Replaced by Two Ghosts

Chapter 1

Something slightly tickles my cheek. I try to ignore it. It's just a leaf briefly touching my face, while I sit in the garden. It's a relatively nice day. The sun is shining, and the temperature is just about right to wear a jumper outside. Nobody else is here, no noise, just Harry and me. I'm sitting at our small table in front of the big windows. My favourite mug is filled with tea, and I nip on it while I watch Harry plucking at some flowers. It's the perfect day to relax.

All of the sudden, I taste salt. Confused I turn my head, looking up and down, trying to find the source of the taste. Where the sky was blue just seconds ago, dark clouds are taking its position. I feel how it starts to rain. The rain tastes salty. I try to keep myself dry holding up a hand over my head.

"Harry, come back in, looks like a thunderstorm's coming up", I shout into the garden. Harry just turns around and looks at me, motionless.

"Harry, come on!", I try again but he keeps staring at me.

I want to run over to him to grab him and pull him back inside, but I can't get up. I'm stuck to the chair. Now, litres of water are crashing in, slowly making their way up to my mouth. Salty water. I try to fill my lungs with air. I start to panic. Harry is my only help. He has to help me.

"Harryyy!" I try to breathe, try to fight the water. He doesn't move. He just watches me drown.

I can't reach the surface with my mouth anymore. I try to hold my breath and free me from the chair, but it's impossible. The water rises with every second. And I slowly start to lose consciousness.

"Harry...", I whisper one last time into the water, before I give up and the water fills my lungs.

Choking, I wake up. My heart is racing and my breath going fast. What kind of non-sense was that?! I cough a few times. There's still the salty taste in my mouth. I raise my hand and run my finger over my cheek. I've been crying, I don't know for how long. Apparently long enough to wet my pillow to an uncomfortable extend as I notice now. I turn my head to the side to look at the clock. 5:30 am. It's way too early. With a sigh I turn back around and close my eyes again, slowly drifting off. I'm so tired...

I stare into his green eyes. His look is empty. "Harry", I hear my own voice. It's shaking slightly. He doesn't react. There's not a single expression on his face. "Harry...", a sob escapes my mouth.

Immediately, I open my eyes again. For fucks sake, now I can't even fall asleep without being confronted with the fact that he doesn't love me anymore. I just want to forget him, pretend like he never existed. I try to go to sleep a couple more times but every time I close my eyes, I see the empty look on his face. Frustrated I push the duvet aside and sit up. At least I'll have the whole day to enjoy with my family. I couldn't do that in a long time, I think to myself. And I can get ready and unpack my stuff before everyone else wakes up. I make my way over to the bag that's sitting between my desk and my closet and start looking for my toothbrush. I look in the main compartment with no sight of what I'm looking for. It doesn't seem to be where I thought I put it yesterday. No wonder, I packed in such a hurry. I couldn't wait to leave the house.

After our fight I threw everything randomly into bags and boxes. I was sure I'd forget a lot of things, but I didn't care. And Harry didn't seem to care that I was going. He just stayed in the kitchen until I had brought everything downstairs and into the trunk of my car. For a moment I figured if I should say something. Something like 'Bye Harry' or 'I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll see you', but I wasn't sure if I'd come back. Not after everything that had happened. He didn't say anything either when I closed the front door.