The Ghost of You is Close to Me \\ Joshler

//

Josh laid in bed that night, his fingers ghosting over his neck, the feeling of Death's fingers still lingering on his skin. He was slightly conflicted, wondering constantly if Death had intention of killing him then or if it was more innocent than that, an act of dominance. The bruises forming on Josh's chest and thigh begged to differ though. He knew that by tomorrow they would be pretty shades of blue and green, fairly big in size too.

He rolled over in bed and looked at the clock, groaning quietly that he'd already spent most of the night staring at his ceiling and worrying over the events of that night.

Josh didn't sleep well for the next three days.

~~~

Tyler had heard a couple of stories being passed around through school about Death again, about how close a student had come to Death. Tyler only snorted as he heard that one.

He showed up at the cemetery after that, keeping watch over everything the way he used to, hopping on graves or sitting on top of the statue. It was cold and he usually went home those nights feeling like an ice cube but the need to protect everything was still forefront in his mind.

~~~

A week later there was a test in one of Tyler's classes.

"I want you all to get up and switch seats, I've noticed a couple of papers have been starting to look the same in our current arrangements," the teacher announced, eyeing a couple kids who were notorious for cheating on tests. Tyler stayed in his seat and barely nodded as another boy came and sat down by him. They didn't speak, sitting as far from each other as possible without looking too odd.

The test wasn't super easy and Tyler struggled a bit, only growing more frustrated when the person sitting next to him flipped his paper over in a sign that he was done. Tyler looked over at him with his eyebrows scrunched together in scrutiny, wondering how this guy could actually be done already.

Tyler went back to his test, focusing as best he could on the problems that were in front of him. His attention was divided though when the person next to him began to doodle. Tyler watched for a moment, wishing that this guy wouldn't be so cocky about finishing early. His doodle though began to form into something that Tyler recognized. It was a basic figure, the guy lacking in drawing talent. It started with a straight line, three horizontal ones in the middle and a head that took the form of what someone might call a skull.

It dawned on Tyler that this guy was drawing a skeleton. It didn't quite register all at once that it was meant to be Tyler, it had been a week since the incident, but then Tyler remembered.

The face of the person next to him looked somewhat familiar, if the eyes were wider and if panic was on the face.

The person next to Tyler was the one that Tyler had clambered on top of and wrapped fingers around his throat.

He felt his anxiety bubble up and needed desperately to get out of the room, away from this guy. Tyler stood up from his desk and made his way to the door, a couple students looking his way.

"If you leave, Mr. Joseph, your test will be forfeited," the teacher called after him in a stern voice, Tyler didn't quite notice though. His hands were shaking and he felt sick, he felt that he would be caught then and there.

In the rational part of Tyler's head he knew that he was covered, that his face was concealed and he couldn't be recognized, but his anxiety was a different story. He felt it so deep in his core that everyone would know now, that they would all laugh and point and drive him back to his roof with the pills. It scared him more than he cared to admit.

He ended up leaving the rest of his classes and going home, trying his hardest the whole time to get his breathing in control and to calm down.

That night Tyler wasn't sure why he went to the cemetery after his panic attack but he did anyway. He knew that people would be curious or mischievous, wanting to see if they could trick Death. Tyler sat up on the statue, too nervous to start hopping around, wanting to make sure that he wasn't caught off guard.