𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷
— 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 —

     𝓝𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓻 bed, Briar pulls her favorite silk sheets up to her chest, and proceeds to take advantage of the manor's silence by staring out of the window— it was a beautiful night, a full moon was blossoming and the stars in the dark sky twinkled every few moments. The quiet atmosphere was almost completely unbearable, considering Briar had an abundance of thoughts and no one to share them with; whereas her brother was finishing up his work in the attic after finally finding the supply closet, Casper had yet to make an appearance since Clayton's visit. The girl had grown confused with his absence, and wondered why he was choosing not to speak with her.

"Casper," Briar speaks softly, brushing her hair from her line of vision, "I know you're here."

The ghost slowly appeared on the windowsill, his back facing her. As he, too, stares outside, he places his hand upon the glass. "The sky is so beautiful at night," he murmurs, just loud enough for her to hear him, "I remember how much I used to sit here and stare at the stars— as if I had wishes that hadn't come true. I had everything I could ever want."

The girl sits up, running the pads of her fingers over the sheets as she looks to him. "We have a lot in common, you and I."

"But I'm not alive, Briar," he turns, his eyes no longer alight, but dull as if he were realizing something that had been in front of him all along. "I don't think I can pretend that I am anymore."

"Casper, you have the kindest soul of anyone I've ever met before," she shakes her head steadily. "It doesn't matter what you are, certainly not to me."

Sighing gently, he places his head in his hands. "As much as I hate to admit it, I was hoping that you'd find the serum, too."

She was surprised at that, considering he had been the one to talk her down. Briar furrows her eyebrows in confusion at him, "Why is that?"

"Because I've realized that I can't be with you when I'm like this," he moves from the window, gesturing to his ghostly figure. "I am a ghost, and that matters, Briar. Because in the decades that I've been here, hoping for something that could change my life forever, I never would have thought that a girl would come along and sweep me off my feet, only for me to realize that it wouldn't be a granted wish at all. It would be torture— it is torture."

With her lips parted, Briar's cheeks begin to flush and she closes her eyes for a brief moment. "You think I swept you off your feet?"

"Of course I do. You had me wrapped around your finger from the moment I saw you, and I've lived long enough to know that a love like that only comes once in a lifetime," his voice is faint. "I've been dead for ages, Briar. But you smiled on the pavement outside of the manor, and something inside of me cracked wide open— and only then did I feel alive again."

He spoke of love . . . and Briar couldn't remember the last time she had heard that word. And maybe it would be the thing to destroy her; after all, her heart was beating all too quickly to be normal, and she was overwhelmed with a feeling that she was unsure of. Or maybe it was exactly what she needed to hear, after living through months of uncertainty and loneliness. Marshall loved his sister, and she knew that with an absolute positivity. But who else was left on the earth that would care for her when he couldn't?

Casper.

Hearing him say the word out loud nearly made Briar cry, perhaps she needed to cry.

"I know that you and Clayton have feelings for each other now," Casper's voice breaks, and Briar's heart almost does the same. "So I'm sorry for ignoring you today, but I needed time to think."

"You think I have feelings for Clayton?" Briar stops him before he can continue, holding up her hand. "Casper, I told Clayton that I don't feel that way about him while we were in the dining room. I thought you were there with us, but I went looking for you after he left because I realized you were gone."

He wasn't sure of what her confession meant— and although he didn't want to hope because in all normalcy it had never gotten him anywhere, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his nonexistent spine as she smiles at him.

"I want Clayton's friendship," the girl tells him, "only because I found someone who is brave, and gentle, and wishful even when all traces of hope are lost. You, Casper, have taught me much more in the span of forty-eight hours than I have learned in a lifetime of self-exploration, and I would never give you up."

She pauses, placing a hand on his cheek as she chuckles, "Not even for a boy with a beating heart."

Casper had taught Briar how to love again, how to feel and control her emotions in a way that no one else ever could. And for that, she could never repay him . . . but their own little piece of forever would be a lovely place to start.

The ghost could hardly believe her— this was the very moment he'd been waiting a lifetime for. And although, for a brief time, he had believed Kathrine would be the very person to set him free, his fate had been with Briar Hasson all along.

"I am proud to announce that the attic is clean," Marshall stumbles through the door of the teenager's bedroom, naïve as Casper fades into invisibility. "I'll admit, it was quite a handful, but what I didn't expect was an entire room full gadgets and train sets dedicated to someone named Casper."

Raising an eyebrow at her brother, Briar grins, "Did you? Now I feel inclined to take a tour of it tomorrow."

Shaking his head, the blond boy runs his hands down his face in exhaustion. "I could certainly use the sleep tonight, so thank you for your consideration for the tour guide. By the way, what did you say to that Clayton guy before he left?"

"Although I told him that my intentions for a relationship with him are simply platonic, he was happy to hear that I'm inviting him over tomorrow to carve pumpkins with us," she tells him confidently. "Which, might I mention, you forgot to bring home."

"Then I suppose I'll have to take you to the pumpkin patch tomorrow, huh?" He chuckles, adjusting his sweatshirt. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He reaches into the pocket of his hoodie, retrieving a beaker full of red liquid. "I found this in a box upstairs under the floorboards. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but—"

Casper rests his hand in Briar's, and although she couldn't see him, she knew that Casper was smiling. In excitement, Briar looks to her brother. "Actually, I know exactly what it is," Briar pats a spot on her bed, gesturing for him to sit. "I know that you're sleepy and for a moment you'll think that everything I'm telling you is a figment of your imagination, but I have something important to tell you."

Placing the beaker on her sheets, Marshall takes a seat at the end of the bed, facing his sister. "What is this about, exactly?"

"Well," Briar begins, taking the beaker in her hands, "this belongs to someone I know, and he will be very happy that he's able to meet you. But before you do that, I'd like to give you a tour of the basement . . . I have a feeling that you and Casper will get along quite nicely."

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃.

_______

❝ the epilogue will be posted next :)
be prepared and let me know
what you thought of the book! ❞