Three Idiots and a Ghost

When a ghost possessed an idiot

Drowning...

...I can't breathe...

...Thirteen days.

Rags jolted awake with a gasp. She frantically took one huge gulp of breath after another, fearing she might suffocate to death even though she was already dead. Despite knowing what she had just experienced was merely a dream, it all felt so real to her, as if she had once gone through that very traumatic moment.

She reached for her forehead, feeling some of her damp brown hair that had been stuck to it. For a moment, she thought she'd been sweating. But as it turned out, ghosts couldn't feel hot nor cold enough to do such a livelything. Instead, her hair along with her clothes were forever stuck in the uncomfortable state of neither wet nor dry. Everything was just damp. For the first time, she wondered why and if her dream had actually been her answer. Could she really have drowned?

"Woah, are you like okay, Rags? You look deader than usual," Cooper said, staring down at her with his two best friends.

The three guys were all dressed and looked to be heading out.

"I..." Rags tried to find the right words to explain what had just happened to her. However, she couldn't quite figure it out anymore. Her visions were slowly retreating back behind the thick fog in her head. She shook her head. "I'm fine. Where are you all going?"

Heading for the door, Archer replied, "We thought about having breakfast at a café nearby."

"Yeah, we'd like to have a ghost-freemeal, if you don't mind—"

Archer gave Skyler a pinch on the side, making him flinch. "There's no need to be mean about it, Sky."

"Oh, I see..." Rags quietly uttered.

She didn't want to show it, but her nightmare had shaken her up pretty badly. She preferred not to stay alone at the moment, especially after how isolated she had felt in her dream. It seemed no one had come to save her. But then again, she didn't want to be a bother to the three friends who clearly wanted to have some guy time together.

Archer and Skyler were already outside the apartment, waiting for Cooper who was still tying his shoes. Rags got up from the floor and approached the open door. She recalled how the doorknob had painfully shocked her and how an invisible wall had kept her from leaving this confined space. In this moment, she envied the three guys so much. They could freely go anywhere they wanted. And of course, unlike her they were alive.

After his shoes were finally tied, Cooper lifted himself up and turned only his head around to say, "Well, we're off, Rags! Keep Mr. Sprinkles company while we're gone."

Rags replied, "I'm sure Mr. Sprinkles prefers to be left alone. But wait, can you at least tell me when you'll be back—"

As Cooper was halfway out the door, Rags instinctively reached up to grab his shoulder and stop him, still not quite accustomed to the whole transparent thing. But what followed next was far from expected. Instead of passing through Cooper's body like she was supposed to, she felt a compelling force tug her closer to him. She didn't have the strength to resist the pull. She was moving head first right into his back! 

The next thing she knew, she was actually standing outside the apartment.

"Where did Rags just go?" Archer asked, though to Rags it appeared he was staring straight at her.

Skyler let out a sigh of relief. "Did we finally get rid of that ghost?"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here," Rags said in a high male's voice that was certainly not her own.

Both Archer and Skyler gawked at their blonde friend, quickly putting the pieces together.

"What have you done with Coops?!" Archer exclaimed, grabbing what appeared to be Cooper by both shoulders. However, by then, he knew well the horrifying truth. The person before him was actually Rags in possession of Cooper's body!