Here We Are (Ziall)

Chapter 10

(Zayn’s POV)

I lied and bed, thinking about absolutely nothing. It was great. For once I didn’t have a headache. Liam wasn’t around to bother me. The only thing that could possible shake my decent mood that day was the swift thought of Niall coming to my mind. I tried not to think of him and did some of those mind clearing exercises to do that, but he just kept coming back into that blank space. My hours of lying in my bed completely blissed out came to a quick end. I groaned, sitting up from my bed.

I needed to figure out so many things. Like why Niall was seeing ghosts and how I didn’t know he could. Also, why were the reapers after him? Things weren’t going like they usually were, Niall’s situation was so much different than the common ghost coming to me and asking me to help. The old man at the beginning of the summer was no big deal. Hell, even Liam wasn’t a big deal. He wasn’t rushing to get out of here. He wanted to enjoy the lime light for a while and I would allow him to do. 

There was no reason for a teenager not to experience his life after spending a majority of it trapped in a hospital bed. Though, I did need him to stick to being in one place. All of these different places he could go got confusing. I mean, he could go to Niall’s, his home, the hospital, and here with me. I would at least like to narrow it down to two. Being with myself and with Niall to keep an eye on him. He would eventually need to give up on the places he wants to go. Staying too long would cause his spirit to go dark. That was something we didn’t want. But he wasn’t in any immediate danger. I would leave his situation last. Niall was top priority right now. 

I wish I had Niall’s number so I could check up on him, but that was something I had yet to achieve. I guess I was skipping a few steps and all, saying that I was his boyfriend to his mother and all. I mentally slapped myself for saying it. I just complicated things further, not only for Niall, but for me as well. 

Those few hours that I lied in bed and cleared my mind gave me some insight into what I was feeling. “I just want to protect Niall.” I muttered to myself. That’s right. I wanted to protect him, and the only way I could do that was to be close to him. And the closer I got, the more I realized that the feelings I got in my dreams, weren’t just in my dreams. 

I had a dream that Niall and I kissed. That there was this spark that lit up my world. It was like all the burdens that weighed down my shoulders were lifted and he was the only thing that mattered. I wanted to feel that way again and I guess my subconscious told me to just go for it. But I needed to wait. I bet Niall has had enough of me lately. I would see him hopefully the next day at school.

For the rest of the day I decided to head over to the library. Our local library had this old collection of paranormal books. I had requested some older books for years and finally they got them in for me. It also helped that our little town was destined to be haunted from the beginning since there was this big fire like a hundred  years ago. 

I walked in, shrugging my coat off and placing it on the empty chair next to the one I was going to sit in. The librarian watched me walk over to the info desk and pick up the books I had asked for. I also went to get some history books as well. The first books I went through was simply called The Dark Ages and I skipped right to the section about the myths and legends about the grim reaper. Apparently he was this skull faced figure in a dark cloak, yielding a peasants’ scythe. I laughed, because that was far from the truth. The grim reaper portrayed by the people from hundreds of years ago was probably left to the imagination. The reapers I have encountered, though, they were all too real.