Souls Apart (Book 1 in the Lost Souls Trilogy) (6 page)

 
I stood up and
closed the drapes, and then I sat at my dressing table and looked at myself in
the mirror.
 
My long dark hair was matted
and the weight of it had pulled out my curls.
 
My face was pale and I had dark shadows under my eyes.
 
They didn’t look blue anymore; instead they
were almost black. I cringed as I clearly saw my shoulder blades jutting out
from my skin.
 
I reached for my red lipstick
and carefully outlined my lips.
 
At least
it put some color in my face.
 
Then I
brushed my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.
 
I put on a long floral dress and my sandals
and I instantly felt better knowing I was going to see Amber.

I could see her face at the window as I walked towards
the door.
 
She opened it without me
having to knock. “Hi,” she said before reaching out to give me a hug.

“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m fine.
 
So,
you got engaged? Let’s see the ring, then.”

I held out my hand and I knew she would feel the same
dread that I did. Her mouth gaped open and she dropped my hand suddenly. “It’s
lovely,” she said, “now let’s have a drink to celebrate.”

“Don’t you get any vibes from it at all?” I asked
surprised at her calm reaction.

“No. Why do you ask?”

She wasn’t looking at me.
 
I could see her pouring out some wine.
 
Our parents were pretty lax about
alcohol.
 
Even though it was illegal for
us to drink in public places they let us drink in the house as long as we were
sensible. Amber’s parents were always out anyway; they often left Amber alone
while they jetted off to some exotic destination.

“I love it, but it gives me the creeps, that’s all.”
There I’d said it.

She walked over to me and passed me my wine.
 
I followed her into the living room. She
smiled nervously. “Actually I did get a vibe from it.
 
I just didn’t want to spoil your big news,
an’ all.”

“What vibe did you get?”

“A bit like when I met Eddie, like a pit in my
stomach.”

“I got that too.
 
I don’t get it with Eddie, but this ring…”

“If you don’t like it why don’t you give it back to
him?”

“I can’t do that.
 
I don’t even know where he got it but I know he hasn’t got much money.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me, Charls?
 
I’ve been so worried about you.”

“It’s nothing.” I took a sip of my wine. “How are you
and Curt anyway? Are you in love?”

“You’re joking aren’t you? We’re just having fun.
 
That’s what you should be doing.”

She was right.
 
I loved Eddie but I didn’t feel as though I was having fun.
 
He was so serious. “I know.”

She came over and sat down next to me. “I’ve known you
since we were four, Charls.
 
I know
there’s something wrong. Tell me, please.
 
I want to help.”

I squeezed her hand and then tears started rolling
down my cheeks and I couldn’t stop them.
 
She put her arm around my neck. “Charls, what is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh god, Charls I can feel your ribs! What’s happening
to you?”

“I don’t know.
 
I think there’s something wrong with this ring.
 
I think it’s possessed or something.”

“I don’t think it’s the ring you need to worry about;
it’s Eddie.”

I looked at her.
 
She had tears in her eyes too. “I’ve missed you, Charls.
 
Eddie’s taking you away from me; your mom…”

“I know.
 
I’ve
been obsessed with him, haven’t I?”

“You sure have.”

“Do you think I should still marry him?”

She walked over to get her wine and took several sips.
“You know what I think.
 
It’s what you
think that matters.
 
What do you want?”

“I love him, Ambs.
 
I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“Then marry him.
 
Just don’t let him ruin your life.”

I took a sip of my wine and started to twirl the ring
around my finger. I wanted to pull it off and throw it in that lake. Where had
those feelings come from? “Ambs, there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“I keep having these weird visions. They only started
yesterday when I put on this ring.”

“What visions?”

“Well, they’re more like bad dreams really.
 
In them I’m me but I’m not me and I can see
the ring and I hate it and want to take it off but then a man comes and he
tries to kill me or something.”

“Is that man Eddie?”
I felt a fear rise up inside. “I think so.”

She shook her head. “That’s what I’ve been so afraid
of.
 
Ever since I met him I knew.
 
I got a vision too.”

I sat up. “What?”

“I didn’t want to say anything.
 
I thought you’d think I was crazy or maybe
jealous or something.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw him; with a black hooded cloak on and he had a
knife and he was stabbing something or someone; it was hard to tell because it
was a bundle of cloth. But his eyes were black; so evil…” She took another sip
of her drink and leaned forward. “Don’t marry him, Charls.”

I knew she was right but I couldn’t live without him
either. I decided I would give the ring back to him and let him know I wasn’t
ready.
 
That way I could still continue
to see him without the worry of him controlling me.

“Thanks for the talk, Ambs,” I said.

“No worries. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right.”

***

That night I dreamt again.
 
I’d taken the ring off and placed it on my
nightstand but it made no difference.
 
I
was by the lake again, desperately trying to prise the ring from my finger but
it was too swollen.
 
It was like the ring
had grown into my skin.
 
Only this time I
could see another ring next to it; a gold band.
 
It was wearing away and so came off easily.
 
The ruby ring was different; it was like new
and wouldn’t budge.
 
I felt the cold
water freezing my weak body but it was the fear that really gave me a chill;
the fear when I smelt his breath on my neck and his hands pulling me under.
“You’ll never leave me Emily Gray.
 
You’ll never leave me.” I woke up again, gasping for breath; my heart
pounding heavily in my chest.
 
I picked
up the ring and hid it in my sock drawer.
 
I hoped that I’d sleep better if it was hidden.
 
I opened the top drawer of my nightstand and
took out the gold journal Eddie had given me for Christmas and I wrote the
name, Emily Gray inside.
 
If she was
wearing my ring then maybe she was a real person.
 
I vowed to go to the library tomorrow and do
some research.
 
If she was real; why did
I now have her ring?

-13-

I knocked for Amber and I told her about the dream.
 
She told me she would love to help me do some
research so we arranged to go to the library straight after school. I didn’t
wear my ring.
 
I’d left it hidden in my
sock drawer.
 
Amber noticed. “So when are
you going to tell Eddie you don’t want to marry him?”

“I’ll do it tonight.”

“Rather you than me.”

“I know.” I was starting to get really nervous about
it now.
 
I didn’t want to hurt him.
 
He was so sweet and he was all alone in the
world.
 
I didn’t want him to think I was
abandoning him.
 
I still wanted to be
with him; I loved him so much but it was much too soon for marriage.
 
I wasn’t even eighteen yet.

The day went quite quickly, which was good because I
couldn’t stop thinking about Emily Gray. Once the bell went Amber could barely
contain her excitement. “Come on, let’s go and find out what’s going on with
your ring.”

The library was five minutes walk from school and
luckily for us there were only about five people in there so there were several
computers free. Amber was a computer whizz and so she knew what search words to
use.
 
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to
find anything so I was shocked when Amber suddenly pointed to the screen.
 
“Oh my god!” she gasped.
 
Her face went white and her eyes widened when
she looked at me. “Charls, look.”

I moved my face closer to the screen and I felt sick
when I saw it.
 
It was from an old
newspaper. The headline read: “Local girl in drowning tragedy” I read further…
minister’s daughter, Emily Gray, 19 was
found dead at Bexford
Lake this morning. The
police are not treating her death as suspicious. It is suspected she tripped
and fell into the lake after an argument with her husband Edward Gray.
My
heart lurched. Edward.
 
Edward’s surname
was Greyfield.
 
I could feel Amber
shaking next to me. I glanced further down the page and then I saw it.
 
Amber grabbed my arm. It was a picture of
Emily.
 
It could have been a picture of
me. “Oh my god,” I said looking at Amber.
 
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

She nodded.
 
“It
gets worse, though.”

“What?”

“Look at the next page.”

I pressed the arrow and there was a black and white
photo of Eddie.
 
It was him.
 
He had the same hair and everything.
 
He also had those black eyes and that sneer.
I felt the room starting to spin.
 
I
gripped hold of the desk and Amber held me up. “It’s Ok,” she said. “I’m sure
there’s a reasonable explanation. It’s just pretty weird that’s all.”

“What’s going on, Ambs?”

The librarian came over. “Is everything all right,
ladies?” she said in her British accent.

“Can we get a glass of water, please?” Amber asked.

“Of course.”

She came back with two glasses and noticed the photo.
“Oh,” she said.

“What’s up?” Amber asked.

“That was such a terrible thing,” she said.
 
She was quite old but I didn’t think she was
old enough to know about that.

“How do you know about it? You don’t look old enough!”
Amber said.

She laughed. “Most people in the village have heard of
poor Emily Gray.
 
It’s one of those
stories that keeps getting passed down through the generations.”

“How come I haven’t heard about it?” I asked.

“Maybe you’re family are too young.
 
You must know the old mansion house, though?”

“Yeah. I live opposite.”

“That’s where she lived; her and her husband.
 
After it happened he went mad, apparently. He
threw himself off the roof.”

“That’s terrible,” Amber said.

“Yes. The whole thing was a terrible tragedy. Of
course, everybody thought he did it.”

“Did what?”

“Killed his wife.”

I shuddered. “Why did they think that?”

“There was something strange about him. Pure evil some
people said. Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the desk.
 
I hope you’re feeling better soon,
love.”
 
She was about to walk away but
then she looked at me. “Oh my, you are the spitting image of Emily.
 
Was she a relative?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “That’s what I’m trying to
find out.”

Amber sipped on her water, being careful to keep it
away from the computer. “Charls, I’m getting really scared now, aren’t you?”

“A little bit. Do you think Emily is my relative?”

She looked at the screen. “I actually think your crazy
story about reincarnation might be true.”

I felt that dread rising up inside again. “What do you
mean?”

“Don’t you get it? Eddie keeps telling you about your
past lives together and didn’t he tell you about the mansion? I think it’s
true.
 
I think he did kill Emily but I
don’t get how he’s still got the ring and how you both look exactly the same.”

“I think we should go now,” I said. “I have to meet
him later and tell him I can’t marry him.”

“You can’t see him now.
 
Not after what we know.”