|| 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬, 𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯 & 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑭𝑭𝑰𝑻𝑰 ||

16. Hauntings

RILEY

Putting my spray can back into my pocket, I take a step back to look at my work on the wall. The small image of four small silhouettes standing before a sunrise looks strange against the crumbling brick, but almost has the bright effect that I wanted. My friends used to get annoyed that no art could be perfect enough for me. It needed to be exactly how I envisioned it in my head. Today it was close... but it ended up having a lot more of a sadder tone to it. Maybe because of the colour shades I chose. I wonder if Valerie might like it.

"Hey, you!" An annoyed, raspy voice comes from behind me. I turn around to see the grumpy ghost that usually hangs out in the alleyways. He's a short, thick-bearded old white man who I'd nicknamed Santa for obvious reasons, and who occasionally served as a dead version of Hawshaw, who continues his job by shouting at me for graffitiing. Even in death, I still get lectured.

"Stop destroying the town." Santa barks angrily. "Every single time I catch you haunters you're always getting up to no good."

"I'm not a haunter. I just peacefully get on with my day alone." I reply flatly, starting to walk down the park and away from him.

"Stop terrorising people."

"I'm not terrorising anyone-"

"I saw you with that girl yesterday."

I stop walking, and turn around. "What?"

He hobbles over, looking up at me, his dead eyes squinting, and his disapproving frown deepening the wrinkles on his face."You were haunting that girl. I saw you. Leave her alone."

"I wasn't haunting her. We're friends."

"How can she see you, then?"

"I-I don't know."

"We can only make them see us if we want to haunt them. You think I don't know that? Do you take me for a fool?"

"Can you just leave me alone? I don't know why she can see me, okay? I didn't make it that way." I start walking again, but Santa decides to hobble after me, and continues to nag.

"Do you know who she is? She goes around beating kids up. People keep away from her for good reasons. That child is alone, and you are giving her a false sense of hope, talking to someone who is already long gone."

A false sense of hope. Those words hurt, but they're true. Valerie is alone. She must be happy that she has met someone. She must be thinking we can just be normal friends. But then his other words echo in my mind. She beats kids up? Was she some kind of bully? Well, whether she beat people up or not, she's clearly going through a tough time right now and so am I. She's all I have.

"Your time is limited," Santa continues, "You know you could pass on at any time."

"But I don't know what's kept me here. How can I ever pass on?"

"You've been here long enough to know that rules aren't restricted for us." He points out, "We don't know what we were meant to fulfil, so we could be fulfilling that thing without our knowledge. Then we'd go to the next place without knowing what it was. It happens, and you know that. Stop acting stupid."

Santa walks away without another word, receding back into the closest alley. He's done his job. Tormenting any young ghost that's unfortunate enough to cross his path. And it's worked.

I walk slowly this time, his words repeating themselves in my mind. I reach the skirting of the woods, and settle down by one of the tree trunks.

Haunting. Am I really haunting Valerie? Is that really the only way she is able to see me? I'm tired of constantly being conflicted about it all. Maybe it really could be easier if I told her...even if it risked losing her, or even her being afraid of me. It might be the right thing to do. But-