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Ashley felt the screaasp or choke than a screa, and she was left staring at an e if she could wake herself up But she wasn’t sleeping She ide-awake--and seeing things
She leapt up and ran around, turning on every light in the rooht outside soon But she didn’t want the shadows that were created when the sun first began to rise; she wanted light, brilliant light, and a lot of it
But she froze when she heard a light tap at her door and then a voice
"Ashley?"
It was Jake And she suddenly felt that dreahtraveyard--before it had been there--and Confederate soldiers who soot into her room and faded away as swiftly as she could blink She was overtired, she knew
She was losing all grip on reality
She walked to her door and threw it open, staring at hiht," he said
As at all times, he was so damned easy and confident And he couldn’t have heard her--the scream she emitted hadn’t even been a squeak when finally uttered
How the hell did he just know things?
"I’ her think that she had seen a ghost?
He believed they existed, even if he hadn’t said as ht that others didn’t have--surely that hy they were so special
She was glad to have him here; she would have willed hihtened again
"I know you think you…see things, know things, that others don’t But please don’t suggest that the ghost of Charles Osgood is telling you things to tell ate Real things Blood Fingerprints"
He stared back at her easily, with absolutely no show of e around the rooht I’m fairly new in overn blood or DNA trails and fingerprints Good night, again, Ashley I’m sorry I disturbed you"
He headed down the hall She watched hi Well, she had to be looking like a schizophrenic noelco hiain, she was afraid She was afraid that she could see things that others didn’t so
This time, she couldn’t shut herself away; she had to be reasonable, and she even had to learn to accept what Jake said And what she saw
A man had been hts on It was nearly six now, she saw by the bedside clock Daylight would cohts
And the television! A television would distract her But when she turned on the television, she saw Jake They were repeating a newscast
She started to change the channel, but she paused, listening to hied the pretty anchorwoed the channel It seee froain
She hit the reain
He couldn’t possibly be on Nick at Nite! She hit the changer until she came across Dora the Explorer, and at last, satisfied, and hoping that h her subconscious mind, she eased her head down on her pillow
And slept soundly and without dreaela, choosing the study for the privacy it offered He briefed them on the events that had occurred before their arrival, and Jackson told hi that no one saw anything," Jackson said
Jake shook his head "No, not really I mean, obviously, I wasn’t here for this reenactone on There’s so much confusion There’s black powder in the air everywhere When the fighting is over, everyone is paying attention to the riverside porch where Ashley and her grandfather are speaking, finishing up the event It’s a patriotic s ‘The Battle Hyood?" Jackson asked hio He was part of the outfit, but his stepfather was alive back then, and so Charles wasn’t asked to take part in the battle There are only six Confederate roles to be played, and there is a strict pecking order to who gets to do hen"