A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21)(25)

As I approached him, his head shot up suddenly. I was alarmed to find his faded brown eyes on me. I gaped at him, speechless. He could… see me?

Now that I was closer, his skin was of the same quality as mine, pale, ethereal and slightly translucent.

He didn’t look surprised to see me. He just looked me over from head to toe with mild interest before rolling his head back down and resuming his previous position.

“Can you hear me?” I found myself asking.

He grunted. “Yes, boy,” he said, his voice deep and thick with slumber.

Keeping a distance of a couple of feet between us, I bent down to his level. “Who are you?” I asked. “And what are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you,” he mumbled.

Coming across another ghost was something I hadn’t expected. I’d no idea who this stranger was, but somehow it was comforting to meet someone who was in the same position as me, and had likely been in it much longer. It was like coming across a compatriot in a foreign land.

Slowly, he turned his eyes on me again. They looked heavy, as though it was a struggle to lift them halfway.

It hadn’t occurred to me that ghosts needed sleep. I hadn’t felt any need for it, just as I no longer felt hunger… or anything, for that matter.

“You disturb me, boy,” he said, irritation now crossing his face.

“I apologize,” I said. “I only recently left my body, and I have questions.”

He pursed his lips, his jowls trembling slightly beneath his beard.

“What exactly do you want with me?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“I’m seeking the location of gates leading to the human realm,” I replied. “That’s where I have come from, and that’s where my home is.”

Even up close to him, it was hard for me to say exactly what body he had once possessed before he became a spirit—ghosts were already so pale—but I guessed from the formation of his upper jaw that he had been a vampire.

The old man’s eyes drooped closed, and his head lolled once again.

“Is there any way that you could help me?” I asked, increased urgency in my tone.

“Hush!” he said. “You’ll scare away the dreams.”

My brows knotted. “Dreams?”

“I’d almost caught one! Just sit down and close your eyes.” He paused, waiting for me to slide down to the floor next to him, before continuing, “I will show you how to catch dreams. It is very easy. All it requires is for you to extend your mind…”

I looked at the man in bemusement. I realized that I hadn’t tried to close my eyes since leaving my body. For that matter, I couldn’t even remember if I had been blinking.

“Relax your head, and close your eyes,” the man commanded me again.

Assuming the same slumped position as him, I lowered my head downward and closed my eyes. There was just darkness. Which in itself was surprising. I’d expected that perhaps I would see right through the thin walls of my eyelids.

I was really in no mood for whatever game this ghost was proposing, but I didn’t know when or if I would come across another person who could hear and see me—another ghost. I didn’t see what other option I had but to pander to him in the hope that he’d be more likely to help me out afterward.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing,” I muttered. “I see nothing.”

The man breathed out impatiently. “You try too hard. Just loosen your mind and wait… the next one will come soon.”

I didn’t understand him, but I humored him all the same. I kept my eyes closed, and tried to “loosen my mind”… whatever that meant.

And then I saw something. A warm golden light trickled into my mind’s eye. A scene began to form, slowly, as if being painted in with brushstrokes, until I found myself beholding a beach. A beautiful white-sand beach. A glowing orange sun hung over the horizon, already halfway down in its descent. The shore was empty except for a couple walking hand in hand with the waves lapping around their ankles. The woman wore a wedding gown, while the man was dressed in a smart black tuxedo.

Then the sky darkened, as if God Himself had flicked a light switch. There was no moon or stars in the sky and the only light seemed to be emanating from the sea. It had turned a bright green, almost neon color, and it glowed eerily. Heads of seven giant serpents reared from the water, hissing and flashing white fangs. The couple were fixed to the spot, too stunned to duck out of the way before—

“No, no!” The old man’s gruff voice shattered the vision. I opened my eyes. He was shaking his head angrily. “That was a black dream! We don’t want to live in those. Close your eyes again and we’ll search for a good one.”

A black dream, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes again. A nightmare. So, somehow, ghosts are able to intercept dreams. Yet another new thing I’d learned about this spirit existence.

We weren’t waiting as long for the next vision. It emerged quickly in my mind. A beautiful poppy-scattered meadow, through which ran a pure white horse, ridden by… an ogre—the smallest ogre I had ever seen. It must have been a child. A boy. He wore a shiny metal chest plate and a gem-studded helmet, and strapped to his short, chubby legs were silver knee guards. A sword dangled from his belt—a sword so large it was almost as tall as him. He rode across the meadow with practiced grace, then guided the steed into a forest. They whipped through the trees until they reached a clearing, at the end of which lay a steep drop.