Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Even with me still squeezing him, he takes hold of my shirt with both of his hands and gets in my face, his eyes imploring me. “I know I’ve been a pain in your ass these past two years. I’ve not been the best of friends.”
“West …”
“But if I can find Nina …”
“So what if you do? You’re gonna haunt her instead of me?” I ask him carelessly. “Is this as good as you shopping for your next home? What good will that do?”
“She died.”
I stare back at him, lips parted. The white nothing swirls around us like curtains, oblivious, shapeless. “She died? Your Nina is dead?”
“Just this past summer. Car accident. I … I looked her up. It’s my Nina. And I’m convinced she’s out there somewhere, just like I am, trapped between worlds. She must be so alone. I feel like this is my destiny, bro. You don’t fuck with destiny. I need to find her.”
My grip is already loosening. “But West …”
“Look, a part of me was inside you when you met Byron. I gave you the confidence to ask him out. Just do me this solid and let me keep this piece of soul a little longer, alright? I need to keep looking for my Nina. Once I find her, I’ll give it back to you. Promise.”
I feel his pain. His worry. His panic.
And his burning, thriving hope.
It’s like we’re still inside each other, but instead of sharing my body, we’re sharing my soul.
He only recently saw himself as a purposeless ghost in my apartment with no true future to behold. Now, he can see a future. He can see an eternity with the love of his life he never got to have. His dear Nina.
How can I take that away from him?
“Please,” he begs me. “Just a little longer. All I’m saying is … maybe we can both have a happy ending.”
There’s an urgent, pulling sensation in my chest. It nearly feels like ropes tugging on my arms, pulling me away with mounting urgency. Like a powerful gust of wind without any wind at all.
West’s eyes fill with emotion. “Please …”
My life is at stake. I didn’t even tell him the whole truth, that I’m dying each minute I don’t have my whole soul. I only implied it to him.
And yet I can’t seem to make the words come out of my mouth now. I’ve always wanted West to have his own happiness. This is his chance.
But at what cost?
“Halloween,” I choke out.
He lifts his eyebrows in surprise. “Halloween?”
“You have until Halloween. Until the day I become the Pumpkin Prince’s husband. If you can’t find her … please have the decency to let go of whatever part of my soul you’ve got … so I don’t end up marrying the love of my life without it.”
“Really??”
“Yeah.” I give him a look. “I sure hope Nina likes you half as much as you like her, because if I’m risking my soul for nothing—”
“It’s not for nothing!” cries West, overcome. “You have my word you’ll get all your sweet, delicious soul back! Halloween! I’ll find Nina by Halloween! I’d kiss you right now if you weren’t grabbing my nuts. Hell, I still might. Thank you, Griffin. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend in life or death.”
I swallow, worried about what I’m doing. None of this feels as good or right as it should. I want to help West. I’ve always wanted him to be happy, but going about it this way, I’m playing with some serious fire. Soul fire. My fire.
I’m risking putting it out for good.
And for what?
“Good luck,” I tell my best friend, then let go.
-9-
Doomed From The Get-Go
The moment I let go of Westley Harmeyer’s nuts, Byron is in front of me again, as if I never left the high school gymnasium.
“Griffin!” he cries out.
From the sound of his voice and the maddened look in his eyes, he’s probably been shouting at me for quite a while. Was I just standing here in a daze the whole time I was connected to West? Did I teleport? How does this whole Realm-of-the-Dead thing work? “Byron.”
“Mrs. Shaheen’s been tugging on our ribbon! She’s probably telling us to return to the apartment! The tea must be wearing off!”
Talk about being massively screwed. “But we don’t even know how we got here, let alone how to get back.”
“You’ve gotta get us home somehow, Griffin!”
“How?”
“Close your eyes and focus!”
I roll my eyes. “Is that your solution for everything here? Close my eyes and—?”
“Just do it!”
I grab hold of Byron, close my eyes, and breathe. As I do, I feel him connect with me like a tight, warm embrace without arms. Our breath synchronizes. All of the despair and murmuring and mistiness of the world around us scatters like storm clouds clearing.