Shadow of a Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

out of my mouth.
    “ You’re Sophia Briggs.
You’re the daughter of Captain Benjamin Briggs. You were on board
the Mary Celeste .”

CHAPTER 4

    I dreamed all night. Only they weren’t happy dreams with fluffy
bunnies and hot fudge sundaes. At first the dreams were normal, but
then people would mysteriously vanish into thin air or turn into
creatures I’d never seen before. Other times I dreamed of ships
being tossed around on towering waves while the passengers on deck
screamed and prayed, pleading for their lives. I’d left Sophia’s
side in shock the day before. I’m not sure if I even said goodbye
to her. I hoped to wake up laughing about the bizarre ghost
incident and find that it was just something my imagination had
concocted, but everything still felt incredibly real.
    I sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes
while I yawned. Reluctantly, I swung my legs over the side of my
bed and slid my feet into fuzzy slippers. Grabbing my bathrobe off
its hook on my door, I trudged across the hall to the bathroom
where I splashed cold water on my face.
    I entered the kitchen to find Dad
studying his newspaper again. It was kind of our morning ritual.
Dad was so proper that even at home he rarely wore anything but a
suit and he always sat perfectly erect in his chair. I, on the
other hand, plopped down on a chair at the table and pulled my
knees up into my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. My
posture—or lack thereof—was a constant worry of his.
    Dad looked up from his paper with
concern. “Are you feeling okay? You don’t look so good this
morning.”
    “ Thanks, Dad. I love you,
too,” I said sarcastically. “I’m fine. I didn’t sleep very well. I
kept having weird dreams.”
    “ I thought I heard you cry
out a couple of times, but when I peeked into your room you were
sound asleep.”
    “ Sorry. I didn’t mean to
keep you up.”
    “ Don’t worry about it,
honey. I feel bad that I’ve been so busy lately. Try to get some
more sleep while I’m gone today. I should be able to make it home
by early evening and maybe we can go to dinner
together.”
    “ I’d like that.” I gave him
the best smile I could get out at that time of the morning. It
wasn’t big.
    He left for work and I shuffled back
upstairs to get dressed. My eyes were so bloodshot that I figured
it hopeless to even attempt makeup. Instead, I grabbed the book I’d
started reading the day before, pulled the down comforter off my
bed, and trudged downstairs to the living room where I promptly
curled up on the couch.
    Much of my time not in
school or doing homework is spent just like that—huddled under a
warm blanket with a book. Apparently seeing me like that annoys my
dad because he constantly tells me I need to get up and move around
more. These comments are usually accompanied by a lecture on how
getting my blood circulating would warm me up and blah, blah, blah
. . . Does he expect me to run laps around
the house or something?
    I must have dozed off at some point
because I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes to
find a smiling Sophia peering back at me. I jumped. And then I
screamed.
    “ How did you get in here?” I
yelled. The words were out of my mouth before I realized how dumb
they sounded.
    “ Sorry. I didn’t mean to
scare you. I thought I was done having to pretend I was normal
around you. Next time I’ll knock on the door. I
promise.”
    I sat up, but kept the comforter
wrapped around me. “I guess yesterday wasn’t all a bad dream,
huh?”
    “ Nope.”
    “ Fine.” I sighed
reluctantly. “Where do we start? What ‘unfinished business’ do I
need to help you with?”
    “ I have no idea. That’s why
I need you ,
remember? I’ve spent years trying to answer that
question.”
    “ It’s got to have something
to do with the boat you were on when you died, doesn’t
it?”
    “ I didn’t die on the Mary Celeste . I was two
when I sailed with my parents for Italy all those years ago, but I
died when I