Giving Up The Ghost

[2] // lewis

Arthur and I were friends.

No, we were more than friends. I loved him and he loved me back - we loved each other mutually with a burning passion. It was absolutely fantastic. We did everything together, and there were small rare moments where we were separated. On cold nights where it was to frigid to sleep on my own, Arthur was by my side. He was my teddy bear - as I was his.

Maybe that was the reason why I was surprised when he had suddenly pushed me off the cliff.

It was a colder night than most that month, and Arthur and I were silently dozing off in the back of the van when Vivi had announced our arrival. I nudged the other awake, and we climbed out of the back and were met with the night air once more. It took me a little while more to wake myself up, but we were soon on our way to the first stop of the night.

The first stop was a mansion. It looked old, and immediately I had a bad reaction to the environment.

"Nothing bad." I muttered to myself, clasping a trembling Arthur's hand in mine and smiling reassuringly. The four of us, Mystery, Vivi, Arthur and I headed into the mansion with Vivi leading, followed by Arthur, Mystery, and me.

Dark twists and turns in the hallways soon led our group to a mysterious cavern. The unmistakable uneasiness seemed to grow, but the near-harmony of Arthur and I helped me to cope with the feeling as we headed deeper.

It didn't take us long before we came upon a split in the cavern. Arthur and I went to the left, while Mystery and Vivi had headed towards the right.

Once we were alone, Arthur had clung to my side.

"There's nothing to worry about, Arty, we'll be fine." I spoke, gently placing a kiss on the other's forehead and making him smile.

"Do you promise?" he asked timidly, holding onto my left hand with both his.

"I promise." I echoed, gently pecking his lips before tugging him along. "C'mon, we don't want to have Vivi nor Mystery worrying."

Arthur smiled before following me again.

Soon, we came upon a cliff overseeing a dark green pit speckled with spikes. I was enthralled by the curious spikes. I walked up to the edge, holding my slightly dimming torch in front of me to illuminate the stalagmites. They pulsed with a slightly green energy that lit the room with a dim glow.

I heard a voice calling for me. It was Arthur's, but I was so entranced by the formations that I ignored his pleas. My feet shuffled to the edge. Small chunks of dust fell from the peak but I paid no mind to them.

When I felt a cold and clammy hand upon my back, I turned around - and saw Arthur with his hand pressed against the base of my neck. The most strange feature about him was that half of his face was covered with a dark green and sickly color.

"Arthur, what are-"

His lips twisted into a sickly grin before he pushed me off the cliff.

I screeched as I fell. There was a brief moment where our eyes met before Arthur disappeared from my view. I began to cry hard - though, my tears did not last long, for before I knew it, I was impaled through my stomach and my chest by one of the stalagmites.

Immediately, my vision cut off as I hacked up globs of blood that covered me in my entirety. My breaths were shallow as I looked towards what I thought was the ceiling as I began to question why.

Why had the one I trusted the most - the one I loved - pushed me off the edge?

My thoughts seized once my heart stopped beating, and they began once again as the golden essence that was my soul ascended. The ascension filled me with an unmistakable feeling: hatred. Pure, unfiltered hatred for my murderer - though it was the most unlikely person to do it to me.

Arthur.