Aaranormal (On Hold)

1. New House, New Ghosts

The tall skyscrapers outside the window of my car flashed by as I leaned my head onto the cold window.

My right shoulder was occupied by sis, who was asleep and hugging my arm. I pulled my head away from the window and saw the smudgy marks of my greasy hair, not washed for at least a week. I watched as the marks slowly disappeared and then rested my head against the window again.

I absentmindly ran my fingers over the large scar on my left hand as the humming of the car calmed me.

Ghosts were, unfortunately, a common thing for me to encounter every once in a while. It was easy to know when a ghost was nearby. My left foot started to sting and my heart would start to feel numb, followed by a wave of pure stomach torture.

One of the reasons I was so eager to move towns was not because of dad's new job, but the fact that I could get away from those spirits. Although, when I realised that we were moving to New Siftian, the presumably "Ghost City", I of course, put up a good fight.

Which failed, obviously. When dad puts his mind to something, there's no way to break through to him.

My dad parked his black car in the large parking lot surrounding the shiny new apartment of ours. The parking lot had a small garden on one side with a tiny fountain where a few pigeons were taking a bath.

Mom opened the door and went outside without saying a word. I didn't blame her though. Grandma had died last week and mom's been depressed all this time.

I nudged sis and whispered, "Hey sis, wake up."

She muttered a small "mmm" and finally parted ways from my now numb and somewhat dislocated shoulder. The sleeve of my thin sweater was covered with drool. Even though she was older than me, she slept like a three-year old.

She yawned like a caveman and wiped her blue glasses which also had drool on them before leaving the car. "Get out lazybones," she whispered in her monotone voice.

I got out of the car before closing the door. I glared at her childlishly, "Me? Lazy? Excuse my grandpappy, but will you look at my monster-spit covered arm?"

She just smiled and motioned me over, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

It was never easy to win with sis, nor was it easy to lose to her. She always answered in the most neutral way possible with her deep voice that just made people want to listen to her voice more.

I followed her to the elevator. From where I was, I counted at least fifteen floors of our apartment, but our apartment was still one of the shortest ones.

Sis was always a bit chubby but was tall and had the cutest blue eyes on her porcelain-white face. Her hair was the deepest black that was too long and thick to be real.

Dad clapped his hand on my shoulder and I jumped. "Whoa there, sunshine. You look like you've seen a ghost." He smiled. cheekily at me.

"Ha ha ha," I said sarcastically, swatting his hand away from my shoulder. I couldn't help but smile. My face, like sis, was really pale and my natural face had my hazel eyes wide open and mouth slightly open, making me look more dazed than I really was.

Resting-shocked-face? Maybe?

I joined sis and mom at the elevator and as soon as I stepped in, nausea ran over me and I tumbled into sis.

"Aara, are you okay?" Mom asked with a concerned look towards me.

I nodded as I regained my balance, mostly from the help of sis. Mom's eyes were red from earlier, and just one look at her made me feel guilty. I was never one to care for someone physically, like hugging them or comforting them with a pat on the back or something like that. The most I could do was to not give her something else to worry about.

"Yes," I choked out, the sound of my rapid heartbeat nearly deafening me. "I'm-" I gulped. "I'm fine."

Mom looked at me as if she didn't believe me. But she shrugged it off when the elevator made a ding as it closed.

I gasped softly as I leaned against sis. They were here.

My dad fumbled with the keys while we waited behind him. I gulped as my stomach started doing backflips. I leaned further on sis as she continued to grow more concerned by the minute. "Aara, are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "Of course," I managed to croak out.

Sis scrunched up her nose and furrowed her perfect brows as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder for assistance.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see two ghost children run across the hallway holding balloons just as my foot started tingling.

I walked into the new apartment and sat on a sofa in the large living room while dad proudly started showing the others around.

There was a balcony opposite the entrance with cute wooden bird ornaments. The left branched off to the master bedroom with a private bathroom and a kitchen. To the right of the living room, there were three smaller rooms and another bathroom.

"So sunshine, which room will you be taking?" Dad asked as he gestured towards the room. I got up and said, "The empty one."

He laughed and said sarcastically, "Well, that obviously narrows it down."

I didn't answer. I just stared at the old lady knitting away in the rocking chair. She looked at me and smiled. I didn't smile back.

I ran up to dad as he pointed to the first room with pale blue wallpaper and yellow furniture with duck handles on the shelves. There was an old dreamcatcher hung from a hook in the wall.

"No," I said, eyeing the mother playing with her little boy. She threw her laughing child in the air then caught him in her arms before looking at me. Her eyebrows raised in confusion as I backed away.

The second one had black and white striped wallpaper with a grey carpeted floor. A checkered bed was in the corner with a large window overlooking the entire building.

I shook my head. Dad rolled his eyes, "Tough customer."

Sis laughed as she ran in. "Well, good luck! I'm keeping this."

"Are you sure?" I gulped as I watched the crying girl in the corner of the room.

"Duh. This neutral vibe is amazing," Sis grinned. She slumped down on the bed, startling the ghost who hurried away from her.

I couldn't help but feel terrified. Why did this place have so many ghosts? I didn't understand.

Dad took me to the last room, which was smaller than the rest and was filled with only a few boxes. There was a small window in the corner with thin pink curtains which gave view of the shining buildings, and the floral wallpaper on the walls were yellowed and peeling off.

"I was going to use this room for storage," he started.

"I like it," I told him.

"Seriously?" He looked at me like I'd grown another eyeball.

"Yep."

"Well, " he scratched his head. "Fine then. I'll help move your bed in here. The moving truck will be here soon with our stuff."

I assisted dad in moving the bed to my room when the moving truck arrived. After he left, I locked the door and sat on my bed. I leaned my head against the dusty wall as I stared out the window.

This was the only refuge I had from the ghosts. From those monsters. I placed my sweaty palms on my tights, cooling them down. I took a few deep breaths and for the first time since I entered this building, I couldn't feel my abnormal heart beating anymore. I couldn't fee the nausea, the pain.

I finally felt safe.