Oracle Dream

Oracle Dream

Ryan Viergutz

Copyright 2012 Ryan Viergutz

Published by Ryan Viergutz at Smashwords

Cover by Emily Viergutz

This work is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of

fiction. All characters and situations depicted in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to

real people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge Emily and Joanne for being fans of Sybil when I wrote her eight years ago. I didn't expect to ever publish this novella with its unusual length, so the developments in the industry are a real pleasant surprise. Eventually I'll write more of her, but I've changed so much I barely recognize myself in Sybil's voice.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 1

I slept, and I dreamed. I dreamed that I was a busty swordswoman in a leather bodice, an alien from the other side of the galaxy, and covered in an amazing tan that could only be natural. I dreamed that I was a damsel in distress in a long robe, a sorceress who could use the elements to her advantage, and blessed with smooth skin.

I dreamed that I stood in a parking lot at midnight. Cars raced across the road to one side. Bugs chirped in the bushes. Lamps shone their lights on the parking lot, and a man who I did know stood in one of the artificial halos of light scattered on it. I crossed my arms on my chest and studied him. Dark hair. Dark eyes.

He walked toward me, his steps slow, until he was out of the circles and no longer a silhouette. Then he ran, fast and loud. I tried to escape into the bushes, but he clutched my arm and sent me reeling off balance. It took him only a few seconds to lift my leg up and close the trunk of his car.

It was dark and uncomfortable, and I didn't know where I was going. I was a private detective, but I was new to it; I didn't have an internal compass or a lot of the other tricks of the trade. I bring lockpicks, but they didn't seem so practical. When I punched it with a fist in lieu of any other strategy, the trunk shook a bit and almost opened.

It opened when I hit it with both fists. They stung, but I was out of my captivity. The trunk flew up, a wide black sheet of metal above me. I crawled out as the brakes squealed, and as the car stopped I ran into the moonlit night. I ran slower, and slower...

... and I woke up. I looked straight ahead. I didn't look at my digital clock. My eyes would have ached if I had, and I didn't need to know the time to know it was too damn early. I had for whatever reason kept my window open last night. Crickets chirped outside it, a cool spring breeze touched my face, and moonlight shone on my body.

As I had expected, I heard a murmur at the foot of my bed. I sat up against my headboard, clutched my sheets to my chest and stretched my legs into a comfortable position. A translucent girl stood up a few inches from my feet, an aura of green and yellow around her body. I dream a lot, but this was no dream. I've seen ghosts, far too many of them in the middle of the night, for twenty four years.

On the first impression, my visitor that night seemed to be a quiet girl. She had a round face, a small nose and an awkward grin. Ghost or not, she didn't seem the sort who would sneak up in the middle of the night. The white blouse and long black skirt she wore seemed to be a school uniform or a demure outfit. Been there, done that.

Hi? I asked.

I need your help, she said.

I figured. Why else would you wake me up?

The girl's eyes brightened. So this isn't new to you?

I meet a new ghost every day. I don't meet too many in my room. Why are you here?

I think my boyfriend might be in trouble! the girl said. Someone was waiting for Jonathan and he was really intense. He wouldn't talk to me and they might have already found him and I think he knows why he's looking for him and he -

Your boyf -

I think someone will try to kill him!

I brought a hand to my head. Calm down. You're making my head hurt.

"I don't know if I can wait until the morning, though, uh... I heard of you..."

My name's Sybil. The girl tried to talk but I held up a finger. She quieted, but my temper didn't. I spoke in short sentences and resisted the urge to rip into the girl. Hold on. Calm down. I don't know your name. I don't know who you are or who 'he' is. Tell me a story, Miss Ghost. Be coherent.

The girl drew in a breath. She didn't draw any air, but it's a human instinct. My name is Amanda Hall. I'm... um... I was...

You're still you. Only dead.

I died only five days ago.

That was a warm day, I said. Ninety-four degrees.

Yes. That's part of why I died. Let me tell it from the beginning.

High freaking time, ghost girl.

"Let me talk, let me talk! In the afternoon, one of my professors concluded a class fairly early. I found out why so few had attended the class when I got outside. It was bright and sunny, the kind of day where you have to do something unusual or silly. My boyfriend would be getting off work in about half an hour, so he was suited well to a friendly prank.

"I considered honking my horn to surprise Jonathan when he came out, but I changed my idea when I saw a guy standing at his car. He was my age, and I hadn't seen him at college. He didn't see me until I walked over to talk to him - at least, I don't think he saw me - and then he frowned at me. He didn't expect to see me, and didn't want me there.

I tried to hold a conversation with him. He mumbled a thing or two and kept trying to change the subject. He matched my eyes once, and then, it was too late.

Let me guess, I said. He locked you in the back of a car.

Amanda peered at me. Are you actually an oracle? Can you see the past?

I wiggled my hand in the air. Kind of. It's a limited ability, at best. I see the past in my dreams, but only when it relates to a death and a ghost.

You know that I suffocated?

"He overpowered you, locked you in the trunk, and you suffocated with too little air. I don't know all of the story, though. I had a few seconds outside of the trunk in my dream, but no more. What did they look like? What kind of a car was it?"

The guy -

I shook my head. No, wait. Tell me in the morning. I'll take your case, for what it's worth.

The girl blinked. How do I pay you? She thought of it. That is unusual.

"I'll get it one way or the other. You aren't the only case I'll work on, Amanda."

That's really vague.

I deal with your kind and someone always pays me. I shrugged. I don't know the why or the how. Once I thought it was a blessing, once I thought it destiny.

That's good, Amanda said. I'll wait outside.

She walked through my room, drew in a breath and leapt out through my open window. She could have walked through my door or through my wall, but she was new. Don't shut it, I said. The breeze feels good.

What breeze?

Go for a walk. You might start to feel it.

Amanda murmured a reply, but I hardly heard her as my eyelids closed and I drifted off to sleep. I had a new case, but it could wait until the morning.

Chapter 2

I woke up, freshened up, proceeded through all of the usual necessities, and walked out onto the front step of the apartment complex. It was the afternoon, pretty much right on the dot, the sun in the sky, but I didn't see Amanda. So I sat down on the step, checked my pockets to be sure I had everything for the day and stretched.

I had my arms up in the air when I heard a man call Woohoo! from the sidewalk. He was about my age. He had blue eyes, glasses, a loose white shirt, black pants, and a bright red aura. He stood on the sidewalk a few steps from me. How could I have not seen him? My spectacles don't solve all of my eye issues. Who the heck are you? I asked.

I'm Chase Hunter. And you're -

Don't start. I'm an oracle, Chase.

The ghost blinked. You're the Oracle?

I'm an oracle.

Is Chase harassing you? asked another man. He wore a black uniform, and a red aura shimmered on his form.

Kind of sort of.

The policeman tapped his nightstick into his hand. Is this true?

He isn't harassing me. He's only being a nuisance.

What's the difference? asked Chase.

I narrowed my eyes. If you annoy me too much, it'll be harassment. The policeman can do whatever he wants to you, then.

Chase gulped and turned to the policeman. I'll see you around, Miss Oracle.

Maybe, I said as he retreated. I'm not betting on it.

Huh, the policeman said, that was easy.

I never trust easy.

It's a good habit, Oracle.

My name is Sybil.

The policeman shrugged. I should be going. You, Sybil, can at least defend yourself when we bother you. There are many who cannot.

I help them, I said.

I'm glad to hear it, the policeman said, and walked off.

I dangled my hands over my knees and enjoyed the scenery. Trees loomed over the sidewalk and in yards. Birds chittered and sang. I'm not a nature lover, but I've learned to appreciate the outdoors. The life of a ghost is a pale imitation. They have to work to experience life on the other side, and then, it's still empty.

They, at least, walk around after they die. Weird things have happened every for millennia, but they don't always result in more invisible people. I've probably met a thousand ghosts by now, the oldest a Native American poltergeist named Irawnni who lived between the glaciers of an Ice Age and swore to protect his descendants, but you'd think there would be more of them.

And then there's the fact that I haven't met a ghost who went down to pthfft.

I spotted an aura rounding the block. It roused me from my thoughts. Hello, stranger! I called to it. I've see several cowboys straight out of the Wild West. Archaic greetings, with the right company, are not at all out of the question.

Hello, Sybil! Amanda said in reply. She continued chattering.

Wait! I yelled. I can't hear you at all!

Amanda started to run, then. She ran through the street, into the sidewalk, up the steps, and stood in front of me. I looked up at her. Anxious to see me?

I looked for him all night. I don't know where he is.

The college is only a few blocks away from here. His friends might.

I don't know who they are.

I