Reaper's Lullaby

Gus: Shadow People

"What cannot be said will be wept."
- Sappho

If anyone was going to become a ghost when they died, it was Adam. Gus had never met anybody who talked about ghosts so much. Adam had grown up in what he described as a "haunted house" and told stories all the time about the apparitions he used to see.

There was the kind old woman who tucked him into bed at night, the little boy who ran through the hallway, a bloody woman in a green dress and then, of course, the Shadow People.

"The Shadow People were scariest, 'cause the others were just people who died. I never knew what the Shadow People were," he told Gus.

According to his description, the Shadow People were deep black human-shaped silhouettes that moved like a regular person. Only they had no face, no eyes, no discernible features whatsoever. They peeked around corners or stood silently in dark rooms, disappearing when the lights were flipped on and reappearing when they went off.

"Even though they don't got eyes, you know they watchin' you. You feel it. All the time," Adam had said, the fear still obvious in his eyes.

Gus had never really believed in any of it. He thought Adam was just a good storyteller. He was a brilliant writer, after all, and wrote countless stories about the paranormal in that notebook of his. Gus figured he had probably just dreamed about all the ghosts and stuff.

Still, Gus could not discount the things that kept happening to him. It had started in the car ride to the Wiggins's house three days after Adam's death, when he'd heard someone whisper in his ear and felt their breath move his hair.

Then there was the time he'd seen Adam in his tent that horrible night he never allowed himself to remember fully.

And now, there was the invisible hand on his shoulder that yanked him back just as the man grabbed Strawberry's arm. Gus glanced behind him to see whoever had grabbed him, but no one was nearby. The dead man's body was still on the sidewalk, and people were digging through his pockets while a hysterical woman screamed and slapped at them.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" the man shouted again.

"She was with me," Gus said firmly, finding his voice. He was terrified of this man who seemed like a giant compared to him, but he tried to keep his voice steady and his eyes hard.

Strawberry groaned. "Gus no," she said under her breath.

"Wit' you? What she want wit' yo scrawny white ass?" the man asked skeptically, looking him up and down.

"We was smokin' some crystal and lost track of time. It's my fault."

"Well dis hoe right here belong to me. She talks to a guy when I let her talk to a guy," he said.

"I talked first. Plus, we didn't do nothin' but smoke. You think she'd like a guy like me? It's like you said, I'm scrawny. Let her go, please," Gus said, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

The man released Strawberry and shoved her away. "You got a lot of work to catch up on," he said harshly.

Strawberry nodded, staring down at the filthy concrete. "I'm sorry."

"Go make my money," the man said, and he turned and walked away.

Strawberry breathed a sigh of relief, and Gus gently touched her lower back. She spun around and glared at him.

"If dat ever happens again, you don't say NOTHIN'! He could kill you! You understand me?" she shouted.

"I won't stand there and let him hurt you," Gus said.