**Warning: Suicidal theme**

"You need to die to go back in time," she said.

The insides of my brows rose. A meld of fear and hesitation began to fill me. “Why do I have to die?”

“Your death will give me considerable energy to turn back time.”

I gave her a long look, finally understanding why she had left me to die. "It’s only a matter of time, Sandra," she spoke again, this time softly. "You will be alive again, back in your home. Don’t you want to see your parents?"

Her words had a considerable effect on me. Slowly, I stood up. My unaccustomed manner of sitting made me sway to the side initially. I stabled myself by placing a hand against the wall, then took tentative steps towards the staircase.

One by one, I climbed up the stairs, my fear increasing with each step. It felt as if dread had manifested itself into an army of insects, crawling their way under my skin. By the time I had reached the top, my throat was already dry from fright. The ghost was hovering right beside me throughout my ordeal. "Look at the bright side," she said, "No one gets to experience a fall from this height and come out alive."

It’s not helping, I wanted to say but what escaped was a whimper.

I closed my eyes, hoping to get this done quickly. Taking a deep breath, I launched myself in air.

The winds picked up the second my feet left the floor. I felt like all air had been knocked out of my lungs. Shivers coursed up and down my body, sending every last hair standing on ends. My braid came undone and my hair whipped up, dark auburn curls floating up like a veil of pin-straight tresses in air. My vision grew bleary from the dust flying into my eyes, and the last of what I saw was the ghost peering down at me from the rooftop against the backdrop of the full moon...

༻❁༺                              

My eyes fluttered open.

I sat still on the floor of a familiar room. My eyes widened in the dim light pouring down from the ceiling as I tried to adjust to the darkness. One of the first things that met my gaze was the calendar sticking on a wall across me. One by one, the dates had been checked off in red, the latest mark on 18th August 1977. A huge circle had been drawn on this one, with the words "Super important: Papa's meet" scribbled on it.

It took me a while to realize I was back in my old house from a year ago, way before we had moved out and settled in the capital. 

Relief washed over me. I looked around, nostalgia hitting me as my eyes travelled past the cabinets, the huge oak wood dining table and the small lamps hanging from the ceiling. So, I was in the kitchen…

But why was I sitting on the floor?

My eyes drifted down. I was wearing a ridiculous chiffon skirt and a frilly white shirt. And heels? Heels?! I never wore heels!

"What on earth!" I stood up, staring at my shoes in horror. Suddenly, I knew what this was all about. There were three reasons why my parents had moved to the capital. One, my school. I'd been chosen into an elite academy and they were very keen on having me attend my classes there. Two, my father’s job. He received an offer from a conglomerate to work in his latest archaeological research centre. Three…

I frowned. What was three, again?

Never mind that. This whole fancy ordeal was because we were going to meet that conglomerate. My mother had been invited to the worst party of the century and we had come home happy with how my father had fortunately impressed a wealthy man and earned a spot as his employee.

"Sandra!" a stern voice bellowed, making me stiffen instantly. I dived under the table even before I got the chance to acknowledge that that was my mother hollering. Her pointed stilettos click-clacked their way in against the cold tiles and stopped in front of the table. I covered my mouth, a strange meld of relief and horror beginning to fill my gut. It was nice to see her but there was no way I was going to that nightmare of a party!

"You should," a soft voice echoed next to my ears. I looked to my left and found the ghost sitting right beside me, her back hunched and her arms around her knees. She broke into an eerie smile. "Hello."

"AAAARGH!" I shrieked and jolted up, only to hit the underside of the table. A groan escaped my lips, the commotion obviously giving away my location. Mother bent over and fixed me with an incredulous frown. "Sandra!"

"Yes, yes, I’m going," I murmured and crawled out of there.

I shot the ghost a glare and walked out of the room begrudgingly. Memories of tonight’s eventual disaster were suddenly as fresh as the dress that I had purchased last night. I shut my eyes, heat rising to my cheeks. Okay…okay, let's look at the brighter side. If I sabotage the meeting, I’ll be striking off reason number two, right?

"Right," the ghost chirped, hovering out of the porch along with me.