Disturbia ♦︎ Ghorror AU [✔️]

9: My Ghost, Where'd You Go? (Whoops I Made A Halsey Reference)

When Ricky awoke the next morning, it was obvious to him that whatever hopes he had the night before were disregarded. Ghost was still nowhere to be found. Ricky called out to him around the house a handful of times, and got absolutely no response. The air was still at its normal temperature. The sky even seemed to be a bit brighter than it had been the day before.

For some odd reason, Ricky began to worry about the ghastly boy. He had mentioned several times before that he was stuck here, in this run-down neighborhood. And he also included the fact that he was bored of everybody else in this town. Where the hell would he have gone to?

Ricky figured that he would've been informed by now if somebody else moved here, due to the fact that it's such a rare occurrence, and that word traveled fast due to the low population, so Ghost replacing him or something was ruled out. He knew that Ghost wouldn't bother trying to haunt his friends, either, considering they apparently knew how to get rid of him.

As that thought flashed through Ricky's mind, he began to flood with concern that his new friends had banished Ghost somehow. But after thinking on it a bit more, Ricky decided that his friends wouldn't get rid of Ghost unless they absolutely needed to. Which they didn't, really. Not yet, anyway. The worst thing he'd done so far was watch Ricky sleep, which Ricky could shrug off, considering a paranormal being could do much worse than simply stalk him. It wasn't something that required Ghost to be banished or anything. He wasn't doing any real harm by it.

Ricky shook his head, deciding to stop worrying about it so much. Ghost was, well, a ghost. It would be pretty difficult for him to get into any grave danger. Maybe he was just trying to play some sort of trick on Ricky, and he would be waiting for him at Balz's shop, or in his car or something.

But, he wasn't in Ricky's car. So, Ricky crossed his fingers that Ghost would be waiting for him at work. That he was just worrying for nothing.

But, he wasn't in The Strange and Unusual either. The air still wasn't chilly, and he was nowhere in sight. Not even in the stockroom.

"What're you looking for, Rick?" Balz inquired, seeing Ricky's head peek through the door of the stockroom.

"Ghost," Ricky responded quickly.

"He's still not around?" Balz asked.

"Nope," Ricky said, shaking his head. "He wasn't even near my house this morning. Or last night. I haven't seen him around since yesterday morning."

"Really?" Balz smiled.

"Yeah," Ricky exhaled.

"Rick, that's great," Balz responded, a grin still spread across his face. "Now you don't have to worry about his behavior as much. And neither do the rest of us."

"I mean, I guess you're right," Ricky sighed.

"Come on, aren't you glad he's gone? At least for now?" Balz questioned.

"On one hand, yeah, I am," Ricky started. "I just... I can't help but be kind of concerned for him. Who knows what's going on with him?"

"Ricky, he's a ghost," Balz said. "I think he can take care of himself just fine. And besides, you wouldn't wanna keep him around if you knew what he's capable of. You could end up dead, Ricky. It's for the best if he leaves us alone."

"Yeah, I know," Ricky replied sadly.

"Why do you seem so upset about him finally leaving you alone?" Balz asked. "I mean, he hasn't really given you a break since you moved in."

"I... I don't know," Ricky sighed. "I guess I just kind of... Miss him."

"Ricky, how can you miss a ghost that's been haunting you ever since you got here?" Balz questioned. "That just makes no sense to me."

"Again, I don't know," Ricky responded. "I just kinda got used to having him around- in my house, at least. It was just strange to wake up and not see him or feel his presence anywhere."

"You know, you should just try to think about something else," Balz suggested. "Don't get too worked up over Ghost's disappearance, okay? I'm sure he's doing just fine, wherever he is."

------------------------------------------

The truth of the matter was, Devin was not doing just fine. He was still alive, though- well, not really, considering he's been dead for a while, but you catch my drift. However, Devin's mind just wasn't working the same way it had just a couple months earlier.

He found himself actually caring for this boy he was haunting. Developing feelings for him, even. And it had only been a little over a month since the haunting began.

Devin hadn't truly cared for a human being since sometime before he died. He just wasn't used to caring for others, other than his family. But even they weren't the best of people sometimes.

But, then again, it had been quite a long time since anybody had cared for Devin, as well. And from what Devin could tell, Ricky seemed to care about him, at least a little bit.

For the first time in what felt like forever, somebody treated Devin like he was a friend, rather than some cold-hearted murderer. And that made Devin feel something he hadn't felt very often, even when he was alive: happiness.

And the more Devin thought on it, the more he realized that he was actually beginning to fall for this boy. He was beginning to fall for a human. A living, breathing human, with blood still coursing through his veins. And he couldn't let that happen.

That's why he decided to get himself away from Ricky. He needed to get away from him before any real feelings developed. Part of him still wanted to keep an eye on Ricky, but he knew that the best decision was to stay away.

All Devin had wanted to do was have a little fun, and haunt someone new. But now, he had a little more on his plate.

So, he decided to migrate to the next town over. He couldn't get too far away from the town that he died in, but he could at least get as close to the border of the next town as possible. That's where the woods were. It's not like anyone would notice, anyway.

Or so Devin thought. Little did he know, Ricky was pretty worried about him. And, even littler did he know, his blossoming feelings for Ricky were starting to be returned.