Ghosted

Chapter 15: Not your fault

The sky was still pink from the morning sun, and Reggie was halfway across the city, still searching for his brother, but Steve Peters is just nowhere to be found.

He searched all morning, even looking in places he already searched thinking maybe he missed something. Maybe he didn't look hard enough. He thought that if he couldn't find Steve, it was because he was doing something wrong. He had to be doing something wrong.

He was determined. He needed to know if Steve was living the life he deserved. One better than the one they had with their parents. He wanted to see that he was happy, no matter what is life looked like.

As Reggie walked along the sidewalk, feeling like he'd never find his brother, he passed by a cemetery and a scary thought crossed his mind. A thought he wished he could throw out the window and never think about again but it stayed glued to his brain like a leech sucking the life from him.

What if the reason he can't find Steve...is because he's buried in the ground and forgotten by the world. What if is little brother is dead. 

You'd think the idea would be exciting, they could reunite as ghosts, but no. This was not exciting for Reggie. He wanted Steve to live a long and happy life, the idea of anything bad happening to him was a nightmare.

He didn't want to go and see his brother's name on a tombstone, but he had to know the truth. So, he looks at every tombstone in every cemetery in the city, it takes him all day and the sky is turning pink again as the sun starts going to rest. And he finds a tombstone, in a cemetery on the edge of the city that couldn't possibly be further from the studio or near where they use to live, he found a tombstone that read "Steve Peters. Died 2000."

Reggie didn't have the heart to read the message engraved on the tombstone. His heart shattered and his eyes stung with tears.

He was fifteen.

He was a kid.

And now he's dead, and Reggie can they'll but think, maybe if he was there for him he could have saved him. Maybe he could have stopped whatever happened. If he was a better brother, maybe Steve would still be alive.

His little brother was gone.

He chocked back tears. Even though no one was around to see him cry, he didn't want to. But the throbbing and pinching in his heart was a lot to take.

"Death can be a sad thing." Caleb suddenly poofs in front of him. Reggie stumbles back, almost tripping over the ground. "But it can also be a great thing. I mean, you and you're friends almost seem better off dead."

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Oh, did I ruin a moment? Sorry about that, I just came to collect something." Caleb steps forward and grabs Reggie's wrist, wrapping his hand around the stamp and again the burning sensation comes back but this time ten times worse.

Reggie cries out in pain and tries to pull his wrist free out Caleb's grip was too tight. Reggie could feel something leaving him, like Caleb was sucking out a part of him. It honestly felt worse than the jolts, worse than dying.

Caleb abruptly lets go, pushing Reggie back, but the pain stops. Reggie looks down at his wrist and the stamp is now a deep red.