Mirage

There she was. Right in the middle of nowhere at night. All alone and with no flashlight. The howling of wolves and buzzing of insects surrounding her.
-I should have never listened to Tom. – she said. Then she continued
-Oh Tom, how do I hate you now! It was you who told me “Come on Karen. It'll be fun. Just come camping with the boys (and Em) on Saturday and don’t worry about a thing. It'll be fun. Better than watching a movie from Blockbuster”. And so I did. I left my comfortable home in the morning, took your van to Artemis Camping Site while listening to some scary stories about it and playing truth or dare (gossiping mostly), set the tent up, and when the sun began to set, and we tried to take out some lanterns, we realized you hadn’t packed any, and we all went away into the forest to try to find some dry leaves to make torches to light ourselves during the night.- she continued.
Till then all was well and they had had only one minor setback, but when Mike´s far scream surprised them all, they four went to find him separate ways. So now she was out inside the forest searching for some dry leaves to make a torch to light the path to Mike. There had already passed 20 minutes since she had left the camp and giving that it had rained the day before every single piece of green was wet. And there was no trace of Mike. The search seemed impossible. She stopped for a moment and thought out loud.
-Think Karen, think. You need to find your friend and something to light the path. Perhaps under some cave there are some dry leaves. Maybe, there.-
She started walking towards a dark cave that appeared to have a tree inside and once there she tried to take some of the fallen dry leaves near its trunk, but a sudden flash of light made her cover her eyes.
-What the…!?
When the shine lowered its brightness she uncovered her eyes to reveal that in front of her now there was a shiny almost transparent silhouette that closely resembled her lost friend Mike. His eyes were completely white and his hair and clothes appeared to move on their own. Karen let a scream out and fell to the ground, astonished.  The being spoke.
-Karen. Run away while you can. This forest is haunted and I died because of it. Remember the story I told you while on the car?-
Still shocked, Karen tried to reply to the being.
-The one in which a bear brutally killed a boy scout and just for fun? And then the spirit of the bear didn’t pass limbo and now terrorizes any teenager who dares to enter the forest?
-Yes. That one. The spirit bear is called Shelk, and it traps its victims here, where it once was his home. It slashes anyone who crosses his past home. I think you can imagine what happened to me.
-Yes…I'm so sorry Mike. I hope you didn’t suffer much when he got you.
-To be honest I don’t remember. It’s all blurry. I only remember entering the forest to search for some dry leaves and seeing a big white silhouette, then red everywhere and finally only darkness. After that I woke up like this inside this cave-, she said pointing at her ghostly self.
-Oh my god. Oh Mike…what will I tell the others? Tom, Emily and Billy will freak out so hard!  And what will I say to your parents!? They won’t believe me!
-Well, my spirit is trapped inside this cave for all eternity so I can’t exactly go and show them I’m a ghost now, and it's too much of a risk to call Tom and the others here. Shelk could be back at any moment.
-Yes. I must leave soon too. Maybe we can…
Karen was interrupted by a faraway loud scream. Soon another ghost appeared next to Mike's. It was Emily's. She looked at the situation and then spoke.
-Karen? MIKE!? So there you were! Wait…Why are you floating and so pale? WHY AM I THE SAME!?
-Calm down Emily!- said Mike.
-CALM DOWN!? I’M A FREAKING GHOST FOR GOD'S SAKE!
-Em please. I'll explain everything.-
Karen proceeded to tell Emily all about Shelk and soon she remembered her death. With tears in her eyes she spoke again, but more calmly.
-So…all my dreams are over now. One false move, one ghost bear flesh-breaking slash and now I'm here...forever…with Mike…WHYYYYYY!?
-Hey! What s wrong with me? I’m cool and funny! Didn’t you “confess on the way to the camp you had a crush on one of us? Ain't it me? I mean…girls love me. Or at least they used to…when I was alive…- replied Mike crying.
Emily quickly glanced at Karen who was listening to Mike, so she did not notice how her white cheeks turned a little darker.
Now both ghosts were tearing up uncontrollably.
-Guys…Oh I really don’t know what to tell you. Isn’t there a way for you to pass to the after lif…
Then again another white ghost appeared. This time it was Billy's. He looked at the other ghosts and then frowned at Karen.
-Why are you not a ghost? And where is Tom?
-That's what you care about? You are literally dead!- Karen replied.
-Yes! You know I love all death-gore related stuff.
-Right…Apocalypse lover weird guy.
-Yep. That is my role in the class. Were, it was. Limbo is so odd and awesome! Weeee
Billy started flying all over the cave towards the entrance, but when he tried to cross it, it shot him back to where the others were. They laughed and Mike spoke.
-Dude what part of “can’t leave Shelk's cave didn’t you get from my story!?
-Oh…right. I WANNA BE BACK TO LIFE!
Now all the ghosts were freaking out or crying (or both actually). But the moment was interrupted by Tom’s loud entrance to the cave. He had recognized Mike's voice.
-Guys! So here you were, Mike! You scared us all with your scream!
He hadn’t yet noticed that three of them were ghosts with his rush because his glasses had fallen off. He got to the ground and grabbed them, put them on and saw the scene.
-OMG! YOU ARE DEAD!?
-Yes genius. We are trapped here. Between life and the afterlife. Stucked in Limbo for all eternity with no chance of escaping. - answered Emily.
-Em actually you are wrong. There is a way to escape. Shelk's legend stays that the souls of those murdered by him can end another person's life to swap positions with them. But their eyes will stay white with no pupils till their dying day.- said Mike.
-So if we kill somebody they turn into a ghost and we get to live again?- asked Billy.
-Yes you emo! That’s exactly what Mike said! – answered Emily.
All three ghosts looked at Tom and Karen as if they were food to feast on and they hadn’t eaten for ages. Both Tom and Karen started moving back, to the cave's entrance.
-Guys guys…remember we are friends…
-Yeah…you got yourselves killed. We are not responsible.
-Who cares about that? Is friendship or life now! Come here and let us “end your lives"!
A chase through the cave began, Karen and Tom running for their lives and Mike, Emily and Billy behind them on a bloody hunt. Karen turned her head to see her chasers and how they were surrounding Tom, who had fallen to the ground. The ghosts started fighting for the chance of being the one to kill him, and Mike came on top. Emily and Billy left them and went after Karen, who turned her head back and ran faster. Soon Billy got to her and made her fall on her face, injuring her eyebrow. He was about to “end her life" when suddenly Emily grabbed him by the arm and pushed him away. Karen thought she was going to murder her instead, but she only spoke.
-Go! Run Karen! Get away from here! I'll hold him back.
Karen looked at her astonished. After some seconds she replied.
-Thanks…I don’t know what to say. But why? You could live again!
-I don’t want to if it means hurting you.
-I…
-GO!
As Karen got up and started running again she heard Tom and Billy's ghostly sounds and Mike’s human shouts. Emily went after them. Before Karen put both feet out the cave, Emily said one last thing to her, as a last good bye.
-K, remember the question from the van's T or D? That “one" was you. It’s always been you.
She quickly turned back and started fighting the other ghosts over Mike. Karen was outside the cave too far away to had heard Emily clearly. Soon the words came to her mind in order.
-Em, I…
She tried to get back into the cave, but she felt a sharp pinch on her left toe. She looked at it and saw a black stripped snake sticking its fangs on it. After shouting louder than a siren she kicked it away with her right foot and jumped back, but her legs failed to land well and fell on her back, hitting her head with a rock, leaving her unconscious. On the background a siren could be heard.
It was quite a sunny day. The green of the field was more colorful than ever. The brightness of the sun made its way through the window into Karen’s room.  She was lying on her bed, sleeping with some difficulty as she was moving. As the day passed and the sun started to rotate, its light reached Karen's eyes, and after frowning some times, she finally opened them. It looked like she was in the middle of doing something but when she saw the ceiling and realized she was in her room, she ceased all movement and stayed still for  a minute, thinking. She just couldn’t put two and two together. She hoped the words would make more sense spoken out loud.
-But the cave, the boys. Em…
She sat down and got off the bed and walked towards the bathroom. After washing her face she looked in the mirror and saw a bandage over her right eyebrow. She remembered hitting her head against the floor while running away from Billy. But she also thought it could have been a scratch from Max, her German shepherd. She didn’t know if the hole cave Shlek ghosts thing was real or not. A knock on the bathroom’s door took her off her thoughts. It was followed by speech.
-Karen honey, are you ok? I'm glad you are awake. When you are ready come to the kitchen and fetch some lunch.
Her mother left the place before Karen could reply. She thought it indeed had been just a dream (or rather a nightmare) because of how calm and uninterested she sounded.
-If she isn’t worried, nothing must have happened. I just woke up late on a Sunday morning. Nothing more. But it felt so real…maybe it is just a mirage. Haha, I have quite an imagination, don’t I?
She went to eat and then spent the rest of the day watching some VHS and listening to the “good old Beatles” on her Walkman. Night came and after dining she prepared everything for the next day of school. Then tucked herself into bed.
-I hope my next dream doesn’t turn out a nightmare like this momorning's. Haha. I trully do…- she said and soon enough she fell asleep.
Morning came and after waking up, happy she didn’t remember her dream, like usual, she had breakfast and took the underground to school. Once there she saluted her classmates and waited for the bell to ring. In the mid time they chatted.
-So how was your weekend K? And what happened to your eyebrow!?- asked Emma.
-Fine. Weird dream but then it all ok. I think Max scratched it but I don’t really remember it happening.- answered Karen.
-Oh I see. Odd. I spent mine on the cinema and then making theories about the film. I cant believe they let Leia use that outfit! I mean, she was pretty much naked! I would have never used it if I had been Carrie.
-Yeah. Too extra for me. But I loved how her  relationship with Han continued. They are my OTP.
-Yes! Mine too! And…
-Hey guys! What a surprise. You are taking about Star Wars again. Return of the Jedi released on cinemas last week I know. Anyways, have any of you seen Emily? I have the Math class notes she asked for.- intervened  Rose.
-Hi Rose. No. You know how she is. She lives nearby so she always wakes up late and gets here past the right time.- replied Emma.
At the mention of Emily's Karen remembered her dream and started thinking about what had happened between them. She wondered if the dream meant she had some unknown deep feelings. She felt the need to see her and talk. On the back the bell rang loudly and all the students started going upstairs to their respective classrooms. About five minutes passed and the Math teacher came inside Karen´s. She was followed by two more classmates that were running late.
Karen heard one of them asking the other where Tom and Mike were, and he just moved his shoulders up and down in reply. The teacher said something about “angles and measures” and started writing something on the board and the students started copying it. Another five minutes passed and Karen was too concentrated on writing some formulas down to pay attention to another late student that was entering the classroom. She sat down behind Karen, who was extremely concentrated on the class, and started chatting with her deskmate.
-Hi Em! Here, the Math homework you wanted. How did the surgery go?- asked Rose.
-It was successful, now I can see without glasses, but there was a minor problem.- replied Emily, and showed her something that Karen, as she was not looking at them, couldn’t see.
-Oh. Well at least you can see well now.- Added Rose.
Karen kept on copying from the board thinking about how and when Emily had gotten an eye surgery if she had said she was going to visit the countryside. Also that “minor problem" called her attention. Curiosity got the best of her and she turned around to find it out. Emily was looking down at the folder she was coping on. She touched it in order to call her attention. Emily raised her head and looked at her directly. Her eyes were complete lacking of pupils, completely white. Karen's eyes widen and her mouth too. Emily at the sight laughed and spoke back.
-What’s the matter K? It's like you've seen a ghost!