My Ghost

two

ray's point of view

I jolt awake, coughing and sputtering, gasping for air. I begin to choke, and I can feel something in my throat, along with something attached to my nose. I reach up and find a tube hooked to my nose to help me breathe. Confused, I remove the tube and inhale cautiously. I look down and find a long tube down my throat that enters through my mouth. I begin pulling the tube out, gagging as I do. Once it's all the way out, I collapse back onto the bed. Where was I? A hospital? Was I alive? If so... how?

I turn my head to the left, I'm in a dimly lit room with a bunch of equipment surrounding me. To my right is a heart monitor, and an IV stand. I look down at my arm and see the IV in my arm. I look back up at the bag and find an odd liquid. Instead of clear, its a bright, fluorescent pink. As quickly as I can, I reach over and pull the IV out of my arm.

I sit up again, my head spinning. It was hard to make out anything more than a foot away from me. I look down and find a ton of monitor wires stuck to my body. I pull them off one by one and throw them on the floor. I look back down at my body. I'm wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt I don't recognize. Where was my costume? Who had changed me?

Am I dead or am I alive?

I turn my body so my feet hang over the edge of the bed and my head starts pounding. I place a hand on my head to ease it and freeze. My hair was short, shorter than shoulder length. Who had cut it? And why?

I rise to my feet slowly, gripping the bed tightly. My legs shake beneath me, and I fear they may give out. I take one step and shake like a leaf, my whole body straining. My head pounds and I fear I might pass out, but I will myself forward. I take another step, releasing the bed of my death grip. I nearly fall, but find my balance. I take step after step, careful and slow as to not fall, and I eventually reach the door. I lean against it, catching my breath, before turning the handle and pushing it open. Before me is a long, brightly lit hall, and I shield my eyes with my free hand. To each side are a multitude of doors, each looking as though it is an office door. I push myself forward, making my way slowly to the end of the hall.

What if I was alive? How would Jason react? My father? Did my father even know I was dead? Had he discovered who I was?

But what if I was dead? What if I was getting my hopes up for nothing?

I reach the door and shove it open, stumbling into yet another dimly lit room.

"Good evening, Ms. Hady," a gruff voice greets me. My eyes attempt to adjust to the light, and I blink away the fuzziness in my vision. Where was I? Hell?

I can make out a red carpet in a room with red walls. There is one window, taking up an entire wall on the other side of the room. It's dark outside, and I can't make out much else about it. If it isn't Hell it damn sure looks like it. I spot a figure standing across the room, their hands in their pockets.

"It's Ray," I mutter, stepping towards them. My voice is raspy and my throat burns, I was surprised I could say anything.

"I apologize, Ray," they reply, and the voice sounds as though it belongs to a man. I step closer, and I can begin to make out his features. He's tall, dressed in a black suit with a dark grey undershirt. His tie is black with grey lines cutting diagonally across.

As soon as I'm close enough to see his face, I'm stopped dead in my tracks. Now I'm praying this is Hell.

"Black Mask," I whisper.

He smirks at me. Or, at least, I think it's a smirk. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he says.

"I think I am a ghost," I retort, my voice cracking and breaking.