Ghost

Chapter 5

Louis stood at the kitchen counter, pouring milk into his cereal bowl, though his eyes were unfocused and mind was racing. After what happened the night before, he had been unable to fall asleep, and now all he could think about was Liam. What was he supposed to do? He didn't exactly feel comfortable knowing there was a ghost in the house, but it wasn't like he could just pick up and move out. Besides, he hadn't told Zayn yet. He didn't know if he even should. Zayn would probably think he was insane. Explaining that you've had a conversation with a dead person wasn't exactly the easiest task.

"Morning, mate." Zayn said as he entered the kitchen, stretching a bit before opening the fridge.

Louis looked up with a nod, chewing his cereal.

"What's the matter? You look... awful. Like you've seen a ghost."

Zayn's words almost made Louis choke. If only he knew.

"Actually, I... I need to talk to you about something." Louis confessed as he absently stirred around his cereal and milk with his spoon.

"Alright. What is it, mate?"

Louis took in a deep breath, carefully setting his spoon down before he rubbed his hands together, a nervous habit he had acquired long ago.

"There's a... I know it sounds absolutely mental but.. There's a ghost in the house." The male managed to find the words, chewing at the inside of his lip before looking up at Zayn for a reaction.

Zayn just furrowed his brows as he stared at Louis in confusion for a few moments and then chuckled, shaking his head and taking a sip of his water.

"It's not funny, Zayn! I'm serious-"

"You obviously didn't get any sleep while I was gone."

"It has nothing to do with that! There's a ghost in our house! I saw it! I saw him!" Louis's voice had become more high pitched and he was just angry more than anything now. Why wouldn't Zayn believe him? They were supposed to have each other's backs.

Zayn held a hand up in defense. "Alright, alright, calm down. You saw something?"

"Yes!" Louis insisted, running a hand through his hair as he stood up from the table. "His name is Liam, I saw him while you were out last night."

There was silence for a few moments, probably because Zayn didn't know what to make of this. What are you supposed to do when your best friend tells you they've seen a ghost?

"Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream-"

"No!" Louis was yelling now, obviously very worked up over the entire situation. He grabbed his cereal bowl and nearly flung it into the sink before storming out of the kitchen. "Fine. Don't believe me, then!"

Zayn sighed and followed after his friend, grabbing his shoulder. "Louis, calm down. I believe you."

The smaller of the two stood still for a few seconds and then turned around to face Zayn, a small frown on his face. "You don't think I've lost my mind?" He asked softly, just for reassurance.

"I don't know what's going on, Lou. But if you say you saw something, of course I'm gonna believe you, man. Especially with the way you're acting. Never seen you so worked up."

Louis sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face, trying to gather his thoughts and relax for once. He hadn't felt completely relaxed since they moved in.

"Thanks. I'm sorry for blowing up on you, I just.. This is all so stressful." Louis admitted, leaning against the doorframe as he bit down on his bottom lip; he had been doing that a lot lately, and he was surprised he hadn't broken the skin yet.

Zayn gave the shorter lad a gentle pat on the shoulder. "S'alright. What're we supposed to do about it anyway?"

That was a great question. Louis wished he had an answer. Instead, he groaned and shrugged his shoulders, glancing down at his socked feet as he tried to think of something, anything, that could help them out in this situation.

"I don't know. It's not like we can just move out. We bought this place, it was supposed to be fun."

Zayn nodded at that, pursing his lips before he moved over to the front door, grabbing his jacket.

"Don't stress, we'll figure it out, yeah? I gotta go to work. You can come along if you don't wanna stay here by yourself." Zayn offered, slipping the leather jacket on over his Bob Marley t-shirt.

For some reason, Louis wasn't really afraid to be in the house by himself. Of course it was terrifying to see a ghost, technically a dead person, and actually speak to one. But for some reason, he didn't feel that Liam was a threat. If he was, he would have already tried to hurt Louis, wouldn't he?

That's when the lad got an idea. He wanted to know more about Liam. Surely if Liam died there must be some public record that he could dig up online? Louis was determined to find out what was truly going on.

"It's fine, I'll be okay. Got some stuff to do. See ya."

Zayn nodded and grabbed his car keys, heading outside. "Call if you need anything, mate."

As soon as the door closed, Louis rushed to power on his laptop. He had a lot of research to do.