Page 79 of Purrfectly Haunted

But he does not eat me. Instead, he pours himself inside me, using me like a vessel. The chill of the grave slithers through my veins as he takes possession of my body. Who I am—my soul—is put aside like an afterthought. I scream, but only I can hear it.

It hurts. It hurts so much...

I’m not in control anymore, and I witness in horror as the ghost flexes my hands, trying out his new meat suit.

“This will do,” he says with my voice.

Then he leads us to the stairs.

As we pass by James, he tries to reach for me, but his eyes are glassy. The spores are killing him. I cry, but no one can hear my sobs.

The house slams the door to the basement closed, trying to keep us in, but Earl Lynch gives it a mighty kick, my leg powered by the energy of the dead, and it gives out easily.

On the other side, Lana is holding an unconscious Shirley against her chest. “Ewan?”

The cats hiss, putting themselves between us and the women. But the ghost just ignores them all and strolls out of the basement.

I sob harder as the ghost takes me out of the house and into the night.

seventeen

Stolen

JAMES

My vision blurs, but I still see Ewan walk out of the basement.

No, not Ewan, but the ghost who is possessing him.

Things are going terribly wrong, I think, feeling distant from my body. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way...

My throat and lungs are burning, the spores are killing me.

Ewan...

I drag my nails against the stone floor and crawl, but the effort is too much and I lose consciousness.

When I come back to myself, I stare at my feet dragging along the stairs. Someone is breathing hard behind me and cursing. Lana... Lana is pulling me up the stairs. The light above us is too bright, and it hurts my retinas.

“Ewan...” I repeat.

“Hang on. It’ll be okay... I got you...” She sobs.

Four cats are helping her as best as they can by carrying my limp arms, their little teeth in my jacket. I feel a surge of affection for the felines. Ewan is right, they’re turning me into a cat person.

“Ewan...” I whisper.

Where is he? Is he okay? The dread pooling in my chest tells me that no, he’s not okay. The ghost took him. The entity stole him from us, and I failed to protect him.

We finally reach the top of the stairs and Lana drags me farther into the hallway. The door leading down to the basement closes by itself, locking the remaining clouds of spores downstairs. The copper taste of blood in my mouth is overwhelming. How much did I inhale?

She finally lets me go on the carpet and I crawl to my knees. Shirley is on the floor by my side. She’s crying and her clothes are soaked in blood.

I reach for her. “Shirley... are you okay?” My voice is raspy and barely audible.

“She stopped vomiting blood after Agnes was... eaten,” Lana says. “But I don’t know if it caused any internal damage. I’ll call for an ambulance. You need a hospital.”

Shirley shakes her head. “I think I’m fine... I’m just... We...” She swallows a sob.