Illusory | ✓

i l l u s o r y : 01

"I found my locket underneath the mattress when I came home from the funeral. I was so upset and I thought that I lost it forever. When I found it I placed it around my neck and I wear it all the time now," Hillary says as she pulls out the locket from underneath the t-shirt, letting it fall on top of her t-shirt. I had seen the golden chain earlier but thought nothing of it. "No one but me would know about that..."

Hillary looks around the janitor's closet once more, her eyes scanning in hopes of seeing her great aunt in front of her but all that welcomes her is space around her and janitor cleaning supplies. "She really is here, isn't she?" 

I nod my head, allowing her to turn her head towards me once more. "Can you tell her that I miss her? That Mom hasn't been the same since she died? She misses her more than me."

"She can hear you," I explain as I notice that Aunt Nikki crouches down next to Hillary. Hillary gasps when Aunt Nikki places her hand on her shoulder blade. With blurry irises, Hillary looks down at her shoulder blade with happiness shimmering through her eyes.

Like a dam that has been blocked too long, Hillary's inner walls crumble away and she spills everything that she has wanted to say to her great aunt. The whole time, I'm nothing more than just another messanger. Tears are present in both Hillary and Aunt Nikki's eyes but it's enough for me to feel my heart flutter in my chest.

It isn't until Aunt Nikki freezes where she is that I notice a light reflected in both of her eyes. "I-Is that light for me?" Aunt Nikki turns to me before I nod my head. "I guess it's time for me to go."

"What's she saying?" Hillary jumps up from her spot on the box and I turn to her, telling her that Aunt Nikki can see the light and she's about to cross over. She turns in the direction of where her great aunt is once I tell her where she is.

"Do you really have to go Aunt Nikki?" 

"Yes, dear child, it's my time. Your great uncle, Uncle Peter, is by the light. He's waiting on me, has been for the past ten years. But remember what I said. I'm always here for you. I'm always in your heart. I'll be watching," Aunt Nikki whispers before she turns to me. "Thank you for letting me have the chance to tell her goodbye."

"You're welcome," I respond as she bends down and kisses Hillary on the cheek before she takes a deep breath and makes her way forward. In seconds, she disappears and a wave of summer breeze goes throughout the room, letting both me and Hillary know that Aunt Nikki has crossed over.

Hillary turns to me and I take my own deep breath of air, before I tell her what her aunt wanted me to tell her.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

I leave the janitor's closet before Hillary, knowing that it will seem odd for teenagers to see me standing next to a cheerleader. Not that cheerleaders are anything like the movies make them out to be. They aren't led by a mean blonde girl who is rich. And not all of them are rich. I mean, there are some mean girls on the cheerleading team but that's just because they're mean. They aren't mean because they're cheerleaders and they aren't cheerleaders because they are mean. They just don't like being nice and almost never smile.

Looking up at the clock, I notice that there's only a minute left until the bell rings and I'm supposed to go to my next class. I've missed lunch and although my stomach is grumbling, I merely fold my arms against my chest. I'll go and get something to eat after school at Sonic or something. I mean, I only have one class left and that's British Lit but we're about to watch a movie version of Macbeth. The only thing I'll be looking forward to is the death of Macbeth.

The last thing I expect though is to hear a loud crash outside of the school, coming from the parking lot closest to the cafeteria. Teenagers start shouting and running in the direction of the parking lot, leaving the cafeteria. A cold shiver runs through my veins and following the crowd of teenagers towards the school parking lot my eyes widen when I see that two cars have collided with each other.

A green beetle bug is a tangle of metal, evidence that no one could have survived the crash. It's nothing more than a dismay of metal, the hood of the beetle bug had been torn off and fluid from the car is shooting upwards into the air. The truck that had collided into the beetle bug has been better off than the beetle bug. The front of the truck has been smashed in and the hood is crunched but the driver of the truck is currently jumping out of the truck and there's no sight of the owner of the girlie green beetle bug.

A group of football players push others out of the way and make their way hastily towards the beetle bug. I can't help but feel my heart jump in my chest at the thought of one of them pulling out the body of their sister or their girlfriend. They yank at the driver's door and manage to pry it open before pulling out the body of a sophomore girl.

My heart drops into my stomach when I'm welcomed by the sight of Patty Willis in front of me. Her blonde waves of her hair are coated with blood and a shard of metal is stuck into her chest, while her eyes are closed. Her boy band t-shirt is splattered with blood and her right tennis shoe is missing from her foot.

The sophomore Homecoming Queen, along with being one of the school's best drama stars, has been impaled by a sharp piece of metal from her beetle bug. The boy currently holding Patty drops to the concrete parking lot on his knees and starts sobbing. It's Cayson, her boyfriend, that shields her away from everyone and is softly stroking her hair.

Teachers push the teenagers away to see what has happened and while some of the teens start calling for an ambulance, there's one teacher that slowly makes his way towards Cayson. It's the varsity football coach, Coach Ryder, who puts his hand on Cayson's shoulder blade but Cayson shoves it away from him.

"Patty!"

Turning our heads, we see the school's senior Homecoming King and most handsome boy, Bridger, start running in the direction of where Patty is. Tears are ushering down his handsome features as the dark brunette shoves teenagers away before they can have a chance to move out of the way. He stops suddenly and screams when he sees the state of Patty in front of him. She hadn't survived the crash.

In the distance we hear the sound of an ambulance. Teachers start ordering for students to go into the cafeteria until further notice and as I look at the two heartbroken boys in front of me my eyes pause when I see the ghost of Patty coming out of her body. She looks just the same, only without the piece of metal in her chest.

The girl pauses where she is and looks in my direction before she stands guard at her body, and her brother along with Cayson. Even though she knows that I can see her, she isn't interested at the moment to walk over to me and give me any last final thoughts when it comes to what she wants Cayson or Bridger or anyone else to know.

"Excuse me." I turn my head and seeing that Mrs. Emerson, the Human Anatomy teacher, is standing in front of me with a frown stretched across her features I know that she wants me to head back to the cafeteria. "I don't think you heard us or you decided to ignore us but that doesn't matter because I'll have to repeat it again. Please go into the cafeteria, the principle will decide whether or not school should continue."

I open my mouth but she beats me.

"Now."

The older woman glares at me as she pushes her reading glasses up on her nose. Her graying red hair has been pulled back into a braided ponytail and although she's wearing unflattering clothing she's one of the brightest teachers in the school. And one of the most feared.

Nodding my head, I turn on my heel and start making my way towards the cafeteria. The whole time, I feel Patty's eyes burning a hole into the back of my skull. It's one thing to have a ghost know that I can see them and they demand me to do something even though they just died, but it's another thing to have a ghost who just died make me feel hated for being able to see her.

None the less, I have a feeling that I won't get to see the beginning of that Macbeth movie in British Lit but that's the least of my problems. Macbeth would be easier than what I have to deal with when it comes to my kind of problems.