The Outcast: Michael Grey's Rise to the Top

Chapter Twenty-Two: To be a Ghost

The house had been quiet lately, quieter than usual. Ariana was a little better for the time being. Her voice had become steadier with each day and her steps were less hesitant. She had started eating properly again too, Michael made sure of it. The medication for her condition was easier to come by now, and better. He had not become able to obtain the actual cure for her condition, but he could now afford to buy the kind that didn’t taste like ash and regret in large quantities. He kept the bottles in a lined drawer beneath the stairs, locked tight but always within reach.

William had started watching him again, not out of distrust, but that specific kind of concern only a father could wear without speaking it aloud. Michael had caught him more than once, lingering by the doorway, cigarette unlit between his fingers, eyes flicking from the shadow of his son’s shoulders to the strange silver in his hair. The questions hung unspoken between them like a cracked ceiling fan.

“You’ve ch