Ghost

Die

Julie sits in her bed, holding her pillow with nothing but a blank stare that smothers her soft face. The parasitic torment of the night phantom flows through her veins, eating at her sanity. That pale mask was just a silly representation of a slow murderer in the entertainment industry, but now it is stained in her mind. Real life stands before her. She gives a slow sigh, and lays in her bed gently. Her hands reach for her cell phone, but they return with nothing.

Damn, her phone's missing.

She shakes her head and shuts her eyes to shut the fear out, to feel safe in her mind, because it's probably the safest place one can be. The girl hugs her pillow tightly, slowly beginning to sob.

"Man, you should just rest up." says John.

"I can't, Johnny. This shit is fucking me up bad, dog." says Marcus wiping a tear from his face.

"Do you want to come over and have some drinks?"

"You know, she had me catching feelings, dog." John looks at him, and lowers his head. He pats his shoulder.

"Now she's gone. I can't stop thinking about her. The way she spoke to me, I can still hear her voice in my head." John pats his shoulder again, reassuring him that it's okay. He feels the same pain inside.

"You know what, dog? I'm just going to go the park and run a lap or two around that bitch. I need to cool off." Marcus says, rubbing his head.

"You sure?"

"I'm straight. Drinking ain't going to do nothing but fuck me up." he says. John nods and heads for his car.

"Be careful, man." John says, saluting Marcus. Marcus smirks and heads for his car also.

Sweat drips on the black track as Marcus gently jogs on it, huffing at every step. He listens to music, stepping in sync with the beat of the song. The sky is dark and cloudy. Typical. Ugly yellow lights flicker on the jogging trail every twelve steps. He pauses, bending and holding his knees, gasping for air as the warm sweat slithers to the ground. Suddenly, his phone buzzes. Marcus swipes the sweat from his eyes and pulls out his phone, revealing a text from Julie's phone. Odd. Marcus opens the text message, revealing it to be a screenshot of a text chat between John and Marcus.

"you really cheating on ole' girl with that hoe?"

"yeah dude, why not? julie is so boring. i cant even touch her shoulder without her getting a rowdy."

"true that. stupid white hoes like her aint do shit when a man in the mood for some lovin"

"yeah dog. hey ill talk to you later, angies knocking on my door ;)"

"tear that ass up dog lmao"

"What the fuck?" Marcus says. He taps on the text and begins to type, slowly walking on the trail now. Before he can finish typing, a call from an unknown number pops on his screen. He frowns, and answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello Marcus."

"Uh, who's this?"

"No, Marcus. Who are you? You are a pathetic friend. I don't see how you even dare show sympathy to Julie and still think of her as a stupid girl."

"The fuck? I on't give a fuck about what you have to say. I never treated Julie any differently."

"Oh really? What about those messages?"

"Did you send that shit to Julie? 'Cause she just sent me them messages too."

"How do you know it was Julie?" the voice says ominously. Marcus looks around the lonely park. There's just a cool breeze brushing the trees, tickling the leaves until they float to the ground.