Page 66 of Stalked By Shadows

Ghosts aren’t real anyway,I reminded him.Or so you keep telling me.

The (…) appeared for a minute. Then,But the idea of something else, unclarified and unexplained, is pretty scary sometimes too.

That was true enough.Best remember you’re not alone then? That your friends are just a call or text away.

Yes. Thank you.

I smiled at the phone.Night.

Night.

* * *

Iactually fell asleep fairly quickly. Reading straight up facts about ghost stories wasn’t as exciting as listening to Micah retell the tales of them. However, I dreamt of searching the city for something. My heart pounding in fear as I turned corner after corner only to find nothing. It was a growing sense of panic that made my heart race and sweat trickle off my brow. I turned a corner down an alley I didn’t recognize and felt someone grab my arm.

I came up swinging.

“Fuck!” I heard the curse before it made sense that it wasn’t me dropping the F-bomb. I blinked half a dozen times, worlds meshing and finally separating. Lukas stood a few feet away, hands up in front of him. I was sprawled halfway across the kitchen counter like I’d tried to get to him.

His apartment, not some random alleyway. The sun shone through the windows. Had I really slept so long? Was all that a dream? My heart still raced and I fought for a full breath.

“Sorry,” I said.

“You were sleeping hard until about an hour ago when you started making noises. I thought I’d try to wake you up before it got too bad,” Lukas said. He was dressed in cop chic again.

“Did you even get any sleep?”

“Yeah. You were out, so I went to bed. I’m headed back in. Are you going to be okay?” The unspoken ‘if I leave you alone’ hung in the air without needing to be said.

“I’ll be okay. I was going to catch up on some reading today.” I dropped back onto the couch, tired now that the adrenaline from the dream was fading.

“So not one nightmare while you were with Micah?” Lukas wanted to know.

“Not that I recall. He didn’t say anything about me making noise in my sleep.” I glanced at the microwave clock, it was after seven a.m., not that late. “He wanted time in his own head last night. I hope he didn’t text me and I slept through it.” I glanced at my phone. Nothing. Was it odd how sad it made me feel to not see anything from him?

Lukas leaned against the counter. “Thanks for the cookies, by the way. Man, did they bring back memories or what?”

“Right?” I tugged my boxers up as they’d fallen partially down my hips.

Lukas noticed and glared. “If I leave you some cash, can you maybe go get some clothes that fit you?” he asked.

“I have clothes,” I protested, not wanting to spend more of his money.

“Clothes that fityou,not me. You’re wider in the shoulder than me and narrower in the hip. You can’t keep wearing my clothes hoping our bodies will suddenly be the same.”

“We’re identical twins,” I reminded him.

“Which doesn’t mean we are actually identical. You’re a half inch taller than me, and I weigh a good twenty pounds more than you.” He glanced at my hair. “Maybe get a haircut? Though whatever Micah did has been helping.”

“I have been doing my hair,” I said. “Some product Micah gave me, but I’ve been taking care of it.”

“Okay, so maybe a trim, then. And clean up the beard a little? Clothes that fit? You have a respectable job now.”

“Working for you.”

“And a hot ex-porn star.”

I sighed. “Aren’t you supposed to be finding a missing girl or something?”