Through A Lost Soul ✔

CHARLIE-TEN and SOPHIE-ELEVEN

CHARLIE-TEN

Charlie was lying on his small bed when he felt the all too familiar chill rush through his body. It took him a while to muster the strength to sit up and greet The Ghost. When he did, he almost decided to ignore her. She never said anything, always frowned, and Charlie just wasn't feeling up to talking to someone who wouldn't answer.

Nevertheless, he fought the urge to lay back down because The Ghost was his only connection to Soph. He looked at The Ghost, awaiting his message.

Now that she'd had Charlie's full attention, she started to fade, bringing a clear image of Sophie to the "screen" as Charlie liked to call it. She was starting to look tattered and dirty, and Charlie hoped that it was just the poor lighting. He almost forgot to listen to her words before he heard a name, Austin. She went on to explain his appearance before suddenly stopping, and saying bye. As if nothing had happened, and this was just a normal message.

"That's it?" Charlie asked when The Ghost went back to her original appearance.

She only nodded.

There was a knock on Charlie's little door, making The Ghost wave. She then decided to disperse into thin air, and Charlie didn't know when he'd see her again. He wasn't worried, though, because that ghost was all business. She went back and forth between Soph and him, and she seemed determined to get this done as fast as possible.

Charlie pushed himself off of his bed as someone banged on his door again. He muttered under his breath for the person to be patient, including some rather unpleasant words. When he reached the door he saw Jackson standing across from him.

"You're early," Charlie commented. He sat at his computer as Jackson made his way to the radio, turning on some music. Charlie decided it wasn't the time to comment on his little routine. He had other things he needed to do. Without school, he had a lot of time to get them done.

"Yeah," Jackson agreed as he found a station they both didn't hate. "I didn't think you'd mind." Charlie could hear Jackson plopping down onto his bed, the springs being loud as ever.

Charlie hated that about his parents. They were so worried about reputation, they seemed to forget his and Molly's basic needs. Though Charlie knew that needing a new bed wasn't a huge issue, he wished his parents would consider their kid's comfort when planning out how they'd spend their money.

"I don't," Charlie confirmed, waiting for his computer to load. "If you would have come a little earlier, though, I may not have been awake."

"Sorry," Jackson said through a fake chuckle. He wasn't fine, Charlie knew. It was probably Sophie that worried him. He wasn't as close to Soph as Charlie was, but he still cared. Unlike Charlie, Jackson didn't have any sort of communication with Soph.

Deciding to not mention The Ghost, Charlie tried to comfort his friend. "Soph's okay." Charlie quickly clicked an icon to browse the internet, getting far too excited about his new information.

"How can you be so sure?" Jackson asked.

To this, Charlie couldn't quite answer. If The Ghost wasn't real, and it was just a figment of his imagination, Charlie couldn't handle knowing he'd given his friend false hope. "Because... Soph is strong. She's probably dealing with the situation right now," Charlie continued his search.

A reply didn't come from Jackson for a while. Charlie braced himself when he took a long, deep breath. "I'm going to say something, but it's going to sound really weird. Promise you won't say anything about it?"

"Promise," Charlie agreed, growing ever curious. He almost broke his gaze from the computer's screen, but what he was finding was too important. He didn't expect what Jackson was about to say.