Why I Stayed

Chapter Three

I wake up feeling refreshed and happy. Then I remember that I'm dead. That put a damper on my day. To solidify the situation, I can hear crying in the living room. I'm not even going to look, I've had enough of it already. I decided that I looked fine, it's not like anyone's going to see me anyway. I walked up to my bedroom window. It was just a screen, someone had pushed up the window already. Great. I shot myself headfirst through the windows. I heard some commotion behind me and I turn to see the trainyard swarming with reporters and cops. The reporters weren't anywhere close to the scene, the cops wouldn't let them. Thank god, I don't need everyone knowing just yet. Speaking of everyone, I'm late for school.

Stepping outside felt off. The air felt off. Probably because I was dead, yeah, that could do it. Something rustled in the bushes situated next to my house. Probably a squirrel or something. How funny would it be if I scared the shit out of the squirrel, I thought to myself. I figured hitting the wall of my house would do it. I slowly stalked over to the bush, not wanting to alarm the squirrel, I've heard that animals are more in tune with ghosts or whatever. The bush rustled again and I stopped dead in my tracks. My breath turned to ice inside of me. I couldn't breathe, the most horrible, sickening sensation washed over me. Something dark rushed out of the bush and toward me at full speed, arms outstretched. I started screaming at the top of my lungs as the thing rushed towards me, it's red eyes staring straight into mine, not wanting anything other than me. I started to feel weak, as if those red eyes were literally sucking my energy, my soul. I started backing up, I wanted to run. I wanted to run so badly, but I couldn't. So tired. I fell over, watching the mass assemble itself over me. The fear was paramount, but I couldn't do anything. It had captivated my energy, I was zapped. I could make out a face with a gaping black mouth and red eyes dripping with evil. It resembled a human in most aspects, but it was not human. This is the last image I'll have in my head as I die again. Sounds like my luck. Another flash went by in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see Bo coming out of nowhere, tackling the spawn of Satan. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was. Bo had his arms outstretched as well and the human shaped mass of darkness was absolutely still, wisps of itself appearing to be slowly sucked into his palms. He was still wearing his gloves. Soon, the entire entity was gone. "What, the hell was that?" I shuddered, not quite having the energy to get up yet. Bo was doubled over, panting. He looked almost alive in that moment though. Significantly more solid than he was last night. I could barely see him last night. "That, that was a Seraphim. You don't like those things, trust me," he assured me. "But, what is th-", I started in, but he cut me off. "God, more questions. Just try not to get killed, ok?" He dismissed me. Then he ran off again without a word. I felt a sudden surge of panic. What if there's more of those things around? I did a quick survey of my surroundings. All seemed clear. I got up slowly, still shaking. Well, I was really late for school now.

It's the strangest sensation walking by people, through people for gods sake, and them not having even noticing. Of course, I bounced off of everyone that weighed more than me, so it was kinda like I was still alive. Standing in the lobby, watching all the kids walk, laugh and talk with their friends around me sent me into this kind of state. Why do they get to live? Why do they get to enjoy the gift of life and not me? What have I done to deserve this? Though my life was going virtually nowhere, it was still a good life. This is maddening not having anyone see me or be aware of my presence in any way. "Yeah, it's not fair, is it?" Bo said, coming up behind me. Scaring the shit out of me. "JEEZ, dude, maybe a warning next time?" I sighed, shoving his broad shoulder. Him reacting to it startled me for a second. What is this guys deal? Is he just going to run off again? Does he only appear when I need him? Oh, maybe he's my guardian angel or something. It would make sense. "What's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost," he laughed. I snorted, ok that was pretty funny. Angels don't strike me as humorous beings, so I ruled that out. Plus, he said he was dead, but he could've been lying. He gave me a pretty convincing story though. "You want to go class?" I asked him, trying to keep myself from asking any questions about the outright terrifying attack made on me this morning. "Haven't been to school in a while, I should probably brush up on my Spanish," he mused. I had band first thing every morning. Bo and I walked into the band room, me taking up all its glory. Bo wrinkling his nose at the smell. I'd totally gotten used to it. "Ok, what's a little rotten milk Bo. Seriously. It's not like it's our fault that some dumbass let some freshmen animals into here during lunch last month," I reprimanded him. People started coming into class, Daniel making his usual music puns which I always laughed at. We have this ongoing tradition in band, (well, we have several traditions, but I'll get to those later.) where Daniel and his older brother Cameron would yell at each other on stage during concerts and just carry on a whole comedy act. Sometimes other prime band members would join in. The latest one went a little like this.