Who Killed Sarah Foster?

5. Just Post Host Syndrome

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"Honey, you really don't have to take your day off." George Wayne said as he drove. "You will make it in time for the first hour."

"No Dad, I want to take the day off," Leah said as she gazed into the morning sky, cloudless and clear.

"Baby, it's been seven years..."

"And my love for him and the pain of his death haven't decreased one bit." She breathed out. "I miss him just the same." That was a lie on Leah's part. Yes, she missed her too perfect brother she always looked up to. But he wasn't away from her. He lived with her, spent most of his time with her, shared his wisdom with her, and reminisced old times with her. His soul was solely dependent on her and that was the reason she had to miss school and stay at home today.

Being too perfect had killed her brother. He always told her that he was too hyper-independent and did not seek help even when he knew that he needed it. He hid his pain, and he hid his suffering and even when it was too hard, instead of taking a break and working on himself, he simply overfilled his plate with more and more. And then he ended up killing himself.

He was alone in his suffering till the day he died. And so now, he asked for help. When he felt scared and alone and vulnerable, he asked for his sister's help. Leah felt in her heart that maybe that was the path to his liberation. So she decided to stick by him and help him in whatever way she could.

"We all miss him." Linda dabbed at her tears with a paper napkin. She wished she had paid more attention to her son when he was alive, and paid more attention to his mental health. He would have been alive if she had been more considerate and seen what he was going through. She blamed herself for it, that despite being his mother, she did not see what he was going through.

Little did she and her husband know that it wasn't just her son they knew nothing about. They knew absolutely nothing about their daughter. They just felt that she was a bit awkward, eccentric, and asocial. They didn't know of the powers she had. They didn't know of the constant danger that she was in. They didn't know of the trauma she suffered from - watching the ghost of her own brother come into existence. They didn't even know her eyes were icy blue like her grandfather's now.

They were oblivious to a lot of things going on in their daughter's life.

Leah didn't wait for her parents as she got out of the car and made her way into the house, yelling a quick "I am not hungry!" in response to her mother's offer to make her favorite pancakes.

Her brother was in her room, petting Blacky.

"Hey, dumbass." She greeted him as she walked in.

"Lee, my hand keeps going through her. And I dropped the water bowl today. I didn't drop drop it. It just went through my hand."

Leah nodded.

It happened.

They were bodiless souls after all.

"I will host you once Mom and Dad leave for work." She said. Possession was a way in which ghosts could retain physical contact in the world of the living without turning to extreme emotions or something malignant. But for a vessel, the term used was hosting, because ghosts could not get into or out of a vessel as they wished, the vessel had to permit them to do so. Except in special conditions. In those conditions, it was the vessel that was the most vulnerable.

Michael nodded sadly. He hated being hosted in his little sister's body. He knew that it did bad things to her. She always brushed it off and acted like it was nothing, but he knew it took a lot. He did not remember what it was like for her when he was being restored to the form he had now but when she met Paul Jackson, every single day she used to come home dazed, drained, and delusional.

There were times when he thought his little sister was going to drop dead any second. Hosting a ghost was not the easiest thing to do but she helped the soul with no memory or identity remember who he was, like she helped her elder brother.

"Lee, you sure you don't want to go to school?" George asked from downstairs.

"Positive Dad." She yelled back. "I am sorry if I am worrying you."

"It's okay sweetie. Get some rest and have fun!" Linda called. "We will be off."

Leah yelled a "bye" and went into her bathroom to take a nice long bath before she changed into her PJs and lay on the bed.

"You will know when to enter." She said as she closed her eyes, relaxing herself. Hosting souls was extremely draining and if done without proper care could be life-threatening. She slipped into a dreamless sleep and then in a while she was aware of another soul entering the threshold of her body.

Her heartbeat picked up and there was suddenly a sensation of a weight on her chest, almost crushing it. Bits and pieces of his whole life flashed through her mind. It was an agonizing hour but it felt like just a few minutes. But towards the end, she felt suffocated and then an acute pain in her neck as if it was broken.

Leah writhed in her bed. This was how her brother felt in his dying moments. And then she felt as if her life was being pulled out of her.

Leah gasped as she sat up and her eyes fell on her brother's soul now with a newfound glow around him.

"There you go." She tried to sound cheerful but she knew he saw straight through it.

"Okay!!" Leah exclaimed suddenly and ran towards the bathroom, emptying the contents of last night's dinner and the morning coffee into the toilet.

"You okay?" Her brother was by her side, rubbing her back.

"I am. Just Post Host Syndrome," She looked up and gave her brother a cheeky grin, to which he rolled his eyes.

"I wish our parents could see me too." He said as he sat down on the edge of the tub.

"Blacky can see me. The dog next door.. what's his name?"

"Johnny."

"Yeah, Johnny can see me. But no one else can. And I can't touch anyone other than you three and inanimate stuff." He complained and then looked up. "Is there something that can be done about it other than possessing you?"

"Being hosted by me." Leah corrected as she flushed the toilet and turned to the bathroom sink, splashing water onto her face and then brushing her teeth.

"Yeah, is there anything?" He asked, his voice brimming with hope.

Michael wanted to leave. But a ghost once formed could only leave the living world once they finished off the one thing that they wanted to do desperately in the last moment of their life. And ironically, that was the only thing a vessel couldn't know about the ghost by hosting them.

Leah and Michael had spent endless hours trying to figure out what it could be, figure out what Michael wanted the most in his life but even he couldn't figure out what his subconscious wanted the most as he died.

"I have no idea, big brother." She sighed. "I guess I could look it up in grandpa's notes and journals but I could never bring myself to go into his room after his death."

Michael nodded in understanding. He knew how hard it was on his younger sister.

And he was so very proud of her for dealing with it the way she dealt with it. He knew that his grandpa had thought it through when he gave his ability to his younger sister and not him or his father. They wouldn't have been able to take it.

"I am tired. Need sleep." She slumped to the floor suddenly, leaning against the wall.

"Leah!" Michael stood up instantly and moved forward to help her up but Leah held her hand up, signaling him to stop right there. "Just overwhelmed. Let me be for a while."

He nodded again, giving her a small smile which she returned with her own wider one and he disappeared like smoke.

Leah banged her head lightly on the wall tiles as her migraine hit her hard.

This was also why she took the day off.

She knew her brother was fading again. She could feel it before he could even notice the changes. There were things she knew without any experience or reading. She inherited it along with her abilities.

And she also knew now that she had three ghosts in her life – she had no choice but to approach Sarah Foster because she was newly formed and could end up being extremely dangerous if left like that – she would be encountering some really difficult situations and deteriorating health, and she had to prepare herself for it.

She was ready for it.

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