Bonded

Chapter Eleven

(Seth’s POV, telling his story)

Dying was not as weird as I thought it would be.

It was much weirder.

The moment I saw my body down there, I knew I was dead, but I refused to accept it. I went to the surface, seeing all of the survivors in their life jackets, but none of them could see me. It wasn’t until I saw my body floating a few yards away that I finally accepted I had drowned.

Help came soon enough, and I hitched a ride on one of the rescue boats. When we made it to dry land, I tried to contact my family, but I couldn’t. I was just a ghost. Actually, now that I think about it, Christy did notice me. But I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to get away from…. From it all. I know, it sounds really cliché, but you can’t understand how I felt.

Somehow, I made my way all the way up to Ohio. I stayed there for a long time, mostly because there were other ghosts there. A girl called Nina and a boy called Kent. They were cool enough. We would hang out around this little gas station every day, talking about our pasts, and sometimes we would scare the shit out of a customer by driving their car away.

It was fun while it lasted, but eventually I had to leave. There was this uneasiness inside me that told me I had to move on. I guess I’ve always been a wanderer. (Shut up Christy, this is my story, text your damn boyfriend later and listen.)

I traveled to Michigan, and automatically liked it. At the same time it unnerved me, surrounded by water and all, but I got over that. One night I was in a city somewhere when I saw a teenage guy, go into an alley. I followed him. There was this look in his eyes that almost screamed, ‘I’m going to find you. I won’t wimp out this time’. Then I saw it, what he was looking for.

There were two ghosts at the end of the alley, in an almost human form like me, and a girl. The girl was sitting on a trashcan talking to them, and they would occasionally laugh at her jokes. When they saw the boy though they stopped laughing. The girl looked up, terrified, and was about to call out to him when the blonde ghost rushed at him and killed him, by possession. The teen fell to the ground, after gouging his own eyes out and suffocating himself, the blonde ghost helping after the guy passed out and couldn’t continue.

I’d never seen anything like it before. Pointless murder, I mean. The kid hadn’t done anything to deserve death, especially this gruesome. Yet the blonde ghost laughed at his corpse like it was nothing, and so did the brunette one, somehow finding it fucking hilarious. The girl was still sitting on her trashcan, stock-still. Her face told me this wasn’t the first time it had happened, but the sight of a mutilated body never lost its horror.

When they saw me, their first reaction wasn’t hostility, but interest.

“Hey kid. What are you doing here?” This was the brunette.

“I uh…. I’m just passing through.”

“Nah man, come over and sit with us.” This was the blonde. I hesitated, but I hated to admit that I was dying (no pun intended) for company, any kind. It had been months since I’d even used my voice. So I floated over to them and took a spot on the ground. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Seth.”

“Well Seth, I’m Joey. Shithead over there is Derek, and this beautiful girl is Cassandra.” I swear I saw Cassandra flinch from the compliment.

“Why did you kill that boy?” Ouch, I could see that I’d screwed up by questioning them. Derek shot me a glare and the girl gasped. Joey only laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

“I was bored.”

“But-”

“Look, souls like us gotta have a little fun sometimes, and it’s hard to when nobody wants to talk to you. Anybody who comes in here other than Derek and me will die. Think of it as a little...ongoing game, to keep us entertained. End of story.”

I spent about a week with the people, getting to know them. They were terrible company at first, and never stopped being terrible company, but they wouldn’t let me leave. Every time I tried, Joey would grab my arm and pull me towards him, and there was no escaping his iron grip. His mind was the same, pulling me back whenever I strayed too far from him or Derek, the brunette. “Seth,” he would say. “Why would you leave us? Aren’t we your friends? You’re safe here. We can see you, unlike those loser humans you want to go back to.” Despite his silken tone, there was anger in his hazel eyes.

Eventually they killed Cassandra. I screamed for them to stop, but they killed her anyways, and it was worse than what they did to the boy I followed to the alley.

They still wouldn’t let me leave.

Eventually they got a new girl, Kate. She was a scrawny thing from the street with chopped off black hair and big doe eyes. She despised the two, but I think she found comfort in me. When they hit her, which was often, she would come crying to me, and I’d solidify myself enough to hold her.

They killed her too, in the end.

One day I found a way out. It was morning, and Derek was gone. Joey and I were talking once again about our pasts, and somehow his tattoos came up. There was a dragon on his left arm, and words scrawled on his right. I asked what the words meant.

“It’s something I got for my girlfriend, before I dumped her ass. Something in Chinese about soul mates or something.”

He went on, looking at his arm while talking. “It’s some poetic shit though.”

I stayed silent. Suddenly, a scream cut through the air and Joey snapped to attention before a look of dread overcame him. “Derek…..,” he whispered. “Derek!” As he rocketed out of the alley, so did I, though I went in the other direction. I kept going until I was on the other side of the town, and even the ghostly lack of breath didn’t apply to me as I panted from exertion.

I still don’t know what happened to Derek, but it must have been bad. I haven’t seen either of them since that morning, and I’m glad. They were the most rotten souls I’ve ever met. Diana… remember when you asked me if there were ghosts uptown? Yeah, that was close to where those two stayed. I think that alley was only a few blocks away. Anyways, you probably want to know how I came into your house huh? Haha. Funny story really.

I was wandering through the woods. I loved the woods. It was so peaceful there, with the birds singing and the sun leaking through the trees. It was awesome, even though a squirrel saw me and tried to attack me. Who knew squirrels could see ghosts? Anyways, one day you came out into the woods and climbed the tree I was hanging out in. I didn’t want to do anything, because…. I don’t know. Sitting on the branch below me, you looked peaceful and happy with your sketchbook, the way you drew the trees looked so carefree and relaxed. I just didn’t want to disturb you.

When the sun started to go down, you jumped right off the branch. I would NEVER have jumped from that high while I was living, but it didn’t even faze you. You landed on your feet and ran towards the house, I think your mom called you. I guess I followed you, because I felt a connection. I guess it was the beginning of the bond, because when I went to leave, I couldn’t. There was this pull at my chest, and the farther away I went from you the more it started to actually hurt.

So I stayed. For weeks, months, I stayed next to you every day. At first it was nice enough, but eventually I got lonely. I guess I wanted you to notice me, since I already knew so much about you. I got frustrated and took my anger out on your bed, but that lasted about three days, towards the end. I got careless in hiding myself, and that’s when you kept seeing me.

Ever since I met you, Diana, I’ve been different. I’ve felt… more human than I have in years.

I just hope Christy can get rid of this bond so we don’t have to stick together forever.

For your sake, not mine. Because to be honest, I wouldn’t mind staying with you. However, nobody should be forced to carry somebody else's problems.