the firelight. “You left it in my truck.”

I thought we might be dreaming.

“Oh, yeah, thanks.”

“This all looks bad. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Your apartment is on fire,” he reiterated, as if reading a report.

“That’s not my unit, not specifically.”

He sat up. “Is there someone in there still?”

I bit my lip and shook my head, Addy’s expression seared behind my eyelids.

“Your neck is bruised to hell.”

“Oh yeah. See, no one living’s in there. I was fighting with the ghost of a douchebag murderous fuck.”

Maybe the oxygen deprivation was making me talk, or maybe I didn’t care to keep secrets anymore. As the flames licked the roof of the motel, I felt some kind of dark pressure rising in the air. I felt it, and wondered what it meant.

Somewhere in the burning building, had the murderous ghost evaporated? Or was it just wishful thinking that anything we’d done in there had made the slightest difference? That we’d done anything but enrage a monster?

What kind of person was I to leave Addy there?

You’d have left Patricia, too.

“Oh god,” I said numbly. “How can I ever face Sarah?”

“Who’s Sarah?”

“My best friend. The ghost who lives in your old Game Boy sometimes. She died in the seventies and now she’s stuck with me.”

“Oh.”

The motel roof caught fire in earnest.

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