Don't wanna Believe

Don't Wanna Believe (7)

Chapter 7

We were falling to fast for me to think. Time didn't slow down like it did in the movies. Mona, a good little girl, didn't even scream.  As we were about to splat against the gravelly ground a fierce gust of wind blew me backwards. I went straight through the wall of the second floor.

Breathing heavily I stood up. Mona was sprawled out on the floor, crying softly.

'Hey, we're safe. It's okay, it's all okay.' I said softly and she looked up at me through tear-filled eyes.

'Promise?' She inquired and I nodded. 'Promise.' I whispered back. I offered her a hand and she took it, sniffling slightly.

'T-Thanks. I didn't want to die. I mean, you look so grumpy and sad all the time.' She didn't seem to realise I might take offense to her words and I walked her out, playing the sentence in my mind again. Had I really been grumpy and depressed the entire time I'd known her? Did it have anything to with me being a ghost, or was that just my personality and I'd never noticed? I'd never really had friends, just acquaintances and colleagues. And Cecilia. Something began to nag. Why had Cecilia, one of the schools hottest girls, picked me of all the sad, lonely nerds to be her boyfriend. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed she had ulterior motives. A vivid image of our first kiss came back.

I was just showing her my basic research, the theroy that souls can come back as disturbances in energy of the atomsphere around it, that they could be dectected. There was something I was keeping from her, I can't remember excatly what, but as I was done explaining she leaned over and kissed me right on the lips. I stood there in shock for  moment before telling or showing her whatever I'd planned to keep a secret.

I was still deep in thought when I walked into the door. Mona was standing just behind me and gripped my hand tightly as I walked through it. I continued rubbing my head. I thought if you died you weren't meant to feel anymore pain. Guess not. then.

Mona tugged on my hand as we reached the set of elevators that were on every floor and I stopped her, needing to figure out my next move.

I crouched down to her height and scrambled around in my pocket for a rubber band. After a few failed attempts of which I withdrew an annoyingly short length of string I'd presumably cut up when I was bored my fingers closed around the thin bit of rubber I was looking for.

'Mona, I need you to go down into the lobby and play with this for a while,' I started, holding out the rubber band, 'say your brother is in a bit of a bad mood and your waiting down there until he settles down a bit. I'll come and get you when everything is sorted out. Then we'll get you some new clothes. Promise.'

She stared me down, a hard look in her eyes. 'You make a lot of promises you don't always keep Daniel.' She said grumpily and I mentally slapped my self. Maybe it was just her age but I felt I needed to confirm everything, guarantee everything was going to be fine, or that we were definitely going to do it. And the reassurance wasn't all for her.

'I know and I'm sorry, but this time I mean it.' I said, my voice ringing with authority. She gave me one last disbelieving look before flouncing towards the elevator, apparently delighted and amused with pressing the buttons, seeing them light up and the ding as the elevator came to the floor. She gave me one final wave before the doors closed and she was cut off from the outside world, even if just a few seconds. I watched the numbers on the screen above the elevator go down to G before I walked over and pressed the up button. The elevator behind me dinged as it came up to my floor and I stepped inside. I pressed the button for the 17th floor and the doors closed with a gentle thud.

The numbers flashed by the screen and soon I was stepping out onto the floor. I could still hear the cops talking. And Will, of course.

'But I'm telling you, he was here. And that  girl too. I heard him calling her Mona Lisa. Please, I have no reason to lie.' Came Will's pleading and smirked in satisfaction. This was going to be priceless.