The Ghost Story

Chapter 8

It's snowing lightly outside as Emerson walks down a sidewalk alongside Andy. He hasn't been outside in days but he finally got a decent amount of sleep and decided he should go out. The house isn't too far away and if he has to be honest, he doesn't want to go far from it. There isn't any wind which Emerson finds reliving, it wasn't too cold outside. A now familiar coldness touches his lower arm and pulls him a bit farther from the road. He gazes to his side and meets Andy's dead blue eyes, smiling a bit. Over the weeks together they had grown fond of each other, Andy apparently becoming trusting toward him enough to be his friend instead of an enemy, as Emerson first thought he would be. This doesn't mean he's always nice, ghosts are pretty unpredictable and his emotions could easily change. "You need to watch your step, if you fall off the sidewalk you could get hurt.", Andy states, his head tilting down to the side as it usually does on its broken stand. He's wearing a beanie that Emerson has never seen him wear before, he assumed that maybe Andy couldn't wear other clothes but ghosts could possibly change if they wanted. As if he would ask about it though, it might disturb Andy's good mood with a stupid question. Emerson nods, "I know, sorry. I guess maybe I'm not thinking clearly right now.". His arm is released and the ghost stares away from him, "Well you better start.", Andy demands. This is in no way amusing to him, but it doesn't matter much. There isn't anything he can do to change Andy's behavior. The spirit is pretty restless and angry a lot, and even though he does show sympathy for Emerson he always appears upset with him. Emerson constantly watches what he says to him since he’s already angered the ghost several times before since they met. It always ended with things being thrown and his brothers questioning the incident, as if it wasn’t bad enough they were observant of his behavior already. Andy told him he had overheard his brother discussing finding a doctor for him because of his horrible sleeping habit he’s having, tied in with his loss of appetite and his seemingly depressed mood. They apparently think his anxiety is to blame for this, but it isn’t like he can tell them any different. If he does tell them the truth they’d either laugh it off or send him to a madhouse. Though he isn’t sure they would send him off. They probably wouldn’t, right? All he knew for sure was that they more than likely wouldn’t believe him. What exact proof did he have anyways? “Andy, I’m not a child. I don’t need you to look after me.”, Emerson finally replies, sounding a bit agitated but he isn’t mad about what was said. A car speeds past and Emerson glances around at the snow as the wind picks it up. His arm is seized and he’s lifted up by his wrist, his face now inches from the angered ghosts, anyone nearby who might see this would think it was odd. The ghost took the response badly and looked dead into his eyes as he tilted his head a bit more. There’s a sickly snap as Andy thrusts his head straight up, “Don’t b-tch at me.”, he hisses out. Fear engulfed Emerson as the ghastly voice spoke to him, Andy never got aggressive towards him like that before and it caused him to become afraid of what the ghost could do when angry. “I…ok, I’m sorry. Please let go...you’re scaring me a little.”, Emerson whispers, he’s never felt a fear like he feels now. It’s much more horrifying than the dreams, because this is real. Andy lets him go carefully and steps away, giving Emerson space as his head swivels and his neck cracks to let his head tilt over. “I really hope no one saw that.”, Emerson mumbles, his eyes darting around with nervousness. For a moment the snow filled world seems so quiet and peaceful, the trees are covered in crystal ice and the grass filled with cotton colored snow and frost. There’s a cold touch on his shoulder, despite him wearing a light coat he could still feel it. He gazes up to his left toward Andy, hearing the ghost starting to speak. He says, “There’s something I need you to do for me, Emerson. It’s important, since I know Ashley hasn’t done this. I never got the chance to tell my other friends about this despite how long I knew them.”. There was a sadness in his voice as he spoke, a sincerity as well. Whatever he was about to say was important. Emerson listens attentively, finding that this could gain more trust with the ghost. “I have an older brother and younger brother I never got to introduce to my friends.”, the ghost starts, “My elder brother’s name is Axel, I want you to find him first. You’re not really the person who should be around him to say the least..I'm sure your brothers would agree. It's because he’s a drug addict, and he has severe OCD. I don’t have the courage to see what’s become of him since my death. Over my time of being dead, I realized I left him and my younger brother Alex with no sense of hope. They weren't on my mind when I did what I did. I know where Axel is and I think...maybe he personally needs someone like you in his life to help him since Alex and him don’t talk much as far as I know. He needs someone to talk to, like me. But I do understand if you don't want to talk to him. Go to Alex as well, I’ll give you both their addresses. If they don’t have them, I’ll see if I can figure them out.". The words touched Emerson far into his heart. Despite Andy being so angry with his death and what happened to him, he still has some sort of care for some people he loved when he was alive. Emerson gives a small nod, "I'll do what I can to help, I promise.", He says.