After Dad and Mom left, I was still curious about Zayn's ability, so I kept watching him with my hands on my hips. My big high-schooler was curled up on my bed, a blanket covering his entire body.
"Zayn, hey, Zayn!" I shook him. "You can really see ghosts? Since when? Is this some kind of gimmick?"
"What do you mean, gimmick? I'm serious!" Zayn threw off the blanket. He glared at me irritably.
"But usually you can't see them, right? You even called me an attention seeker when I told you about it." I rolled my eyes lazily. My hands were still on my hips.
Zayn roughly ran a hand through his hair, then sat up. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry about that. All this time, I always thought human eyes couldn't see creatures like that. Even if you could see one, it meant we were both incredibly unlucky. Unfortunately, I was the one who got hit with the bad luck today. I swear, her face was hideous!"
I agreed silently. That female ghost couldn't exactly be called beautiful. But then again, it made sense. There aren't any beauty salons in the afterlife.
"Besides, why didn't you help me earlier, Sis?" Zayn snapped.
I put a mischievous smile on my face. But a second later, I changed it into a smirk. "Yeah. That's what it feels like when no one believes you."
"So can you actually see them or not?" Zayn's frustrated voice made me want to laugh. But to protect my image, I pretended to stay casual.
Suddenly, the room fell silent. A cold breeze from who-knew-where drifted softly past me. I shivered. It felt like something was blowing on the back of my neck. I tried to stay calm until the creak of wood shattered the silence.
Zayn jumped toward me. He hid behind my tiny body and clung tightly to my waist. What a little kid! I grumbled inwardly.
Creeeak...
I quickly turned toward the corner of the room. There, the door of the wardrobe made from old teak wood was moving. With no wind and no one anywhere near it, the door opened. Very slowly. I watched it with my breath caught in my throat.
Screeech!
This time, my desk chair roughly shifted on its own. Its movements were erratic—it rolled forward, backward, then spun around, leaving behind a teeth-grating squeal. As if some unseen entity were throwing a fit and dragging the chair around.
Zayn's grip around my waist tightened. I winced from the pain. I tried to pull away from him, but the kid clung even closer. What a pain, I complained inwardly.
The chair suddenly stopped right beside us, facing Zayn and me directly. A heavy weight pressed down on the seat, making the thing shift slightly.
I urged Zayn to move away from the chair. Unfortunately, we ended up standing right beside the mirror. I kept cursing under my breath when the rectangular object revealed the female ghost I'd seen at the window.
In the mirror's reflection, the female ghost had moved. She had been standing still behind me, but now she was advancing. Her hand reached toward my neck. Was she planning to strangle me, or was she just trying to get a reaction—to find out whether I really couldn't see her?
I swallowed. My blood seemed to freeze. In the reflection, the woman was getting closer. I could even hear the bones in her neck shifting right beside my ear.
I squeezed my eyes shut when the female ghost's bony fingers landed on my shoulder. This ghost... was insane!