I should have listened.

The thought repeatedly pounded against Kris’s mind in an agonizing rhythm as she stood frozen in complete darkness. It took her a moment to realize that the world around her didn’t turn dark. Instead, someone had come up from behind her and draped a dark heavy cloth over her entire frame. A pair of large arms held onto her so tightly that she couldn’t even move her arms. All she could do was squirm as she started to yell out in panic.

“Let me go!” She yelled out as loud as she could, hoping that someone would hear her and come to her rescue.

Why wasn’t the boy she was just chasing a moment before helping her? Was he already gone? No, she had a feeling he was still close. Kris’s hope deflated a bit when she realized that the boy was someone who only she could see, so there was no way of getting any help from him.

“Let me go! Dad!” Kris continued to struggle as long as she could but eventually she sagged in defeat in the stranger’s arms. She no longer had energy left in her.

I’m scared. I can’t escape. Their grip is too tight on me.

What’ll happen to me now?

“Dad…” she sniffled. Hot tears started to fall down her cheeks.

I should have listened.

“Shh. It’s ok, Kris,” a familiar and gentle voice said from behind her. It was the same voice that was keeping her covered in place.

“Dad?” She put two and two together and realized that it wasn’t a stranger but her dad that was holding her from behind.

“I’m so sorry for scaring you like this but I had no choice.” Her dad loosened his hold on her once he felt her relax. “I wouldn’t have been able to grab you and bring you inside on time. How on earth did you manage to get out here in the first place?”

Kris remained silent for a moment, partially from guilt and also because she needed a moment to compose herself.

“I- I…” she stuttered. Her father gently rubbed his hand along her shoulder in reassurance, letting her know she was safe. She let out a shaky breath.

“I saw you entering the code for the security panel last week when you left for work.”

Her father felt so many emotions all at once that he didn’t know whether to scold her, soothe her, or get angry with her for her recklessness. Yet he could do none of these things as he let the tears he was holding back finally fall.

I should have known she wouldn’t sit still after all these years of being cooped up inside. I’m just glad I got to her in time.

With a sigh of relief he picked up his daughter carefully; she was still covered with the cloth that he had wrapped her in. He started to make his way towards the house.

I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t.

The adrenaline had finally started to fade away from Kris’s body which made her realize how cold and wet she actually was from laying on the ground and being outside for who knows how long. Her hands trembled as she grasped tightly onto her father’s neck to help her from falling from his arms.

“Let’s talk about this once you’re dried off and warm, okay?” Her dad continued to soothe her by rubbing her back.

“Okay…” It was all she could say as she sniffled. She finally managed to calm down a little and became quiet. Kris knew she shouldn’t, but she had one last important question she wanted to ask. Yet there was no guarantee she would even get a proper answer.

Ever so carefully Kris lifted the cloth to create a small enough gap to see into the outside. She moved slowly enough for her father not to notice, making sure not to expose herself to any sunlight.

“When will I see you again?” Kris whispered low enough for her words not to reach her father’s ears, but she was confident that the boy could hear her.

The boy did indeed hear her question loud and clear. He sighed in resignation and began to float slightly above the ground, following after her as she was being carried away by her father. Kris noticed that he didn’t leave any footprints in the snow where he had previously stood.

“I cannot answer that,” he told her. And unlike her, he didn’t bother to whisper. “Though, when the time comes, know this: don't be afraid.”

“I won’t,” She said without hesitation. “I promise.”

He had made one simple request and Kris had accepted without any fear, and without giving it a second thought. If he had asked any other child around her age, they probably wouldn’t have fully understood what he meant, but Kris knew. And because such a promise was made, Kris couldn’t go longer than a couple of days without wondering when he would show up in her life once again. She could have even sworn that every now and then she could see a familiar figure lingering just out of sight.

Kris never lacked for anything in her life. Her parents always gave her everything she ever wanted, with the exception of keeping their outside ventures strictly off limits. Yet she still yearned for something she didn’t know she was lacking until they started appearing one day. Someone to call a friend.

And appear they did. She was accustomed to being visited by small spirits in the form of orbs from a very young age. They all looked the same until eventually, as she got older, they started to appear before her in human form.

She would be elated every time a familiar one would come by and visit her. Kris would happily talk to them for hours on end if she could. Unlike her, they were all able to come and go whenever they pleased. In a way, they became her special window to the outside. She never fully understood what they were until she had asked the one question that finally led her to start learning about their world.

“What are you, exactly? You come and go so freely and without a care in the world. I’m stuck here in the same place every single day.” Kris had asked Amaya, who was the very first spirit that appeared in her life and who still continued to visit her every couple of days.

Amaya sat across from Kris in a moment of silence before answering her in a dejected tone. “Kris…there is one thing you need to understand first. You are a special case because you are one of the few on this earth who can actually see us. You are an even rarer case because you are able to have full on conversations with us when others can only ever hear snippets of what we say. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Amaya’s chestnut colored hair began to float in front of her face and she brushed it away before continuing.

“That so-called freedom unfortunately comes at one of the highest prices one could pay in a lifetime. The reason why me and others of a similar nature are able to come visit you—and why we’re able to pass through walls and venture outside whenever we want—is because death has claimed our lives and this is what we come back as if we are able.”

Seeing as Kris remained silent, a sign that told Amaya that she needed to explain further, she continued so Kris could at least start to grasp what she was trying to tell her.

“Regardless of if we thought that it was our time to go or not. Whether we wanted to or not. Our time ran out. I am an entity whose soul has become detached from its former physical body, just like many others who have appeared before you. Most commonly we are referred to as ghosts or spirits by the living.” Amaya gave Kris a sad smile.

“This is as much as I’m able to disclose to you for now. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm you.”

Death.

Kris had a hard time understanding what Amaya had just told her, the word Death being something she had never heard of before. It was a concept even someone far younger than her would’ve already begun to have some understanding of. It was at that moment that she realized just how sheltered her father had kept her. Not only from the outside but from certain concepts of life as well.

It was from then on that she wanted to learn about their world, especially after meeting the boy that tackled her to the ground one day in early winter. If she was barred from exploring the world beyond the walls of her house, then she might as well learn about theirs.

The more Kristina learned about the afterlife, the more knowledge she gained over time in understanding what transpired around her. It felt as if she was opening a door and welcoming even more different types of entities into her life without her even realizing it. Because spirits weren’t the only ones that would come visit her anymore. Soon after she had turned ten, beings of a more ominous nature started to make an appearance. Their favorite time to drop by was usually at very odd hours in the night.

She eventually began to notice that they would take on a more tangible form. They looked just like any other normal living person yet she knew that they weren’t. Regardless of them being so visible to her, she was still the only one in her household who could see them.

Amaya had warned her of their kind. She told her they were demons and that they were not to be trusted under any circumstances.

“They’re able to manipulate their appearances in order to further gain your trust. They hide their unique traits in order to not unnerve you, but they have their limits as to what they can hide. If you pay close attention you'll be able to tell the difference between someone like them and me.”

Despite her friends' warnings, not a single demon that had approached Kris so far was hostile towards her. Manipulative yes, but they had never become dangerous. Eventually she began to give them the benefit of the doubt and treated them just as fairly as she did the others.

Many of them came and went, and a few always visited her. Others never came back and she was left wondering where they had gone. Kris eventually wanted to start keeping a record of everyone she met. She wanted something to remember them by so she wouldn't ever forget those who had kept her company.

One day Kris had asked her dad for a polaroid camera but it turned out to be useless as soon as she got it.

“Hmm, I guess the camera isn’t working,” Kris said as she took a photo and then dumped it into the trash along with a few other failed shots.

“They usually don't,” said an auburn-haired girl who seemed to be the same age as Kris.

All the photographs she had taken either showed nothing or else they had a black smudge where her friends should’ve been standing.

“But I think I know of another way,” Kris said, her eyes lit up with excitement. “Can you sit still for a couple of minutes?” she asked as she grabbed a drawing pad and a random pencil that was lying around.

The girl complied and adjusted her skirt beneath her as she sat across from Kris at a table that was situated in the middle of her room. She watched Kris tentatively as she began to draw on her notepad.

Kris happily drew as best as she could. She sketched every now and then but her skills were still what you would expect from a ten-year old.

A few minutes later she was done. Kris only had graphite pencils at her disposal so she wasn’t able to add any color to her portrait of her friend. Maybe adding a bit of color would have made it livelier, but black and white would have to do. She flipped her pad around and showed it to her friend, who had been waiting patiently.

“So? What do you think, A? Do you like it?” Kris asked while beaming with joy. ‘A’ wasn’t really her name. It was just a placeholder because unlike spirits, demons were more reluctant to disclose their name to her.

“I know I’m not the best…but since taking photos doesn’t work, this is probably the only way I can remember you when you leave.”

“Like it? I love it!” her friend reassured her. And she meant it as whole heartedly as she was able. When the girl stumbled upon Kris’s house one day, she never expected to befriend a small child who was able to see her, talk to her, and even enjoy her company. Usually humans would do everything they could to drive her away with their odd ways when all she wanted was to explore their world.

She looked at the drawing one more time. Kris's portrayal of her was what one would expect. It was made of messy uneven lines that somehow managed to resemble her.

In an attempt to be less frightening to Kris, she had changed her appearance. A was still a young and inexperienced demon so the only thing she had failed to change were her scarred eyes, something she had always been insecure of. She hid them by making it appear as if she had no eyes at all. Instead, where her eyes should’ve been there was nothing but a pair of black, empty sockets. To her this was less frightening than her actual eyes.

The first time Kris had looked at her face she hadn’t even flinched. Instead she smiled brightly at her. A gave her a wide smile in return, revealing her sharp jagged teeth. This was something she also hadn’t been able to hide and so she waited for Kris’s reaction. A test. She expected her to run away in fear but her eyes widened instead with curiosity.

Just like Kris was doing now. She had a wide grin that shined just as brightly as her red, glowing eyes. This was something that A had been meaning to ask Kris about.

Such an odd little human child…

“Wait right here ok?” Kris said as she stood up.

“Ok. Where are you going though?” A raised an eyebrow up at her.

“I’m going to show my dad!”

“Wait a second!” She shouted after her but Kris didn’t hear her because she was already out the door.

Oh well. I tried to stop her…she’ll soon learn to keep things like this to herself.

Kris had indeed learned not to share everything with her dad. It wasn’t until later when she showed the drawing to her dad, that she realized how disturbing her drawing actually was at the time. He couldn’t conceal the grimace on his face even as he complimented her drawing skills.

Eventually Kris stopped showing her drawings to him and kept them to herself. She kept seeing the discomfort on her dad’s face whenever he laid eyes on her sketchbook.

Kris was still determined to get better at drawing, polishing her skills to the point where her drawings were no longer messy scribbles with incorrect proportions. Even if the only ones who could see them were her friends.

She had practically all the time in the world to get better. As soon as she finished her homeschool lessons with her dad in the study room, she immediately wanted to draw someone but she had no muse to use as a reference. She thought for a moment before her eyes glazed over, her hand already on her sketchbook. Her lines were so precise and confident in the way they appeared that it felt as if this wasn’t the first time she was drawing him, yet it was. This was the first time it had ever crossed her mind to even do so.

It only took a few minutes for the drawing to be complete.

She snapped out of her daze and looked down at her lap where a pair of familiar eyes stared back at her.

It was the boy with the tattoo on his neck. The same boy Kris had met that one winter morning three years ago.