Ghost Story

Three

When I was seven years old, Mum and Dad were struggling a bit financially, and we were evicted from our large house in Devon, and forced to move a little closer to the city in order to afford anything. We ended up buying a small house at the edge of the closest city, and both my brothers and I were forced to share one room, while my two sisters had to share the other.

As soon as I set foot in that house, I knew that there was something wrong.

The house in general gave off a very eerie feeling. I felt uncomfortable walking into certain rooms, specifically my bedroom. Late at night, the boards would creak (which had freaked me out at the time, whereas now I would just assume it to be the house settling), the window beside my bed would violently shake sometimes, and I would hear moans and growls. While I did think that there was a ghost (which I find completely preposterous now), I had never seen a full-body apparition, at least, not until now.

When I saw Guy standing in front of me, I knew that it couldn't be a hallucination or anything of the sort. I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was seeing correctly, and when I opened them again, Guy was standing only a foot away, grinning up at me. I flinched, dropping my bag on the floor.

"Hi, Chris," he said.

I blinked and tried to regain my composure. "But... you're... what the fuck is going on?"

He chuckled, and I took a small step back in fear. "Come on, haven't you ever heard of ghosts?"

I closed my mouth, not even realizing that it was open until just then. "Of course but... I didn't think it was... real!" I shook my head. "This is just some sort of trick my mind is playing on me, isn't it? It's just my way of dealing with grief, right?"

The dead man shrugged. "Whatever you want to think of it as, I guess. All I know is that I'm here and you're here next to me." He reached out to touch my left arm, and instead of feeling flesh, I felt a sudden chill run from my arm through my whole body.

The front door slammed, making me flinch, and I turned around to see Phil and Jonny standing there with the rest of my bags and my guitars. "Gee, thanks for the help, you wanker," Phil told me with a chuckle.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and turned back around to Guy, who was looking at them curiously. I met his eyes and he shook his head. "Who's the lad in the cap?" He asked, and I looked back at Jonny, who was looking around the house. Why hadn't he noticed Guy yet?

"Uh.. that's Jonny. He's a friend of mine," I replied, and Phil looked at me like I was crazy.

"Erm.. I know, mate. We met at the funeral," he said.

"Oh, I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Guy," I said, nervously.

Phil laughed. "I guess you really have gone insane," he teased. At that moment, I knew that I was the only one able to see Guy's ghost, further making me wonder what in the bloody hell he was.

I shot Guy a look, who just shrugged, before walking over and touching Jonny's shoulder. Jonny shivered, and I grimaced. "What the fuck was that?" He asked.

"What is it, Jonny?" Phil asked. "A mouse?"

"No! Something touched my arm!" He shouted, and Guy laughed mischievously. "It felt really cool and sent a shiver down my spine."

"Maybe it's a ghost," Phil suggested teasingly, and I laughed nervously.

"I mean, do you think that it would be a possibility for someone to remain in a place after death?" I asked, and both of my friends turned to look at me as if I was crazy. "I mean, you know, if, hypothetically, ghosts existed."