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I, Lena Kieran Luthor, am dead. This is not a recent development. I’ve been dead for quite some time. At least I assume so, time is not as linear in death as it seems in life. I also happen to be a ghost, stuck in the same miserable place I spent the majority of my short life in: Luthor Manor. My becoming a ghost was not my intention, but I can’t bring myself to regret the actions that brought me here. Here’s my life story:
I was born in a small village in Ireland to the kind and beautiful Elizabeth Walsh. The first few years of my life were spent in innocent bliss, living in a tiny cottage with only me and my mother near the shores of Lough Leanne. My joy was soon crushed on those very shores. My mother, my light, my everything, disappeared into the Lough’s dark waters, never to be seen again. I was taken in by a man I later learned was my father, Lionel Luthor. The Luthor family were well known for their wealth, but I quickly got to see the true faces of cruelty hidden by their gilded masks. As the shameful bastard child, I was kept hidden away within a high corner of the manor. My existence was kept a secret from all but the few manor servants who were assigned to care for me. Lionel was distant, but doting when he remembered my existence. Lillian was cold and delighted in casual cruelty. Lex was the only one who made me feel loved. Again, I later learned this was all a manipulation. He wanted a devoted sycophant, and for years I gladly indulged in that role. He was my hero, my anchor in the raging sea my life had become. That anchor became the chain that dragged me to the depths and drowned me.
Lionel died when I was 14 and with his death went the protection he granted me from the full force of Lillian’s cruelty. I was no longer allowed to wander the grounds or join the servants in the kitchen for dinner. I was confined entirely to my rooms and punished for even making a sound if any guests were present in the manor. I became a living ghost. I discovered secret passageways in the walls that allowed me to spy on the goings-on of the manor and learned to be silent as I traversed them. This discovery ultimately was responsible for my death. The manor had become an inn of sorts after Lionel’s death, a necessary evolution to keep the Luthor name afloat in it’s wealth. Guests were occasionally permitted to stay at the Manor for a fee.
In my explorations of the Manor’s secret depths, I discovered the true depths of Lex’s depravity. The man had always craved power with a hunger that could not be satisfied. This desire led him into the study of the arcane and evil. He made a deal with an entity I cannot begin to describe, power in exchange for souls. The first soul to seal this deal was Lionel’s. Lex murdered him and poured his lifeblood into this entity’s maw. The visitors to the Manor were fodder for Lex’s power. One in ten disappeared, never to be seen again. These disappearances were never investigated, as such an investigation would have been too much of a scandal for the powerful family.
My discovery of Lex’s evil was his undoing and mine. Lillian was a willing partner in this depravity, it was she who lured the guests to the Manor where Lex selected those he desired and fed them to the shadowy beast. Lillian soon became a victim of Lex herself in a time where guests were limited. I did my best to frighten off the visitors, banging on the walls of their rooms at night, stealing their belongings and leaving terrifying messages on their nightstands. Lex soon caught on to my efforts. My punishment was to feed the beast myself. I was prepared though. I had done research of my own and learned of a way to contain the evil of this house. Lex had become the beast’s earthly vessel and conduit for its power. I couldn’t rid the beast from this realm entirely, but I could limit it and contain it with a spell. I carved sigils of warding into my flesh hours before Lex came for me. My lifeblood would act as a seal on the demon once it was spilt. My life force would fuel the seal’s power for centuries until it hopefully starved itself into oblivion.
Lex dragged me before the hellish entity and I saw the full horror of it, a shadow, a well of blackness that seemed to eat any light in the room. It had burning red eyes and the impression of horns and claws, though it didn’t seem to be physical as much as a rent in the very space around it. Lex’s own eyes lit with a hellish glow as he drew a wicked knife to slit my throat. He was too slow however. My brother had always underestimated me. I slid my own dagger between his ribs, shock returning his eyes to the green we both inherited from our father. Blood leaked from his lips as he gasped out a laugh. That laugh was cut off as I forced the knife deeper, twisting it into his putrid heart. He collapsed to his knees and the light disappeared from his eyes. The entity roared with pain and ungodly fury, the sound destroying my eardrums with its power. Blood streamed from my eyes and ears as it rushed towards me, desperate for a new vessel to anchor it. I felt its unholy sickness enter my body, festering my soul with its poison. But this was to be its downfall. The sigils I had engraved upon my body flared to life and before the entity could gain control of my mind, I drew the knife out of Lex’s chest and across my own throat.
It raging inside my mind and body, destroying me utterly. But I was numb to it all. I was triumphant in my death. I had made myself its prison and my death would ensure it could never take another life. Or so I thought….
And that’s how I ended up here, a literal ghost haunting the halls of Luthor Manor. The mystery surrounding the Luthor family’s disappearance fueled interest in seekers of the supernatural and paranormal. I couldn’t get a break even in death. So my undeath was spent doing what I had in life, terrifying intruders and driving them away before Lex and Lillian’s ghosts could kill them. The demon slumbered, but Lex and Lillian remained, their souls chained to the demon as every other victim was. I kept them at bay best I could, but my failures haunted me. People continued to go missing on the manor’s grounds. I’m so tired. All I want is to be left alone in my misery. But I exist in fear that one day my sacrifice will be discovered and the demon somehow freed. So I continued my never ending task.
I was sitting in the window of my childhood bedroom when I saw the newest set of trespassers. A beat-up RV painted in garish reds, bues, and yellows pulled up the overgrown gravel driveway, engine sputtering unhealthily. It stuttered to a stop outside the rotten oak front doors and out stumbled the most beautiful woman I had ever laid undead eyes upon. Golden hair seemed to shine brighter than the sun, pulled back into a ponytail. Eyes blue as the Irish sea lock onto mine as the woman glances up at my window. I gasped in shock and flew back from the window.
“Did she actually see me?” I whispered. No one has actually seen me in decades. I’ve had the occasional mystic or psychic visit, but they’ve always only seen the tainted essence left of me from the demon. No one has actually seen me. I drifted back to the window, drawn towards this creature of sunlight and sea. I peered through the warped glass to see her turned away back to the RV. The tight cutoff tee she was wearing accentuated the muscles of her back and arms as she lifted equipment out of the RV. Another woman had joined her, a redhead kitted up in combat gear. She looked more like she was about to join a SWAT raid than investigate a supposedly haunted mansion. The third member was a short timid looking man in a button down and chinos, who fluttered around warning the blonde to be more careful with his gear.
The trio continued unloading their equipment from the RV as I drifted through the floor to get a closer look. The redhead hefted a battered black case onto her shoulders and moved to head into the foyer. I sighed and stretched my incorporeal muscles, ready for yet another busy night of haunting. The rotting double doors creaked upon ominously at the redhead’s approach, groaning as if in pain. She didn’t even pause! She just shrugged and continued forward with a cheeky thank you! The audacity! I huffed, this was going to be a tough one. Fine, I could play hardball if that’s what they wanted.
As the mousy little man dragged another case into the foyer, I sucked the summer heat from the air, making the temperature plummet. The man squeaked and shivered, dropping the case to vigorously rub some warmth back into his arms. I drifted through him and he shuddered, all the hair on his body standing straight up. A chuckle caught in my throat, I guess this was kind of fun sometimes. The rest of the ghosts were still slumbering in the daylight and I’d shoved Lex and Lillian down into the bowels of the basement so they couldn’t cause too much trouble.
“Kara!” The redhead called, “we got a lively one here!”
The blonde woman, Kara, clapped her hands giddily from where she was still out by the RV. Fuck, why did she have to be so cute? A sigh caught in my throat at the child-like excitement emanating from every inch of Kara’s body. I made sure to slide back into the wall as Kara hefted two cases under each arm and made her way into the foyer. I had to drag my eyes away from her exposed arms before I lost concentration and let the temperature return to normal. Making things cold was easy enough, but took effort to maintain for very long. It was usually enough to spook most normal people into finishing up their business quickly, but it seemed like this trio was anything but normal. The manor continued to groan periodically as I flexed the old wood and stone, but the trio seemed oblivious to the creepy ambience I was working so hard to create.
They joked and conversed easily as they set up a command center of sorts in the clear area of the foyer. I learned the redhead was named Alex and the man was Winn. Apparently they were a gang of entrepreneurial ghost hunters that made their living by filming and investigating the places that the more seasoned groups refused to venture to. I’ve made quite a reputation for the Manor in the centuries since my death. Those I couldn’t manage to scare off were dragged screaming into the lair of the slumbering beast by Lex and Lillian when my strength failed and I could no longer hold them off. Enough disappearances forced the local cops to patrol the area thoroughly and keep all but the most determined away. The rare party who got through quickly learned to stay clear as I pulled out my centuries of experience scaring the absolute shit out of humans. Having ghastly screams flood your ears and visions of distorted corpses crawling from the darkness tend to convince people to get the hell off of my land.
Unfortunately, the recent developments in technology have made it more difficult to drive away intruders. I hate headphones. My carefully crafted ambience of terrifying noises are a moot point when the intended audience can’t hear anything over the blasting trash the modern person calls music. Luckily most flashlight and recording devices still rely on battery power. Enough interlopers have helpfully left their equipment behind for me to fiddle with in the interminable hours alone. I’ll never admit it, but technology has always fascinated me and learning how to interact with it in my ghostly form has become a favored hobby of mine. I’ve figured out how to disrupt the electrical wiring of most of these devices enough to short them out at least temporarily. Even the bravest, most stubborn person will wet their pants when plunged into sudden darkness. And as loath as I am to compliment anything Luthor, the manor is perfectly built to be ominous and instill fear. Which suits my goals perfectly.
As night approached, I was careful to stay out of Kara’s eyeline. Winn and Alex couldn’t seem to see me, thankfully, but Kara kept seeming to catch glances of me as I moved about the house, locking onto my specter without unnerving accuracy. Those depthless blue eyes pierced through the gloom and unerringly found me whenever I flitted across the blonde’s sightline. It was simultaneously disquieting and exhilarating to be caught in her gaze. I was so used to being a ghost, both in life and now, that I had forgotten what it meant to be truly seen. I hated it.
My mood continued to sour as it became clear that the trio wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. The amount of provisions they had made it evident that they were intent on staying for at least the next couple days. Their vehicle was equipped with a bathroom and basic bedding, so they had no need to leave for shelter. I was really hoping to have them gone by nightfall. The other ghosts become so much harder to control in the darkness and I’d rather not actually have the living come to permanent harm in my manor. I’m not a sadist like Lex. I don’t scare these people because I enjoy it (though I do at least a little, I guess that’s the Luthor blood coming through) I do it to protect them and keep this demon chained. It seemed that I would have to enlist a few allies to help scare off this stubborn crew.
I convened with my allies on the top floor as twilight approached. Several of the trapped souls were Lex’s victims and more than willing to keep him from getting his clutches on anymore innocents.
“Jess, you’ll be responsible for keeping these idiots out of the more dangerous areas.” Jess was a short, severe-looking young woman who had fallen for Lex’s charm and become one of his earliest victims. She was the closest thing to a friend I’ve found in these long centuries. She nodded her assent at my command.
“I’ll be sure to keep the basement doors locked and barred. The second story floors have started to rot, so I’ll make sure to keep those tightly locked as well.” Jess replied before flitting out of sight.
I turned to a handsome man with a well-trimmed beard and a mischievous glint in his ghostly eyes. “Jack, I know you too well to ask you to be subtle, so your job is to break the weak link: Winn. He’s jumpy and timid, so focus your efforts on him for now. Be sure to keep out of the blonde woman’s sight. She seems to have at least a hint of the sight, so her seeing you might ruin the effect.”
Jack smiled wickedly and gave me a cheeky bow, “You do know how I love a handsome man. I’ll be sure to give him my full attention.” With a wink, he dissipated into the shadows. I just shook my head with a belabored sigh. Jack had been one of Lionel’s favorite young prodigies. He had been a promising inventor that Lionel had begun sponsoring before his death. Lex had continued to fund Jack’s career until the man’s curiosity overcame his good sense. He had come sniffing around when it became apparent that Lionel had gone missing. Lex decided that Jack was too much of a threat and lured him to his death with the promise of answers.
Hopefully with the help of these two we could manage to get rid of these pests (I ignored the flutter in my incorporeal stomach at the thought of Kara) before tragedy strikes. And if they lasted longer than a night, I had a secret weapon I could employ.
—------
Two hours after sundown
I hovered above the trio in the foyer, deep in the shadows of the high rafters, and watched them as they began their investigations in earnest. Alex had set up flood lights around their command center and started their portable generator. She carefully made her way through the nearby rooms and hallways, setting up digital cameras and heat sensors in strategic locations. I was impressed by her obvious experience. Maybe I had underestimated them when I assumed they were amateurs. The equipment was definitely not top-of-the-line, but Alex and Winn both had made their own upgrades. Alex seemed to be responsible for the planning, set up, and problem-solving, while Winn was definitely just there to run the equipment and recordings. That man had the nerves of wet spaghetti. Jack’s mischief was already starting to get to him. Jack had been busy pulling out plugs and tying knots in wires as Winn frantically tried to avoid any shadows or cold spots. At one point, Jack had managed to tie the man’s shoelaces together, causing Winn to fall flat on his face and scramble out to the RV squealing with fear. I couldn’t help the low chuckle that slipped through my lips at the sight. Which unfortunately caught Kara’s attention yet again. Her gaze flicked upwards and speared through me as I faded into the ceiling above. She only had a split second’s glance, but I saw her eyes widen in recognition. Damn that woman’s uncanny ability to know exactly where I was! I couldn’t stand the emotions that flooded through me at the mere sight of those cerulean eyes. The idea that this woman could see me, despite my every effort, rattled me to the core. I took pride in my elusiveness, it was what kept me alive for so long and served me well in my afterlife. My entire existence had been so dependent on being unseen, I had no idea how to process being perceived and the curiosity she viewed me with.
I ground my teeth and drifted through the walls to a different vantage point. I wasn’t ready to be seen yet. I could make myself nightmarish and terrifying, but I preferred to be the wizard behind the curtain whenever possible. I knew that I was a monster, I didn’t need anyone else to see my hideousness unless there was no other option.
As the dark fully blanketed the manor, Kara began her work in earnest. She seemed to be the spokesperson, there was always the one who called out to the ether and attempted to make contact with any entities present. She wore one earbud plugged into a recording device and started making her rounds, talking to the empty dark and asking for a response.
“Hello?” Kara called as she climbed the grand staircase to the next floor, “If there are any spirits present, make yourselves known, uh please and thank you!” Her voice was cheery and light as if talking to a timid animal, coaxing it closer. She repeated the same words as she wandered deeper into the dark of the second floor, her flashlight trained on the stained carpet at her feet.
I ghosted behind her, just close enough for my presence to raise the fine hairs on the back of her neck. I blew a cold breath into her uncovered ear and she whipped around. She was too slow to see me as I disappeared in a moment, ready for her this time.
“Hello? I know someone is there.” Impressively, her voice didn’t even quaver at the statement. “Please, I just want to talk.”
I released my best haunting moan directly into the recording device and watched her gasp as it registered in the earbud. I grinned as she gulped and licked her lips. The cracks in her fearless facade were beginning to show. One ghostly fingernail trails down her spine and she shivered. I was enjoying this too much, her warmth was infectious and being near her felt intoxicating. She stopped dead in the hallway, not moving an inch as I hovered just behind her, continuing to breathe in her ear. I was a firm believer in personal space, but invading Kara’s was just too tempting. Her skin rippled with goosebumps, but her breathing was controlled and even. Damn, this woman had nerves of steel. By now most people would be bolting back towards the light.
I fiddled with her flashlight, making the bulb flicker and die. Ha! Now what will you do, girl of steel? I expected her to begin panicking as any sane person would, but this infuriating woman just carefully popped out the now drained batteries and replaced them with some from her pocket. Who the hell was this woman? And how did nothing phase her? I gritted my teeth in frustration. I could hear doors slamming further within the manor as Jess did her best to keep Alex from any rooms where she could get hurt. Back in the foyer, I knew Jack was sniggering as he flooded Winn’s camera’s with static and made the floodlights dim. I figured Winn was close to his breaking point as I heard his panicky voice crackle through a walkie talkie I now noticed on Kara’s belt.
“Kara, Alex!” Winn whined, “I’m getting really freaked here! This is worse than normal!”
“Ugh, keep your pants on, dude. I’m on my way back,” Alex’s gruff reply sounded before Kara reached down and switched the walkie off.
“I know you’re there,” Kara murmured softly. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
I snorted, her hurt me? Not likely. I was already dead, I was past being hurt now. But she was going to be the one hurting if I couldn’t get her out of here. I could feel Lex and Lillian begin to wake in the cellar deep below and fight against my wards. Shit, it was too early still, dawn was a long way off and I couldn’t concentrate on both keeping the monsters at bay and keeping these idiots alive. I wanted to stay and keep an eye on this stubbornly fearless woman, but I needed to address the monsters below. With one last low growl into her recorder, I sank into the carpet and appeared in the cellar that I kept the Luthors in. Lex no longer had any resemblance to the slick man he once had been. His warped soul was on full display, eyes black voids leaking viscous shadow, features contorted into a nightmarish visage of jagged teeth and grey skin. He was disgusting. His cruel, mocking voice seeped into the air around him.
“Dear sisssssster,” he hissed, “let me ooouuuuutttt. Let me feeeeed. I’m so hungrrryyyy.” His shoulders hunched and mouth twitched into a twisted grin. I shuddered in revulsion, but refused to acknowledge him as I poured strength into the wards I’d prepared centuries ago. I funneled the energy I’d sucked from the batteries and generator into the sigils and they flared with ethereal light, Lex snarling in pain at the light. Lillian was still hunched in the far corner of the room, crouching against the damp stone walls. She was just as deformed as her favorite son, body distorted, limbs inhumanely long and fingers clawed. Her once blonde hair hung across her face as she glared hatefully at me. I was unfazed by their contempt. It had lost its sting over the decades. They had been starved of the energy they gained from instilling terror and feeding on the souls of their victims. They hadn’t been able to fight free of me since I’d discovered sigils that created wards that kept them in their dank cellar prison. I still lived in fear that they would find a chink in my efforts though. The beast that Lex had summoned still slumbered, but that wouldn’t last if Lex was ever able to regain control of the manor. The Luthors howled and bashed against the invisible bars as I quadruple checked the sigils before being satisfied that they would remain strong throughout the night. I shot them both one vicious glare over my shoulder as I faded back upstairs to my unwelcome guests.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I was in the basement, but it was enough that the three ghost hunters had all bedded down in the foyer for the night. I guess Kara had grown bored after I’d left her alone. Jess had successfully evaded all the sensors and cameras, so Alex had nothing to work with other than slamming doors and empty hallways. Winn seemed to have regrown his backbone with the other two back at his side, unfortunately. And with Kara around, Jack was no longer free to haunt the man without being spotted. Kara, Alex, and Winn all huddled together in sleeping bags and on camping mats. Kara was already asleep somehow and Alex was well on her way to unconsciousness. I figured that they would probably be fine on their own until they were all fast asleep.
Jack, Jess, and I reconvened in my bedroom to figure out a new game plan. Jack was elated at his antics with the techy geek and Jess rolled his eyes as he regaled her with what he’d done. Being a certified genius himself, Jack had apparently figured out how to mess with the walkie talkies until all they admitted with an obnoxiously loud static. Being deprived of contact, Winn had freaked and yelled for the other two until they had to give up on their exploration.
“How was everything with your blonde beauty?” Jack asked with a grin.
I shot him a patented death glare, refusing to answer. He knew exactly how poorly my efforts to intimidate her had gone as she was obviously still unfazed. Jess stifled a giggle and I swung my glare to her. She avoided my eyes and did her best to look innocent. I just shook my head, there was no helping these two. I could feel the rest of the restless dead roaming the halls, but I kept them from the foyer for now. I wasn’t able to fully control the rest of them, but I was strong enough to keep them from intentionally harming the living. Sometimes my unbreakable Luthor will came in handy.
“It seems these ones will be harder to break than the rest. They brought enough energy sources for me to drain and feed into the wards keeping the true monsters at bay, so we don’t have to worry about that for at least another night. I’m going to attempt to mess with their heads as they sleep. Hopefully they aren’t as fearless while unconscious. Jack, you see what you can find out from their RV. Maybe there’s something in there that can give us an idea of what they really want here. Jess, you suck the generator dry to get rid of the lights. Feed whatever excess energy you get to the other ghosts. THat should keep them happy enough.”
Without waiting for their responses, I fade back into the foyer. Winn was still awake, flinching at every sound. I didn’t worry about him for now, he would be easy enough to frighten once I break through the other two’s defenses. Alex was curled up in a sleeping bag, snoring gently. Her brow furrowed and she twitched every so often as if fighting something. As for Kara, she was a harder nut to crack. In sleep, she looked so carefree and relaxed, despite her surroundings. This woman seemed afraid of nothing. Well, I’d see what I could do about that. I drifted over to her and laid my hands gently on her temples. I’d learned in my long existence that I was mainly just energy and as such, I could manipulate other forms of energy with enough effort, especially electricity. And what was consciousness but just another form of electrical energy?
It wasn’t as if I could read minds or anything, but I had figured out how to play with brain electrical impulses to trigger the lizard brain and flood the unconscious mind with dread. I hated the intrusiveness of messing with living minds, so I avoided it whenever possible. I had been manipulated and controlled for enough of my existence to be unwilling to inflict that on others. But I didn’t have any better options at the moment. I knew Kara was the lynchpin of this group. If I could break her, then the rest of them would flee along with her. Taking a slow, deep breath (not that I needed it, it was just habit at this point), I let myself sink into the complex swirl of electricity lighting up Kara’s brain. To me, it appeared as a galaxy of flashes and light, ever changing and moving. THe lights followed patterns of neurons as her mind made connections and sifted through memory in her sleep. It was beautiful, a wonder that I could let myself get lost in. Even her mind was incredible, full of life and light. No, I had to focus, not get distracted by this enigmatic woman. I concentrated and began funneling energy into the fear center of her brain. Her eyebrows scrunched together and her breathing began to grow uneven as I worked. My heart twinged with pain as she began to whimper almost soundlessly. She hunched into a tight ball as fear began seeping into her body. I could almost see the dread traveling down her nerves to permeate her being. I hated this part. I hated having to hurt and terrify. But I had to. It was the only way to keep her safe, to keep her from becoming yet another ghost haunting these halls. Her heart began to pound and she cried out softly. I have no idea how my meddling affected the dreams of the people I did this too, but it never seemed to be good. I tried to keep myself from thinking about the nightmares that must be invading her mind as I continued to manipulate her brain’s electricity. Just as I was about to stop, worried about overdoing it, Kara gasped and shot upright with a strangled sob, blue eyes wide with terror. I didn’t have time to move out of the way and her head passed right through mine. I sat rigid as Kara shuddered and spun around on her knees.
I was pinned in place, kneeling beside Kara’s pillow, hands clutched to my chest as she stared into my eyes with frantic intensity. Her gaze immobilized me completely as she took in my presence. I knew what I looked like, mirrors somehow still showed my reflection when I chose to be more corporeal. I knew I was pale as chalk, eyes hooded and sunken, cheekbones sharply defined on my too thin face. I was almost skeletal and robed in the same blood-soaked flowing white shirt and sleep pants that I died in. I hated the pitch black hair that hung around my hideous visage and the too thin bones of my hands. I knew I was a freak, a terrifying specter. I desperately tried to scramble away, hands covering my face and the gaping wound in my neck, but Kara reached for me. She actually reached out as if to stop me from leaving. Fear still tightened her face, lips drawn and white, but she saw me and reached out as if to keep me close.
“Wait,” she called softly, “please.”
I froze, involuntarily giving in to her request. Those damned sapphire eyes held me captive, stole my will to move. I stilled in an awkward crouch that would’ve been uncomfortable had I an actual body. Kara glanced around to her companions, but Winn had finally drifted off and Alex was unbothered by the disturbance. She turned back to me and stretched out a hand in an offering of sorts.
“Please, I just want to talk.” Her voice was kind and earnest, softening every wall I had thrown up around myself.
I didn’t respond, utterly unbalanced by this confusing woman. I stayed exactly where I was and desperately tried to fade into the shadows, but it didn’t seem to be working. Her gaze was still fixed on me despite my every effort to disappear.
“Who–” her voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat, “who are you? I’ve researched everything about this place, but you don’t look like Lillian Luthor or match the description of anyone else who went missing here. How did you end up here?”
Well, if I couldn’t leave or disappear, I guess I could always try to intimidate. My bones cracked and my ghastly body convulsed as I shifted into my most nightmarish form. My fingers bent inhumanely and my spine hunched grotesquely as I rose out of the crouch to loom over the woman before me. The green faded from my eyes as they became white orbs and my jaw lengthened and stretched open monstrously.
“Your worst nightmare,” I hissed dramatically and lunged for her. She flinched as I passed through her, but only slightly before snorting in laughter. I whirled back around to see her sniggering at me! That was utterly terrifying! I had practiced that little act for years! Everyone else who I’d used it on had shit their pants and run off screaming bloody murder! I was aghast that this woman had the audacity to laugh at me!
She must have noticed my offended expression because she covered her mouth and looked a little chagrined.
“I’m sorry, it was just so…” she waved her hands in the air, “dramatic. Really? ‘Your worst nightmare’,” she repeated mockingly. “That’s just so cliche.”
I huffed and crossed my now normal arms over my chest. This was too much, now she was critiquing my technique? I turned my back and began drifting down into the wood floor, but she reached for me again and called quietly for me to stop. And I did, again. Because apparently I’ve gotten soft in my old age.
“I get it, okay? You’re genuinely terrifying and very impressive.” Now it felt like she was just being patronizing. I glared at her through my hair as she continued, “But obviously that’s not gonna work on me, so why don’t we just talk? I’m Kara Danvers, ghost hunter extraordinaire, and historian hobbyist. What’s your name?”
“Le…” the syllable slipped from my mouth before my mind could catch up. Kara kept somehow pulverizing all my inhibitions. I stopped myself and tried fading away again, but couldn’t bring myself to leave when Kara’s eyes lit up at the half answer.
“Lee? Your name is Lee?” She pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them like a child getting ready for a story. “I’m Kara! I mean–I already said that, so obviously you know that’s my name and that’s Alex,” she pointed at the sleeping redhead, “and Winn,” nodding at the unconscious man, “we heard about this place while visiting Dublin and had to come check it out. Uh, sorry, I’m rambling,” her hand came up to adjust glasses that weren’t currently on her face. She looked around the sleeping bag and grabbed her glasses, shoving them clumsily onto her face. “Oh Rao, you’re gorgeous.” I jerked back in surprise and she flushed scarlet. “Oh gosh, sorry, that’s probably really weird for me to say since you’re dead and all. I mean, unliving! Oh geez, I’m just making this worse,” she grumbled, burying her face in her knees.
I chuckled in disbelief at the rambling Kara. She thought I was gorgeous? No way in a thousand years would anyone think that a ghastly spirit like me could be anything but terrifying.
“Lena…..not Lee,” I whispered near silently, still not quite believing that she could actually hear me.
“Oh! That’s such a pretty name! Can I still call you Lee or do you prefer Lena? Oh gosh I just have so many questions!” Her voice rose slightly in excitement and Alex groaned in complaint. “Oops, uh, are you gonna try to hurt me or scare me again? Cuz I just have so many questions, but I don’t want to pry and the others can’t see you so I don’t want to wake them up if I don’t have to–” I help up my hands to stop her rambling and she bit her lips and adjusted her glasses with a slight blush. “Sorry.”
I began moving towards the sitting room to the right of the foyer, stopping briefly to look back over my shoulder and gesture for her to follow. SHe scrambled to her feet, clumsily disentangling herself from her sleeping bag, shoved her feet into her shoes and followed me. I led her to a moldering couch and drifted into a sitting position. She plopped down on the couch, sending a cloud of dust into the air and making her cough. I just shook my head slightly, though it didn’t hide the tiny smile on my face. Once her cough settled down, she looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to start I supposed.
“My name is Lena Kieran Luthor.” I began, my voice raspy with disuse, well and the fact that my throat was slit. “I died here…and you will too if you don’t leave.” Kara just raised her eyebrows in response and crossed her arms across her chest impatiently. “This is not a threat, it is a fact. There are far worse things than me inhabiting this accursed place. I keep them in check, but I cannot do so indefinitely.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t make a move to answer or leave. I clenched my jaw at her obstinance. “Please, leave this place and never return if you value your life and the lives of your friends–”
“Sister and best friend, actually,” she interrupted, “ALex is my adopted sister and I grew up with Winn.”
I raised an unimpressed eyebrow in response and she sheepishly zipped her lips, “As I was saying, you don’t belong here. I can’t protect you if you foolishly choose to remain past sundown tomorrow.” I did my best to look imposing, but it didn’t seem to have the effect I was going for.
“But, why?” Kara asked, “If you’re trying to protect us, why make all those people disappear and terrify us into leaving? Maybe if you just told me what was going on, we could help.” THe optimism in her face made my gut twist. Had I ever looked so young and hopeful? I couldn’t remember ever having such light in my soul.
“No…just…no. You cannot help. No one here is worth you losing your life in a failed attempt to help. Please just leave. What can I do to convince you to stop being an imbecile and leave us to our loneliness?” The grief I usually kept buried so deep leaked out into my voice, a ghostly tear slipping past my defenses.
Kara reached a hand to touch my knee, but it just passed straight through. I could feel the intensity of her heat though, it was to closest I had been to feeling warm since I moved to this place. “Tell me your story. Do that and I’ll pack up everything and go. I just want to know what happened to you and why you’re stuck here. I promise that I’ll leave and never come back if you tell me your story and I believe that I can’t help you.”
I shook my head reflexively, fighting the surge of emotion and memories flooding my thoughts. She doesn’t need to know the tragedy of my life, the despair and pain of growing up in this manor, the centuries of isolation and hopeless dedication to an unwinnable battle of attrition. She shifted closer to me on the sagging couch, a hand lifting to cup my cheek. I jerked my head back on instinct, I couldn’t help it. No one in my life had touched me other than to inflict pain except my mother. I knew Kara couldn’t actually touch me, but it was a deeply ingrained reaction. Kara flinched back at the inhumanly fast motion, but only moved her hand to rest on the back of the couch, close to me incorporeal shoulder. Why would this woman try to comfort me? I was a spirit, a ghost that had done everything she could to drive her away, who had invaded her mind and forced her to experience horrors. I was nothing worth showing compassion to.
Kara’s face scrunched in compassionate sorrow, but she stopped attempting to touch me. She just sat there, waiting patiently, fidgeting occasionally with the necklace she wore. I stopped breathing, stopped moving, lost in the well of her eyes as she looked back at me.
“...I was the bastard daughter of Lionel Luthor, a love child with an Irish woman he met while traveling.” I began, voice unsteady. “My mother died when I was young and I was reluctantly taken in by the Luthors. I was hidden away, a shameful reminder of Lionel’s indiscretion. Lillian, his wife, hated me so I learned to make myself unseen, unheard. Lex, Alexander was his full name, was their only legitimate child and he was doted upon my his mother. Lex acted as the loving brother until he realized he could no longer control me. Then I was no longer useful to him except as an outlet for his cruelty. I became a living ghost in this manor, traversing within the walls, listening and observing, but never interacting. My brother was an evil man who was obsessed with power. He found a path to unlimited power through darkest magic. He summoned something, an entity I do not speak of for fear of waking it. He made an unholy pact with the beast, power in exchange for souls. He lured countless people to this manor, using his charm, influence, and money. Most he allowed to escape, he had a reputation to uphold after all. The unluckiest among them were sacrificed, murdered upon an altar hidden in the depths of this place. I discovered his wickedness and attempted to save those who had unwittingly fallen for his wiles. I tried to scare them off by beating on the walls and leaving terrifying messages, but it rarely worked. My brother found out what I was doing and punished me for it.”
I paused, images of Lex’s predatory grin, hands clutching the dagger that had taken the lives of so many, hellish flames darkening his green eyes, ones that had once looked so like mine. Kara’s hands were clenched into fists, though I couldn’t read the emotions swirling in her eyes. I couldn’t meet her intense gaze for too long without looking down at my own hands. My nails were black and the skin was an unearthly grey. They were the hands of a murderer, the stain of fraticide evident. I could still see my brother’s blood coating them, soaking into every inch of skin, dripping through my form onto the couch beneath me. Kara gasped as she too could see the blood blooming across my gown and drenching my wrists and hands. It wasn’t real, just a manifestation of my sins, a symptom of my wretched existence. I clenched them into fists, imagining what my nails would feel like as they dug into my palms, but I felt nothing, could never feel anything ever again.
“But I was ready for him. Once he had discovered how to summon the thing he had discarded his research. It was easy enough for me to steal it and stash it among my belongings. I poured over the texts, searching for any way to stop him…and I found one. Just one.” My voice faltered as I remembered my hope being crushed by despair when I realized what defeating him would cost. “So I did. I slid a knife into the heart of my only remaining family. I murdered my brother and then slit my throat, using my lifeblood to seal my brother’s beast in an eternal slumber. My last living memory is of my blood mingling with my brother’s on the cold stone floor of this hateful place.”
My gaze was fixed on my bloody hands as I fell into silence. I had never told my story before, never had the need or means to. I felt oddly light after the admission, my guilt mingling with an unexpected relief at finally having spoken my deepest sins aloud.
“Oh Lee…” Kara’s voice broke on my name and I looked up to see tears streaming down her cheeks. She leaned forward as if to embrace me, her face stopping mere centimeters away from my own. Again, I was frozen by the sheer volume of compassion emanating from her gaze. How could she bear to look at me with anything other than disgust? I murdered my own brother. I had tormented and driven countless people from this place. I had trapped the souls of everyone my own flesh and blood had sacrificed to a demon to haunt these halls for eternity, never to find rest. How could she stand to look on this hideous ghast with such kindness?
I couldn’t take it, her sorrow for my sake was breaking me. I had to get out, I had to leave, to be anywhere but in front of this woman who looked at me as if I was some heroic victim and not the guiltiest party of them all. I fled from her, dissipating and flying up to my bedroom, the only haven I had left. I wished I could cover my ears to block out the sound of her voice calling after me. I hid in my bed until daylight peeked through the moth-eaten curtains. As soon as dawn broke, I heard the noise of the RV’s engine coughing to life. I continued to hide like the coward I was while I sent Jess to monitor the trio. They were packing everything up and loading it into the RV. I didn’t let myself look out the window until I heard tires crunching gravel and fading farther into the distance. I drifted out to the roof and watched as Kara, Alex, and Winn drove off into the distance, hopefully to never be seen again.
—--------
Months later
Somehow the manor felt even drearier after Kara’s light left it. I began sitting on the roof, hoping to feel the warmth of the sun, but there was nothing. I felt nothing, which was somehow made more unbearable after Kara’s warmth. Jess and Jack did their best to bring me back to at least my normal level of despondency, but gave up after weeks of no change. How could I pretend to care anymore? How could I return to the darkness of my life after finally being able to glimpse the light? I was such an embarrassing wreck. I had spent a single day with the human embodiment of sunshine and turned into a helpless wreck, it was utterly shameful but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
No one bothered the Manor in those months. It was as if we had dropped completely off the map. I took some comfort in the fact that I could wallow in my misery without having to chase off any witless intruders. I was glad to be able to confine myself in my sorrow and have the luxury of ignoring everything else. I made the obligatory trips to the cellar to refresh the wards confining the Luthors, but otherwise stayed on the roof, watching the sun and stars whirl above me.
My pity party was finally broken by the roaring of a family engine coming f=down the road. I sat and stared in shocked disbelief and a garishly painted RV rolled down the drive. No no no no, she didn’t. She promised! I was delighted and furious and terrified all at once. I flew down and appeared in front of the RV as it skidded to a stop, arms crossed and fury darkening my face. Alex and Winn jerked forward, complaining about Kara’s slamming on the brakes. But Kara’s blue eyes were fixed on me, heedless of her sister’s griping. She threw off her seatbelt and tumbled out of the RV, clumsily picking herself off the ground and stopping in front of me. She adjusted her glasses and her stupidly goofy grin tamped down my rage at her return. Dammit, I couldn’t be truly angry at this giant puppy dog of a person. She was practically vibrating with excitement and visibly holding back the impulse to throw her arms around me (not that she could even if I wanted her too, which I really really really did despite myself).
‘What. are you. Doing here.” It wasn’t truly a question. My voice was icy with despair and anger.
She deflated slightly at my tone, kicking the gravel with a toe. “Uh, I thought, well, I mean, I think I found a way, er, gosh this is not, okay I’ll just say it. I figured out how to banish the demon keeping your souls tethered here!” She bounced a little in excitement and I was hard pressed to keep my scowl in place. She was just so earnest, dammit!
“You promised you would leave. You promised you would NEVER COME BACK!” I shouted, feeling my form start to shift into nightmarish ghoulishness. “YOU PROMISED TO LEAVE ME!”
Kara shrank back slightly, but rallied with steel in her spine and determination on her face. She planted her fists on her hips, looking for all the world like some damned superhero. “I promised to leave and never come back only if I believed I couldn’t help you. And I can help you! So shut up and let me help!”
I was startled into silence, breaking my stare to look at the somewhat bewildered expressions of ALex and Winn still in the RV behind Kara. THey stared out the windshield, looking back and forth between Kara and the supposedly empty air she was now yelling at. I huffed and vanished, flying back into the manor. I was trembling uncontrollably, my form flickering like a candle in a breeze. Jess and Jack met me in the foyer, staring out the holes in the rotting door at the RV now continuing to trundle up to the manor.
“What the fuck?” Jack asked, utterly confused at the turn of events. “Why the fuck did they come back? Are they completely out of their damned minds? What a group of masochists?” Despite his words, he was grinning widely and floating out towards the trio as they piled out of the parked RV.
Jess looked at me, concern written across her face, “Lena? What is going on?”
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep the terror from choking me. “Kara believes she found a way to rid us of the demon.” My throat closed and I reflexively gasped for air. “Jess…I can’t–” I broke into a sob. “It’s going to kill her and I cna’t stop it.” I crumpled noiselessly to the wood floor, face buried in bloody hands. Jess embraced me, cradling my shoulders and holding me as I broke down completely. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t watch as this beautiful, kind, incredible woman threw her life away just to save me. I was already damned. “Jess, I can’t save her and then she will be stuck here forever. I’ve failed.”
Jess lifted me from the floor and floated us both up to the roof as Kara and the others began making their way inside. She murmured soothing words that I couldn’t make out as I sobbed out my fear and despair.
“Maybe…” she paused, searching my face for a moment. “Maybe she can do it. Maybe she can help us, Lena. Maybe we just trust her and help her as best we can.” Jess carefully wiped the insubstantial tears from my lifeless cheeks as I looked up at her.
“Do you really think so?” I asked, a seed of hope beginning to take root. She nodded decisively and lifted me to my feet. I took a few moments to smooth my hair and bloody shirt (not that it did any real good) before straightening my spine and making up my mind.
I Floated back into the foyer and watched as Alex, Winn, and Kara unloaded bags of gear. It was different from the first time they were here. Their gear now consisted mainly of light sources, various religious symbols and were those fucking grenades??? Alex took great delight and care in buckling a bandolier of grenades around her chest, a wide smirk lighting her face. Kara chuckled at her sister’s joy in violence and armed herself with a jacket and pants that were completely covered with embroidered symbols. I recognized some as the same I used to contain Lex and Lillian, as well as some that I had carved onto my body to counter the shadow entity. Maybe they could actually do this. Maybe Kara could actually banish this thing. I tamped down the hope rising in my chest. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down. I appeared before Kara and she brightened at my return.
Alex noticed the change, “She’s back, isn’t she?” Kara nodded vigorously and stepped closer to me. “Geez woman, get a hold of yourself, we’re about to go banish a fucking otherworldly demon. Stop being a gay mess for two seconds and help us lug this shit downstairs.” Kara blushed at her sister’s comment and awkwardly adjusted her glasses before easily lifting a bag bulging with gear. Wow, I’d forgotten how defined her arms were. Luckily dead women can’t blush because I would be red as a tomato as I stared open mouthed at Kara’s casual strength. Jack snickered and elbowed Jess as they watched my eyes glaze over in gay longing. I noticed and glaring at them, turning quickly away and towards the hidden stairs leading to Lex’s lair. Jack just cackled louder and caught Kara’s attention.
“Oh, hi! We haven’t met but I’m guessing you two have been the ones helping Lena here scare the pants off of Winn last time!” Kara exclaimed brightly, holding her free hand out to Jess before dropping it awkwardly as she remembered that they’re both ghosts.
Jack smirked before responding, “M’lady, you may call me Jack, Jack Spheer. And my lovely companion here is the illustrious Jessica Hoang, ghost extraordinaire.” He ended with a flourish and bow in Jess’ direction.
Jess rolled her eyes and dipped into a little curtsy. “Call me Jess, please. And ignore this one, he is an incorrigible flirt.”
Kara giggled and gestured to her companions, “This is my sister Alex Danvers, and best friend Winn Schott. Alex is a paranormal whiz and weapons expert. Winn is the tech genius responsible for our little outfit. TOgether we like to call ourselves the Paranormal Superfriends! Cuz it’s super like supernatural and we’re all friends!”
As Kara introduced them, Winn rummaged in a bag and pulled out some kind of infrared camera, turning it on and pointing it in the ghosts’ direction. He gasped as the vague outlines of Jess and Jack showed up on the screen. Alex crowded in to see the little screen, eyes widening as Jack raised an arm and waved. Winn waved back, smiling like a kid in a candy store.
``Oh, yeah, I always forget you guys can’t see or hear the ghosts.” Kara pipes up, “THe taller one is Jack Spheer and the shorter one Is Jess Hoang. They help Lena keep this place safe! And that’s Lena!” She pointed over to me as I continued moving towards the secret lair’s entrance.
I snorted and shook her head at the blonde’s enthusiasm. Of course they would have a dorky name to go with the whole ghost hunting gig. That would be just like Kara. I sobered quickly as I reached the statue covering the hidden entrance. I turned back to the rest and waited for them to be ready.
“Before we do anything, I have to warn you what you’re about to see. Kara, could you please relay this for your friends?” She nodded and repeated my words for Alex and Winn as I continued. “We’re about to enter the lair of the most terrifying entity I’ve ever come across. It feeds off of death and pain and fear. Not only that, but we will also have to go through my brother’s and step mother’s shades to get to where I’ve sealed the demon. They are not like me. They will hurt and kill you given the slightest opportunity. Make no mistake, they are evil and intent on destroying any light in this world. Do not give them the chance to act.”
Alex dug into one of her duffel bags and pulled out a shotgun, cocking it with one hand. “Don’t worry, ghost girl. I’ve taken out more than my share of spooky fuckers.”
“Oooh, I like this one,” Jack commented with a grin, “she’s got spunk.”
I turned back to Kara and took a deep breath to center myself. “I can’t open it, so you’ll need to. Push in the words that I point to.”
Kara nodded and stepped up to the plinth and surveyed the various latin words inscribed on the marble. I pointed to three and she pressed them in order: Potestas Super Omnia. ‘Power Above All,’ the Luthor family motto. As she depressed the last word, a low grinding of rusty gears rumbled to life and the statue slid to the left, revealing a spiral staircase descending into blackness. Winn gulped and shuddered at the cold draft of dank air that wafted out of the hole.
“Hey ho, into the hellish depths we go,” Alex cheers sarcastically and takes the first step to the cellar below.
The trio of the living take the stairs down, while Jack, Jess, and I drift down through the floor to hover in the black of the cold stone basement. We could see fine in the dark, but Alex cracked a couple of glow sticks and tossed them down the hall so the rest could see where they were going. The soft white glow revealed grey stones damp with moss and slime, a grim hall stretching unnaturally into a hungry blackness. I led the way down the long passage, silent except for shuffling feet, clinking metal, and dripping water. I halted before a rusty metal door, the last obstacle standing between us and the evil I had tried to hide from the world for centuries. The warding sigils glowing to life at my proximity, though only Kara and the other spirits could see the ethereal light. Kara stepped closer to me, her hand brushing through the space my own occupied. Her warmth suffused my being and I steeled myself for the coming storm.
I lifted a hand and commanded the door to open, revealing the horrors within. Lex loomed ghastly and massive behind the lines of protective runes inscribed on the stones of the walls, ceiling and floor. Winn shrieked in terro and fell back as Lex turned his empty voids in our direction. His ghoulish smile split open the skin of his face, black ichor dripping from the tears.
“Dear sisssster, you brought us a ssssnack. How thoughtful,” Lex hissed the sound emanating from every corner. Lillian stood from her crouch in the corner, slithering forward on distorted limbs. Her elbows bent the wrong direction and her head slowly swiveled around on her neck, unnaturally twisting the wrong side up, her stringy mat of hair covering the gaping wound in her chest where the shadow entity ripped out her heart.
“You filthy bitchhhh,” Lillian gurgled, “you disgusting welp of a whore. How dare you bring these vile humans here. You can do nothing but betray your own blood, can you? I clothed you and let you live here in my own home only for you to murder my only son and trap me in this filth for CENTURIES!” She roared and bashed herself against the wards. Everyone but me flinched backwards, Winn tripping over himself and falling into Alex. Alex jerked him back to his feet before lifting her shotgun and unloading it into the ghasts in front of her. I was shocked to see Lex and Lillian wail in agony as the pellets shredded them.
Alex just smirked and reloaded, “Blessed salt, ash wood, and powdered silver. It’s like super strength ghost repellent.” I raised my eyebrows, impressed. Alex cocked the shotgun and blasted the Luthors until nothing remained but a smear of ectoplasm. My jaw hung open, I had been trying to destroy those two for decades and this redhead did it in two minutes with a handful of shotgun shells.
I led the way past the slimy remains and through a small archway into the altar room. Centuries old blood stained the entire floor and splattered the walls. Terror leached into my spirit as I saw where my body lay inthe center of the room. I hadn’t been here since my death. My corpse was unblemished, preserved unnaturally by the magic sealing the demonic being in the room. Even the blood still seemed fresh, gleaming in the light of Kara’s flashlight. Black shadows crept up the walls, eating up the light. The beams flickered and died as the entity stirred. It’s essence might be trapped but its formless blackness still grew to encompass the entire space. A low growl resonated through the stone, dust falling from the ceiling. My soul clenched in terror as the shadows formed the shape of the beast I still recognized despite seeing only once. A trio of horns sprouted from a misshapen animalistic head, thick arms solidified and claw-like fingers stretched towards us. Two red, hellish eyes opened from within the shadow’s face and fixed on me. A rasping chuckle reverberated through my very essence as the shadow recognized its jailer. Formless, unearthly words echoed through my mind and pain speared through me for the first time since my death.
It lunged for me, but brilliant light exploded from Kara’s jacket as she dived in front of me. The symbols embroidered on her clothes blazed into glorious light and the entity screamed in pain and fury. Kara ran towards the shadow and I shouted for her to stop, racing through the air behind her. She bent, scooped up my dead body and turned on her heel yelling for Alex to hurry up and throw it. I was helplessly terrified and confused as Alex pulled two grenades from her bandolier, pulled the pins with her teeth and tossed them into the shadowy void. Kara sprinted out the archway, carrying my bloody body. ASlex followed on her heels, dragging Winn behind her by his collar. Jack and Jess grabbed me by the arms and flew out of the room as I stared helplessly back at the room of my death. The shadow charged forward and then disappeared in blinding white fire as Alex’s grenades exploded. I couldn’t look away from the collapsing ceiling and burning shadow as the entity flailed in its death throes.
We all burst back out into the light of the foyer and out the open front doors as the building continued rumbling and collapsing behind us. Alex and Winn both collapsed to the gravel and covered their heads as they were showered by debris from the crumbling mansion. I just looked on in shock as the manor that had been my prison both in life and death slowly shattered into ruin. Jack and Jess clung to me, tears running down their immaterial cheeks. I looked towards them as they began to glow and fade.
“We’re free,” Jess gasped in joy. “I can see my mom.”
Jack looked past me into empty space, “He’s waiting for me…”
“Go to them,” I sobbed, as they continued to fade and break into flecks of light. They both looked back at me and smiled one last time before fading completely into the breeze. The other spirits were fading and scattering as well, their souls freed with the destruction of the demon who had fed from their essence.
I was alone again, there was no light for me, no one waiting to embrace me in some wonderful afterlife. I didn’t deserve to see my mother again. My vision darkened and faded and I felt a strange sucking sensation in my core. I gave up. I would soon be dragged to hell like the rest of the Luthor bloodline. It was okay, it was what I deserved. With my last remaining strength, I turned towards my angel, my sunlight, my Kara.
“You know,” my voice was weak, as if being heard across an empty room, “I think I could have loved you Kara Danvers…”
I looked one last time into those beautiful Irish sea blue eyes, now filled with tears. She was saying something, but I couldn’t hear it. I reached my hand up to her face, her warmth suffusing my soul, and faded into the dark…
It…hurt? It was black, but I could feel something digging into my back. Wait…I could feel. That was actual pain. I tried to lift my arm and groaned, before choking as I realized I felt the sound in my throat. I tried to blink, my eyelids cracked open only for me to clench them shut again at the searing pain of the light. I groaned again and then sobbed. What was happening.
Sound filtered into my consciousness, a familiar voice murmuring close to my ear. I felt my body being lifted into someone’s arms. I. felt. my. body. I felt my body! I was being carried and everything hurt. It hurt! I could feel the sun and the chill breeze prickle across my skin. I had skin! I had a body! I tried to shift again and could feel the person carrying me stumble at the sudden change in weight. The familiar voice said something again, but my sluggish mind couldn’t process the words amidst the overwhelming load of sensations. I could feel tears slip from the corners of my closed eyes and trail down into my hairline. My body jolted again as the person carrying me stepped up into something. The RV, I remembered. We had just destroyed my brother’s hellish demon, along with his and my adoptive mother’s ghosts. But I thought I had ended. I thought I was going to hell. How did I end up in a body? And why does everything hurt so badly? And who…
Kara! It was Kara’s voice! Kara must be the one carrying me. My eyes flew open again, I didn’t care about the pain, I just wanted to see Kara with my own eyes. Everything was a blur of color as my eyes attempted to focus. I blinked rapidly, trying to force my eyes to work. The tears weren’t helping matters. I tried lifting my hand to wipe my face, but grunted as I was still too weak to move.
A warm hand cupped my cheek, thumb wiping the tears from one eye. I turned my head into the wondrous touch, reveling in the sensation and comfort. I groaned again, trying to form words.
“K..ra…Kar…Kara,” I finally forced out through my dusty aching throat. “Kara, Kara, Kara.”
An angelic laugh sounded, “I’m right here, Lena. I’m right here.” The hand cupping my cheek gently moved my head towards the voice and blue filled my vision. I would recognize those eyes anywhere.
“Kara,” I whispered reverently, “Kara, you saved me.”
Her smile and joyful laugh filled me with light. “Hi, Lena. Nice to finally meet you in the flesh.”