Ghost 3

Chapter 3~ Loud Tears

Konichiwa, minna! I tried making this chapter longer. Key word: tried. Oh well, I made it long enough. Criticism is encouraged :) Read, comment, vote and enjoy!

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I blinked vigorously, aggravated that there wasn't a slit of sunlight to help me defeat the darkness.

Ignoring my lack of sight, I relied on my other senses; then found my fingers caressing something soft... Someone's hair? Before I could pull my hand away, someone grabbed me. Despite its firm grasp stopping the blood flow in my arm, it placed my hand gently on something rectangular.

"Say 'Cheese!'" a voice whispered into my ear. It pushed downwards on the back of my hand, and a flash of white light struck the walls. With that, a lamp suddenly flickered on in the middle of the room. I sighed with relief at the sight of light again.

I turned back to where my hand was laid and noticed that the person, or whatever the thing was, was replaced with a tall, round table with a camera sitting on top.

I probably took a picture on accident and made that white flash. I didn't want to touch it, of course; but I knew I had to. In order to play the game, and in order to save my life. My hands trembled as I picked the camera up.

When I turned around, the first thing I noticed was a plethora of holes in the ground. In fact, it looked like a mad man who didn't know how to work a gun came here and started shooting the floor randomly. Then, I lifted my eyes to see a wooden door similar to the front door, but when I opened it, it was just a closet.

Wait, then where did the front door go? My eyes widened at the thought. There were no other doors; no other forms of escape. I clenched my eyes shut and begged, Please oh please let me wake up to find myself in my warm bed at home; where Mama and Papa are.

But I was still standing in front of the closet of jackets and boots and worn clothes. I placed the camera down on the ground close to me and inspected the closet. I blinked and noticed that one of the worn clothes were covered in blotches of dried blood.

And that there was a skull, where the head belonged, above it.

I jumped back with a screech. A skeleton lay within the clothing, hands and feet dangling. Instead of a hanger keeping the clothes up, a noose was wrapped around the skeleton's neck. It seemed like it was an adult. Squinting my eyes, I noticed something sparkle on the shirt's chest. Inching closer with hesitation, I saw that it was a Star of David pin.

Jewish, Nazis, Holocaust were the first three words that sprung into my head. Poor soul...

Then, the faint jingle of a Jack-in-the-Box broke the silence of the miniature room. On top of that, the sound of sobbing gradually began to spill out of the closet. The Sobber.

Before I could lift the camera off the floor, a pale, glowing face of a young boy split through the dimness of the closet. His short, blond hair was framed around his head. His eyes and mouth were replaced with black holes impaled into his face. Out of his mouth, sorrowful wails leaked. Louder and louder his cries grew.

Without removing my eyes off the ghost, my hands stumbled over the ground, trying to find the camera. Slowly, the Sobber floated though the coats and jackets and revealed his ripped up pajamas. Reaching trembling hands out towards me, tears began to fall from where his eyes used to be.

"I can't..." the boy mumbled quietly through a mouthful of tears. "I CAN'T POSSESS HER, KATSU!" he yelped at the ceiling. "I don't want to." Katsu?! The actual Katsu? The Katsu that isn't, or wasn't, evil enough to make such a terrible "game" as this?

His scarred hands dropped to his sides as my hands lifted the camera. With a quick click, I took a picture of the boy's weeping face. My face was drenched in tears as well; but I couldn't tell if they were tears of fear, happiness, or sorrow.

When I lowered the camera from my face, the ghost boy was replaced with a similar young boy. The same blond hair framed his face and he was still wearing pajamas; but his pajamas were folded and neat and the tears and holes in his face were gone.

Instead, he was smiling. A bright smile that shined in the dim room. It was the Sobber's old human form.

He giggled, "Before I leave, can I tell you a story?"