I'm in Love with a Monster

The Real Vondergeists

Spectros floated cautiously into Elena's room. He looked around the slightly messy room with curiosity and apprehension. There were still unpacked from the move scattered around, and there was a bit more clutter than Elena would have liked, but for the most part the room was to her tastes. Spectros picked up one of the ice sculptures Alban had made for her and looked at it with interest.

"Nice place you got here.", he complimented quietly. Elena watched him carefully from across the room, trying to figure out why he was there.

"Spectros, why are you here?", she asked, wanting to cut to the chase. Spectros sighed and sat the ice sculpture back on the table.

"I came here because I wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I shouldn't have made you cry. It was wrong. I should have asked your permission to take your picture, I should have treated you with more respect, I should have realized you're sensitive to lights and sounds. I should have- ", Spectros rambled sorrowfully, but Elena shot him a bright smile and he closed his mouth.

"It's okay, I forgive you. We all make mistakes. What's important is that you regret what you did and you won't do it again.", Elena told him, and Spectros could feel warmth rising to his cheeks, despite the fact he was cold as ice.

'She's so... bright.'

"Th-thank you.", the normally confident reporter stuttered. Elena giggled. Spectros's heart fluttered.

"No problem. So, is there anything else you wanna talk about? If not, that's fine! I don't want you to feel pressured to have a conversation with me if you don't wanna!", Elena said quickly. Spectros gave her a fond but melancholy smile.

"No, you're fine. There actually is something else I wanted to talk to you about.", Spectros revealed, and Elena blinked at him.

"Oh?", she asked. Spectros nodded, and his ectoplasm green and deep purple eyes gained a glint of sadness.

"I wanna show you why I am the way I am with my journalism."

—----------------------------------------------------

Elena listened to leaves crunch under her bedroom slippers as she walked through the forest, following after Spectros as he floated through the air, the green glow emanating from his body lighting her way. Elena had no idea how Spectros had managed to convince her to go into the forest at night with him without sounding like a serial killer, but he had, and he had done it so quickly that she didn't have the chance to change out of her pajamas or put on real shoes before she was being led out of the house quietly enough that she wouldn't wake her parents. It was kind of impressive.

'If reporting doesn't work out, he'll make one hell of a lawyer.', Elena thought idly as Spectros came to a stop. They were in a small clearing, standing in front of a twisted, ancient looking tree. It had no leaves, and Elena could feel something was off about it. The tree seemed to be steeped in emotions; fear, anger, loss, sadness. They all stewed together in one big miasma of negativity. Spectros floated over to the tree and ran his hand gently along the bark, a far away look in his unnatural eyes.

"This is. It's been a hot century, but I'd know this place anywhere.", the ghost said breathlessly. Elena tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?", she asked. Spectros took a deep breath, turned around, and gave her a sad smile.

"This is where I died.", he croaked emotionally. Elena's eyes widened.

Subconsciously, she knew Spectros had died at some point. That was how ghosts were made, after all; people died, and then their souls decided to stick around the mortal plain of existence for whatever reason. But for some reason, Elena couldn't reconcile that fact with Spectros's existence. She didn't like imagining bad things happening to people, regardless of how mean or nice they were to her. It made her heart sink. Spectros returned his attention to the tree.