Haunted Ink

Ayden Dunaway had a headache.

He usually didn't get headaches, except for those rare occasions when he drank too much, stayed up too late, or when he didn't drink enough water. The cause of this headache came from the nagging ghost that tried to dictate every single minute of the day. No amount of google searches got Ayden any closer in getting rid of the ghost even though he spent weeks on end to no avail before giving into his fate.

Ayden's fate came in the form of Blake Simmons, the ghost that haunted him through his new tattoo. Blake, if alive, would have been no more than three years older than Ayden. An heir to an old rich family from Texas that had gone to Brown University. Blake had been known for being charismatic, fashion-forward, a party goer, impetuous, and a heart breaker. More or less a James Dean type in every way, Blake too had died from a car crash.

Extrovert Blake and introvert Ayden couldn't be any more polar opposites, yet still, they were stuck together.

It all had started that fateful night in March. In a moment of blind jealousy, Ayden had made one bad decision after another starting by dragging his best friend Danny across town to spy on his ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. The two friends followed them into a bar. It had been late, and after a while, they were caught by the couple. The argument with his ex-boyfriend ended with him being humiliated, so Ayden drank. He drank one shot after another with no intention of stopping. If only he could have drowned away his heartbreak. He had made his worst decision after the bar had closed and the neon lights of a tattoo parlour grabbed his attention.

With his inhibitions down, and the desperate need to feel alive he had dragged Danny for a second time that night. He vaguely remembered showing the artist the Nordic symbol he found online. He didn't know why he chooses that symbol, but he found it cool then. Hours later, Ayden woke up with a hangover and a tattoo throbbing on his left shoulder.

Blake's panic and fear edged in his scream, and that had been the first time Ayden heard the ghost inside his head. That was how Ayden had known he was royally screwed. Not even Blake knew how he was stuck, and that was how Blake became that annoying roommate that couldn't leave.

"I can't believe you thought it was okay to leave the house looking like that." Blake the ghost judged and pouted, or at least that's how Ayden imagined him doing.

Sure he had seen pictures of Blake, the ghost had given him the passwords to his social media accounts when Ayden thought he was going crazy. That had been Ayden's only assurance of his sanity. Blake's wardrobe consisted of expensive brands like Burberry and Hermes, giving him a rich alluring look, unlike Ayden, who looked for the most part like a fashion mistake. Not that this had ever bothered Ayden, he wore whatever second-hand clothes he could afford, it was his trademark, he liked being different, he was gay and not fashionable.

"You're a jerk and I hate you." Ayden hissed rubbing his head.

"You're so moody," Blake accused. "No wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend because I have to deal with you." Ayden's patience thinned.

"If you keep talking to yourself they're going to put you away." Blake voiced unphased.

Ayden quickly looked around, remembering that he was still on campus, a few students looked his way, sending him strange glances. Ayden smiled, slipping into the building. Stupid Blake, but yet again he had a point, not that Ayden would admit it and risk Blake becoming even more insufferable.

Finding his usual seat in literature class Ayden quickly opened his laptop to the male contemporary audition sign-up. Just as the hall began to fill Blake whined about how boring classes were and why he had to endure it. Ayden did his best at ignoring him while focusing on his information for the Dance Theater of Braunschweig.

Ayden and Blake bickered a lot, but it had become their thing. There had been only one occasion in which they had truly argued. Blake's anger manifested through his tattoo by sending him sharp blazing pain. It had doubled him over to the point of dizziness. Part of him sympathized with Harry Potter and his Lighting Scar, for now, he too experienced the overwhelming power of the supernatural against his skin. He had later joked by calling himself Ayden Dunaway and his Haunted Ink. At the end of their quarrel that was what made Blake laugh.

Their quarrel had been when Ayden expressed that dance didn't pay the bills, and that being an Elementary English teacher was a much safer career path. After a long fight between host and ghost, Ayden finally understood Blake's anger. Blake's chance in life was over, while people like Ayden lived halfway dreams. So he had promised Blake to follow his dreams, to aim for dancing and use his English degree as a backdrop.

"Ayden," Blake chuckled grabbing his attention, "your ex is here."

"I know," Ayden said, feeling nothing as he watched the other boy sit few rows away from him.

"It's no fun teasing you when you don't react," Blake whined.

"I wish the Ghostbusters were real," Ayden complained to deaf ears.

That only made Blake let out obnoxious laughter at his expense, fully knowing that Ayden's spunky personality was only a front.

Ayden smiled despite it all, for a moment his headache forgotten. He looked at his screen and stared. He subconsciously squeezed his left shoulder where his tattoo was, sending positive vibes and gratitude to the ghost before clicking the submit button. For the rest of the day, Blake sang cheesy pop songs way out of tune adding to his ongoing headache.