Mind's Echo

Alex

Mark replayed the footage as Shelly pulled herself up and over to him to watch. Alex hung back, fiddling with his first aid kit. When Shelly sat back with a shocked moan, he reached out to touch her shoulder in concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked, leaning in close. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Shelly did not respond but continued to look him over in bewilderment. Alex felt a bit uneasy by her strange and sudden gaze cutting into him. 

"Well, that should take care of your nose for now", he continued while helping her to her feet.

Once Shelly was on her feet, Alex hugged her. He hoped she wouldn't pull away from him. Seeing her hurt the way she was had really scared him. He was starting to feel strongly for this girl, and he did not want to see her in any kind of turmoil. She trembled a little in his arms. He wondered what she had seen on the camera. He kind of wanted to check it out for himself. He also kind of didn't want to check it out, not if it had spooked her and Mark as much as it had. I'll look in a moment. Right now, she's more important, he thought. 

He pulled away, held her at arm's length and looked her over while saying, "You see, I can patch you up pretty good with a simple first aid kit thanks to the medical courses I took in college. But the one thing I cannot do is bring the dead back. From now on, let me take the lead, okay, sweetie?"

Alex worried that tough-as-nails Shelly would take his concern as condescending, but she just stood there, her eyes round with shock and her mouth a tense line slashed across her pale face. He really needed to see what Mark had caught on tape.

"Mark, my good man, let me see what you got there, eh?"

Mark's eyebrows lifted as he handed Alex the camera he had taken from around his neck.

"It's trippy, my dude. Trippy as shit."

Alex nodded as he cupped the camera and hit the playback button. He almost dropped the thing as a shock rippled up his spine. "What the ...?"

That was a ... Oh, holy shit! That was a ...

He shoved the camera at Mark. "That was a fuckin' ghost!!"

Mark took the camera, hanging it back around his neck. He turned away, bowing his head. Alex began to pace nervously, hands buried in his pockets.

"No, no, no," he mumbled. "That can't be a ghost. There has to be another explanation. That cannot be a ghost ..."