The Afterlife of a Gamer

Chapter 16

We'll be doing a little character background for the next couple chapters, how 'bout? >:)

Enjoy!

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E3 was two days away. Simon was woken up at 2 am by a disturbing nightmare. One that has haunted him ever since he fell into the small coma after the crash. A nightmare that worsened ever since Lewis came back as a ghost.

Simon glanced at the digital clock by his bedside, then drowsily stood up. His mouth tasted like death and his forehead had a light sheen of sweat over it. 

Exiting his bedroom, he made his way to the kitchen. He flicked the lights on and opened the fridge, taking out a water bottle and unscrewed the cap. He took a large gulp of water before setting it down on the counter he was leaning on. 

These reoccurings nightmares were more than just nightmares. Simon knew that, but a part of him wanted the memory to stay buried. He was called crazy because of it, a nuisence in life. So it stayed buried, until the crash somehow made it resurface and plague him. 

"Oh, for f*ck's sake," Simon muttered to the empty room. He ran a hand through his unkemp hair. "Why do you have to come back now? After 30 years?" 

Who he was talking to was not a 'who', but a 'what'. The memory, which he had made himself forget as he grew into his early teenage years. He refused to think about it. 

But, refusing to think about a certain time or place will make you think about it, because your mind works that way. 

When Simon was a little boy, five years old to be exact, he attended a funeral of his grandmother he had only met a few times, but has grown quite fond of. She always brought candies when she visited, and sometimes a toy for little Simon Lane. As a young child who was happy at anything new, he liked her instantly, and always cherished it when she visited. 

Then she died of a heart attack, and he and his parents had to attend her funeral. He didn't fully understand it. Why was grandma in a wooden bed? Why were they burying her in the ground? She looked like she was sleeping, why would they do that to her? Why wouldn't she be coming back? 

He had thrown a fit in the middle of the service, yelling all the little-kid insults of 'stupid' and 'dumb' as the coffin was lowered into the grave. His dad had to drag him away, trying to comfort him and explain a funeral in a way a five-year-old could understand. 

Then, just a few days later, while Simon was doodling on a blank sheet of paper with crayons, the room suddenly went colder, and the little boy sensed a presence in the room. He stopped his drawing, shivering slightly at the dropped tempature, and turned to where his bed stood. 

Sitting on the edge of his bed, his grandmother sat, smiling warmly at the child. She wore clothes different to the ones she wore in the coffin(which Simon didn't realize were the clothes she had her heart attack in) and gave a little wave. 

Simon was confused, very confused. Didn't daddy say grandma wasn't coming back? Why was she there?

He voiced his confusion to his grandmother, who looked a little sad, but kept on smiling. She explained to him that yes, she is dead, but she came back to see him. Simon was happy, a little confused, but happy. Grandma was back! Which means more candy and toys! 

Then she explained to him that she couldn't give him any more presents, and while he was a little sad at that, he was still glad she wasn't in the hole in the ground.

Grandma stayed for months. Simon tried to point her out, tried to show daddy and mummy that grandma was back! She's not in the dark hole! However, they only looked at him sadly, telling him that grandma wasn't back, she was gone. He was more confused now, pointing to her sitting on the bed, holding  the cane she used to walk around with. Daddy and mummy patted his head and told him that grandma was in a better place and to stop pretending. Then they left, despite his retorts and arguments, his mum giving a little kiss to his forehead on the way out his bedroom door.

Apparently, news of this had spread through the family, and no matter what, whenever a family member visited the house, they always told Simon that grandma was in a better place now, and he can stop pretending. He always argued, pointing to grandma and saying she's right here! Why can't you see her?!

Grandma never did explain why no one else could see her. She only said Simon was the one she wanted to see her most. Simon got confused, but didn't ask any more questions. 

The only one who believed him, or at least went along with what Simon was saying, was an older cousin. He was really nice, and when Simon explained that grandma was back and talked to him, the cousin didn't say that grandma was gone and that he should stop pretending. He patted Simon on the shoulder and asked if grandma was doing well, if she was watching over Simon, if she was happy where she was. Simon relayed the answers to his cousin, his grandma sitting in an old wicker rocking chair and smiling warmly at the cousin, though he couldn't see her. 

Simon liked this cousin the most. The child had grown apart from his family in the couple years grandma has come back, his uncles and aunts and parents all wondering if he should go to a therapist or something at least stop talking about his dead grandmother. Everyone called him crazy behind his back. The messed-up kid who talked to dead people. A fuck-up. Rumors start, and any kid on the block where their house was was well aware of the kid who talked to his dead grandmother. 

His grandmother obviously regretted coming back from the grave. She always looked at Simon sadly, gripping her cane a little too tight, and kissed his forehead more often. Then, one day, she said goodbye to Simon, giving him one last hug and kiss, and then started to fade away. 

Simon remembers clearly that that was when he broke down. He kicked and screamed and begged for grandma not to go, he wanted her here, needed her here. She patted his unruly ginger hair and straightened his glasses on his face. She told him it was going to be alright, and faded out completely. 

He remembers feeling the heartbreak. He remembers crying hysterically as his parents ran into his room, and debated calling the police or the hospital or anything that would help their son. 

Calming down, he explains that grandma is gone. She disappeared, right in front of his eyes. And while his daddy and mummy patted his back and told him it was going to be okay, they were relieved that their son has gotten over this. 

Growing up, Simon buried this memory under new ones, hoping to never look back at the time he was known as the crazy kid. And, for over two decades, he managed that well. 

It was the car crash, messing up his head and sending him into a coma where he re-lived that nightmare in full detail. And that nightmare had never left him since. 

Finishing his bottle of water, Simon throws it in a recycling bin and heads to his room. He hopes he can at least get a little sleep tonight; it's been rough since the nightmares came back. But he's managed to get a full six-hour of sleep, even when his mind torments him of the inevitable. 

Though he thinks that these nightmares worsened when Lewis came is because he's a ghost, too, there's also another reason he refuses to think about. The other reason, or theory, is that the nightmares are warning him that one day, Lewis will leave just like his grandmother had. He'll fade away at some point, and not come back, and his best friend will be gone again. 

Deciding he's probably not going to get anymore sleep, he instead goes to the living room and watches the tv. It doesn't help his growing insomnia at all. 

He doesn't want Lewis to be gone. His best friend just came back! But he knows that there will come a day when Lewis will have to leave. He knows the emotions that run through you when someone you care about leaves you forever. It's not pretty, but it's what happens. 

So, when that day comes, he'll be ready. He doesn't like it at all, but when Lewis leaves, he'll be okay with it. He has to be, anyway. 

He ends up falling asleep on the couch, the remote on the floor with the tv turned to a ghost hunting show.