Veiled Passages by Terri Reid Read Free Book Online Page A

bone?”
    Her face broke into a smile. “You aren’t as smart as you look, are you?” she asked. “I owe you a boon, a favor. You saved my life.”
    He shook his head. “No, this is just a dream,” he stated firmly. “You are just a part of my dreams.  There are no such things as monsters.”
    He turned away from her and looked at the clearing.  The clearing where he met her all those years ago.  The clearing where he had nearly lost his life.
    “You saved my life, too,” he said. “You owe me nothing.”
    “Aye, but your life wouldn’t have been at risk if you hadn’t tried to save me,” she replied softly. “It’s a boon I owe you, Sean O’Reilly, and I’m hoping soon to be able to repay it.”
    He turned quickly. “What do you mean?”
    She began to fade away in front of him and her voice, though a whisper, echoed in his mind. “Be wary, my friend, there is more than dark-souled men in the shadows of your world.”
    The alarm went off. Sean jumped up in bed with a shout and wiped the sweat from his face. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart, still pounding from the dream. “It was a dream, it was only a dream,” he said.
    Tiny rose slowly and stretched, then walked over and rubbed himself against Sean’s naked torso.  Sean absently scratched the cat while he relived the dream again in his mind.  He lifted his hand away from the cat and rubbed the old wound on his other arm. “Dammit,” he whispered harshly. “It was only a dream!”
     

Chapter Ten
    The room was dark, except for the glow from the streetlamps outside her window.  Her room was filled with all of the trappings of a typical young girl’s life: stuffed animals, a dollhouse, a collection of barrettes and hair clips, several pairs of colored sneakers, a bulletin board filled with her drawings and the school lunch calendar, and a varied collection of clothing strewn in all directions.  The only thing in the room that wasn’t usual was the ghost that slid through the door and stood at the edge of the bed staring down at the sleeping child.
    As she gradually woke from her slumber, Maggie could tell something was different. Her stomach was tightening and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.  Even before she opened her eyes, she knew that someone or something would be in her bedroom with her.
    Slowly, opening her eyes, she looked up from her pillow and stared at the face above her.  The old man stared down at her, his face a mixture of sorrow and confusion. “Maggie,” he whispered. “I’m lost.”
    She scooted up in her bed, wiped the sleep from her eyes and focused on the translucent apparition. A car passed by her house and its headlights briefly illuminated the room. It was enough light for Maggie to see the ghost’s features clearly and her little heart broke. “Mr. Rupp?” she asked sadly. “Is that you?”
    “Maggie,” he repeated. “I’m lost.  I don’t understand.”
    “Mr. Rupp, you’re a ghost,” she explained. “You must have died.”
    “I don’t remember dying,” he said, tears streaming down his face. “Why did I die?”
    Maggie climbed out of her bed and stood next to the sobbing man. “I don’t know why you died,” she said. “But it’s okay. Mike says that it’s nice on the other side.  He said all you have to do is look around and find the light. Then you can go to heaven.”
    Mr. Rupp looked around the room. “I can’t see a light, Maggie,” he said. “It’s very dark where my body is.  I’m locked inside somewhere and I can’t get out.”
    “Can you push, with your mind?” she asked. “Sometimes, if you think about it hard enough, you can move stuff with your mind.”
    Mr. Rupp concentrated and tried to push beyond the darkness, but nothing happened. He turned back to the little girl. “I tried, Maggie,” he said. “I’m just stuck.”
    “Don’t worry, Mr. Rupp,” she said, “I can help you.  I can find where your body is and open