Bound Souls

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 10 (Ghosts and Spirits)

"Leave me alone." Trina sped down the street she was jogging, shouting out at the people following her. These people weren't normal, they were not human. They were to pale, and they did not walk with their feet on the ground. Still, they were different than the people she'd seen at school.

Those at school looked like they were decaying, they had rashes and holes in their bodies. These people were not damaged like that, but they couldn't have been alive. "Please you must stop and talk to us, we won't hurt you." Her heart pounded heavily as she looked over her shoulder.

The first thing she saw was a woman with her hair flying in every direction. The woman's eyes were wide and her mouth was open in mid-scream as tears drenched her cheeks.

She turned her attention away and spotted Sinjin in the distance, walking around the corner of a building. His hands were in his pockets and his face bore a soft, tired expression. She nearly crashed into him, but fell to her knees instead and flipped over to stare at the ghosts behind her. "What's the problem?" Sinjin put his hand on his shoulder and looked at the spirits, acting as if he couldn't see them. "Is someone chasing you?"

Fear gripped her heart as she watched the ghosts stare at Sinjin with looks of horror and astonishment. Sinjin's mouth transformed into a scowl and his eyes narrowed at the ghouls. When she looked up, he smiled at her and closed his eyes. "Relax Trina, you're safe. Nobody's after you."

"Not safe," The spirits groaned, "Not safe." Amid the crowd of ghosts, a man emerged. He was tall and thin, had milky brown skin and wore a light brown vest over a grey button up shirt that hung loosely over his denim jeans. The man adjusted the fedora on his hat and stared at Sinjin.

"Don't make it like you don't see us. I didn't come all this way from New Orleans just to be turned away from a reaper." Trina refused to listen to what this man was saying, or any of the other ghouls for that matter, but his words did confuse her.

Sinjin helped her to her feet and turned his back to the ghosts. Trina kept an eye trained on them due to her fear over whether or not they could harm either of them.

"The name's Ray, by the way. Ray Preston!" She met the spirit's eyes, then averted her gaze. She grabbed her hair and pulled it back, bowing her head. "None of us are leaving, you do know that, right?" Ray chuckled and tugged on his vest while leaning back and glancing over his shoulders. "I mean I do have to go back to New Orleans, but I'm coming back."

Trina glanced back to Sinjin. She tried to ignore Ray, even though she wanted to know what these things wanted from her. "I think I'm just seeing things," Trina stated, "I haven't been feeling all that well."

"I'm sure it's nothing." He put a hand to the small of her back and chuckled softly. She looked over her shoulder and watched as Ray narrowed his eyes and pointed angrily at Sinjin.

"What do you think you're doing, girl? Do you know who that is? Don't ignore me, I know you can see and hear us. Ray Preston, I'm Andre's father. Andre Harris's father. Ahriman may have my son in his grasp, but he can't do shit to a ghost. I need to talk to you, I need to talk to my son!"

"Leave me alone," she whispered, "Just leave me alone." She turned away and walked with Sinjin. She felt him move his hand up onto her back, then closed her eyes as the spirits began to fade.

"You'd better start believing in the supernatural," Ray exclaimed, "It does exist. Ghosts, cursed souls, and demons. Demons and grim reapers, they're all out to make a buck. You can't just pretend we don't exist! Tell Andre, tell him his brothers are in New Orleans. We're all there, with the Hathaway family. We're waiting for him, we won't cross without him."

Sinjin looked over his shoulder and the upper corner of his lips lifted to reveal his teeth. When Trina looked back to him, the snarl faded. She had an uncomfortable feeling with this man, but she couldn't put a finger on what the problem was.

"Sinjin? Do you believe in a supernatural world?" He raised his eyebrows and laughed, a sign that he did not. She took a quick breath and shrugged.

"Why? There is truly no such world, Trina." She ran her fingers over her forehead and smacked her lips together.

"It's all in my head, then. Maybe I'm just going crazy." She felt him tense, then he stopped moving. She glanced up at him and he was staring straight ahead with an empty gaze and parted lips. Curious what he was seeing, she followed his gaze.

Standing before them was a woman that took her breath away. This woman stood an inch higher than her, had burned hair and red tinted skin. Still, this woman looked like a mirror image of her, but a few years older, and she wore a police uniform that had been standard of officers in the early 90's.

The redness that took the woman seemed to move as though it were fire on the woman's body. Seemingly drawn to this woman, Trina took a step forward and studied the name on the police badge: Lisa.

"Do-Do you see her?" She stammered over her words and quickly looked over her shoulders. Sinjin had regained his composure and was sliding his fingers through his hair. "Sinjin?"

"I see a woman at a lamppost." Trina raised an eyebrow and looked past this burning woman. In the distance was a scantily clad girl leaning her left shoulder against a streetlight while waving at a passing car.

Lisa's fiery eyes shifted to Sinjin and her lips twisted into a snarl. Trina dropped her gaze to the woman's stomach. There was a crack that seemed to run up from her womb and ended around where her belly button was. Trina cupped a hand over her mouth and whimpered as the woman took three steps towards her.

She backed up slowly and clutched her chest when she made eye contact with the ghoul. Lisa's body started to twist and flicker, and the woman's hands clenched into tight fists.

Still locked in the woman's burning gaze, a flood of horror entered into her mind. She pictured a woman, her body riddled with terrible decay, screaming on an operating table she tried to deliver a child.

Next to this woman was a tall and dark figure, his eyes were red and his mouth was twisted into a vicious smirk. The man's hand fell on the woman's forehead. His hand was covered in wrinkles, and his nails were dirty and cracked. As the woman began to quiet, the man laughed.

"W-What is this?" Lisa continued her approach, her eyes commanding Trina's full attention. She heard Sinjin talking to her, asking what was going on, but she couldn't bring herself to answer.

Another image emerged of this same tall figure, which Trina now understood was a reaper. He was surrounded by a city of ghosts led by a woman named Melinda Gordon. The ghosts were draining the reaper, destroying him and freeing the most recent victims.

The woman was one of the victims freed, but she refused to be guided into the light. While the woman fled, the reaper vanished into a puddle of blood, destroyed by all of the ghosts and the chant that the medium was speaking.

Trina shook her head and brought her trembling hands to her face. Frightened, she dropped to her knees and began whimpering as Lisa continued her approach. "Why am I seeing this? What's going on?" Lisa stopped moving and rolled her head to the right. Trina opened her eyes and looked up to her, sniffing as her tears scorched her cheeks. "Who are you? You're not real, you can't be. None of this is real. I won't accept it!"

Lisa turned her head over her shoulder and glared at Sinjin. "The key will save. Ahriman." After several seconds, the woman vanished away with a thunderous clap. Trina's heart stopped and Sinjin ran over to her and put his hand to her shoulders.

"Trina, what the hell is going on?" His brow was furrowed and his eyes were slanted. She couldn't read the look in his eyes. Trina frowned at him and wiped the tears from her face.

After clearing her throat, she looked at the spot where Lisa had been standing. There were no remnants of this woman with fiery hair, but the presence had been so strong that she was certain Sinjin would have felt it.

"You mean you didn't see that?"

He frowned at her and shook his head. "No." He exhaled and dropped his hands from her shoulder. "I'm not sure what you're seeing."

"It was a woman…she looked like she was on fire, but she wasn't on fire. I…" She started to choke up and rose to her feet. She could sense the disbelief in his eyes, but there was something else. His tone was heavy and frustrated, and his body was tense. She wanted to be able to trust him, but where she hadn't in the past, she truly didn't feel safe now. "I need to go, Sinjin."

"Trina? Do you want to talk?"

"No." She pushed away from him and took off in the other direction. When she looked back, she saw the ghost of Ray appear with his back turned. He faced Sinjin, and somehow kept the boy from following her.

She continued to run, and with every step, her body pulsed with pain and an overwhelming sense of fear. She couldn't look back, for fear that she might be followed by something sinister, and now the memories of her childhood friend being devoured by a strange creature plagued her.

There was no telling how long Trina ran, or if the danger was past, but she only felt relief when she approached Jason's home. He was standing next to his lawn mower, and wiping the sweat from his brow with his forearm.

"Jason!" He froze and turned to her, raising his eyebrows as she threw herself onto him and grabbed his white shirt. Overwhelmed, she broke into sobs and let him slide his arms around her.

"What's the matter, Trina?" His voice was full of genuine concern, something she didn't pick up from Sinjin just moments ago. "Are you okay?" He placed a finger under her chin and she looked up to his eyes.

"No, I'm not. I think I'm going crazy, and there's something wrong with Sinjin. I don't know what, I just…I'm scared he'll hurt me." Jason's eyes widened for a moment and he guided her over to his porch where they sat down.

"What do you mean you're scared he's going to hurt you? Has he done anything to you?"

"No. I, I don't know what it is." She buried her face into her hands. Jason moved an arm behind her upper back and placed a comforting hand on her outside shoulder. She let herself be guided into him. "He saw her, he clearly saw her. That woman-those ghosts-he's not telling me something."

"Ghosts?"

"Yes. I'm seeing things." She lowered her hands and looked up at him. He pulled his arm back and set his hands on his knees.

"I don't know if I'd say that. I mean, I believe in ghosts, so I can't say you are or aren't seeing things." She scoffed once and shook her head.

"No. They can't be, and if they were, why would they show up to me?"

"I don't know, Trina. I think you just need to take a deep breath and try to clear your mind." She smiled at him and nodded once. It was rest that she wanted. "I've got to finish mowing the lawn, but you're free to go inside and lay down on the couch if you want. If you want to talk about anything, I'm here for you."

"Thank you Jason." Her heart skipped and swelled with a comforting emotion. Part of her wanted to kiss him, to tell him to hold her and never let go of her, but she couldn't bring herself to do that when she was still dating somebody else. "Really. I appreciate it."

Jason stood and pat her shoulder. His smile melted her fears away. She leaned forward and watched him walk back to the mower. "Why does Sinjin not comfort you?"

"We're not really close." He reached for the ignition and looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Then why are you together?" She brought her fingertips to her mouth, hiding her smile as Jason stammered over his words. "I um, I don't mean that how it sounds, I just-"

"It's okay." She closed her knees together and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her head bowed and her shoulders rose. "I don't honestly know. There's just something, whenever I'm around him it feels like he might not let me leave. I can't explain it."

"I see. Well, you know how to find me if you ever want to talk about it." She stood up and leaned against the support beam on his porch. "Don't think I'm not tempted, but I'm not going to make a move on another man's woman." She laughed and shook her head at him.

"You've had me once already."

"And being with you was the best time of my life. I wouldn't trade that for anything, and I still love you, but I won't steal you back." He flashed a smile and pulled on the ignition. Trina dropped her arms and curled her eyebrows together, feeling her heart melting away in her chest.

"I wish you would," she whispered. She turned away and entered his home, then collapsed on his couch to get some sleep.

What are your thoughts after this chapter? There's a lot to take in here. What do you think about her sighting of Lisa, and what does Lisa's glare seem to indicate? What do you think is keeping Trina with Sinjin, and what does Ahriman want with her? Do you think having her in his grip could keep her from helping the cursed ones? What is the meaning of the vision Lisa gave to her? Could those ghosts be key? Then there's Jason, he's not a medium but he's seen ghosts too, so could his mother or father have been a medium? Do you think he can help Trina? Lastly, have you gathered any connection between Lisa and Trina yet?