Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

Andy

Breaking In.

Andy slept soundly and deeply for a longtime. Normally he tosses and turns a lot, but tonight, he didn’t...

He scared me. As he lied there, and I sat against the headboard beside him, texting home to CC, his form flickered, like lightbulb before a power outage. He faded out, then back, and it didn’t happen again. I immediately blamed it on being tired. I wanted to ignore the problem. The obvious problem... What happened when he fully ran out of energy.

There was a large part of me that feared what would happen to him if he fully lost all his energy without resting... Would it be a forced reset that would send him to ‘the otherside’?

I had no clue, and I’d rather not get too experimental regarding his life, limited as it was already.

-So how’s Cali? CC had texted me after a few minutes. He was one of the prominent pieces of living in Pendant. Talking him reminded me of home.

- It’s okay... Not what I expected. I hit send, sighing, leaning back against the dake wood headboard. Andy slept on his side, facing away from me. He didn’t bother to remove the pounds of chains around his waist, or even change into something more comfortable. He just passed out. I was contemplating how long it would take him to recharge when my phone beeped again.

- Ha that’s an understatement. California is like the staple of all things unusual, and 75% of the time, it’s not what anyone expected.

- Clearly.

- Did your Dad get his job? Do you know if you’re moving?

- As of right now... He has the job, and there’s a better chance of us moving than not. It sucks.

- You don’t like it there?

- Well, it’s cool and all... But not at all what I’m used to. Pendant is tiny unless you cross the river and go into the bigger side of town. Here everything is overdone and extravagant.

- Seen any hobos yet?

- What? No.

- Haha, then ya, you’ve seen the ‘extravagant’ side of California. Check out The Projects sometime, it’s a real eye-opener.


I was surprised, CC never mentioned having visited before. You’ve been to California before?

- Yeah. Two times. The first was during our We Stitch These Wounds Tour, and the second was just visiting Andy while he was in college. I wasn’t out there long, but long enough to see all the grime and lowlifes in the street.

- Oh... What was that like?

- Which time?

- Both.

- During the tour, it was great, but we set out broke. The van broke down outside of the Projects, actually. So we left Jake and Ashley to defend the van while Andy, myself and Jinxx set out for a gas station.

- And?

- When we got back Jake had a black eye and was wielding a tire iron. Told us a junky tried to steal the spare tire haha. It’s funny looking back on it now. At the time... Not so much. Wasn’t the only bad thing, either. Both Jinxx and Andy got food poisoning, then after recovering from that, not three days later the fool goes and breaks his ribs...

- Doesn’t sound like a great tour haha

- Yeah, probably not. But we were so pumped to be touring we didn’t care and really didn’t take notice of all the shit that was happening to us. I can assure you - Andy did not have fun riding around in the back of a hot van with broken ribs. He was all taped up and pissed off.

- Can’t say anyone would enjoy that.

- Though, after he broke his ribs, he didn’t wear another pair of cowboy boots on stage again.

- What happened with the cowboy boots?

- He was climbing all over these pillars around the stage, and went to jump back down onto the stage, and the bottom of his boots had no tread so he wiped out and that’s what caused him to break his ribs.

- Unfortunate outfits?

- Oh yeah haha

-CC?

- Yes?

- What was he like?... Before, I mean.

- Can’t say he’s too much different than the one you saw if that’s what you’re wondering. He was pretty defensive, always getting into fights over minor things. ‘Course, when you’re bullied ever since hitting middle school, then move across the US to start over, old habits die hard.

- Was he like that until he graduated?

- Not always. When I met him he just about beat me up over a nickle he insisted he’d dropped and was going to fight me for. All I did was pick it up to hand it back to him. He mellowed out after he started BVB, guess he found somewhere else to invest his emotions.

- Oh... Okay.


Andy stirred briefly and I stopped texting to look at him. His left arm was slung over most of his face. And he looked very real.

Again, I lose myself in the idea that he’s very real and very alive. That if I were to reach out to touch him right now, he’d be warm, and soft, not cold and hard, a clump of dressed stone lying on the bed.

~~~

Twelve rolled around, and I had talked to CC a bit more before he had to go. It was an hour ahead there, so one in the morning, and he claimed to have an ‘important’ meeting in the morning. I scoffed, but texted him goodnight and good luck anyways. The day I believe CC to do something serious is the day My Chemical Romance returns.

I got up and gathered a few things I'd need for our adventure, putting them into a lightweight backpack, slinging it over my shoulder.

It wasn't until I was brushing through my hair in front of the full length mirror did I realize sneaking out would be harder than usual, surprisingly. I wouldn't have to climb out a window, but I would have to walk through a lobby full of curious receptionists to get outside, and I wasn't sure if that would be worse.

“Andy.” I spoke clearly, reaching for my eyeliner on the desk under the mirror.

His eyes flashed open, and he was on his feet in a moment. Excited blue eyes, ringed in black eyeliner. He didn’t yawn or stretch or do anything someone sleeping might’ve done.

“Twelve?”

“Yep.” I replied just as I finished up, handing him the wand. It was an unspoken tradition that we both applied a fresh coat of makeup before heading out.

“I’ve seriously missed sneaking out and exploring.” I sighed fondly, going to sit at the foot of the bed while I laced up my converse. “Humans are cool, too, I guess. But it’s harder to sneak around with them.”

“That’s true...” He mused as he worked on his makeup in the mirror. “Too damn loud, stomping about, complaining. Being a ghost is where it’s at.”

Amused, bright blue eyes caught mine in the reflection and I stuck my tongue out at him, getting up from the bed. “Where are we going first?”

“I had some ideas... You don’t have plans tomorrow, right?”

“... No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“Cool. Grab your bathing suit.”

“We are not going swimming.” I reply firmly. “It’s twelve at night. Who knows who’s out there on the beach at this hour.”

“You’ll be invisible with me.” He replied confidently.

“Yeah... Super close and uncomfortable in a bathing suit...” I muttered in embarrassment.

“Hold up.” He held his hands up and turned from the mirror to face me, a jerkish smile on his face. “Let’s not forget who went after who.”

“I was caught up in the moment.” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks continue to burn darker.

“True. That could be... But most people, especially not ones like yourself, go after someone without any genuine emotions first.” He winked, turning to the glass to finish carving out the neat black line trailing from the left side of his mouth, crossed with black dashes likes stitches.

I turned my back on him to wince in embarrasment. Silently cursing shit under my breath.

After a few minutes, the awkward feeling subsided, and my cheeks returned to their normal, pale color. The incident temporarily forgotten.

I did shove my new bathing suit into my bag, along with a towel from the bathroom. I didn’t see myself willingly running out into the filthy ocean at high tide. But precautions taken early on can help in the long run.

~~~


The door clicked quietly as I turned the handle, sticking my head out into the hall to be sure no one was out and about. I didn’t see anyone, and all I could hear was the low murmur of the TV from the room next door. And even though it doesn’t matter, I still waved on Andy as though to say the coast was clear. He played along, taking dramatic, small steps on his tippy toes to the elevator, which would be our way out.

Andy materialized beside me, nudging me quickly and whispering “Act natural” as the doors dinged, then finally opened. There was a snooty looking business woman already on board. Her eyes scrutinized us as we stepped aboard, and then widened in concern as she saw the exaggerated stitches on Andy’s face. He just gave a polite grin and pressed his back to the smooth dark wood of the interior.

The half pound of chains on his jeans jingled as the elevator decended to the ground floor.

“What brings you kids out at this hour?” The woman finally asked, lifting his chin further and straightening her shoulders as if to tell us our slouch was disrespectful. The way her eyes flit over us again told me she just wanted to have her nose in business where it didn’t belong.

“Oh, we’re heading to a concert with our Dad.” I spoke up, controlling the stammers. “It’s an all-ages club show by the bay. We came down from Utah to see them.” I smiled warmly to cover up the trembles of nervous excitement in my lower lip. Pulling my arms behind my back to grip them tightly.

“Oh.” She snorted quickly, turning snootily back towards the door without so much as another glance. “How nice.”

She didn’t sound like she thought it was nice at all.

“Oh, my floor. You have fun.” She nods towards us both without making eye contact and is out the door and halfway down the hall before either of us can even think of responding.

Andy was the first to burst out laughing. “She didn’t know what to think!” He exclaimed happily, clutching his stomach in laughter. “She thought we were going to a club or something. And that story!...” He couldn’t speak anymore. I was grinning, too.

“I lied to her.” I laughed, and the realization hit me. “Holy shit! I lied!”

I felt confused when I did not feel guilt for breaking one of the ten commandments.

“Erm, is this a new thing?” Andy asked once he’d somewhat composed himself, but still used his knees to support himself, swaying slightly as the elevator continued to decend to the lobby floor.

“For me it is!” I exclaimed, excited, turning away from him to pace in the small elevator, tapping my chin in deep thought. “I don’t outright lie!” I say, urgently explaining, “Maybe fleeting white ones, y’know, to cover your ghostly ass - but that was... That was...” I paused, searching for the right word.

“Terrifying?” Andy suggested with a skeptical smirk.

“No... It was exhilarating!” I exclaimed when the words came to me. “Wonder what else I can lie myself through?...”

“Whoa whoa, hold up there One-Eye Bandit. You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself there with the lying, don’t ya think?”

“I was joking.” I replied dismissively.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I was trying to.”

“Terrible attempt.” He shook his head in disgust as the doors dinged again, taking their dear sweet time sliding open.

Of course, the sudden burst of movement and noise caught the attention of the few receptionists on duty. They peered over their computer screens and around the corner of the massive marble pillar blocking the elevator from view across the room.

“Huh... Ever felt like you were the center of attention?” I whispered under my breath awkwardly, looking back at them.

“Yeah, I was in a band, remember?”

I jabbed his ribs and continued out, trying not to look suspicious or in a hurry to get out of the lobby, making my way towards the sliding glass doors. I sighed in relief when we got out into the muggy, warm night without being stopped by any of the nosy receptionists.

“Kay... What’s first?” I asked, getting more and more excited the further we got from the hotel.

“Well, I do have a number of things planned, but first things first, my dorm.”

“Of course. How are we going to get there?”

“There’s a subway that goes right past the college.” He says confidently as we step off the pavement of the hotel parking lot onto the sidewalk, headed north.

“How are we getting on?...” This seemed more complex.

“They make a fifteen minute stop at the Weston North Tunnel, we just get on then.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion and curiosity. “You seem to know a lot about the subway’s routes.”

“Huh...” He chuckled in embarrassment, “Well, maybe it’s obvious I stayed at parties too late sometimes and had to rush home. Also, sometimes Jason and Mika would forget me and I had to find my own way home. After that happening under half a dozen times, I decided parties weren’t for me anymore if they ended in me coming home a virgin, drunk, and on foot.”

One of those words stood out more than the others. I started snickering, covering my mouth with my hand to keep from making inhuman sounds of laughter.

“What?”

He stopped walking completely just to look at me in concern. “Do you have a history of siezures or something?...”

A huge, uncontrollable grin of amusement locked itself on my face. “You’re a virgin?” I snickered, and thinking of it again unraveled a whole new wave of obscene laughter.

His confused expression mellowed into one of flattened annoyance. This was a joke he’d heard many times, apparently.

“Why is that hilarious?” He finally sighs, though the heavy exhale of breath sounded partially amused.

“Because, well, look at you.” I waved at him after I’d controlled my outburst again. “You look like what happens when angels and demons have love affairs.”

“Can you dumb that down?”

“I mean, you don’t look like someone who would be. Like, you went on tours, lived in some of the biggest cities ever as well as one of the party capitals of the US, and you never got laid? That’s just a cruel joke.”

He rolled his eyes, dusting some of his hair out of his eyes, nibbling on his bottom lip, searching for a good response.

“Oh okay, then why are you a virgin?” He shot back lamely when he couldn’t come up with anything else.

I wasn’t even offended by how he’d turned it on me, since the effort was weak. “Pssh, because I don’t look immortal like you. And because I’ve been more of a subject of bullying than idolizing.” I shrugged. “I’m not bothered by it, though. At least, not as bothered as you seem to be.” I started laughing again, poking his arm. He grumbled something under his breath.

“That’s crazy.” I murmur in amusement, though he didn’t seem to be getting the same effect.

“How much further?” I asked, just to change the subject for the sake of his sanity.

“Oh... Just another block.”

“...How long did you live here?” I wondered.

“Here at the dorms or here in California, overall?”

“Both.”

He sighed fondly as he recalled the details of his inhabitance. “In California overall, going on six years. In the dorms, only three. It took me three years to save up and figure out what I wanted from life before I got a job working at that motorcycle shop part time, while studying the other half of the time. My job was in Oakland, and I lived here. My friend, Pat Riot, she followed the same career path as me, so we’d carpool from the dorms to work everyday. The only difference between our schedules was that she answered phones and made appointments, and I fixed up the bikes, along with some other guys in the shop.”

“Didn’t you ever get tired of the repetition?” I asked curiously. “It sounds like it was the same stuff all the time.”

He purses his lips in thought. “Not really. Sometimes I did, but I guess I concentrated so much on the end result that I didn’t notice time slipping by and all the things I was missing. It was maybe a week after graduation, that I set aside some money, filled up my truck with gas, tossed two suitcases in the bed and headed home. At that point, I needed to be home, and I’d put it off for too long. Six years with minimal contact is a very long time.”

His eyes were cast with shadows of mixed emotions. I didn’t pry anymore, the guilt was visible in his eyes.

We got off the main sidewalk, following one that veered off to the right, angled downwards, until it turned into a wide set of stairs leading down into a dimly illuminated tunnel, a sign hanging above the enterance: Subway

I’d never had experience with subways, planes, trains or any other extravagant form of transportation. Just cars and buses. Rarely had I been outside of Pendant, since it offered so much there, we never had much reason to visit other towns. Except for the few times we’d made it out to the Great Salt Lakes to watch the races.

“Aren’t we getting tickets?” I wondered dumbly as we passed the booth, guarded by a sleeping middle age man.

“Ash, Darling,” he replies with a dramatic, charismatic voice, “When you’re a ghost, you pay for nothing!”

I frowned at the underlying bad influance he was, as I stuck close to his side to be invisible as we boarded the first train, taking our seats in the far back.

“You’re terrible.” I say, grinning at him, leaning against the window, crossing my legs.

He gets this prideful smirk, “I know.”

“This is a new experience.” I murmur in amazement, looking out the windows at the blue tiled walls, flying by, before flickering out into a pitch black tunnel.

“What? The subway?” He replied, combing through his short, spikey blonde hair.

“Yeah... Never been on one before. Kinda cool.”

He snorts. “Well, once you’ve stumbled onto one half aware of your surroundings, drunk with enough alcohol to give two people painful hangovers, it’s not so cool anymore.”

“You have?” I narrow my eyes at him.

“Unfortunately.” He replies with a sigh and a shake of his head.

“...How much further?” I asked after we’d been riding for a while.

“Actually, we’re here.”

He got up, and headed towards the doors without hesitation, even though the subway showed no sign of slowing down.

“What are we doing?” I asked nervously as I got up, following him quickly down the aisle.

“Jumping.” He replied casually, reaching for the doors, wedging his fingers between the panels, prying them open with more strength and effort then I knew he possessed. “Before you get upset, remember the bubble.”

“The bubble!” I exclaimed anxiously, strong gusts of wind blowing into the empty passenger car, throwing my hair behind me in a tangled knot.

“Stay close to me and you cannot be harmed.” He replied confidently, reaching for me. I stepped back, gripping the cushions of the seat behind me with white knuckles. Sometimes his ghostly abilities terrified me more than they intrigued.

“This is insane - even for you.”

“Oh come on! When have you ever gotten hurt in my presence?” He challenged, his expression changing to one of logic-authority. “Come one. It’ll be fine, I swear. And if we don’t go soon, we’ll miss our stop.”

I hesitated a moment longer before grabbing his outstretched hand. I gripped it tightly as he pulled me towards him, hugging onto me tightly and securely, we both lunged from the car just three seconds shy of it disappearing into another dark tunnel.

At first I felt the collision with the concrete, and then Andy’s grip on me slip and I tumbled a away from him, out of reach of his protective shield.

My palms skid against the cracked, dirty subway tiles, cutting and scuffing them as I readjusted to level ground.

Breathing heavy, shaking slightly, and dizzy from the impact, I slowly adjusted.

“Ash?” I heard through the ringing in my ears as I rolled onto my side, slowly making my way into a sitting position against a nearby pillar.

“Ash!” Andy hurried over, crouching in front of me, tilting my chinup, looking at both sides of my face for injury, then into my eyes for signs of shock.

“Are you okay?”

I was still shaky and riding the high of andrenaline. I raised my hands to my face to inspect the scratches. They weren’t bad, and luckily, they were the only injury that plagued me.

“Ash?...” He repeated my name cautiously before I found my voice to reply. But before I could, my lips turned up into a massive grin.

“Holy shit that was amazing!” I exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders before me, shaking him, staring into his wary bright blue eyes with estatic green ones. I pulled him close enough that I could press my nose to his, and eyelashes could meet.

“That was the greatest thing ever!” I shouted, yanking him into a hug, swaying happily as the andrenaline faded from my bloodstream.

“So you’re fine?” He demanded when I neglected his question the first time.

“I’m better than fine!” I say happily, feeling like doing more daredevil stunts. “I could kiss you!” I grin, before realizing what I’d said through my excited hysteria.

“You could?” He replies pridefully, cocking his head slightly as though to pervoke me. “Come on, it’s not much further now.” He gets up, extending his hand towards me, I grab it, pulling myself up to stand beside him, quickly masking my confusion.

We set off on foot towards the stairwell a couple yards back, the small opening to the staircase wedged between two poorly painted pillars.

Andy seemed to have quickly recovered from what I said, and it only embarrassed me more. Even though it was my excitement talking, it’s something about how he politely brushed me off that felt off putting. I followed him instead of walking beside him. Doing this gave me the freedom to frown as I pleased.

Friendzoned twice.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for in our relationship at this point. A friend? Or was I just curious? That was the most disheartening thing... What if it was just an experiment in my head. The rejection certainly wasn’t making things any easier.

After we emerged from the underground, the sky was illuminated with stars. I hadn’t noticed them when we’d left the hotel earlier. The sidewalks were pretty busy, too. Which made me uncomfortable. Homeless people and guys that looked like pimps walked around with prostitutes at their side.

“...What part of Berkeley are we in?” I whispered to Andy.

“Welcome to The Projects.” He replies, wincing. “I avoided this place after my first experience with it.”

“When your van broke down?” I asked, sticking close to him to be invisible as we crossed the street.

“Yeah...” He replied absently as we booked it across, not that it even mattered. “Wait, how’d you know about that? I don’t think I ever said anything about the van breaking down.”

“Oh... You didn’t. CC told me.”

He rolled his eyes, but grinned. “CC can’t keep anything confidential.”

“Anyways,” He began, looking left and right before heading left, away from the streets crowded with the kind of folks my parents raised me to avoid. “Yeah... We broke down. I got food poisoning, and then broke my ribs, all in the same week.”

“Ow...”

“Yeah. No worse for wear, I still wanted to go at it afterwards.”

“Most people would’ve thrown in the towel after something like that.” I mused, tucking my hands in my jacket pockets.

“Yeah, not me. Guess that makes me stupid, too.”

Not too long after, a large, two story brick building came into view. Some of the windows were lit up, most were dark. The bigger problem was the tall barbwire wrapped chain link fence surrounding the property.

“Most colleges use modest brick or stone.” Andy shrugged as we approached the intimidating wall. “Because of the neighborhood, they’re guarding against thieves with chain link.”

“Welcoming.” I say with a tight smile, looking up at the razor wire bound in tight loops atop the fence.

He obviously knew his way around, so I tucked my hands in my jacket pockets and followed him silently to what appeared to be the front gates.

“Stay close.” He warned. “There’s a patrol and security cameras.”

I looked to where he nodded, and sure enough, there was the small red light indicating the camera was live.

“Kay.” I murmur, staying close to him as he fished a key card from his back pocket, swiping it and letting us in.

“Wait... I thought ghosts could walk through walls?”

“Pssh, maybe fictional ghosts. There’s a lot more effort to it than there should be. You know, since it is the afterlife.” He joked, poking the card back into his left back pocket without breaking stride as we headed towards the dormatory.

“Like I said before, I had a shit room with a terrible view on the first floor.”

We walked around another beige colored wall and got to the central grounds. All the lights on the first level were off, save for the three small lantern lights that hung dimly ahead. Swarms of moths and other insects beating against the glass restlessly.

It was strange how familiar yet foreign the whole experience felt. I’d look to the sky, but I couldn’t see many stars because of all lights on earth. Back home, the sky would be illuminated for miles; from horizon to horizon, small spots of silver light shimmering in abstract patterns.

Andy caught me staring at the sky absently. “What are you thinking about?” He wondered curiously, his brow furrowing in concentration.

I shrugged, pulling my jacket further up on my shoulders, for it had slipped. “The stars.”

“In a poetic or realistic way?” He snorted sarcastically.

“Both?” I replied in confusion. “I dunno, I was just thinking about how weird it’ll be to not be able to see the stars here. The sky is so clear in Pendant.”

I thought for a moment more, “We should go to Apture again when we get back. But at night. I want to see the stars.”

“Sure.” He agreed, scuffing the toes of his boots against the pavement as we neared a wooden door with a hotel style knocker.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” He made a wide, welcoming gesture with his arms, and then went to unlock the door. “I’m just getting the things I can’t live without. Because once my parents get out here and clear it out, they’ll put everything into storage and I’ll never see it again.” He rolled his eyes, scratching his neck before turning the handle, shoving the door open.

It drifted open slowly, and the smell of stale air drifted out. Clearly no one had been here in a while.

“It was a Sunday when I left.” He murmured to himself in deep thought, staring into the dark abyss of his dorm. “Two-nineteen in the afternoon with two suitcases and no real plan.”

“Those are often the best plans.” I agree seriously.

He hesitated for what felt like a long time before tackling the darkness, patting around the wall beside the door for the lightswitch.

Warm yellow light lit up the room, and I instantly felt right at home, which was strange indeed. I hadn’t even stepped past the threshold, and I could feel him all around. It was clear that this was his room.

The twin sized bed shoved against the far corner of the room that doubled as the living room, with a tiny connected kitchen, was littered in textbooks, paper scraps and bits of paper with the Misfits skull scribbled on them with lyrics. Tossed blankets, crooket pillows, no real effort in the art direction of his room, just layser of posters fro bands and films he liked. Heaps of CD’s on the coffee table, jewelcases left open to collect dust particles on the backside of the booklets and disc tops.

It’s hard to describe everything, there’s so much to look at. But the most noteable thing I found was that every surface in the small room was covered in either articles of clothing, CD’s or journals.

“Sorry for the mess.” He winced, the movement jerking up his lower lip piercing, and creasing the black war stripe on his cheekbone. “Didn’t realize I’d be coming back a figment of someone’s imagination.” He perched his hands on his hips and did a slow 360.

I didn’t speak, only observed him as I stepped into the room completely, shutting the front door not to attract unwanted attention from security.

He looked around, his expression a mixture of awe and sadness. He picked up a small, simple black frame and smiled slightly, barely even a twitch of his lip as he studied the photo in his hand.

“More memories.” He says, filling me in. But then I realize he’s only talking to himself.

He looked uneasy as he picked up things, and moved them.

“Alright...” He sighs, going for the bed, getting down on his knees, he yanks a backpack out from the depths, standing, stuffing it with different things. Flipping through journals briefly before stuffing them into the bag, along with shirts he looked at, and then his favorite CD’s.

“Oh man!” He suddenly exclaimed. I looked up from my spot on the couch in surprise. He held out a sleeveless dark grey shirt, admiring whatever logo was on the front. “I forgot about this shirt!”

Turning it around, I looked at the logo of the Black Veil Brides star, with the band printed on it, all dressed up in their makeup and Kiss style hair and clothes.

Immediately after, he yanks his current shirt over his head, stuffing it into his bag with his other items, tugging the shirt over his head.

“Okay...” I drawled in embarrassment, standing up to walk to the opposite side of the room.

“What?” He laughed in amusement as he finished adjusting the shirt, tugging it into place.

“Well, I dunno...” I mumble, grabbing the DVD case from his kitchen counter just to have something to look at to hide my embarrassment. It was a copy of the Frankenstien movie. “Normally you tap your ruby slippers together and poof! Suddenly you’re wearing something else.”

He laughed, and I glanced cautiously over my shoulder, peeking at him enough to be sure he hadn’t decided to change pants, too. He continued to examine items briefly, stuffing them into the bags until they could hold no more.

“Haven’t you ever seen a guy shirtless? Or did your parents keep you under a rock, with iron bars, chains and a padlock to match?” He turned halfway towards me to smirk sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, and felt the uncomfortable feeling come back as my cheeks began to turn red again. I took a deep breath and it slowly subsided. “Yes - actually, I have.” I replied, sounding more defensive than I’d intended. “And they’re not that strict.” I mumbled.

He only laughed light heartedly in return. “Well... I think that’s all I’m gonna be able to get.” Sighing, he slung both bags over his shoulders. “Onto the next location!”

“Uh, don’t you want help carrying those?” I asked in confusion. He snorted.

“Please, I’m not carrying them.”

And they were gone.

“Remember what I said way back when? It’s safely tucked away until I want it.”

“What? Like in your memory?” I narrowed my eyes at him. Each new ghostly fact he told me only made me more skeptical of him.

“Something like that.” He perched his hands on his boney hips again, before marching out the door, flipping off the light and locking up again.

“Wait...” I began again once we started making our way towards the front gates. “If you can store your stuff... Wherever in hell you put it, how come you can’t take everything with you?”

He stopped walking completely, making a point to stare at me dumbfounded for a moment before saying. “Those are classified ghosty facts, dammit.”

I saw a sliver of a grin before he carried on his way.

Notes

It has been so long, and I apologize for that! Currently working on setting up my Extra Life art giveaway for charity. ^^ I've got so much stuff planned for this story haha

shoutouts!

- anathema

Comments

I just want to say, I am here to support you no matter what you do <3

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/12/20

Oh gosh, I'm getting weird vibes towards this "sketchy" part of town.

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
5/8/19

I am absolutely in love with this book!

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/30/19

Poor Ashley. Poor Andy. Poor Asheen. Wow, what a story! :)

Merelan Merelan
4/29/19

I am conspiring so many theories about this book my head hurts... lol... anyway, great chapter as usual! Can't wait to read what happens next

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/25/19