Ghost Story

(POV - COCKTEASE) (DAYS AGO)

PAIN!

BANG!

HEAD!

BLOOD!

RED!

GONE!

ALL IS LOST!

LIFE HAS TAKEN MINE!

IS GOD A CRUEL MISTRESS?!

I FOUND MYSELF CHANGING. MY LIFE WAS NO LONGER WHAT IT ONCE WAS. GONE WAS THE FURY, THE SCORN; GONE WAS THE PAIN, THE FEAR.

I FELT A COMFORTING WARMTH TAKING OVER EVERY INCH OF MY NOW INTRICATELY TORN APART BODY, IF YOU COULD EVEN CALL IT THAT ANYMORE. I WAS HIGHER, ASCENDED.

I DO NOT KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING. BUT I SAW MY LIFE BEGIN TO GO BEFORE MY EYES. NOT A FLASH, LIKE THEY SAY. THIS WAS A TRICKLE, A STEADY STREAM OF MY TIME ALIVE. I WAS GONE… I HAD ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD. I SAW MEMORIES THAT I HAD LOST. MY CHILDHOOD, THE WONDERS I HAD ONCE KNOWN. THE **** MY FATHER INFLICTED. MY LIFE IN THE MILITARY. THE WAY I HAD BEEN TREATED MY ENTIRE LIFE, ALL RELIVED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT WITH THE KNOWING THAT IT WAS OVER. I WOULD NEVER EARN THE RESPECT I DESERVED. I WAS DEAD.

I WAS CONTENT WITH THIS. I DID NOT NEED TO LIVE ANY FURTHER. MY HATRED WAS NOT UNFOUNDED, BUT AS I SAW MYSELF HURT OTHERS LIKE I HAD BEEN HURT, I REALIZED I HAD JUST CONTINUED A CYCLE OF **** THAT HAD DESTROYED ME.

BEFORE I COULD FINISH, I SAW HIS FACE. THE ONE MAN I HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO HURT. I SAW MYSELF SHOOT HIM… AND NOTHING HAPPEN. AS THOUGH I HAD MISSED. BUT I HAD NOT MISSED. HE… HE… HE PLAYED ME FOR A FOOL.

THAT BROKE ME.

I COULD NOT ASCEND LIKE THIS. NOT IN THIS CONDITION. I NEEDED TO KILL THIS MAN.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS, THEY CALL IT. THEN I CAN DIE. ONCE HE IS DEAD.

(POV - VANESSA) (HOURS AGO)

Conditioning was normal at this point. Same as someone works a job, I prepare myself against the rest of the world. Twelve hour shifts are less than ideal, but I want to prepare as quickly as possible. I’d already been here much longer than I’d anticipated, but nothing can truly prepare you for the life after you die.

I’d had the advantage of the environment I’d grown up in. My people had studied **** for centuries, and understood the intricacies and complications that come with it. Studying the living, then the dying, then the dead. Each step has differences; obvious and subtle, material and spiritual, etc. There was only so much you could learn without actually dying, though.

In reality, I was the first to take the next step. The only one. Theoretically, I should be the only one to ever take the step.

I won’t go into the details about the ritual right now, but just understand that it took many generations to prepare for my journey. I was born for this task. I hope you've begun to understand why I push myself as hard as I do from here on out.

The first surprise was the fog. I’d talked to some friendlier spirits I could find; it seems that the smog is usually from recent deaths. So-

(POV - MICHAEL) (NOW)

“Hey, uh, not to interrupt your story… but didn’t you see Lovus has a lot of fog?” I asked, remembering what she’d mentioned before.

Vanessa nodded. “Yeah, it’s crazy here. Like, the world has the purple haze everywhere because it never truly dies, right? But here… it’s overwhelming. Lovus must have deep roots set in ****, and then a blanket of corpses constantly being wrapped over itself.”

“Uh… what?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

Vanessa laughed. “I think if I try and explain everything right now, you’ll just end up more confused. Ask me about it again when I’m not tired.”

“Okay, then…”

“As I was saying-“

(POV - VANESSA) (HOURS AGO)

-that’s why I’ve been conditioning myself through exposure therapy. I delve a little bit into the darkness and hang out until it’s too much. Then I head back to softer areas. It’s been the cycle I’ve had for a while now, and it’s been working. I used to only be able to spend a few minutes inside areas that barely had a deep tint; now I can spend a few hours in pretty dark parts.

I usually spend that time reading. Interestingly, the library is a soft spot; not much **** besides children’s boredom, I guess. A lot of spirits hang out in the library, and they’ve obviously had all the time in the world to catch up on reading. They suggest books, and I’ve been reading them in the smog.

(POV - MICHAEL) (NOW)

“Wait, okay, how does that work? Is it books from, like, now? Or are they books from the past? How much does the present change the spirit world? How-“

Vanessa huffed. “I’m not going to tell the story if you keep interrupting! It’s all very complicated.”

“Sorry.”

She sighed before continuing.

(POV - VANESSA) (HOURS AGO)

I was reading Nightbitch. As-

(POV - MICHAEL) (NOW)

“Hey, isn’t that the new movie with Amy Adams?” I asked. “I heard it was….”

Vanessa looked at me, unamused.

“Never mind.”

(POV - VANESSA) (HOURS AGO)

-I was reading, I heard a step. I turned around and saw a giant of a man wandering aimlessly. Obviously a new spirit that didn’t continue to the next life, for whether reason. I approached him to tell him about the library, right? I wanted to see if the nice spirits could maybe help him out.

I probably shouldn’t have approached him.

-

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