Free Charlotte by Stuart Keane Page B

mean?
    "Well, dogs can sense ghosts, can't they?"
    I'm not a ghost. I'm in your imagination and I can manifest if you make me. I'm not a spectral being or anything like that; your mind controls me. Think about me enough and I appear, but only you or the person near you can see me.
    "That's really cool."  
    A rapping on the door interrupted proceedings. Sandy bolted up and started yapping, filling the quiet home with a furore of high-pitched barks. Amy stared at the door, not moving. She twiddled the remote between her warm hands and dropped it on the sofa beside her. She silently crept to the porch door and listened. The dog continued to bark. "Shhhh, shut up Sandy."
    The rapping came again, louder this time, making her jump and shriek.
    Who is it?
    "I don’t know. Mum told me never to open the door if I was alone."
    Great mother, leaving her kid alone like this.
    "Shhh. It was kind of our fault this time."
    Yes.
    Amy saw Charlotte smile in her peripheral vision. As always, Charlotte was hazy, ever changing, never the same twice. Amy was used to it now.
    She remembered driving with her father many years ago and gazing out of the windscreen, glancing at the heat in the air, above the road. Shimmering, wavy, almost mirage like. It warped everything beyond it. Amy didn’t know what it was, so she asked. "That's heat distortion, Amy," her father replied. "It's when cold and hot air merge."
    That's how Charlotte appeared to Amy.
    However, the maniacal grin was clear to see, suspended a few feet off the ground, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. A large grin in the air—complete with teeth, spittle, and sneering lips—with nothing but twisted air behind it. Amy would normally see it as the stuff of nightmares. Her initial fear of Charlotte had subsided quickly though. After all, she was her best friend. However, she imagined other kids would be terrified if Charlotte made herself known…but not Amy. She half-smiled at her bravado and tiptoed closer to the door.
    The rapping sounded again. "Amy. Open up, it's Mike."
    Amy felt the revulsion cross her face. "Ew." Sandy continued to bark. "Sandy, shhhh!"
    "I know you're in there, open up!"
    The rapping pounded the door once more.
    More barking. She scooped the dog from the ground and ruffled his chin, calming it down. The barking stopped and Amy groaned. "I have to let him in."
    Silence greeted her once more. In the presence of others, Charlotte would do this now and again. Only Amy could hear her, like a conscience in her head. For now, her imaginary friend said nothing. "Fine," Amy said, and placed her hand on the handle.
    Amy unlatched the porch door and pulled it inwards. Cold, whistling air buffeted her face and cooled her hands, making them sting. Mike was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, shivering. Amy plastered a fake smile on her face. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
    "Hey." A cold plume of steam shot from his mouth. "Your mum sent me. To look after you?"
    "I don’t need looking after. I'm fine here on my own."
    "Tough cookies, Amy. Your mum is paying me to be here, so I'm here."
    Amy hesitated. "Fine. The door's open, you should know that."
    Mike pulled the outer porch door towards him, repeating the action from many times in the past. I should know that , he thought. Maybe the cold was closing down his brain cells. He stepped through the entrance, the mesh door flapping against the frosty wind at his rear. Amy backed into the house, granting him access. "Hurry up, it's cold. Sandy doesn’t like the cold."
    "Alright, chill."
    Mike dropped his soaked boots to the floor and walked into the warm Brunswick house. The front door closed behind him with a thud. Silence filled the air around them. Warm, cosy air circled their bodies. Amy walked into the living room and sat on the footrest of the armchair. Her body was rigid with caution, remembering their previous encounter. "Well, here you are. You know where Dad's office is, why don’t you make yourself at home?"
    Mike