My Daylight Monsters (10 page)

There’s a bright light. It shines in one eye and then the other. Floating figures come into view. I get the vague sense of a gentle breeze and fluttering curtains.

“Is this the afterlife?” I hear myself say. It’s weird. I don’t remember forming the words. It’s like my mind and body is slightly disconnected.

There’s a noise, like a chuckle. My mouth is dry and my throat aches. Surely if I were a ghost, or a soul or whatever, I wouldn’t be thirsty.

“Not quite,” says a voice. A reassuring voice.

“Mo?”

“The one and only.”

I force my eyes open but the light hurts my eyes. Mo touches my hand.

“Easy. The doctors said your vision might be sensitive for a while. The fire burned a lot of your face.”

I blink and gently ease open my eyes, letting Mo’s face come into view.

He lets out a deep breath. “Oh, it’s so good to see you smile. We were worried for a while.”

“They let you out of the White Room,” I say.

“They let me out about five days ago.”

“It’s been that long? What about Lacey?”

He pauses and takes my hand in both of his. “She’s gone.”

Tears fill my eyes and it stings so hard but it’s nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

“She saved me,” I say. My voice is choked and raw from tears and injuries. “She saved me from him.”

“I know,” he says. “We all know about Dr. Gethen, now. They found the prints on the knife and evidence he’s been injecting Palliative Care patients with lethal doses of morphine. He died in the fire, Mary, so he’ll never hurt you again.”

I wipe away a tear with my free hand, trying to compose myself. I already knew he was dead. There was no way he’d survive what the ghosts did to him. I shudder just thinking about it.

Mo brushes a few strands of hair from my face. “I’ll leave you with your parents. I had to come and see you, make sure you’re all right.”

“Thank you,” I say.
“Thank you for everything. You’ve been… incredible.”

Mo stands to leave and
lets go of my hand. He pauses for a second and glances at the door as though checking if anyone was likely to come in. When satisfied we were alone he swoops down and kisses me with soft lips. It’s tender and sends tingles down my arms and legs. But it doesn’t last long enough. He pulls back and I already miss him.

“I should—”

I pull his sleeve and mash our lips together again, tasting his warmth and sweetness. I’m alive. I
feel
alive. He makes me alive.

Mo bumps into the bed three times on the way out, with a goofy grin spread all over his face. When I’m alone
, I close my eyes and think about Lacey. It’s like she’s really here. I can smell the lavender of her shampoo.

“
Psst.”

I open my eyes and almost leap out of my skin.

“No need to go on about it, Mares, my ears are ringing.” Lacey shimmers at the end of my bed. She winks at me. “It’s gonna be a fun summer, posh girl. Me and you, living it up.”

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Sarah grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside of Derbyshire and as a result has an over-active imagination. She has been an avid reader for most of her life, taking inspiration from the stories she read as a child, and the novels she devoured as an adult.

Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a Young Adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the
Medulla Literary Review, Apex Magazine, PANK
magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication
Dark Horizons
. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication
Fangtales
 available from Amazon.

Sarah is currently working on an upcoming YA fantasy series.
Keep in touch for more information!

www.sarahdaltonbooks.com

www.theblemished.com

@
sarahdalton