Brad

Chapter 12:

Only three more chapters.
**
I watch the girl flipping through my music like they were pages to a book.
"These are great albums," she says.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I'm sorry about Brad. He can be a jerk sometimes, but he has good intentions. He doesn't want to hurt you; at least that is what he told me," She says.
"Well that really doesn't concern you," I say a little defense because she knows Brad and me are fighting but I don't even know her name.
"It does actually. It really concerns the whole house," she says.
"How does the house have anything to do with Brad and I?" I ask.
"Well Brad lives here," she says. "So do the rest of us."
"Brad doesn't live here. My family lives here," I say.
"It may say that you own the house in paper but that doesn't mean you're the only one who lives here," she says.
"What?" I say confused. "How come I don't already know you live here. I mean I would have notice 3 other people living here."
"Oh sweetie it's more than 3 people. The reason you don't know is because
we're all dead," she says.
"Dead," I whisper to myself.
"That's right you precious Brad is dead," she says. "Everything is the same about him but you just didn't know he was dead. You can feel him and talk to him. You might just get sick of him because he is not going anywhere."
"Wait why do you live here?" I ask.
"Well," she says like she was about to tell a long story. "We all died in this town and the house was built to keep the ghost of this town. That is why it looks really old. Everyone who lives in this town knows what house this is. That's why they don't go near it."
"I don't understand," I say but when I look for the girl she is gone.
My brain is so confused I can't even think clearly. The only things I can process is that Brad is dead, there are others that are dead living in my house, Brad is dead, my house is basically for dead people in my town, and also Brad is dead. Is that why he doesn't want to be with me because he is dead. Why is he tutoring with my mom if he is dead. If I was him I would give up on school because he isn't getting any older. I get out of bed and get my notepad and a pen. I write down the following:
How did you die?
How long have you been dead?
Why didn't you tell me you were dead?
How many people live in my house?
Those where the question I will ask him when I see him. I put the notepad on my desk and go back to bed. I wake up in the middle of the night from being cold. I get up and go to grab some more blankets from my closet. When my eyes adjust to the darkness I could have promised I saw Brad in my room. Most likely I am just imagining things from last night but he does live in this house. I grab my blanket and lay back asleep I feel someone's hand stroking my hair but I am too tired to react to it.
**