She was so determined, Jared could do nothing but chuckle. “Somehow I knew you would say that.”
“I’m nothing if not predictable,” she agreed, closing her eyes again.
“No, Heart, you’re the opposite of predictable. That’s only one of the reasons I’m going to love you forever.”
“Right back at you.”
HARPER SLID INTO SLEEP, JARED’S WARMTH serving as a form of protection. Dreams chased her, though, and she wasn’t surprised when she opened her eyes to find she was lost in a dark forest.
She looked around, her heart rate picking up a notch, and searched for a reason she would be called to this specific spot in her dreams. There were no landmarks, no odd-looking trees. The only light offered was thanks to an unnaturally bright moon, which was the first hint that things were about to get interesting.
“Hello?” She wasn’t calling out to anyone in particular. Her dreams over the years had turned into investigative tools, especially of late. She manifested the ability to speak to ghosts at a young age. If she had to guess, she’d always been able to see them. The first time she knew what was happening, though, her grandfather visited her right after his death.
Before anyone had found out, prior to her parents getting the call, Harper had a talk with her favorite grandparent that left her bereft ... and confused. When she explained to her parents that her grandfather had passed, they’d been confused. They’d awoken her to tell her the news, and yet she already knew.
They didn’t believe her, of course. They assumed she’d somehow heard them receive the call and figured out what was happening. Given her young age, that should’ve seemed impossible. The truth, though, was harder for them to swallow.
For years, Gloria and Phil told Harper she was imagining things when she claimed to see a person who wasn’t really there. They’d considered getting her help, hiring a therapist for her to talk to, but eventually her gift started leading to the lost, including individuals who had been in a car accident ... and others, still, who had died with no one to look for them. It was only then that the Harlows realized their only child was special ... and they weren’t exactly thrilled with the news.
They told her to keep it quiet, hide who she was. It wasn’t out of meanness as much as fear. They knew if others found out what she could do that she would likely become a target. They tried to protect her to the best of their ability, although it wasn’t always possible.
As an adult, Harper opted to embrace her gift. She wanted to help people, lead lost souls to a better place. She honed her skills, learned what she could, developed her own dreamcatcher to serve as a conduit between worlds and allowed her mystique to grow. By the time she and Jared met, she was comfortable in her own skin. He was the one who had to adjust, although it didn’t take long.
Oh, the first time she’d admitted what she could do to him, he thought she was a quack. He was convinced she might be the most beautiful quack he’d ever met, but a quack all the same. It didn’t take him long to realize she was telling the truth, though, and they’d been practically inseparable ever since.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed through the dreamscape. As far as she could tell, she was completely alone, and yet she sensed another presence closing in. Slowly, she turned and studied the ethereal woman detaching from the tree line. She recognized her, cringed at the sadness permeating her face, and then sighed as she wrapped her head around what was happening. “Hello, Leslie.”
The woman nodded in greeting, her expression wan. “I know you.”
“You do.” Harper forced a smile she didn’t really feel. In truth, this interlude could’ve been nothing more than a dream. It also could’ve been real. She’d talked to legitimate spirits in dreams before, and this interaction somehow felt similar. “We met recently: yesterday, in fact. It was at the campground in the UP, the one for the murder-mystery event.”
“Right.” She didn’t crack a smile, which was unlike the woman Harper had been introduced to. She seemed listless and afraid more than anything else. “Do you know what I’m doing here?”
Harper hesitated and then nodded. “I think I might. I have a question for you, though. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Leslie held out her hands. “I don’t know. This? I think this is the last thing that happened to me. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, though.”
“This didn’t happen to you. Not in the real world at least. This is ... a meeting of the minds, so to speak. It’s not technically real.”
“So, you’re saying we’re not in the middle of the woods talking to each other as if we’re old friends despite the darkness, huh?” Her eyes flicked to the moon. “I guess I kind of figured that out myself.”
“It’s … hard to explain.”
“Yeah.” Leslie was silent for a beat. “It just … this doesn’t feel real.”
Harper had to bite back a sigh. She didn’t want the ghost becoming lost on a loop. “It’s ... a manifestation.” Explaining what was happening seemed like an uphill battle to Harper. Leslie was clearly confused by her current situation, which meant that it was possible her ghost was loitering around ... somewhere. She simply had to find it. “Do you remember being at the campground?”
Slowly, Leslie nodded. “I do. It was supposed to be a lot of fun. I’ve always liked stuff like this, horror stuff. I love camping, too. Sam hates both. I don’t even know why he came.”
Harper nodded in sympathy. “He seems ... cold.”
“He’s a jerk.” For the first time since entering the dreamscape, Leslie unveiled an actual expression. It was a scowl — a dark one at that — but it loosened
