Ghosts - part 5

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part five of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

"Well, well, so you've decided to cooperate after all," the ghost says, turning to Peter with a cruel little smile on her face.
"I'm not doing it for you," Peter says roughly. I try to catch his eye, but he is too busy staring intently at the ghost to notice.
"I'll go in her place," he repeats. "Tell me who it is, and I'll do it."
"If that is your wish," the ghost woman says. "But know that you only delay the inevitable. When she saw us last night, she was bound to us. She will have to serve eventually."
Peter chooses to ignore this. "Who is the target?"
"The old man who sells fish at the market."
A spasm of pain crosses Peter's face. "Why him? He's never done anyone any harm. What use could he be to you in the world of the dead?"
"Your job is not to question, but to do," she says silkily. I expect Peter to argue, but instead he simply leans down and picks up the knife. He turns to me and meets my gaze for the first time since he burst into the room. "Belle, stay here. I'll come to you afterwards."
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I try again, but Peter is already gone. He climbs nimbly out of the window and out onto the street. I turn back to the ghost, but she is gone, leaving me alone with my fear.
Peter seems to be gone forever. I don't move from the floor other than to curl myself into a small ball, waiting. Waiting for him to get back and fix this whole nightmare. It seems impossible that only two days ago everything was normal, the biggest thing we had to worry about being whether the winter would interfere with my birthday party.
When I feel hands on my back, I cringe and try to move away, not wanting the ghost touching me, even though I know very well that she can cause plenty of pain without touching me at all.
"It's ok, it's me," Peter's soft voice says in my ear.
I uncurl so fast that I think I pull a muscle in my neck, but I ignore it. I throw my arms around him, sobbing.
"I'm so sorry, Belle," he says, rubbing my back. "I should have been more careful. You never should have seen me last night; this is all my fault."
"You need to explain, now," I say firmly. "No more ignoring me for my own protection."
"No, that didn't exactly work as I had planned," he murmurs. "Come on, let's get you up."
He helps pull me to my feet. I am surprised at how shaky I am; Peter needs to help me into bed, as my legs are too wobbly to get there on my own. He tucks me in, and sits on the edge of the bed.
"I'm not sure how it started," he says, absentmindedly twirling my hair in his fingers. "All I know is that one day, I walked into my father's room and saw what you saw last night - the ghosts around him.
"From that moment, I was bound like him. All it takes is looking at them, though they can only be seen when they are with someone else who is forced to serve them. For me, it didn't really make a difference - they take families. When I was older, I would have been bound regardless. For you, it was an accident.
"Either way, whoever sees them is bound to do as they wish. What they wish is to have life for themselves - to take over the whole world of life. To do that, they need more ghosts to help them. They force us to kill people - to make them into ghosts - sowing the seeds of our own destruction."
"The old man..." I whisper. My eyes rake Peter's clothes, but I don't see a trace of blood.
Peter won't meet my eyes. "If I didn't kill him, you'd have had to. I didn't want you to have to carry that burden."
"You killed him?" I whisper.
Peter nods, still not meeting my eyes. "I resisted for years, but the pain... well, you felt a small taste of what they can do if you disobey them. I swear, Belle, I try as hard as I can not to. Every time they come to me, they have to torture me for hours before I will do it... but I always do in the end."
I tentatively reach my hand up to his face. "It's ok," I say softly. "We'll figure a way out of this. We will, Peter."
"I already have," he says in a grim voice. "You will not have to kill anyone, Belle, don't worry."
"The ghost seemed pretty insistent..."
"I'll do it for both of us," he says shortly. "I can perform your assignments as well as my own. This is my fault, and I won't let you suffer for it. You won't have to do anything - don't worry, the ghost won't bother you again."
"But then you'll still have to kill!" I say, horrified.
Peter just nods.
"No! No, we'll find another way," I insist. "There must be some way to break the hold they have on us. I'll find it, Peter."
He nods, but I can tell he doesn't believe me. I don't care. Whether he believes it or not, I will find a way to free both of us.
"I should go," he says, making to get up.
"No." I grab his arm, holding tightly. "Please, stay with me. I don't want to be alone."
Peter doesn't reply, but swings his legs up onto the bed so that he is lying beside me. Our faces are very close together and I remember what happened last night - how Peter kissed me before knocking me out and dragging me away from danger. Before that, I had thought I was the only one who felt differently about my best friend.
I look at him uncertainly. Maybe it was just a moment of desperation for him, something he regrets. Peter meets my eyes and there is something burning in his that I have seldom seen before. His arm gently brushes mine as he wraps it around me, pulling me closer. I automatically lean into him and our lips meet.
In that moment, I forget all about ghosts and killing and bonds. For the moment, it is just Peter and me.

To be continued