Chapter 3:

The Ghost's Austerity III - FINAL

ONE SHOT


[Disappearance / Don't Go Left]

Being the ghost that I am, I have nowhere I can go. I can't go home. Sure home is an option, but what's the use if my family can't see me? Going to a friend's house is also pointless. Besides, I really don't have many friends to choose from. I don't even know where they live either. Without a home what else can I do?

I no longer had a place where I could call home, but I still had a place where I felt a ghost like me was welcome.

School. Particularly after hours.

Whenever I was done roaming around the town. I would go back to school at the end of the day. I waited until I knew for sure that absolutely no one would be present once I returned to the premises, not that it mattered anyway. I just felt more comfortable being alone rather than slipping into a crowd of kids my age, knowing I wouldn't be seen.

It was raining this evening which made want to get to the school even sooner. Everything just phases right through me unless I touch it directly, so the weather shouldn't bother me. But I guess that's me still clinging on to life. I didn't come here in the daytime often, but I knew which classroom Hannah's homeroom was held. That is where I like to sit and stare outside the window once the building is clear and nightfall approaches.

The droplets of rain hitting against the windows created a calming effect for me. If it weren't for the rain there would be silence, a silence that was so empty it was unsettling. I was fine with that.

Here, I felt at peace. I was content with the world.

It's always hard living as a ghost. At this point, I didn't want anything anymore. I didn't want my old life back or wish I had ascended. I just wanted comfort. The serenity of this moment helped me accept that the afterlife was my new reality.

Later that night, I ended up back where I started. Once again I found myself sitting in this police station. I had no reason to be here, and yet I had to wonder why I came back? Exactly how many times have I been here for that matter? I wonder if I was here, inside this police station before I died? Maybe that's why I always end up here. I remember how I died, but the events leading up to my death are very fuzzy. I did my best not to think about it too much. I prefer not to speak about it either.

I sat in the chair next to the sheriff's office for quite a while until I caught the glimpse of an otherworldly shadow peeking from the next corridor. I had never seen anything like that before. What if it was another ghost? Despite its eerie appearance, I wasn't necessarily frightened by it.

Having an excuse to rise from my seat, I followed the shadow. I took a left turn and caught up with the shadow right away. It continued on as it took another turn. This time it went right. I followed it further in the hallway. If the shadow keeps going like this, it'll eventually reach the end of the line. In other words, a dead end. I kept going until I reached a fork in the road.

Great. I lost him.

I was ready to immediately resign from this quest, but I heard a raspy whisper echo throughout the hall.

"Left.... Go left..."

Left?

I groaned.

Left is the dead end. Not only that but for some reason, a strange sensation swept over me, like it was trying to tell me that going left was somehow the wrong choice. Maybe this thing is trying to pull a prank one on me, leading me to a dead end like this. What if it just wants to talk? Since the shadow already has my attention, I'll humor it just this once.

I carried on, turning left as the shadow instructed.

Nothing could prepare me for what I would see next. I had reached a dead end just like I knew I would. More importantly, I reached more than just a dead end.

I reached the end.

Thrown for a loop, I was met with a swarm of darkness. I could try to run and escape, but that would be futile wouldn't it?

I was frozen, yes.

But I wasn't afraid.

No...

There's a reason why this darkness has appeared in front of a ghost. Just one look and I knew.

It's time for me to leave this Earth.

I have nothing. I have no one. I have little to no more attachments to this plane of existence. That's why I let it capture me so willingly. The darkness swept throughout the rest of the building, only taking me in its wake.

Time to go to another world.

I'm ready now.

Ana Fowl
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