Luna's Ghost

10

I woke up at five a.m. the next morning and couldn't fall back asleep. I wasn't going to school that day but still couldn't fall back asleep. I was in that weird state where I slept the whole night but still felt like I hadn't slept a wink but still couldn't go back to sleep, even though I was exhausted.

I didn't have any more of those weird nightmares, and Helen and Johnny still hadn't shown up. I waited all morning for them to come back, but they never did. I tried not to panic, but it was hard. I'd never seen Helen act like that before and I was scared they wouldn't come back. They were my only friends, the only ones. . .

My thoughts trailed off as I realized something. I was too attached to them, too dependent on them. That was why I freaked out that much at school. I was freaking out because I didn't have them at my side.

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. I had to stop doing that. If I freaked out any time they left--which they didn't do often but still--or else I'd be anxious twenty-four seven. I couldn't live like that, I had to stand on my own two feet. I guess it was because they were the only ones who were really my friends, the only ones I could talk to about everything.

I sighed and brushed my hair back from my face and behind my ears. I still hoped they would come back. I prayed that me interrogating Helen like that hadn't driven her away, or Johnny. Could they have gotten pissed at me and taken off? Did I go too far?

I felt myself getting anxious again. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I couldn't work myself to having a panic attack again and I had to follow through on working to stand on my own two feet. Besides, when I first met Johnny, which was before I met Helen, when I made him mad when I wouldn't quit questioning him and he took off, he reappeared a few days later, though I didn't know if Helen was willing to come back. She'd always been more sensitive than Johnny and I probably upset her too much.

I looked over at my clock again. It was six thirty now. Mom and Grandma Marie would be wondering why I was up so much and panic that I was having a panic attack again. (Come to think of it, a lot of anxiety ran in my family. No wonder I had panic attacks.)

Seeking to occupy myself before I could get up without freaking my family out, I unhooked my laptop from it's charger and logged in. All of my teachers used Google Classroom so it was more than likely they'd uploaded some of the classwork I'd been tuning out yesterday. Hopefully I could get some work done so I wouldn't be too far behind.

I got a few assignments done before looking at the time again. It was seven. Damn, but time was going slow today.

I was done with my schoolwork, which was good, it meant I wasn't going to be behind, but now I had to do something else that would occupy my mind, take my mind off the situation with Helen and Johnny.

My mind wandered back to seeing Jackson and that ghost beside him, who looked so evil and was whispering in his ear. I bit my lip, thinking about what I saw. It looked like the ghost had been influencing him. Now that I thought about it, I didn't think Jackson could talk or see ghosts like I could based off of what I saw, but I knew he could hear the whispers based off of his demeanor, and it was really affecting him. I suspected that the ghost was his uncle that died and had abused him like Madison said, and he was still bothering him, even after he died. It seemed like the uncle was still making his life miserable.

I remember Helen had explained to me how a ghost's energy can affect people, even if they couldn't hear or see them, could affect how they were feeling, even affecting their physical state, meaning they could make a person ill or sore or anything else. I suspected that was what Jackson's uncle was doing to him.