After a long nine hours, my first day finally comes to an end. I find myself standing in the sprawling car park under the soft evening light, glancing around and waiting patiently for my dad to pick me up.
"Eden!" a voice shouts from behind.
I turn to see Mike and Lollie. I couldn't be happier to see them.
"Hey! It's great to finally see you both again," I laugh.
"You too," Lollie smiles.
I glance around the car park, hoping to spot Dad. He's not here yet. I turn back to Mike and Lollie.
"How's your day been today?" Mike asks.
"Great. I have a wonderful mentor," I laugh.
Suddenly, a teen girl drops her keys. She doesn't notice. I run over and scoop them up.
"Excuse me?" I call out.
She turns and jogs back over, smiling as she gently grabs the keys from my hand.
"Thank you," she says.
She continues into the car park with her friends. I turn back to Mike and Lollie—
And then it hits me. Another vision.
The same girl steps onto the road and—
A coach slams into her. The impact kills her instantly.
I blink. My head spins. When I come back to reality, Lollie and Mike are standing right in front of me, trying to snap me out of it.
"You okay there? You completely zoned out, dude," Mike says, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"You had us worried! I thought it was some sort of seizure," Lollie panics.
Before I can reply—
Brakes screech to a halt behind us.
We spin around. People are screaming, rushing, panicking. The three of us sprint toward the commotion. A crowd has formed around a coach that's pulled into the car park. We push our way forward.
The girl's bloody, mangled body lies a few feet from the vehicle. Lollie jogs over and checks her pulse. Mike and I watch. She turns back and slowly shakes her head.
Her friends begin to scream and cry as they stare down at her lifeless body. I turn away and place my hands over my face.
Second death today.
Second person I touched.
I drop my hands and look at them. What if it's because I touched them?
The manager rushes over with Mitch in tow. An ambulance and police arrive soon after.
Mike, Lollie and I step aside, watching the chaos unravel. I feel sick with guilt. I saw this in my vision—
And I did nothing.
I was too busy talking.
"Your dad's here," Lollie points across the car park.
I look and see him with Millie, standing outside the car. I turn to say goodbye, but Mitch is suddenly in front of us.
"Eden, can I talk to you a moment?" he asks.
"No, I'm good," I mumble, staring at the ground.
I glance at Lollie and Mike, then back at Mitch.
"I'll catch you guys later." I force a smile and wave, walking toward the car.
I ignore Mitch completely. He did the same to me earlier. And after this incident I can't bring myself to talk to him.
As I approach the car, my dad is fixated on the crowd across the lot.
"What happened?" Millie asks.
"Young girl was hit by a coach," I reply bluntly.
"Come on. Get in the car," Dad snaps, opening the driver's side door.
We get home. Dad goes straight to the kitchen. Millie heads upstairs. None of us have said a word since I got in the car.
I pull a folded piece of paper from my pocket—Mitch's number. I shake my head and put it back.
I shove my hands in my fleece pockets and jog upstairs, skipping a few steps at a time.
I stop at Millie's door and knock lightly.
Knock, knock.
"Can I come in? It's only me," I say through the door.
"I guess so," she sighs.
I slowly push the door open. She's sitting on her bed, four old-looking books spread out in front of her. I glance at the books, then back at her as I quietly close the door.
"Don't tell Dad," she snaps.
"As long as you don't tell him my secret, your secret is safe with me," I smile.
I sit at the edge of the bed and look at the books again. They're not normal—they look like they're over a hundred years old.
"Where did you find these? How long have you had them?" I ask.
"Mum gave them to me. She started teaching me when I was ten," Millie explains.
"Teaching you what?" I growl.
"Witchcraft…" she replies hesitantly.
"WHAT?" I yell.
"Shh! Shut up!" she hisses.
I stand from the bed and rub my face. I can't believe this.
"So Mum was a witch?" I ask.
Millie nods.
I turn away and scream into my hands.
"I'm looking into this to see if I can fix it," she says softly.
I storm over and shut all the books, stacking them and tossing them toward the door.
"What the hell is that for?" she yells.
"Just stop! Mum has done enough!"
"I can fix it!"
"If you fix this, I'll be completely dead!"
I throw myself onto the floor and lie flat, staring up at the ceiling.
This stupid witchcraft put me in this position.
I turn my head toward Millie and see tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm... sorry..." she sobs, wiping her eyes.
I sigh and get up. I walk over and sit beside her. She looks at me and I pull her into a hug.
"I just want you back—the normal you," she says quietly.
"I know. There's no turning it back now. You can help improve me, but that's it," I whisper.
She pulls away and wipes her face again.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
I stand and unzip my fleece, lifting my polo shirt to reveal my torso.
"My stomach is blue and black from the internal bleeding. The rest of it—grey. There's no natural colour," I say.
"Eden... you're dead. I said this before," she whispers.
"So you can't do anything about it?"
"Erm... I could see if there's a masking spell or something..."
The doorbell rings. We hear Dad answer it.
Me and Millie look at each other.
"Eden! Your work friend is here!" Dad calls up.
My eyes dart to Millie. She shrugs.
"Eden!" he yells again.
"Coming!" I shout back.
I shake my head and grab the door handle.
"I'll do some digging and see what I can find..." Millie whispers behind me.
I turn back with a big smile.
This could finally be something to be happy about. If she can find a masking spell, everyone will see me as living...
Even though I've already come to terms with being dead.