Ghosts of The Past

Chapter Two: Burn

He had been dealing with Norma's haunting him for two days now and he felt as though he were going crazy. As soon as he stepped into the police station to start work, there she was, walking right beside him.
"I'm walking." he whispers.
"Morning." she says, glancing at him as they walk down the hall.
"I'm walking all by myself." he whispers, keeping his eyes on the ground.
"You look good. I've always liked the look of you in your uniform. You look tired though, did you sleep alright?" she asks.
"Now I am walking to my office. Again, all alone." he mumbles. He grabs the keys, fumbling with them.
"Oh, red alert. The annoying receptionist is coming." Norma whispers.
"Romero." Sarah says, walking up to him. He jumps and looks up at her with crazy eyes.
"The labs from the last case came in. They're waiting on your desk." she says.
"I bet she still doesn't know my name." Norma says.
"Oh trust me, everyone knows your name." Alex mumbles.
"What?" Sarah asks.
"I uh...I said thanks. I'll get right on it." he says, unlocking the door.
"You looked totally crazy." Norma says, walking inside behind him.

He had tried ignoring her but she was just as persistent in the dead as she was when she was alive. She never stopped talking about anything and everything. Not that Alex minded. As weird as this haunting thing was, he enjoyed having her company and hearing her voice. It was just inconvenient when he was in public and he was trying to ignore her. For example, when they had a staff meeting.
"The victim was found in a ditch ten miles from her house." their chief says, displaying a picture of a slide.
"Oh now that's just sad." Norma says from beside him.
"And she was found with six lacerations on her abdomen." he continues.
"What is that weird gooey thing?" Norma asks, pointing at the slide. He glances over at her bright blue eyes and then looks back at the screen.
"Oh. The silent treatment. That's very mature Alex. Well if that's how it's going to be." she says with a smirk.
"I'll just...I'll just sit here. And be quiet." she says, crossing her arms.
"Here is a closer image." the man says, flicking to a new picture.
"Okay now that is disgusting." she says.
"I thought you were going to be quiet." Alex whispers to her. He looks around at the few people who turned and looked at him as though he were crazy. He grabs his things and stands up, gaining everyone's attention.
"I'll just be a moment." Alex says, stepping outside. He walks out of the room and down the hall, needing fresh air. He glances over at Norma's hurt face as she follows him.
"You know you're acting like you don't want me to be here." she whispers quietly. He sighs, stepping out into the grass behind the building. There was no one around him, giving him the chance to talk freely.
"You know what I wished for every day since you died?" he asks, staring at the ground.
"I wished that I could see you again. I'd have given anything just to see you...one more time. And now..." he trails off, looking up at her.
"Now, here you are, standing right in front of me. Here I am, looking at you and knowing that I can't touch you...it's hurting me." he says softly.
"Alex, you can touch me." she says.
"You're not real." he says loudly.
"You can't be real. But I see you so that means that I am sick or that something is wrong with me and I can't...I can't hope for that." he tells her, becoming emotional.
"Alex I am as real as you or that weird gooey thing in that picture." she says, making him chuckle.
"Touch me." she says softly, holding her hand out. He glances down at her hand before looking back at her.
"Alex...touch me. I'll prove it to you." she says, stepping closer to him.
"No." he says, stepping away, slightly scared of what it would mean if he could feel her.
"Why are you here? Why?" he asks. She lets her hand drop to her side and she smiles softly, staring at him with watery eyes.
"I am here for you, Alex Romero." she whispers. He sighs and wipes the tears away from his eyes before walking around her and going back to the meeting. He hadn't seen her for the rest of the day and for a moment, Alex had thought that maybe she was gone.
Before he could panic too much, he found her again as he stepped outside of the station after work.
"You heading home?" she asks, leaning against the wall. He stops outside of the door, staring straight ahead, avoiding her. He finally looks over at her and walks to her. He looks around to ensure that no one is watching before glancing back at her.
"I love you." he whispers, his eyes traveling to the grass.
"I will always love you." he says, looking back up at her.
"You own a piece of me. So even though you'll be gone, I will not forget you. Not now, not in twenty years, not ever. And I am sorry we didn't have enough time together. I'm sorry we never got a chance to travel or have kids or grow old together. I wanted that so much. I wanted to sit on the front porch with you with all of our grandchildren running around us-"
"Why are you telling me this, Alex?" she asks.
"I'm trying to let you go. So that you can have peace-"
"I have peace, Alex. I am here for you." she says, stepping toward him.
"Goodbye, Norma." he says, stepping away.
"I love you. But goodbye." he says, turning around and walking away. With every step he took that separated him from her, his heart fell apart that much more.
He hadn't been paying attention to where he was driving. He had assumed that he would go to his own home. So to say that he was surprised when he found himself at the Bates Motel was an understatement. He pulled into the gravel lot and stared up at the house.
He slowly stepped out of the car and walked up the many steps until he reached the front porch. His hand slowly reached under the mat to retrieve the key which was still there. He unlocked the door and stepped inside for the first time since he escaped jail, the scent of the home still the same.
He made his way up the steps and into Norma's bedroom. Everything was the same. It was like a ghost town. They had left, moved on, but their house still kept their ghosts. He opened her wardrobe to reveal one single item. He touched the fabric of the dark dress with flowered stripes. It was the dress she had worn the night that they first had sex. Norman had given away all of her other dresses but Alex had kept this one since Norma was still alive. He pulls it off the hanger, holding it up to his nose to breathe in her scent.
He closed the doors quickly but keeps a hold on the dress, the memories becoming too painful. He looks out the window, through the sheer curtains, down at the motel.
On his way out of the house, he grabs the key to the motel office and walks to it. Once he is inside, he grabs the key for room one and unlocks the motel door.
He flips on the light switch but the light doesn't turn on. He stands beside the bed, staring down at it. This was the spot where he had stupidly told Norma that he was a magical unicorn. It was a silly thing to say but it had made her laugh and that seemed to make everything worth it. He holds her dress up to his nose again, his eyes slipping shut.
"Alex?" Rebecca says, stepping inside. He looks at her with confusion as to how she had found him.
"You weren't home so I...I thought you might be here." she says. She walks to the bed and sits down, looking up at him. She takes the dress from his hands and sniffs it.
"Still smells like her." she says, handing it back to him. He stares at her, waiting for an outburst of some sort but she just continues to stare back.
"Are you going to kill yourself?" she asks with worry, thinking back to the incident not long after Norma's death where he had almost pulled the trigger.
"No. No I can't do that to Dylan and Emma. And Katie. Especially Katie." he whispers.
"I see you, Alex." she begins.
"I see you struggling. And I know you don't want my help but I can help you. Whatever it is, let me help you." she says with concern. He holds out Norma's dress to Rebecca with tears in his eyes.
"Will you burn this for me?"

NormeroLuv14 I am really sorry for the ending but...maybe this is better than the last chapter? It gets better for him, I promise!!