All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1), Jamie Campbell [english reading book TXT] 📗

Even through my heavy eyelids, I wasn’t able to sleep. Oliver filtered through my thoughts relentlessly. I wondered if he had chosen not to visit or if something really had happened to him in the city fires. Perhaps there was a lot more going on down there than I realized.

It wouldn’t have surprised me.

The night dragged on, impossibly long. The growling of my stomach was louder than the ghosts’ midnight chatter. The ache in my chest was even worse for my lost friend.

It became clear in the darkness I had a choice to make. I could give up completely and wait for death to take me away. I could then join the ghosts and roam the earth unbidden for the rest of eternity.

I could do that.

Or I could choose life.

I could choose to fight and leave the safety of my house to search for food. But more than that, I could go in search of Oliver. Something told me that if I could just see he was okay, half the aches in my body would settle. The hunger wouldn’t feel so bad, the demons in my head would be quieted.

For breakfast that morning I allowed myself five baked beans. That left six for dinner or lunch, depending on how long I could make myself wait. I drank water, trying to convince myself it would keep my stomach full. I don’t know what made me think I would be able to trick my own mind into believing it.

It wasn’t fooled.

I was starving.

I wrapped my only woolen coat around my shoulders and put on my thickest boots. Even on the warmer days I felt cold now. It was like I could feel the breeze right down to my bones and they would shiver underneath my skin.

The cold steel of the front gate was underneath my hands. I stood there, taking a few deep breaths to stop the dizziness. The food situation, I could handle. It was the constant concern for Oliver I couldn’t take anymore.

I had to move, I had to find him.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t alone.

“Here we go again.”

“I don’t know why she bothers, it’s not like she’s going to go anywhere.”

“Maybe she likes the view.”

“Of the dead city? I don’t think so.”

“She misses Oliver.”

“Yeah, what happened to him anyway?”

One of the ghosts stepped forward to stand beside me. His hands attempted and failed to grip the gate like mine did. I smiled at him, thinking maybe he was here to help make the decision easier.

I was wrong.

He grinned. “Hey, look at me, I’m Everly. Will I go or will I stay? Ah, who are we kidding? Of course I’m not going to go.” They erupted into laughter. So much for my own personal cheer squad. I was surprised they didn’t just hand me a knife so I could be done with it all.

Perhaps they would if they could actually touch things.

“Shut up, all of you,” I begged. They couldn’t hear me over the sound of their own giggles.

It was impossible to stay a moment longer. I had to find Oliver or I was going to be driven mad. If not by the ghosts then by my own mind.

My hands pushed on the gate. It made a terrible squeak as the rusty hinges protested against it. I hoped it wasn’t a warning sign of things to come.

It couldn’t be and I couldn’t think like that. I needed to find Oliver and there wasn’t anything I could do about that at the house. It was the city for me.

I took the first step that would take me over the threshold of safety. It was the first time in almost a year I had left the property. I took another step, and another one after that until I was completely away from the property boundary.

I was in the street.

“She’s doing it.”

“She’ll be back.”

“Give it a few minutes and she’ll come running.”

“Maybe she won’t. Maybe she’ll leave us.”

“For good?”

“We can find her, we’re not the ones stuck here.”

“I think it’s good for her.”

“She should leave. It’s not healthy staying here.”

They all had an opinion but none of them followed me. I didn’t dare look back over my shoulder to see them but their voices grew softer the further I went.

Every step away from the house made a voice in my head scream that I should turn around and hurry back. It was warning me that I was going into the unknown. I had no way of predicting what would await me in the city.

I didn’t even know what awaited me at the end of the street.

But I had to keep going.

Oliver was down there somewhere and I had to find him. He had never missed one visiting day since he found me. I couldn’t leave him to languish in the city alone. I had to find him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t.

My legs were heavy with trepidation. As I passed the last remaining house on the street, I had an overwhelming urge to run back as fast as I could.

But I kept going.

I may have had to wade through what felt like concrete to get there, but I was going to do it. The fear of staying and starving was worse than the fear of going into the city and facing what awaited me.

It had been so long since I travelled this way, I actually had to think about the path I needed to take. It wasn’t like I had a map or GPS. The skyscrapers in the distance were my beacon, the guiding light to lead me into the darkness.

An eerie silence wrapped itself around me. Even the gentle cool breeze didn’t bring any sound with it. What