WHO CHILLED YOUR BONES?

It Could

We arrived at our new apartment at 2 a.m. The moving in process took about ten minutes since all we brought was clothing and a few other personal items. We didn't have furniture since we'd always lived with our parents. But we figured we would deal with that tomorrow.

The next day, we decided we would get things done. We went out to lunch and smoothies, then headed to the closest furniture store. It was closed. At least that's what the sign said. But the door was wide open so we went in anyway. I barely noticed when it quietly closed behind us. Only half the lights were on and I immediately felt claustrophobic because of the low ceiling, and overwhelming amount of piled up furniture. The walkways were nearly impossible to navigate and Travis noted the fact that most of the furniture seemed outdated.
Then suddenly something caught my eye and I stayed back to get a better look as Travis continued on.
"No way. I used to have a dresser in my room when I was a baby and it looked just like this." I had completely forgot about this seemingly irrelevant piece that brought back memories of the place where it all began. I felt a chill run through my bones. I didn't hear any sound from Travis' direction so I called to him again.
No response.
After a few seconds of waiting, Travis came quickly around the corner and before I could say a word, he pulled me into a kiss.
I didn't fight back. But there was no denying my surprise. It was the last thing I would have expected. After all the years I'd known him, Travis had never showed any romantic interest in men. Especially not me. But I had no problem kissing him even if it was totally unexpected. I was always open with him about my bisexuality and maybe I hadn't ever particularly felt attracted to him since we were so close, but I the moment, this was great.
Travis ran his right hand through my brown and blonde hair and his left moved to my lower back. He seemed experienced even though I was sure he'd only ever kissed one girl.
As the kiss deepened, I noticed a distinct metallic flavor lingering in his saliva.
Blood.
I quickly opened my eyes but instead of seeing Travis' familiar brown, I was greeted with eyes that were red and nothing else.
I disconnected from the kiss but couldn't escape the grip he held around my waist.
The red substance stained his entire front and he licked his blood-coated lips.
He leaned over so that his mouth was next to my ear and I heard a cold whisper. It wasn't Travis. And I prayed. I prayed to God almighty that this wasn't what I thought it was.
"Did you miss us?" the two familiar voices said. And I didn't want to believe it. But, they were real and they were back.
Suddenly, Travis' body collapsed to the floor and two pale figures appeared before me wearing smirks that could only signify evil intentions.
"Remember us?" asked the shorter of the two, approaching me and pushing my brown fringe out of my now-watering eyes.
"How could I forget?" I said choking back tears. "You made my childhood Hell. And believe me. I tried...I tried to forget what you did to me. But I couldn't."
"Your sobs still sound the same." said the taller, green-eyed ghost. "You really aged well, you know?" He circled me, looking me up and down. This was too much.
I looked down at Travis. His lifeless body lay still on the floor. Blood was still dripping from his mouth. "What did you do to him?"
"He'll be fine. Don't you worry one bit, sweetheart." the shorter reassured me as the light gleamed off his nose-ringring.
I definitely didn't feel reassured. And why should I? They've never told me the truth before and gave me no reason to believe that they would change now.
"Are we alone in here?" I asked unsure of what I wanted the answer to be.
"Nobody's been in here for years. We opened the door just for you, Aws."
I was horrified at the thought of what they might have done to the poor unsuspecting people who were there before. Apparently my horror showed on my face because the other added: "No, we didn't have to kill anyone. Well, only one. The store owner. But nobody cared about him anyway." the older, taller ghost said.
He motioned to the dresser where the other boy had his hand on the drawer handle. He opened each drawer one at a time to reveal the matching, dismembered pieces of a mutilated body. I flinched at the sight. I had never seen a dead body before and it was much worse than it is in the movies. I could barely make out the name on the man's name tag which still remained on his blood coated shirt. "Jawn". For some inexplicable reason, it made it so much worse to connect the body with a name. The final drawer held the man's severed head. He was younger than I had expected: about my age actually. That certainly didn't help the situation. Dry blood covered the outside of his mouth and trickled down his chin. I turned to look at Travis whose blood did the same. He was motionless and it finally started to sink in.
"I know you lied to me" I said quietly as warm tears ran down my face. "He's dead, isn't he?" I asked the question knowing full well what the answer was.
Silence. I took that as confirmation. They clearly didn't care a f*** about me or Travis or anyone for that matter. But that fact was evident to me from the very first time they appeared in my room all those years ago. Then came the real question.
"Why me?" I asked burying my hands in my face. This was all so overwhelming. I just wanted it to end. "It could have been anyone... so why me?" My voice cracked.
"Oh, Awsten" said the short, curly-haired brunette as he put his hands on the sides of my face. "Don't cry. We're only doing this because we love you."
"Actually keep crying" said the other running his hand through his side swept brown hair. "I like how it sounds."
"Just end it already" I heard myself saying without a thought.
"It will be over soon." the smaller replied. "We can't risk losing you like that again."
"W-what do you mean?" I asked wiping my eyes.
They both backed away from me and suddenly every light in the store flickered out except for the one directly above me, shedding light on the pentagram that lay below my feet.
A horrible realization dawned on me. "Geoffrey, Otto... please don't do this." I hoped that saying their names would be worth a try as a last resort. But my pleas were useless.
I was soon overcome with excruciating pain pulsating throughout my body. My head throbbed and I screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs. I started to hear a voice in my head. It was my voice. But they weren't my words. The voice grew louder and louder until I could no longer hear myself think.
Then the pain stopped. I wasn't Awsten anymore. I felt a nasty grin spread across my face.
"Welcome back Steven" the boys said in unison. "You know what to do."

(A/N if Awsten and Travis are reading this I hope you realize how much I appreciate what you do. I saw Waterparks in Sacramento a few months ago and pushed my way through the mosh pit to be closer to the stage. It was awesome! Your podcast always brightens my day as I listen to it in class, when I'm doing math homework or chores. It's a fun challenge to see how long I can try to keep a straight face when there's other people around who think I'm listening to music. I wish I could have gone to see you live but, alas, I have no money. Thanks for reading. )