The Almost Rock Star (A Ghost Story) (DRAFT)

The Almost Rock Star (A Ghost Story) 27, Red Eyes

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Red Eyes

I had gone over to the sofa, next to the white cubes, and saw down, still looking in the hallway where The Prince of Darkness had disappeared. For just a moment, one of the darker shadows in the hall formed into the evil entity boy. Eduardo.

I stared at the little monster. Those empty black eye sockets were terrifying to me. I had never seen anything like this except in Stephen King horror movies, and in those movies I closed my eyes. I never wanted anyone to know I was that scared, so I would either fumble in my purse for a mint, or just look down until the horror was over. Sometimes I look at my friends, to see if they were scared. Most of them, like Aja, had their eyes glued to the screen. 

Now I stared. Eduardo leered back at me, briefly. Just long enough for my soul to fill with terror. I had nowhere to go. I was about to run out of the place when he disappeared. I thought I heard an echoing laughter going down the hall. 

Being a ghost clearly meant this terror was a new part of my life. I didn’t like it. I wasn’t an unhappy person before my death. But now, I didn’t see a way to be happy. I seemed to be the tool of anyone who was around, whether it was the goddess Hera, the James Dean-looking Prince of Darkness, or the evil little monster, Eduardo. 

How could I get out of this misery? The beings in the other worlds were manipulating me. Before my death, I knew there were angels in Heaven and God, and that there probably was a devil and evil. Nothing else could explain things to me like mass shootings at schools. Or people eating each other, like that weirdo in Miami who was caught on video eating a drunk bum who was still alive. Evil. 

When I didn’t hop to it, these beings hurt me. Worse than even the time I picked up a wild baby possum and the crazed Mommy possum came out of the bushes and bit me in the stomach, where I was cradling the baby.  Palm Beach Animal Control couldn’t find her, and I had to have the rabies shots in my abdomen and arm. 

The sensations of being dead were not what I expected. I still felt like I had skin, and hair, and arms and legs. Then things would happen, like Shadow’s head falling through my hand when I went to pet him. And I would get this terrible sense that I wasn’t here, and yet I was here, at the same time. 

I looked around the penthouse. The room I was in soared up nearly three stories. The living room I was in was wide open. There was a hallway to the right that led to other rooms, I guessed, and to the stairs. The kitchen was to the left. There was a roomy balcony outside of the living room. Inside,  a loft made up part of the second floor, overlooking the living room. 

I looked up. I thought I saw a pair of red eyes in the darkness. They glowed, and I was terrified again. 

I ran to the door, and grabbed at every light switch on the wall next to the door. It was a lot of switches, but I was so scared that every button went up the first time I tried. Flood lights, indirect lights, lamp lights and extra dining room dimmers came on. The whole place was mixed rays of fancy lighting. I looked around. The dramatic penthouse lights were perfect for creating intense shadows. I was afraid to look up, but I did. The area where there were red eyes had been was brilliant from a bank of lights in the ceiling. No red eyes anywhere. 

As I looked around, I saw Shadow sitting where I had been, on the sofa. I went over to the huge cat, and sat next to him. He was purring.

“Shadow, I’m glad you’re here, boy,” I said. “You can see them, can’t you.” 

I looked at Shadow’s green eyes. He looked completely knowing. Like he knew what was going on, and he was used to it. He didn’t look too concerned. I took that as a sign the beings had all left with the darkness. 

I was petting him when the door opened.