Death On Two Legs

Chapter Two

    Phin groaned as he woke up for school. He found a random outfit, and grabbed an apple. The sun hadn't risen yet, so Andy and Aiden were still asleep in her room. He yawned, then left the apartment. He munched on his apple as he pulled his Walkman out of his pocket. He pressed play and his favorite mixtape, gifted to him by Aboiye, began to croon "Can...anybody find me...somebody to love?" He smiled as Freddie Mercury began singing him to school. God, this was the best gift Aboiye ever made for him. He loved Queen, and Aboiye had compiled all his favorites and then some! It was a mixtape that reminded him of his parents. He grew up with the music of the 70s. He vaguely remembered his parents dancing in the kitchen to the soft vocals of Elton John singing about love and things Phin didn't understand until they were already gone. He sighed as he walked. He missed his parents. He had been 10 when the accident happened. 7 years ago, come next month, actually. Rocketman began to play as he looked around the city.
    Phin had lived here for years. The grey city looked cold, but to him...It was the warmest place in the world. He smiled at the buildings that he passed everyday on his walk to the high school. He looked forward, and nearly screamed.
    A transparent person had suddenly appeared less than a foot ahead of him. They groaned as they looked Phin right in the eyes. "Wh-Who are you?" Phin stuttered, whispering so as not to appear crazed. He gulped. The person just stared into his eyes. They looked away as a car honked. It was Aboiye.
    "Phin!" Aboiye shouted from his car. "Get in!" He exclaimed. Phin nodded and pulled off his headphones. He quickly put away the Walkman and climbed into the car. "Why you up so early?" Aboiye asked as Phin sat in the passenger seat.
    "I just wanted to watch the sunrise," Phin replied. He hoped he didn't look too scared. That ghost freaked him out. He looked out the window and saw the sun had begun to rise. He looked at his watch. It was 6:37. He gulped.
    "Are you ok?" Aboiye asked as he drove them both down to the high school.
    "Yeah," Phin whispered. He saw a man begging for money on the side of the road. "I-I just saw...I saw a guy who's sign said he had AIDS and was hungry," he lied. Aboiye knew everyone was terrified of AIDS. Might as well use that to his advantage. Aboiye made a soft sound of understanding. Aboiye wanted to become a doctor to help people suffering from that disease. Phin knew this too. They said nothing more on the subject.
    As the school day went on, Phin couldn't stop thinking about the ghost who had scared him that morning. Why had they been
so close? Why so late into the night? Early...whatever. Why then? Ghosts didn't usually appear in the middle of the city in the morning. Creepy abandoned places where they died, sure. At midnight? Yep. But the middle of a city sidewalk at 6 in the morning? Hell no. That had never ever happened before.
    That night it only got worse. His room never had ghosts. He made sure of that. He couldn't sleep because of how many had gathered in his room. The whole area was glowing a light blue. He was terrified. What was going on?

    Andy was worried for her brother. He had dark bags under his eyes. She felt terrible that she didn't know how to help him out. So, she sent Aiden to talk to him. Aiden was smart and understanding. Surely he could help her little brother.
    The talk didn't go as well as anyone hoped. "Phin didn't wanna talk about it," Aiden said to Androdema after talking to him. "He kicked me out and started listening to his mixtape again," Aiden shrugged as he ate his eggs. It was like, 10 in the morning and Phin still wasn't out of his room. Very unusual for a Saturday. Normally, he would be out eating breakfast and watching dumb movies with Andy. "Do you think this is my fault?" her fiancé asked, bringing her back to reality.
    "Hell no," she said quickly. "Phin loves you," Andy said softly. She stared into her tea as if it might have the answers. Her mother used to say it did, but this time it only had sugar and milk.

    Phin was doing research. He needed to know why these ghosts were tormenting him so much. He opened a large book and pressed play on his Walkman. Freddie Mercury sang as Phin read about curses, hexes, hell, and witches. Maybe he was cursed? Yet none of the curses listed said anything about hundreds of ghosts he had never seen before coming back from the beyond to keep a teenager from sleeping. It just made no sense! He didnt know what to do, and he hated not knowing!
    Phin slammed the book shut and chucked it across his room. The resounding thud was comforting. He sighed and fell back against his bed. He was so upset. He knew that when the sun went down he was going to be bothered. He just wanted to have a nice night's sleep, damn it!
    He hugged his pillow and stared at the poster he had on his wall. It was of Queen, of course. He sighed as he stared at Brian Mays's hair. He needed to just get out of the house. Maybe that's all this was. Just...hallucinations caused by stress and boredom? He groaned and stood. Then, left his room.
    Andy nearly gasped when she saw him. "Phin!" She exclaimed. "Are you ok?" She asked.
    Phin nodded. "Yeah, I just can't sleep. Probably stress," he said with a shrug. He went to the kitchenette and grabbed a pop tart. "Can we do something today?" He asked Aiden and Andy.
    "Yes!" Andy said. "I was thinking we could go to the mall?" She suggested softly. Phin nodded while Aiden groaned.
    "The mall doesn't have anything cool," Aiden jokingly whined. He didn't actually hate the mall. He just liked giving Andy a hard time about going there every weekend. She never bought anything. She just 'window shopped.'
    Phin laughed softly. "The mall sounds good to me. Polaris gave me 20 bucks to buy some new film, so I might grab some while we're out," he said with a tiny smile. He slowly pushed up his glasses, then opened his pop tart and began eating it.
    "You eat them RAW?" Aiden exclaimed. "Andy, you're brother is nuts!" He joked with her. Phin responded by sticking his tongue out at Aiden. He liked that Aiden was moving in with them. Aiden was a good guy. He was fun to be around.

    The mall was busy as usual. Teenagers ran amuck. Parents were holding screaming children or buying things their teen said they needed for school. Phin sighed softly. September was always a good time to go to the mall. Lots of fun trying to find your way though the back-to-school shoppers even though school has been in session for two weeks now. He got it though. Some people needed to wait until they knew exactly what they need. Some didnt want to wait. It all depended.
    Phin walked next to Andy and Aiden, who were disgustingly holding hands and looking in love. He was wearing his head phones listening to Pink Floyd's Money. Fitting. He laughed to himself as the song began. Andy was talking about wanting to get a new outfit for her next job interview. She was lucky Aiden's family was keeping him, and thus her and Phin, afloat and had some extra money to spend on his lovely fiancée. He kissed her cheek, and Phin fake-gagged. He didn't really dig affection, but whatever. His sister was happy.
    They went into Woolworth and Andy lit up. Phin laughed softly, then mumbled something about going into the small Sharper Image nearby.
    As he wandered away from the store, something was following him. He could feel it. He gulped, and turned, but...no one was there. He took a deep breath, then went into the electronic store to buy batteries and film. He still felt like he was being watched. He didn't bother to look behind himself. He felt like he was going crazy. He smiled as he saw Andy and Aiden. They would understand. They wouldn't-
    A person appeared in front of him. He shrieked, and fainted. When he woke up he was on the floor of the Woolworth. Andy was sitting next to him, looking worried, while Aiden was handing her a water bottle. "Phin!" Andy exclaimed. "Are you ok?" She asked softly as she held onto her brother's arm. She slowly helped him up.
    Phin nodded. "Yeah, I just...I felt...weird," he said softly. He didn't wanna say that he saw a scary ghost. Then everyone near him would think he was insane. He wasn't insane...right?