My Past Life Haunts Me!

Why are you Doing This?

         Ashlyn opened her eyes abruptly and looked around with rapid breathing. She turned to look behind her noticing Korn and Marie. She walked a little closer as the couple smiled at each other while Korn ran a hand lightly through Marie's hair.
         Both Marie and Korn looked down at Korn's chest as a red spot formed on his chest. He looked at Marie as the blood started dripping from his mouth. Marie looked at him in distress, placing a hand on his cheek as he gasped for air and the red stain on his shirt grew bigger.
         Ashlyn tried to step forward, but a hand grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her. "No, please let me help. I can," she says, crying.
         Ashlyn sat up in bed abruptly. "KORN" she screamed as tears ran down her cheek. Ashlyn looked around in the dark, breathing heavily. She sniffled as she drew her knees to her chest and touched her forehead. Ashlyn placed her other hand over her chest and grabbed her shirt. "Another dream," she says to herself.

         Ashlyn sat with Team and Pharm in the library, focused on her textbook. She sighed as she leaned over, looking at her book. "That is the millionth time you have sighed since we have been in this library," Team told her as he laid down his pencil.
         Ashlyn looked up from the book. "What," she asked him. Pharm looked up from his book to her and said, "You have been sighing a lot today, is everything ok?"
         Ashlyn looked quietly at them. "I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well," she says to them. 'Liar,' Ashlyn thought, 'Your being haunted by this mysterious couple in your dreams.' Ashlyn looked at them. "I'm fine. Just as I said, I haven't gotten much sleep. I'm still getting used to the time difference, I guess," she said, lying to them.
         Team looked at her and nodded. "If you say so, I get like that before a swim meet," Team tells her.
Pharm placed a hand over hers. "If you ever need someone to talk to, we will be here to listen if you need it," he says to her with concern.
         Ashlyn took a deep breath and nodded. "Thanks, Pharm. Both of you. I was worried when I started school here that I wouldn't make any friends since I was a foreigner here," she says, smiling slightly.
         "Hey, foreigners, give you the best stories to tell," Win says, walking up and sitting next to Ashlyn. She looked to Win, then Team and Pharm.
         "Hia," Team says to him, "We were having a moment here." Win chuckled as he ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"Hey, I'm not stopping you. I came here to study just like everybody else," he says, teasing Team.

Team looked and then pointed to an empty table. "Well, then you can go study over there," Team said, pointing.

Win looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "But I'll be lonely. So, I'll sit with you guys," Win said sadly.

Ashlyn looked at them and smiled softly. Team looked at her. "Oh hey, she smiles," he says, laughing.

Ashlyn looked to Team in confusion, "What is that supposed to mean," She asked him.

         Team chuckled, "Nothing, just you've been in this daze all day."
Ashlyn looked to Team and Pharm, then Win. "I'm fine, really, just haven't been sleeping," she says, putting her hands up to him. "Look, Win, you're welcome to join us, but we can't help you with your coursework since you are a grade above us. I'll be back. I need to go get a book for this paper," she says as she gets up and walks away from the table.
Win looked to Pharm and Team and shrugged as he sat down his backpack.

         As Ashlyn walked down the hallway, she couldn't help but notice a figure standing outside an empty classroom. It was Korn, or rather, a ghostly apparition of him. She rubbed her eyes, thinking it was just her imagination, but when she opened them, he was still there.
         Curiosity getting the best of her, Ashlyn cautiously approached the spirit. As she got closer, Korn turned and walked into the classroom, beckoning her to follow.
         Ashlyn hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was a good idea. But something inside her told her she needed to follow Korn's ghostly figure. So she took a deep breath and entered the classroom.
Inside, she found Korn's ghostly figure standing by the chalkboard, pointing to a phrase scrawled on it in what appeared to be blood. Ashlyn shuddered at the sight and tried to make out the words.
         "Find the key to the truth," she read aloud, her voice barely above a whisper.
Suddenly, the classroom door slammed shut, causing Ashlyn to jump. She turned around, but the door was locked from the outside. She was trapped.
         "What do you want from me?" she asked, turning back to the ghostly figure of Korn.
But he didn't answer. Instead, he pointed to the chalkboard again, urging her to solve the mystery of his death.
         Ashlyn jiggled the door handle again, trying to open it as she started to panic. She then jumped as the door opened up. Ashlyn looked at the figure. "Dean," she says as Dean stands in the doorway with his hand on the doorknob.
"Ashlyn, what are you doing here," he asked her.

         "Um, well," she says, turning around. She looked at the classroom in disbelief as it had returned to normal. She looked at the chalkboard, and even the words had disappeared.

"Ashlyn," Dean asked, concerned.

Ashlyn turned back to Dean quietly. "Are you ok," he asked her.

Ashlyn looked down, "Um yeah, sorry, I um, I thought I saw a ghost in here," she said, running a hand through her hair.

"A ghost," he says to her.

         "Uh yeah. Back home, I was an amateur ghost hunter," Ashlyn said, forcing a smile, hoping he would believe her.

Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? That's quite interesting," he said with a hint of amusement.

Ashlyn nodded, "Yeah, it's a weird hobby, I know," she admitted.

Dean chuckled, "Well, I won't judge. But maybe it's time for you to take a break from ghost hunting for a while," he said with a smile.

Ashlyn smiled back, feeling a sense of relief. "Thanks, Dean," she said.

         Dean nodded, "Anytime. Come on, let's get some lunch," he said, gesturing for her to follow him out of the classroom.
         As they walked down the hallway, Ashlyn couldn't shake off the unease she felt in the classroom. She couldn't explain it, but she knew something terrible would happen.

         Dean leaned over as he sat down his and Ashlyn's lunch tray. "I told you you didn't have to carry my tray," she says softly as she holds to the drinks.

He smiled at her softly. "I don't mind doing it," Dean said as he took the drinks from her hands.

Ashlyn sat down softly, smiling. "Well then, thank you," she says softly as she grabs her juice bottle. She started opening the drink when Dean grabbed the bottle from her hands.

         "Here," he said, opening the drink for her and returning it. Ashlyn looked up at him in shock. He looked and tapped her nose. "Never had a guy do nice things for you," he asked her, smiling.

Ashlyn looked back down at her drink. "Uh, n-no," she says, blushing softly. He smiled again softly.

Dean chuckled lightly. "Well, then you're in for a treat," he said, taking a bite out of the rice. Ashlyn couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at his words.

         She looked at him momentarily, then returned to her meal, picking up the fork. "I'm still getting used to lunches not being a simple sandwich and bag of chips and coming with 3 or 4 side dishes," she says, breaking the silence.
Dean looked at her softly. "You can still get a sandwich and bag of chips, but not from the school cafeteria. You would have to bring your lunch," he said to her.

Ashlyn smiled. "I guess I could do that or just enjoy the culture difference for a moment," she said, sipping her drink. "Do you bring your lunch?"

Dean shook his head. "No, I usually just grab something from the food trucks outside the school. They have some pretty good stuff."

Ashlyn looked at him in shock. "They have food trucks outside of the university," she says in surprise.

Dean chuckled lightly at her. "Have you never noticed them before," he asked her.

Ashlyn shook her head. "I'm usually stuck on the inside of the campus and never really look around except for where I need to go," she says before taking another bite.

Dean looked at her again. "I'll have to take you there the next time we have lunch together," he said, smiling.

Ashlyn nodded, taking another bite of her meal. They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments before Dean spoke up again. "So, aside from being a ghost hunter, what else is there to know about you," he asked, intrigued about her, "I notice sometimes you get this accent to you."

Ashlyn nodded softly, "Well, I come from a state called Tennessee. It's like a southern state. You can sort of say country almost," she explained.

"You mean like cowboys and cowgirls," he asked her.

         Ashlyn laughed softly. "Um, well, you can sort of say something like that, but it's more of like southern Belle as well, like Gone with the Wind," she says to him, "I grew up in the city, but my grandmothers family has farmland, and I spent my summers helping my uncle on his farm. Now, he had a thick country accent and would use country slang all the time. So, with certain words, I guess the accent comes out, or if I'm made mad, then it comes out."

Dean laughed softly; he then looked at her softly. "Do you miss Tennessee," he asked her.

Ashlyn thought for a moment. "Yes and no," she says, "The scenery and some of the smells I miss the most and some of my family, but there are some things I don't miss."

Dean sat for a moment thinking. "So, what makes you miss it the most," he asked.

         "Well, it's like when we went on car rides to go to my uncle since he lived out in the farmland. We would see many trees and farms with horses or cows just standing there in the field, eating or sleeping, or playing. And, when you especially went right as fall was beginning, the trees would always have this perfect orangish yellow tint that relaxed you," she says, smiling and thinking.

         He sat there and stared at her, seeing her face light up softly. He then smiled as he noticed she had a pretty smile.
         Ashlyn looked at him softly and then blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry I was rambling," she says shyly.

Dean straightened up, clearing his throat. "Not at all. You made me want to visit Tennessee sometime," he said, smiling.

Ashlyn looked back up at him in surprise. "Well, I mean, it does have Nashville, which has skyscrapers, apartment complexes, and clubs, but it's not big like New York or LA," she says softly.

He took her hand softly and smiled as he leaned in close. "I still want to see it. You made it sound nice," he says softly.

Ashlyn smiled and looked deep into his eyes. A soft hiccup escaped her lips. He chuckled lightly as she clapped a hand over her mouth as another hiccup escaped.

Dean said as she sipped her drink, "Do you have any plans after school today?"

Ashlyn shook her head. "No, not really. Just planning on going home and doing some homework."