Part 4: Manifestation
a serial ghost story by Erin Zarro
“Oh my God,” Shelley said softly. “I’ve never seen this before.”
The dogs and cats went crazy, but Shelly managed to calm them down. Still, Larry and Moe, the two cats, stood at attention, ears perked, ready to defend us from the intruder.
I was looking at Adam.
Well, sort of. He was transparent, but he had a body. He wore what looked like jeans and a Bon Jovi t-shirt — unsurprisingly. His face reminded me of a ghost’s — his eyes were simply two empty holes filled with darkness. He had a mouth. And he glowed so brightly that it almost hurt my eyes to look at him.
And he was not sixteen anymore. He looked to be about my age.
But I did not believe in ghosts. So, what was going on?
I probably should have been scared, but oddly enough, I really wasn’t.
Shelley’s hand grabbed my wrist before I could move closer. As if she’d known what I was about to do. “No, don’t go to him. We don’t even know if this is really him.”
Bubba growled softly as if he agreed with her statement.
Not taking my eyes off of Adam, I asked, “What do you mean? It’s clearly him. I feel it.”
“Lower-vibrational beings can do all sorts of things to make you think they are someone you love,” Shelley replied, squeezing my hand. “They can wear many faces, change their energy, essentially become anyone. And you wouldn’t even know until it was too late.”
My stomach knotted with anxiety, and my blood went cold. “What’s a lower-vibrational being?”
“They are beings that reside on the lower planes of existence,” Shelley explained patiently. “Usually demons. And they wish you harm.”
“I don’t believe in ghosts, so these lower-vibrational things probably don’t exist either,” I said, but I wasn’t quite sure.
There was obviously something that remained of Adam.
“Ghosts do exist, Kristen,” Shelley countered. “Look. He’s right there. Whoever he is.”
Okay, fine. Maybe.
“Adam?” I asked, looking into the black holes that were his eyes. Those empty pits were unnerving, but I tried to stay open-minded.
The being in front of me tensed, and I knew he’d heard me. His arm shot out in my direction. Shelley pulled me away before he could make contact. “Kristennnnn…” he whispered, so softly I almost didn’t hear him.
But that voice.
Holy hell. I remembered it so well. The voice that gave me goosebumps with just a whisper. All husky-like. Or his laugh, how it would make me laugh too, such a happy, euphoric sound. How he’d sing and I’d feel as if I could be lulled to sleep, or that I could just float in his arms, listening to each perfect note.
It sure as heck sounded like him.
“I-I’m here,” I stammered, my mouth dry. I glanced back at Shelley. “Let me do this, okay? I need to know for sure.”
One of the cats let out a reproachful meow. Cats. Always judging you.
I stepped forward before Shelley could respond. It was a bit reckless. Maybe I should have been more careful. But this was Adam. My one and only love.
He held out his hand to me again, and I touched it with my fingertips. Electricity zipped all the way up my shoulder and settled in my heart, spreading warmth and love. Yeah, it felt just like him.
“It’s you. It’s really you,” I whispered in awe.
“You need to write more. To mani-manifest…me,” he said, his words labored, his breath in gasps.
“Wow, you sound like Darth Vader,” Shelley said. “I think I’ve heard of this. How writing your intention can manifest if your heart is pure enough and the need is strong. Something to that effect. I’ve never actually seen it in action though.”
“Would it bring you back to life?” I asked him.
“Maybe.”
My heart lurched. “How is that even possible?”
“I don’t like this,” Shelley said. “Can we talk privately?”
I glanced at Adam. Every part of me screamed to go to him, to talk to him more, to somehow connect. Yes, his form was different. Yes, he was, technically, dead. But I didn’t want to be apart from him. Not even for a second.
And he didn’t want to be apart from me, either. I felt that down to my bones.
“I don’t want to leave him,” I said with a shrug. “I’m sorry. What if he disappears and I never see him again?” To be reunited with Adam, my Adam, and then have him ripped from me a second time…after I lost my family in the plane crash?
I couldn’t bear it. The hole in my heart was too, too deep.
Shelley let out a frustrated sigh. Bubba circled around us, agitated. I could feel for the poor guy. This was beyond weird.
“Look, something’s not right here,” she said, her gaze flicking to my deceased boyfriend. “If this ghost is really Adam, I think what I’m feeling is that he’s hiding something. Something big. ” Adam started to speak, but she put up her hand, cutting him off. “Sorry. I’m just being honest. And I did ask for privacy.” She glared at me.
“What could he be hiding?” I asked quietly, my stomach churning. Great. I didn’t want to know. But I did want to know.
“Something to do with you,” Shelley said. She gestured to Adam. The dogs were cautiously sniffing around him. He was trying to pet them, but it wasn’t really working, as his hands were passing through their bodies. But I had to give him credit for trying.
I also heard him murmuring and cooing to them, too. That was Adam, the sensitive soul, even in death.
I went to Adam. His head was down, and his shoulders were slumped. “What’s going on?” I asked. “What are you hiding?”
He let out a breath. Curious, as I didn’t know that ghosts needed to breathe. Maybe they didn’t, and this was habit? Listen to me. I didn’t even believe in ghosts before now. “Kristen, I-I can’t stay. You need to-to write me into-into existence or-or you will lose m-me forever.”
I blinked at him, absorbing his words. “What…why? I don’t understand.”
He made a frustrated gesture. “I did something. Something you won’t l-like.”
My heart sank to the floor. Crap. There was always a catch, right? Always. My happy ending — would there have been one anyway, I wondered? With a dead man? I shook the thought away and tried to focus. My voice got trapped in my throat, and I cleared it. “What did you do, Adam?”
He moved closer to me, and those empty pits of eyes seemed focused on me now. It was still unnerving. “I fought to come back. When that didn’t work, we-we made a d-deal. If I could g-get you to write me into-into existence within f-fourteen days, they’d let me stay with you. If-if not, I go back and I w-will be erased from all existence. Meaning…I’ll be gone as if I never existed, ever.”
“Damn, that’s hardcore,” Shelley said. “No one would even remember you.”
My heart stuttered. I wasn’t sure I could breathe. “I’d forget you? Forget us?”
“Yes.”
That one word…felt like his death all over again.
I fell to my knees, tears filling my eyes, then spilling down my cheeks. “Why? Why would you do such a thing? And who would you make such a horrible deal with?”
“It’s n-not important. I d-did it s-so I could see you again, my love,” Adam whispered. “Even if it was for one last time.” His hand reached out, and I could swear I felt the brush of fingertips on my cheek.
I looked up at him, at his sightless eyes. For a moment, I could see him again as a sixteen-year-old, with brown hair and sparkling green eyes. I could see us laughing. I could see him singing to me. I could feel the brush of his lips on mine. “When is the deadline?”
He glanced at Shelley’s clock on a shelf in the corner of the room. “Soon,” he said.
“When. Is. The. Deadline?”
He hesitated, and I felt his anguish. “In about th-thirty minutes.”
“Oh my God.” Shelley came to my side, her hands on my shoulders. “I’m going to lose you…again.”
“Not if you write fast,” Shelley said. “I’ll get some paper. Sit tight.”
I wiped my tears and watched her race out of the room. I focused back on Adam. “Who did you make the deal with? The Devil?”
Adam chuckled. “No, although that’s w-what everyone thinks. There are d-demons who specialize in that s-sorta thing. He made the offer after he r-realized how lonely I was without you.”
“Lonely enough to risk everything? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked, standing. “We could have written a ton of things—”
“He d-didn’t tell me how h-hard it would be t-to communicate with you. I s-sent you those songs. But this w-was the first time I could m-manifest here. And pr-probably the last.” He glanced down at himself, and I noticed that his body was dimmer. “I’m already fading.”
“They freaked me out, Adam. They brought back so many memories, but I don’t believe — didn’t believe — in ghosts. I didn’t connect that it was you. Not for a while. And even when I finally thought maybe it was you, I still didn’t believe it. It was scary, mostly.”
“I-I’m sorry,” he murmured. “That was so not my intention.”
I glanced at the clock. We were already losing time.
Just then, Shelley came back in. “Sorry. Why can’t you find a pen or pencil when you freaking need one?” She handed me a small notebook and a pen.
I took them. “Thank you so much.” I opened the notebook and started writing. I wrote everything I could think of. A long, flowery, sappy love letter that I would have sent him back in the day. I talked about memories, future plans, and dreams. I added details, as many as I could dream up.
I always figured we’d end up married at the house where I grew up, where we first fell in love. I’d wear a short white dress and you’d wear a simple black suit. I’d put a crown of flowers on my head. We’d write our own vows. And you’d sing me a song you wrote for the occasion. As the sun set, we’d kiss as husband and wife.
I got so absorbed in the writing that time did not matter. At some point, I became aware of someone touching my shoulder.
I looked up, and it was Adam.
Healthy and whole, as the clock struck the hour. And boy, he was so handsome as a man.
“It’s you,” I murmured.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I hadn’t felt them in years, but with that touch, it all came back, time halted, and it was as if he’d never left me.
When we pulled away from each other, I noticed that there was a cool breeze. And my shoulders were bare. And I was wearing something quite different…
“What on earth…?” I murmured.
We were outside in what looked like…oh my God. We stood under a flowered archway in my old backyard. The house where I grew up — the same one I’d had to sell after the plane crash — was right there, as pristine as it was in my youth, down to my mother’s rose bushes and lilac tree in the corner. And then the smell of lilacs hit me, and I reached up. My fingers brushed a crown of flowers, presumably lilacs, in my hair. And then I noticed a golden band on my left ring finger that glinted in the fading sunlight.
Adam wore a suit, his hair was a bit tousled from the breeze, and he, too, wore a gold wedding band.
Shelley was missing — I suspected that whatever magic had transported us here hadn’t brought her with us. Hopefully she understood what had happened. I whispered a silent thank you to her, as she’d made this all possible with her quick thinking. And the original notebook letter. I couldn’t forget that.
“We’re…married? How did this happen?” Adam asked, his eyes wide.
I smiled despite my confusion. “I wrote about this. And this is it, down to the last detail.”
“Amazing! So you manifested me and this?”
I nodded. “Looks like it.” I swept my arm out, encompassing the backyard. “Seems fitting as we fell in love here.”
Adam grinned. “This is perfect. We’re getting a second chance, my beautiful wife.” He took my hands in his and kissed the knuckles. “I can’t believe I get spend the rest of my life with you.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Me too. It’s a miracle.”
The sun was setting, painting the sky in a beautiful palette of light and color. Adam went to the patio and retrieved his guitar. I grinned, my heart flip-flipping in my chest. He kneeled in front of me and sang me the most beautiful song — an original song. A perfect song. In that perfect voice I remembered from so long ago.
The voice from my memories that haunted me. The voice I’d never forgotten. And now, the voice I’d get to hear every day…forever.
When he finished singing, I wiped the tears from my eyes. For the first time, they were happy tears.
And then we kissed again as husband and wife.