Ghost Whispers |-/ Joshler

ces·sa·tion {Part Two}

/seˈsāSH(ə)n/
noun
the fact or process of ending or being brought to an end.

It was Halloween night. Joshua was staring out at his old house longingly and Tyler was sitting on the floor painting mindless words on the old wood.

I wonder if my family's still there. Trapped in that house. Maybe they're happy together, maybe they can keep an eye on it until I come home. I miss them so much.

Josh couldn't stop thinking about the house that he grew up in, and the family he grew up with.

There were so many memories on that lawn alone that he had to turn away.

Night had fallen around an hour ago, and trick-or-treaters were going from house to house with their parents. A particularly small child dressed up as a ladybug pointed up at Joshua's house, saying that she wanted to go there. Her mother ushered her away.

That house...I wonder if a family of squirrels moved in or something. Maybe a nice bunny family...

Joshua just couldn't stop thinking about the house. It occupied his thoughts for over twenty minutes.

Tyler stopped mid stroke. Something in his mind was clicking his own thoughts towards the house across the street. Curious, he set down his brush and stood up.

Joshua heard the movement and turned around, met with Tyler standing in front of the window.

He was inexplicably drawn to the house across the street. Something in the back of his mind was nagging him to go over there.

Though of course, neither of them knew that it was Joshua who had urged him to think about it via thought connection.

"What is it, Tyler?" Joshua finally had the good sense to ask. But not the good sense (at the moment) to remember that he couldn't talk to him.

Tyler breathed out sharply before walking back to his bed and grabbing his coat off of the bed post. He slid it on over his body as he speed-walked to the door.

"Tyler!" Joshua called. He ran after him, downstairs, out the door, and across the street. He saw a young man with his child dressed up for Halloween, along with a ghost of another white male, perhaps in his 50s, trailing after him.

Joshua wasn't looking where he was going, and ended up walking straight through Tyler, who had stopped on the sidewalk. He shuddered before looking around to see where they were.

They were in front of Joshua's house. It was completely dark, having no tenants to turn on a light. Yellow restriction tape had been slung across the door, along with the window to the left of it, which had been boarded up haphazardly by a few planks of wood. It had been shattered in the break-in.

"Why are we here?" Joshua asked.

"Why am I here...?" Tyler asked himself with no intention to answer Joshua.

There was a loud crash, like glass breaking. Raucous laughter followed.

It came from behind the house and sent shivers down Joshua's spine. Nothing good would come of this.

Tyler instinctually ducked low and snuck around the house, finding a window that he could possibly enter. It wouldn't open no matter how hard he pulled.

Joshua wandered around the back and found the window that really had been shattered.

"Tyler, over here!" He whisper-yelled. He should have known it was yet another fruitless attempt to talk to him.