Unseen

-9-

A/N: I'm going to try to do updates twice a week from now on: Mondays and Thursdays. Because you've been really supportive of this story and that makes me excited!

*

I wonder, I wonder... I wonder what does it feel to be alive and to touch a ghost. I imagine it must be creep, but could it be uncomfortable or even painful? I remember that when I was alive I randomly felt like jabs of pain. I didn't know why, they lasted a few seconds and were completely out of the blue. It was like someone had hit me in, for instance, the ribs. But then it was gone I just carried on.

So what if every time I felt like that it was because a ghost touched me?

Nah, it can't be that because I've touched Mum the most and she's never complained or made an exclamation of pain. Yes, she does cry when I do touch her and goes pale and other things, but she doesn't seem to be in physical pain. So I guess that theory must be discarded.

James said he didn't like touching ghosts because it's too uncomfortable, which has led me to the conclusions that he has indeed interacted with others like me and he has actually touched them, which means I'm not fully alone-unless even among ghosts we can't see each other-, and the other conclusion is that touching ghosts for living people is not pleasant. But what exactly does it feel like? Is he exaggerating or did he say that just to reject me in a way that wouldn't make me feel miserable just after we cleared up the problem between us?

I will go with the option he's just exaggerating because that's easier to cope with and gives me the option to continue being creepy and scaring some people when I get bored. That is why I decide to follow Roxy and Adeline.

I'm doing this for mere scientific purposes. I just want to figure out what it really feels and as I can't experience it myself I need to observe and take notes of subjects' reactions to the stimulus to draw a conclusion.

Uuhh, I made myself sound fancy and clever, didn't I?

"Oh, Roxy! My dear," I call when I see her walking a bit ahead, next to Adeline. "Wait for me, friend!" I keep calling, waving my hands and in an overly dramatic tone.

Of course, no one sees this and they don't even react to it. What a pity, they are missing my great acting.

I finally catch up to them and decide to test them so I jump forward and clasp my hands on Roxy's shoulders as I scream, "Boo!" just because it seems fitting.

"AAAAHHHH!" she screams, stumbling forward and breaking the contact. She starts rubbing her hands all over her body like when you think you have a spider on you and you just freak out. She shivers and keeps struggling and looking back, but there's no one she can see.

"What happened?" Adeline asks her, following the direction she's looking at but she can't see me there, wiggling my fingers and smiling sheepishly.

"S-someone touched me," she mumbles. "Grabbed my shoulders."

"There's no one there, Roxy," Adeline tells her and I gasp.

"Rude. I'm standing right here," I say, offended but I receive no comment whatsoever.

"I know! That's why I screamed and I-" she shivers again. "It was so cold and creepy." She looks at Adeline with pleading eyes, as if she could help her and offer her a rational explanation.

So it's cold and creepy. "Like a dead person is touching you maybe?" I ask out loud, pondering. That would make sense, I'm dead after all, but it's not like a corpse is touching her, my body must be rotting somewhere because if I had my real body people would see me. They would freak out because a zombie is walking among them but they would see me and scream when they see me.