redwood

the lady in white

"he really has balls, doesn't he." cleo sighed, sitting on the picnic table with the other ghosts in front of benjamin richter, mr jingles.
"some nerve he has." chet rolled his eyes.
"look, i'm sorry." richter cried.
"sorry? sorry? sorry for what? sorry for burning my beautiful face? sorry for trapping us in this hellhole for eternity?" xavier asked.
"for everything! i'm so sorry! just let me go!" he wallowed.
"he's not sorry. he's just mad he got caught." montana stepped up close to him.
"why are you even here?" ray asked.
"i need to kill ramirez." he sighed.
"ramirez? that douchewad is on death row."
"no. he got out."
"how?" chet thought.
"probably with the power of satan." cleo mocked him jokingly. everyone chuckled.
"i need my revenge. i need to kill him." richter explained.
"don't you know? satan will just bring him back." montana told him. he didn't say anything. instead he started questioning them.
"how are you guys even here? shouldn't you be six feet under?" he asked.
"we're ghosts. duh." xavier said.
"are you really? or am i just crazy?"
"both." cleo answered.
"what's it like?" he asked.
"i always just feel the constant longing and loneliness. but that's how i always felt. for anything. to be dead. alive. anything but this." montana explained
"we can still feel pain. but we can also feel pleasure." she continued. everyone giggled.
"i'm just pissed i'm stuck here." cleo said.
"why? the real world sucks. you don't have to deal with all the shit out there." richter told them.
"you think this is fun? we aren't the only ones. it's bad here. always terrorized and chased by that weirdo lady in white." chet said.
"i've been killed by her twice." ray said.
"me too." chet agreed.
"four for me." cleo said. richter looked like his memories had just been restored after a coma.
"that's my mother." he said.

"what?" xavier said.
"yeah. my little brother was killed here. she went crazy and killed like a bunch of counselors because she blamed them. she tried to kill me, but i overpowered and murdered her here. that's why she haunts you all." he explained.
"great. another thing that's all your fault." cleo rolled her eyes, lighting a cigarette.
"xavier, take him to his mom. maybe he can reason with her." montana ordered. xavier started to protest, but saw montana's face and stopped. he reluctantly led richter out of the clearing, into the woods.

"montana..." cleo started as the girls went to the cabin.
"oh my god, cleo, not this again." montana groaned.
"i hate it here. i wish i was out in the world. i wish i made it out. i wonder if alex ever thinks about me." cleo complained.
"i'd say yes. this is a pretty hard thing to move past, and you guys had a spark. he hasn't forgotten about you. now shut up and help me paint my nails. i'll do yours if you do mine." montana smiled. cleo agreed reluctantly, sitting beside montana on her bed.

cleo was walking back from the guy's cabin when she heard the dreadful sound. one she'd heard way too often lately. the sound of a silver blade passing through a body. the agonizing screams of pain. the thud of a body hitting the ground. the blood dripping. something montana enjoyed, but something cleo wished she could erase. she peered around a tree to see mr. jingles dead body on the dock, a knife inserted in his abdomen. nobody was around, no footprints. it was suicide. the ghost of richter appeared over his own corpse a few seconds later. cleo walked away, haunted by the sight. it made her remember her own death.

she had been standing on the porch of the cabin, standing beside alex. alex ran down the steps to give the police his statement. she didn't even hear him coming. nobody saw. nobody heard. it was quiet. richard ramirez had dragged her around to the back of the girls cabin, clamped his hand over her lips, and gutted her in the grass. she remembered it being black for a couple seconds, then standing over her own lifeless body. she remembered breaking down and crying. then montana was beside her. comforting her. she didn't have time to think about it. it just happened.