Phantom [h.s]

Six

"Help you?" I ask, furrowing my brow. "What could I possibly do to help you?"

Harry sits back down on the swing. "More than you know."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Haven't the police been on your murder case? I mean, it only happened three months ago, shouldn't the investigation still be underway?"

His jaw clenches. "They closed the case a month after the murder."

"What? How could they do that?"

"Something's going on within the judicial system in this town, I've suspected it for a while," he says. "They're corrupt, but not all of them."

A short period of silence descends.

"So...can people see you?" I ask him. "Other than me, I mean."

"Yes. I'm tangible, but I can't...feel. Physically, anyway. My body doesn't function, only my mind."

I nod, understanding. That's why jumping from my two story window didn't bother him-he can't feel physical pain.

"It would be bad if someone around here saw me, though," he says seriously. "My family was well known enough that they'd recognize me."

I swallow, trying to comprehend everything he's telling me. A soft breeze blows through the clearing, and I shiver a bit, wrapping my arms around myself.

Harry notices. "You should probably get home before your parents find out you're gone."

"Wait, but I still have so many questions."

He cracks a smile, rising from the swing. "We'll talk soon."

I stand. "Where do you...you know...stay?" It would be odd to ask him where he lives.

"Stay?" He scratches the back of his neck. "I don't exactly stay anywhere. I mean, I don't sleep or eat or anything, so I kind of just..observe."

"Observe?"

"Observe the world. It's different looking at it from death than it is from life."

"I can imagine."

I can feel his eerie coldness from where I stand. It almost feels like the death in him is reaching its icy fingers out toward me, grasping and clawing at my skin, knowing that I wanted so badly to die only a short time ago.

Don't you remember, Jane? You came so close.

I step back. "Maybe I should get home."