Shadow of a Life by Mute8 Read Free Book Online

through material, we checked out a bag full of books at
the circulation desk and headed back to my house. I opened the
garage door and saw that my dad’s car was back in its place. Great.
What would I tell him ?
    “ Dad,” I called as we
entered through the kitchen.
    We found him in the living room
watching a Sunday afternoon political news program. He actually had
his tie loosened.
    Dad stood and reached his hand out to
Sophia immediately. “Hello. I’m Jamie’s father. And you are . .
.?”
    Sophia responded just as easily as she
had with Camille earlier in the day. I guess situations like those
make decades of practicing to be ‘normal’ come in handy. I felt
like everyone was looking at Sophia and I wherever we went,
wondering what was wrong with her, but in reality she was as
‘normal’ as any other teenage girl in town.
    “ My name is Sophia. I’m
visiting Marion with my parents for the summer. They’re thinking of
buying a second home here. Jamie and I met at the library yesterday
and she graciously offered to introduce me to the town.” Sophia
beamed.
    “ Did she? Well, my daughter
has lived here her entire life and I don’t think you could find a
better tour guide.”
    “ I’m sure we’ll have fun
together, Mr. Peters.”
    Dad turned to me. “Are you still
interested in going to dinner tonight? I made sure I left the
office early enough to go for Chinese if you wanted.”
    “ Mmm. That sounds perfect.
Sophia needs to be getting back home anyway. Right, Sophia?” I
hinted.
    Sophia nodded and headed for the door.
“I’ll call you tomorrow after you get out of school,
okay?”
    “ Sounds great. Have a good
evening.”
    It dawned on me that I didn’t know
where Sophia went at night. Did she have an actual home? I had a
feeling that she was probably still lurking somewhere in the
shadows and I hoped she wouldn’t follow my dad and me wherever we
went that night. The thought gave me the heebie jeebies and I
shivered as cold tendrils crawled up my spine.
    There was a quaint little Chinese
restaurant called Dragon Star near the waterfront that Dad and I
frequented. The food was authentic because the owners were actually
from China. Sometimes we had a hard time understanding them when
they spoke to us since English wasn’t their first language. I
ordered my favorite sesame chicken with sides of steamed rice and
an egg roll, and Dad opted for a couple of the spicier options on
the menu. We lingered over our dinner that night and Dad made a
sincere effort to talk to me. He’d probably clued-in to the mood
I’d been stuck in, but I didn’t want him to worry about me. Things
were definitely changing in my life and the summer was starting to
look up. My mind continuously wandered during our meal and I think
that made Dad worry more. I wondered how open he was to the idea of
spirits floating around our town.
    “ Dad,” I finally asked. “Do
you believe in ghosts?”
    It’s hard to surprise my calm and
proper father, but I could tell he was taken aback by my comment.
He set his chopsticks down and cleared his throat. He stretched out
his hands and looked at them before refolding them in his lap and
answering my question.
    “ Well, I don’t know that I
believe in ghosts of the sort you see in movies and such, but I
think there’s a good chance that a type of spirit can linger when
people pass on. I don’t think the spirits can actually do anything
that would affect the living, but I believe they are sometimes
there.” He creased his brow and looked at me. “Why the sudden
interest in the occult?”
    “ No special reason. I just
read a book about ghosts recently and it made me wonder what I
believed.”
    We sat in an uncomfortable silence for
a few moments before I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
“It sure is gorgeous weather today. I think I’m finally ready to
put my winter clothes in storage for a few months.”
    “ The forecast says it will
be sunny all week. I think we’re