The sun started setting over the cemetery fifteen minutes ago, but David didn’t notice. The grass beneath his feet could have turned into a sinkhole pulling him beneath the earth and he would be none the wiser. He stood before the grave of Nine Mendes, even though her funeral ended hours ago. Even her parents had gone home. David could vaguely remember the sounds of their sobs fading away along with the crunches of their footsteps.


    “Lo siento, I couldn’t keep my promise to you Nine,” said David.


    When they were eight years old, David and Nine would play together in the forest not far from town. She was his first friend. David never enjoyed playing with the other boys. He was too slow to catch up with them, and they would always push him to the ground for a laugh. Everyday his mother would have to bandage his knees. When Nine asked him to play for the first time, he was hesitant. But her form of play was much more theatrical and involved much less running. In the forest they would create the grandest stories and act them out together. She would be a long lost princess of Castile, and David would be her loyal knight. Or perhaps they would be magical fairies on opposite sides of the Fairy war, and only through their love could they bring peace to their kingdoms. David would play any part she had, if only just to see her wide and partially toothed smile or listen to the wild heartiness of her laughter.


    One day, like many days, the sun was close to setting and David knew their parents were expecting them home for dinner. David was getting nervous as he looked up at the sky, knowing his mother would be angry with him if he was late. But he didn’t want to disappoint Nine. He hated seeing her cross.


    “Nine, we should go home soon.”


    “Yes, I know,” she said. She held her hand out to David and as always he helped her to her feet.


    “Wait, I almost forgot! I have something for you.”


    “What is it?” asked David.


    Nine reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out two matching wooden rings. They must have been carved from the same tree with how alike they were.


    “These are special rings,” Nine explained. “If we wear them, it means we’ll get married someday. You know, when we’re older.”


    David could feel his heart start to race. The idea of being married to Nine was like a dream come true. They had gotten married plenty of times in their games, but they were just characters then. This was the real thing. David took both rings from her hands.


    “Hey! You can’t have both!”


    “If we’re going to get married, we have to do it the right way, just like the princes and princesses in our stories.”


    “Oh?”


    David got down on one knee and said, “Nine Mendes, do you promise to marry me one day?”


    “Yes David! I promise.”


    He slipped the wooden ring on her finger in the most gentlemanly way possible. Nine giggled and insisted she do the same for him.


    “Now we can both be together forever,” he said.


    David didn’t know that forever would end when they were thirteen.


    David ran from his house as soon as his mother told him the news, not bothering to close the front door behind him. The Mendes house was not far from the main road. David had to wander through a constant stream of people as he made his way. Wooden carts bumped precariously over the unevenly paved roads. The sounds of the conversations taking place around him meant nothing as his thoughts were only of the message he got from Mrs. Mendes earlier that morning.


    Come as quickly as you can. She’s almost gone.


    Nine’s sickness came suddenly without warning. She had just turned thirteen three weeks prior; she wasn’t supposed to be on death’s door. She’ll pull through, David assured himself. She had to. They were supposed to get married one day.


    At last, he came upon Mendes'' house. He knocked on the door three times, counting seconds until Mr. Mendes opened the door. It was fifty six, by the way.


    “Good, you’re here,” he said. “She’s been asking for you.”


    David nodded and rushed past Mr. Mendes, rushing up the wooden stairs. They creaked and groaned beneath his stomping feet, as if running harder would make him go faster. Mrs. Mendes was in the room with Nine. Her face looked even more thin and gaunt than the last time he saw her. Her mother was holding a cold compress to her forehead to suppress the fever, but she was still shaking between ragged dry coughs.


    “David,” said Nine.


    “I’m here.”


    David took one of her hands in his and hoped she couldn’t feel them shaking.


    Nine’s mother was sobbing in the chair next to him while stroking her little girl’s loose brown curls.


    “She’s fading away. I can feel it.”


    No, she can’t.


    “Listen to me, Nine,” said David, “I’m not going to break our promise. I still have the ring, see?”


    If Nine registered the wooden ring on his finger, she didn’t show it.


    “We’re going to be married one day, just like we promised.”


    And they were married, in a way. Marriage is a legal binding between two people, but even this could be dissolved by death, adultery, or abandonment. The binding between Nine and David would not be so easily broken, if it could even be broken at all.


    David wiped the stray tears from his face. In the time he spent lost in his memories of Nine, the sun had already set. Pale white stars freckled the indigo sky, and the air grew chillier by the second. Not that David noticed. He just stood by his grave, twisting his ring in circles on his finger. Nine’s parents had given him her ring, but he couldn’t bring himself to wear it. It sat safely under his pillow at home. He wondered briefly if he should have put it by her grave with all the flowers. No, he couldn’t risk it getting lost or damaged.


    Hours passed, and David found himself unable to stand. He sank slowly to his knees, not wanting to disturb Nine while she was resting. Eventually he laid fully on the ground facing the stars above. He closed his eyes and twisted his ring around his finger.


    “I promise I’ll never love another,” he said.


    “Do you really mean it?” came a voice in the darkness.


    David’s eyes flew open.


    “Nine?”


    “It’s me David, I’m here,” said Nine.


    “H-how is this possible? You’re dead! We buried you.”


    “Don’t be silly, David. I would never break our promise.”


    “But how are you here? I can’t see you.”


    He could hear her laughing as if she was right beside him. That laugh. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes.


    “Please don’t cry! Don’t you see? Now we can always be together.”


    “Really?”


    “Yes, really! Our promise was so strong that God wants to be together. Even death won’t keep us apart.”


    David looked up to the stars once more and said a silent prayer of thanks.


    “You meant what you said before, right? That you would never love another?”


    “Of course, Nine. I’ll always love you.”


    “Good, because I will never let anyone else have you. No matter what, you will always be mine.”


    David felt a strange presence enter his body. It felt as though he was wading through a fog-covered lake and all of the sudden the fog was absorbed within him. Just as the fog clearing would reveal the stars above, this presence gave him newfound clarity. He was whole. He was complete. She was there.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Ten years later she remained within his body. He managed to hide her from everyone, even his parents, and he refused to get married. For a time it worked as his parents blamed it on his grief, but after ten years his parents were growing weary. In their eyes, he should have been over Nine by now and they were anxious to see him married.


    As always, David ate his breakfast quickly before heading into town to visit Mr. da Costa. In the old days, Mr. da Costa was a Rabbi, but ever since the King called for religious unity in all of Spain the Jewish people were no longer allowed to practice their faith. It was not enough to simply take a Spanish name to assimilate with the catholics. They had to fully convert, becoming New Christians. Still, David wanted to learn Torah like his father before him, so he learned from Mr. da Costa in secret.


    David’s mother stopped him on his way out.


    “We will be visiting one of your father’s friends tonight,” she said. “They have a daughter around your age, so I expect you to look your best.”


    David felt a chill run down his spine and a pinch around his shoulders.


    “They want to marry you off again, don’t they,” Nine said, speaking in his head so that only he could hear her. David swallowed, but did not respond. He gave his mother a nod of acknowledgement and headed to the former Rabbi’s house.


    Mr. da Costa’s was a place of comfort for David ever since Nine died. The familiar scent of Mr. da Costa’s herbal tea lifted his spirits as soon as he walked through the door.


    “It’s good to see you, David,” said Mr. da Costa. “Take a seat.”


    David sat at the table next to him and gladly accepted a cup of tea. Mr. da Costa might show signs of his age normally due to his silver hair and many wrinkles, but when he talked about the Torah his eyes would shine with the brightness of a man decades younger. David listened intently as Mr. da Costa talked about this week’s Torah reading. He may not have had a Torah scroll anymore, but he was able to keep his personal interpretations of the text disguised as a regular book. David did his best to focus, but Nine’s anger from before was affecting him. The room seemed to darken despite the sun shining brightly through the window, and a gnawing feeling clawed at his stomach. What would happen if his parents truly wanted to marry him off to some girl he didn’t even know? Would he be able to hide Nine?


    “You seem distracted, David,” said Mr. da Costa. “Tell me what’s troubling you.”


    “You’re mistaken, Rabbi. I’m fine.” David knew he wasn’t officially a Rabbi anymore, but it felt wrong to call him anything else.


    Mr. da Costa closed his book. “You shouldn’t lie to me, David. What’s wrong?”


    David winced in embarrassment, worried about offending his mentor.


    “I think my parents are trying to find me a wife,” he admitted.


    “But that’s wonderful news! Surely a man your age would want to get married.”


    “Well, I don’t! I will never get married.”


    Mr. da Costa clicked his tongue in dismay and shook his head.


    “I know how much you loved Nine,” he said, “but she has been resting for quite some time. You should let her go. She would want you to find new love, I am certain of it.”


    The pain in David’s stomach seemed to shoot up his body as Nine was writhing within him, from his neck up to his temples. It felt as if his eyes would burn if he stared in one spot long enough.


    “I’ve spoken with your parents, and they seem concerned. It’s not natural to grieve for someone for this long. Even her parents have found their peace. You should do the same.”


    “No! I’m sorry Rabbi, but you wouldn’t understand.”


    “But—”


    “I have to go,” said David. “Good shabbos.”


    David stormed out of the house before Mr. da Costa could say anything and started walking back home. It would be time for his family to go to dinner soon.


    “We need to be careful, Nine,” David whispered. “I can’t let you speak through me or your voice could be recognized.”


    “None of them understand,” said Nine.


    “I know,” said David, careful to make sure no one outside could hear him talking to himself. He reached into his pocket where he still kept the two wooden rings and gave them a squeeze.


    “I’ll never break my promise to you, my love. My heart and my soul will always be yours,” said David.


    This seemed to appease Nine, as the burning feeling disappeared from his body. Eventually, David returned home and prepared to leave with his family. They walked through the streets together. It was a Friday night, and they should have been celebrating the Sabbath. Instead, David had to prepare himself for dinner with people he didn’t even know.


    The house they were going to belonged to the Nunes family, at least, that’s what his mother told him on the way. They had only just moved to their town a few months ago, so David had not seen them much. Not that he saw much of anyone anymore.


    Mrs. Nunes welcomed them inside and David was doing his best to make introductions. All was going fine until she showed up; the oldest daughter of the Nunes family. He could feel Nine squirming with rage within him, but he managed to keep the anger off of his face.


    “This is our daughter Maria,” said Mr. Nunes.


    “It’s a pleasure to meet you, David,” said Maria.


    “Likewise,” said David.


    Maria wore a pale blue dress that imitated the midday sky and had wavy blonde hair that delicately perched upon her shoulders. Her light green eyes seemed to appraise him as he stood before her. He felt himself tense up under her gaze.


    The two families sat together for dinner, Maria taking a seat next to David. As conversations flooded the room, David found himself getting lost in the noise. He could tell Maria was talking to him, but he kept his answers terse and tried to keep her talking, nodding when it seemed appropriate to do so. As the food came out, David noticed it seemed too high quality for a simple visit with a friend. Mr. Nunes poured some wine for his father, and the two mothers seemed terribly joyful as they talked amongst themselves.


    A feeling of unease grew within him like a newly struck match lighting pile of kindling. It was only a matter of time before he started to burn.


    David’s father called for everyone’s attention.


    “It’s been decided,” he said, “that David and Maria will be engaged to be married.”


    There was cheerful celebration throughout the room as all of the parents seemed happy with this arrangement. He turned to Maria, who seemed nervous although even she had a smile on her face.


    It was enough to make both him and Nine snap. The room started to darken again, and David’s hands began to shake.


    “I promised Nine I would marry her!”


    “Sweetheart, that was so long ago,” said his mother. “Don’t you think it’s time to move past this?


    As he began to speak, a sudden pressure began to build in his throat.


    “No! You can’t do this to me!”


    Everyone paused for a moment, staring at him in horror. The voice that came out of David’s mouth was not his. It was much higher in pitch and shrill in delivery.


    “What madness is this?” said Mr. Nunes.


    “Was that…a woman’s voice?” asked Maria.


    David’s legs rose from his chair, despite his brain never telling them to do so.


    “David married me ten years ago,” Nine said with David’s lips. “He is mine, and you,” she pointed at Maria, “will never have him!”


    Maria shrieked and ran to her father. David was compelled to leave the table, and he did so without resistance. Nine was calling him and he knew he had to listen. David’s father grabbed his arm but Nine pulled his arm free and shoved him away. He crashed into the wall as he fell.


    “Don’t you dare touch me,” said Nine.


    Nine took David’s body away from the house and ran to the woods, the same woods where they played their games as children. It was weirdly freeing to relinquish control of his body. With Nine commanding his legs, it was as if he were being carried by his own body. She made him run quickly through the woods, not stopping to rest no matter how heavy his breathing became. David could feel his head spinning, but he lacked the strength to stop her. He simply gave in and hoped she would come to a stopping point eventually.


    By the time he regained any awareness of where he was, he realized he was at Nine’s grave. He could feel the reins of his body being handed back to him as she gave up control. David could not remain standing any longer, and lost consciousness before his body hit the ground.


    Before he knew it, David was shaken awake. Two strong men hoisted David by the arms and dragged him through the former Rabbi’s house. Eventually they came to a small room towards the back that was empty save for a wooden chair. The men pushed him onto it and held him in place as Mr. da Costa entered the room, shutting the door behind him.


    “I’m sorry David,” said Mr. da Costa. “I should have known she was still here afflicting you.”


    “What?”


    “I’ll admit I began to suspect something was amiss, but what your parents told me solidified it. That thing within you is not the Nine we knew. She is a dybbuk, a demon, and she must be expelled from your body at once!”


    “No! Nine is my wife. I promised I would never leave her!”


    If Mr. da Costa heard him, he didn’t acknowledge his words.


    “In the name of the Almighty God, I demand that you leave this young man’s body at once!”


    David’s throat started to burn again. “Never,” Nine said with his voice. “I am bound to him through our love, our eternal promise. I will never give him up!”


    “This is your last warning, Dybbuk,” said da Costa. “I will not hesitate to bring about the power necessary to expel you by force if you refuse to go willingly.”


    “David Delgado is mine. I won’t leave him!”


    The Rabbi sighed, knocking on the door to the room. This called forth the presence of ten men from the village. David watched with horror as his own father stepped into the room, along with Nine’s. When had they planned this? How could they have coordinated a meeting of ten New Christians without the church knowing? Each man carried a shofar in their hand. The Rabbi meant to use the combined power of the men along with the sound of the shofar to expel his beloved Nine once and for all.


    “Nine, my love,” said David, “if they blow the shofar the ruse will be up. Our parents and everyone else could be arrested or exiled.”


    “You promised,” she said.


    “I know, I know! But we have no choice. You must leave before they expose themselves.”


    “No!”


    “We’ll find a way to be together! You said it yourself; our love was strong enough that Even God took notice.”


    “David…”


    “I will not marry Maria Nunes! I’ll come back to you, I promise!”


    “Do you yield, Dybbuk?” said da Costa.


    Nine remained silent for a moment. All eyes in the room were fixed on David, who was now trembling violently. Whether it was from fear or rage was unclear.


    “I yield,” she said at last.


    David could feel her presence leave him all at once. He was confronted once again with the feeling of being alone, just like the day she died all of those years ago.


    “Everyone, we must say the mourner’s kaddish for the departed soul so that she may finally rest.”


    Everyone began to chant in unity, but David lacked the strength to join them. He felt empty without Nine’s presence. With her, it was as if she was a shelter protecting him from a torrential storm, and now that she was gone, he was drenched in endless rain. She was gone all over again, and until he joined her in death, David worried that he would never see her again. David held the rings in his hand and sobbed as his father wrapped his arms around David’s shoulders.


    Goodbye, Nine.