Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 79: Palm Of Your Hands

Chapter 79: Palm Of Your Hands

Ghost chuckled at the tiny creature’s statement. She seemed to be so concerned about keeping things in a balance when she was pure chaos.

"What is your name?" he asked, his back pressed against the door. Locking the two of them in a bedroom was not the smartest thing he had ever done. The draw he had to her was not just physical... it was all-consuming.

He had never felt anything like it before. It wasn’t that he wanted her to fall at his feet and do whatever it was that he wanted... he wanted to be the one at her feet. To stand by her side in a way that he never thought was in his nature.

He wanted to ease her burdens, to tear apart her enemies, and make her smile.

"My name?" asked the enchanting creature, raising a single eyebrow. She looked so young that it tore Etienne apart. Every time she shifted, he could see her collar bones protruding from her skin, and he was sure that her ribs and hips would be in that same state.

But her milky white eyes spoke volumes about the life she had lived before. She was an old soul, and he wanted to shield her from everything.

"Please," nodded Etienne. "My mother named me Etienne Marchand, but the rest here call me Ghost. In fact, I don’t know a single person who calls me by my given name."

"Etienne," the woman repeated, moving her mouth as if she was tasting the word. "I like it. My mother called me Hagatha Lucinda LaRue, but I go by Hattie."

Ghost nodded his head, clenching his fists so that he didn’t give in to the need to reach out and touch her. He knew the second he gave into that temptation, he was done for.

"What is your wish?" asked Hattie, cocking her head to the side.

Dipping his chin, Ghost couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t the first time he had heard of her, The Swamp Witch. A few women had whispered about her, talking about a tiny girl from the swamps who granted wishes.

But they stressed that no wishes were ever free... but Hattie never once mentioned a price.

He knew he could tell her exactly what he was willing to sacrifice for his wishes, but...

But he wanted to be tied to her. Tied to her so tightly that even if she disappeared one day, he would still be by her side.

"I wish for someone to come back from the dead," started Ghost before taking a deep breath. "I want them to be returned completely healthy, in the state that they were in the prime of their life, and I don’t want them to be a zombie or any other creature other than a human."

"That’s oddly specific," chuckled the girl. "But it can be done."

"The man is Jacques Thibodeaux; he raised me after my mother died. It’s thanks to him that I am who I am. He died trying to save me before Dante took me under his wing," Ghost explained quickly, wanting to be completely transparent.

Hattie nodded her head without saying anything, as if she was waiting for something. The silence continued to stretch out since Ghost refused to name what he was willing to sacrifice for the wish.

"Huh," grunted a voice in his head. "You might be useful."

Ghost stiffened. Since he had woken up the day after the EMP had hit Country M and the apocalypse came, he had heard voices in his head. He could hear conversations, people’s inner thoughts, and their desires as if he were in their heads.

That was how he learned about the powers and understood he was a spirit user. Dante was a treasure trove of information about the end of days, and Ghost was taking full advantage.

With unlimited access to information at his fingertips, he could ignore the pounding of his head as it became more and more overloaded. Blood had poured out of his nose and ears more times than he could count in the past two weeks, but it was worth it.

Even if he died as a result, it was worth it. All those secrets were like candy to him, making him want and need more.

But the second he walked into Tank’s apartment, ready to bring him to trial, it all stopped. He couldn’t hear the voices; his head didn’t pound... everything was blessedly silent.

The only difference was the little girl being fed by Tank as if she were the most important thing in the world. It finally made sense why Tank was willing to point a gun at Dante. If he had been Tank, he would have done the same thing.

Well, almost. He would have pulled the trigger without a second thought.

But this voice was different from theirs...

’I only serve one,’ he grunted in reply, his eyes never leaving Hattie. ’Find someone else.’

"You don’t understand..." chuckled the voice. "You let me live inside you, and I promise you’ll never have to leave her again."

Ghost paused. The deal seemed to be too good to be true, and he wasn’t about to agree to anything without knowing the finer points.

Clenching his teeth, Ghost fought against the temptation. Nothing in life was ever free, and this seemed to be a trap.

There was a long sigh as if the voice inside his head was getting frustrated at his resistance. "What do you need to know to agree to everything? Remember, the Queen is going to raise the dead for you. You need to offer something just as important. Your life would do well."

’She has Tank, she doesn’t need me.’ It would kill Ghost to have to watch the two fall in love and be together while he was forced to stay in the shadows. It wasn’t fair that Tank got to her first. But maybe... if Tank was dead...

"Nope, don’t even go there. Tank is hers; if anyone touches him, they will die a painful death. But she is special. She needs more than Tank will ever be able to give her by himself. Now is the time to act. The Sins aren’t around her at the moment, so you don’t need to fight them to be seen. Sign a contract with her, take me in, and everything you want will be in the palm of your hands."