She knew it wouldn’t take long for Zach to get up after she turned the television on. If her presence in his bedroom wasn’t enough to draw him out of sleep, then the sound of the TV would be enough to wake him, no matter how careful she was with the volume. She would never be able to understand how his senses worked, how much stronger they were as a wolf, but Tori had always been mindful of them. When she was alive, she had always adapted her behavior. She never wore perfume that was too strong, if at all. She was always sure not to beat and bang around the house when she got up before him in the morning. Sometimes it made surprising him difficult, but she’d tried to find a way. Now, things were different. Tori wasn’t as in control of herself as she once was. Though she knew now that her appearance in a room brought with it a certain chill, there was only so much that she could do when manipulating objects.
Tori smiled at her husband’s statement about the wiring. Even though that was the most logical explanation, as untrue as it was, Zach did nothing to fix the problem. He didn’t take the television in to be repaired, he didn’t even bother to walk over to turn the television off. She thanked him for that -- silently, of course. It would have been a struggle for her to turn the set back on, and, in the end, it wouldn’t have been worth it for all that it would freak Zach out. Or would it? Since she’d started interacting with her surroundings, thoughts of reaching out to Zach had begun to grow in her mind. The last hurdle, the one thing that stopped her, was wondering whether or not it would harm him or help him. Would he be hurt to know that she had stayed for him, or would it inspire him to move on?
“Good Morning, Sampson,” she said in the same baby voice she had always greeted the dog with. Tori reached out to pet him, but stopped just short of Sampson’s head. She didn’t forget anymore that she couldn’t actually touch him. Her hand ghosted over the dogs head, miming out the morning pets that she used to give him when she was alive. There was no way for her to know whether or not the Shepherd could actually feel her presence, but she hoped that he could. If nothing else, she hoped that he could sense how much she wished that she could pet him.
“Apparently the Fae were involved in the high school,” she called out to Zach as he prepared his morning coffee. “Can you believe it? Actual Faeries! I wonder if any of the stories are true.” This was what she did, these days: Tori talked to Zach like she used to. No, he couldn’t hear her, and yes, it broke her heart when he didn’t respond, but it helped to kept her from going crazy. She bit her lip, then reached out toward the remote. All of her energy went back into focusing on pressing the volume button upward. If she couldn’t grab Zach’s attention with her words, then she could try to make sure that he didn’t miss out on the news.