The ghost of Tanya doesn't float toward me as I initially thought, she walks toward me instead, smiling mischievously exactly the same way Tanya used to when she was alive. I blink repeatedly but she's still there, still smiling, and still looking at me.
"T.... Tanya?" I say once again, noting the tremor in my voice.
Tanya's ghost smiles wider. "Hi, sis."
Instead of fainting, as most women would, I let out a piercing scream loud enough to wake the dead. A hand snakes around my waist and it takes a few seconds for me to realize Ash is speaking to me.
". . . relax, it's alright, please."
I focus on his face as his words finally break through my consciousness. "Is. . ." I lick my dry lips. "Is her ghost still there?"
"I'm right here, sis." Tanya's ghost says from right behind me.
This time, I'm not able to take it as the cold hands of oblivion wrap around me and enfold me in their arms.
*
". . . going to do?"
". . . appeared that way."
Broken words float all around me, and it takes a while to realize I'm somewhere between wakefulness and unconsciousness. There's still a veil between the two and it seems I'm hovering on the verge of both not wanting to return completely to any. Knowing fully well I can't stay in both worlds, I decide to tear the veil and cross into wakefulness.
The moment I open my eyes is the exact moment I remember, and my heart begins to beat hard in my chest.
"Sis?"
That voice. Tanya's ghost is still around. I can't take it.
"Ash. . ." My mouth feels like cotton wool is stuffed inside it. "Please help me."
"I'm right here, baby, don't fret."
His face swims into my vision and I can see the concern written all over it as he holds my arm and helps me to sit up. I see Tanya's ghost hovering on the side, looking worried as well. Can ghosts have facial expressions? Why is she here? I know she's my sister and we're forever tied but wasn't she told that the living and the dead can't mix?
Continuous questions silently flit inside my head but I shake them away.
"Sis, I'm sorry I spooked you earlier, but I'm alive."
Ghosts can talk and lie too?
Ash must see the disbelieving look on my face because he rushes in to explain. "She's right, baby, Tanya is alive and well. I'm going to leave you two alone so you can both catch up."
Before I'm able to voice out my disagreement, Ash disappears like Willow the wisp. What is wrong with that man? Can't he see I need him now more than ever? I close my eyes and sigh, hoping that if I act like Tanya's ghost isn't here, maybe, just maybe it'll disappear.
"I'm still right here, you know." Tanya's ghost says, causing me to flinch and open my eyes.
"Closing your eyes and acting like I'm not here isn't going to make me disappear so don't bother."
Oh! A sassy ghost. Tanya was quite sassy when she was alive, so I can understand her ghost will be the same.
"Will you stop talking to yourself," The ghost is quiet for a while before continuing to speak.
"Please. . . I beg of you. . . listen to me."
I look at the ghost whose eyes are pleading with me to listen to it so I nod my head, although I'm wondering how she knew what I was thinking off.
When she sees I've placed all my attention on her, she smiles.
"First things first, I'm not dead. Secondly, the video you saw about Ash's twin shooting me was doctored. Thirdly. . ." She smiles when she sees I've placed all my attention on her "I've been hiding out here until the dust settles."
My mouth hangs open as I stare at her incredulously. "Y. . .you're not dead?" She shakes her head as a winsome smile grows on her lips. "B.... But I saw your body, your head - it was blown apart."
Tanya sighs as an apologetic look slips into her eyes. "That wasn't really me, it was just a clone."
I don't understand a lick of what she means by it wasn't me, it was just a clone. I close my eyes and count to three before opening them once more. "So, you're not dead?"
The smile on her face is wide now. "That's what I said, sis."
"But. . . I'm confused. Why didn't you let me know you were alive? A funeral was held for you. Dad and mum's friends were there, I was there and couldn't take it. I almost died, almost crawled into your fake grave."
Her eyes have begun to water and when she speaks, her voice cracks a little. "I know, I'm so sorry, I. . . I had to fool them, I had to make it seem like it was real."
"Them? What. . . ?" I stand up from the couch and tentatively walk to her. "Fool who, Tanya? What mess did you get into this time around?"
It's her turn to close her eyes and expel a tired breath. "I'll tell you, but I think you need to sit down for what I'm about to say."
I feel my brows creasing as I sit back on the sofa I just got up from. I fleetingly think of how comfy it is before I place my whole attention on Tanya.
She releases a breath dramatically before speaking. As she speaks, I see the smile on her face when she says she went to the apartment, thinking I was there. When she gets to the part where mother appeared to her right before she entered our former apartment, I gasp. Pain shines in her eyes as well as the trauma of reliving the story of how Ash's twin shoots her.
"Luckily, the bullet grazed my neck and it wasn't deep." She shows me a wound on her neck. "Yes, I was in surgery but it wasn't life-threatening. The bastard left me there for dead, and I don't know how Ash found out but he took me to the hospital, paid for my bills, and shipped me here to Italy to hide out."
Rage courses through me when I realize Ash kept the information of Tanya's wellbeing to himself.
"Please don't blame him, sis, he's gone through hell and back just to be with you."
Something nags at the back of my mind. "You said you had to fool them. Who did you have to fool?" I wag a finger threateningly at her. "Don't you dare lie or try to pull a wool over my eyes."
She smiles but its gone within the blink of an eye as she shrugs and gazes at the floor. "I did some things I'm not proud of. I got mixed up with the Russian drug cartel - Maxim Ivanov and his brothers were after me for a while because they found out I was a spy for Ash."
"WHAT?" I don't know which part to screech over. The fact that she and Ash faked her death and she's been hiding in Italy ever since, or the fact that the Russian drug cartel is after her. Instead, I ask a stupid question. "Are you and Ash. . .?" But I can't finish.
Her mouth opens wide and her eyes flash with anger as she shakes her head. "Seriously? Out of all I just said, that's all you can ask? Why do you like to think of crap like that? What do you take me for? Yes, I know Ash is hot and all, but damn, sis, he's totally smitten over you and I've got no eyes for him, or any other man at that."
I nod as happiness spreads throughout my system, giving me a warm fuzzy feeling in my chest.
"What matters now is that we're finally reconciled." She continues. "And I know I didn't want you and Ash to be together initially. . ." She shakes her head as a serious look filters into her eyes.
"But I can't think of another person who is more suitable than him. He's more than earned the right to be with you, wouldn't you say?"
I shrug, affecting an air of indifference but I think she may be right.
"So, now that's out of the way. . ." She looks at me with a tentative smile on her face. "Can you please hug me now?"
With tears in my heart and a grateful heart, I close the distance between us and hug her. She's no longer bony, she's put on some weight and that reminds me that she's truly here, not a spirit but of flesh and blood. All this time I thought I was alone in the world. My heart soars with elation.
"Great!" Ash appears, leading me to the belief he must have been within earshot all this time. "Now, that's settled." His eyes land on me as he sits in the chair opposite me. "We need to talk."