Ghost of Joshua

Fright

Meanwhile, Imogen was on her walk home. She took a dry tissue out of her bag and wiped her tired eyes. It had been a long day. 

The sun had finally set and it plunged the city into darkness. Streetlights towered over the paths to light the way and the sound of the trickling river she crossed was calming. She felt sleepy. A light behind her flickered and switched off, startling her. She peered over her shoulder. Was that light on in the first place? Probably not. 

She continued on her way, stopping to kneel beside the river. She dipped her hand in. Cold. Perfect. Looking down at the reflection, she saw the stars. Bright and burning. She remained there for a while, just letting the cold running water numb her fingertips and the overwhelming emotions of the day. She found comfort in the numbness.  

"Why did they do it, Imogen?" She turned around at the sound of her name to face nothing but the stone path she was walking on. Her hands became shaky, her breaths deep. "Hello?" She answered to the voice. No reply. She called again. 

Silence; she turned back to face the river and saw the face of a male, the same age as her, drenched in a red gore. Blood. Imogen gasped and turned around again, expecting to see a knife above her and about to plunge down but again, nobody was there. 

 "If this is you, Aaron, this isn't funny!" No sound but the leaves on the trees was heard.

 A once peaceful rustle now turned into scratching into her mind, carving an image of the face in her vision. The man's expression looked strange. Upset but peaceful. He wasn't mad but he was certainly gone.Imogen hurriedly splashed her face with the refreshing water which woke her up. She must have just been tired, she decided as she stood up and continued along the path. One last look back at the river. Nothing unusual there. 

Her hands gripped her bag tightly as she rummaged about for her keys. By the time she found them, she had gotten to her front door and she was shakily trying to fit the key into its home. It took her three attempts before she managed to get the door open. It creaked quietly as she pushed it open; it never used to do that before. 

 Her heavy feet thudded up the stairs and into the bathroom, where she threw down her bag and switched the shower on. The room quickly steamed up. Her mirror became foggy and the windows misty. The air was thick and warm. Imogen undressed quickly and jumped into the shower for a long wash. The water was relaxing; hot enough to make her skin tingle but not enough to scold her. She yawned. It was time for bed soon. 

 When she stepped out of the shower, she wrapped a light blue towel around her body and another around her hair before dragging her bag carelessly across the floor to her bedroom. The woman sat down and took a few deep breaths; as she exhaled, she tried to release the tension in her muscles. That was difficult, however. The emotions she felt were too overwhelming. 

 After she dried herself off, she crawled into bed and closed her eyes. She sank into the mattress, encased into her duvet and wished that she never had to go through the pain again. A few more tears shed before she fell into a heavy sleep. 

 An ear-ringing thud startled her the next morning and she awoke with a jolt. By the time her hearing had caught up with the world, she heard a man's voice muffled through the door. 

"Brighty! She's probably still sleeping! Maybe we should leave her alo-" 

"IMOGEN! WAKEY WAKEY, DARLING!" 

 "Oh, bloody hell..."It was Josh and Brighton bickering, as always. 

They were like siblings, constantly arguing over petty things but no matter what happened, they were closer than anything else. Brighton couldn't be Josh's best friend, however. Josh's best friend was gone now. 

 Imogen rolled out of bed onto the floor and lazily dressed herself after yelling down the stairs something that resembled "I will be down in a minute" but it was barely audible in her croaky voice. Once she'd dressed herself in a navy pair of jeggings and a loose turquoise top, she rushed down the stairs and opened the front door. She invited the two in.

"Good morning! Sorry to wake you up." Brighton began with. 

"How're you doing?"Imogen looked up from the floor at Brighton and attempted a weak smile before replying. 

"Not much better. What about you two?" 

 Brighton saw Josh begin to tear up again, so she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder as much as she could, bearing in mind how small she was. 

He spoke with a broken voice. "As you can probably tell, I'm not much better either." Imogen offered him a tissue whilst Brighton smiled reassuringly but somewhat unnervingly. 

"I like to keep a positive attitude. I know we'll all be okay in the end. You're strong. We're all strong."Imogen caught on. 

 "Yes, we are. We'll fight through this. You two and Aaron helped me when I was in need, I'll be here for you too. Thank you, again, for then." 

"It's fine, don't worry. We'll be okay." Josh stuttered.