ghost - cake

Two

Calum sat on the wooden bench hanging from two chains on the wall, staring thoughtfully at his tattered shoes against the concrete ground.

It must have been the early hours of the morning by now, but the lack of clocks made it difficult for Calum to confirm that. Streams of moonlight entered though the small barred window opposite him, although it didn't serve as comfort quite the way he had hoped.

He kept rubbing at the prominent red lines around his wrists, a result of the guard violently twisting the cuffs a number of times in order to control him. The skin on the insides of his wrists had opened up a little, dripping blood and staining his clothes. In any other situation the pain would have been almost unbearable, but he didn't seem to notice it too much.

The metal cuffs themselves were still fastened securely, linking his hands together and greatly restricting his movement. He had hoped that one of the police officers would have unlocked them before throwing him in the cell, but it seemed life as a criminal was worse than he had ever anticipated.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Calum muttered to himself, desperate to curl up in a ball and wallow in self pity. "I'm cold and tired and sad and I wanna go home. Why can't I just go home?"

"Can you shut up for one second?" Luke hissed. "I'm trying to get us out of here, but it's difficult when you won't stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"Us? Dude, you're a ghost. Can't you walk through walls or something?"

Luke didn't reply, leaving Calum to assume it was a result of his embarrassment. In all fairness, he hadn't exactly been dead long enough to pick up on many of the tricks that came with with it. Neither of them even understood how it had happened, and why the two were somehow linked.

"Right, so the guards aren't outside but they were stupid enough to leave the keys on the table. I can grab the one for your cuffs and the one for the cell, and slide them both under the bars. You can then unlock everything and get yourself out."

Calum froze. "What?"

"Turns out I actually can walk through walls," Luke proclaimed triumphantly.

"That's not what I-" Calum panicked. "Run away from the police? Are you serious? They'll find me!"

"No, they won't," Luke assured, but his inability to explain how that would be possible was worrying.

Moments later, Calum leapt to his feet as a small, silver hit the side of his shoe, followed moments later by a larger, golden key coated with a thick layer of rust. He bent down and picked them both up, first unlocking his cuffs and smiling to himself at the ability to once again move his wrists, and then sliding his arm through the bars and inserting the key hesitantly into the lock.

Although Calum couldn't see Luke, he could certainly sense the boy's pride as the cell opened with a small rattle, announcing their freedom. He stepped nervously into the corridor, checking his surroundings for any signs of the guards returning to monitor the prisoners.

Calum walked slowly towards the exit, desperate to get out yet secretly hoping they'd get caught and thrown back into captivity. He did not want to find out what life as a fugitive was like.

"Lemme out, would ya?" A fellow inmate asked suddenly, although it was more a demand than a request. The man curled his inked fingers around the metal bars and snarled at the boy, his impatience rather obvious.

"How about no," Luke chuckled, but cursed to himself moments later when he realised than no one besides Calum could hear anything he had to say.

"Sorry," Calum smiled weakly, his voice not exceeding a whisper. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"You do realise that you literally just talked to him, right?"

"Whatever," Calum scoffed, "but if you don't shut up then someone will notice we got out."

"Firstly, they can't hear me. Secondly, they can't see me. Remember?"

Calum rolled his eyes hoping that Luke couldn't see, but he had no idea where Luke was except faint traces of sound that were almost impossible to pinpoint. So any of his actions were far from secret.

"Dude, we've already been over this," Luke sighed. "I can read your thoughts."

Oh yeah, so nothing was secret.

At the end of the corridor, the opposite side to where the guards were supposed to be sat, was an old fire exit door that led into a forest at the back of the station. The trees went on for miles and once they were out, Calum knew there was little chance they would be found, especially since it was still dark outside.

Calum had lived in the town his entire life, he knew his way around it.

His hand was on the handle as alarms began to blare, waking the prisoners who had previously been asleep and sending several guards running into the corridor. Once they noticed Calum moments away from escaping, they broke into a run, but they were already at a disadvantage.

Calum had a head start, stumbling through the door and sprinting straight into the forest. The thud of his feet against the ground was softened by the damp grass, careful not to trip on any brambles or roots. The darkness fulfilled its role in hiding him from the officers that ran after, flashlights in hand and searching for Calum amidst all the trees.

But he was lost deep within the forest by then, collapsing behind a fallen log and clamping a hand over his mouth to stop himself from breathing too loudly.

The lights eventually died away as the officers returned to the station, their frustration apparent in the way that they grunted and muttered to one another. It was likely they would send out a search party when the sun came up later that day and they stood even the slightest chance of recapturing the escaped suspect, but right now Calum didn't care for that.

The thrill had sent adrenaline rushing through his veins, reckless laughter falling from his lips with ease. He could feel every hint of fear and doubt erase itself from his mind, finally knowing what it felt like to truly be free.

"Oh god," Luke mumbled, "please don't tell me you've lost it."

"Lost it? There's nothing left for me to lose, Luke. I just ran from the police with a freaking ghost."

Calum understood everything a little better now. How danger could be so addictive, wanting nothing more than to experience it time and time again until there's nothing left to feel. His perception on criminality was also so different to what it had once been; he had been a prisoner and a part of him loved it.

Maybe he had lost it, but maybe he didn't care.

~~~~~~~

A/n: I wrote this super late last night because stormy weather kept me up, but I'm glad because I always need a bit of help getting into a story

Hope this was okay, thank you x