Misguided Ghosts

Chapter Forty

Forty – Tay

I sighed, chucking my pen on top of my pad of paper and rested my head on the table. It was half eleven, I was still under house arrest, I’d only just got my things back and I was way too tired to be thinking about Eric Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy. I just wanted to go to bed, or play a game where I could kill things.

The last couple of days had been pretty rough. I’d been so lonely without Ed there. Jared and Char had come round whenever they could, but Char was tired pretty much all the time and Jared was doing his best to take care of her, so they barely had time for me.

My phone buzzed on the table next to me and I sat up, brushing my hair out of my eyes. It was the fifth text that Ed had sent to me that hour.

Please talk to me.

I felt a shiver run through me when I knew what would happen next, but I quashed it the moment I heard him.

Ignore it.

I took a deep breath and turned my phone over so I couldn’t see the screen. Every time Ed had tried to contact me, I’d been told to ignore it. I’d disobeyed the first couple of times, and I’d paid the price every single time. So I started listening. I’d done everything he’d told me to. I’d done my homework. I’d gone to sleep. I’d re-dyed the ends of my hair. I’d spoken to my parents. I’d eaten my breakfast. And I’d got nothing in return apart from a burning loneliness that resonated deep in my chest, a longing, a hunger that couldn’t be satiated.

“When is this going to end?” I mumbled, not caring if he heard me.

There was a soft knock on the door. I frowned. It was half ten. Who would be coming round at half eleven on a Friday night? I got up from my spot at the kitchen table and padded down the hall, my slippers making soft scuffing noises.

I opened it and despite the rush of cold air that hit my face, a smile broke out. Liam looked up from his feet the moment I opened the door and he smiled. Removing a case from the inside of his jacket, he held it up.

“I hear you have an Xbox. Resident Evil?”

I smiled and took the box from him. “Sure. I could use some company,”

He followed me into the living room, kicking off his shoes as he did. While I set the game up, he made himself comfy on the floor.

“Do you want to talk about what happened last time I came round?” He asked softly.

“Not really,” I mumbled. “I just want to kill things,”

So we killed things. We shouted, supporting each other as we shot as many things as possible. We raged when we had to start again. I drummed my feet against the floor while spurring Liam to headshot as many zombies as he could with limited ammo. He shouted encouragement as I went on a killing spree to avenge the death of his character before I got decapitated by a zombie wielding a chainsaw.

“Damn,” Liam said after we finished the third chapter. “That’s actually really hard,”

I laughed. “You think this is hard? Try having a twenty-four kill streak on Call Of Duty while having a really itchy leg.”

“Okay,” He admitted. “That’s pretty hard,”

I smiled and flexed my fingers. “Ready for the next chapter?”

“I think it’s time you went to bed,”

We both turned to see my Mum standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hey, Mum,” I smiled. “I wasn’t expecting to see you back this early. How was the gallery?”

“It was lovely, thank you,” She said primly. “And as for being ‘early’, it’s half twelve,”