Chapter Text
Terrified
To be fair, that’s how anyone would feel when thinking a crazed spirit wanted to brutally murder you, take over your body, and trap you somewhere you didn’t want to be in the first place.
To a ghost… well, the fear seemed irrational until one man’s fear turned into another man’s weapon.
brian had never believed in ghosts, and he honestly didn’t want to. Who would wish for eternity?
Obviously he was suspicious when he saw the house. It was nice… too nice. He didn’t like the look of this, well, he did but he didn’t trust it.
“How did you afford this?” His mom asked, just as concerned as he was. “You didn’t take out our retirement funds, did you?” The thought made Brian groan and lean his head against the chair in front of him.
“of course not. Why would you think that?” His dad asked and they both gave him a look. “well I didn’t. I got a great deal on it. Someone died here and so the price went down because people think it’s bad luck.”
There were a lot of questions following that. It wasn’t just the luck that kept people away from a house where someone had died. There was the problem of potential problems with the house. gas leaks, electrical issues, contaminated water, and a million other things.
“relax, they just slipped on the stairs.” His dad waved off their concerns and left the car to start unpacking.
Thump
That sound might haunt him more than the actual ghost.
A shiver went down Brian’s spine as something invisible seemed to push him slightly further than his foot had meant to go and he fell.
Then he was dead.
The world went black and his soul left his body, and another soul went in.
It was only for a second but cam felt alive again. He felt warm, he could breathe, it was a great feeling, an amazing feeling, then it was gone.
He was forced out of the body, ears ringing and eyes wide as he watched Brian’s mom call for help and the boy being dragged to the hospital.
“I didn’t mean to.”
Cam didn’t believe in ghosts until he was one and couldn’t go back… well, couldn’t was a strong word.
Before he died, he was on top of the world and nothing could bring him down.
He had tons of friends, his whole class loved him, all eyes were on him. This is what they liked, this is what got him attention, this is what he liked being, and this is what made him feel alive.
The room burst into laughter as his latest prank landed, the teacher’s face as red as a tomato in a mix of embarrassment and rage.
“cam!” the man yelled, the laughter dying down to a snicker “I’m getting your parents involved this time if it’s the last thing I do.” He swore, automatically assuming it was him which, to be fair, it was and he was proud of that fact.
His teacher didn’t get ahold of his parents to no ones surprise. Instead, as always, his brother was there unsuccessfully trying to seem like he wasn’t just half listening to the principal across from him.
“so he’s suspended?” Ethan asked tiredly, already having gone through this a million times over.
“Of course he’s suspended!” the principal shouted and pinched the bridge of his nose “listen, I understand your mother and father are very busy people but cam isn’t improving. His grades make it seem like he’s a smart kid but his actions certainly don’t reflect it. I want the parents involved.” The principal was an easy read, even if he was trying to seem strict he was desperate.
Ethan sighed and pulled out his phone, checking his father’s calendar “I might be able to get him December 13th.”
“But that’s 3 months from now!” the principal gasped, taken aback by the fact.
“That’s the earliest he has a break, or do you want me to bother him by calling while he’s at work?” it was posed as a simple question but the threat invisible to others was enough to make the principal sweat.
“I suppose December is fine, I won’t make that mistake again.” The principal replied hesitantly “but this responsibility shouldn’t be on you, you’re his brother, not his guardian.”
“I know.”
Tal didn’t believe in ghosts, despite popular belief. No, she just thought the idea of them was neat; But when it’s your only hope, well, you cave in pretty quickly.
Tal was confused when she saw her best friend wasn’t in his normal seat on Monday, so was the rest of the class. She brushed it off at first, he probably got suspended again and forgot to tell her. She’d check on him after school.
It was weird, some of the teachers sent her pitying glances and despite cam being gone their homeroom teacher didn’t look all that happy to not be dealing with his usual antics. Something weird was going on.
Time passed like molasses, no jokes or notes passed, it was incredibly boring but it was over with soon enough. She didn’t waste time walking to her best friend’s house and throwing her notebook at his window to get his attention.
No response…
Maybe he was downstairs, he always ate lunch late anyway. She rang the doorbell and waited, expecting to just get silence again after a few seconds but the door opened to reveal cam’s older brother.
Now, Tal had only met cam’s brother a few times but she had certainly never seen him with that expression. The guy looked like he just went to a funeral for heavens sake.
“Uh- hey, Ethan. Is cam home?” she asked awkwardly, unable to look him in the eyes which was good because he couldn’t either.
He didn’t dare speak, just turned away and shook his head before closing the door without a word.
that was weird.
She thought about knocking again but decided against it, the guy seemed to not want to talk, she’ll just call him later.
He didn’t pick up, he wasn’t at school, he wasn’t home, it was like he had disappeared and his absence left a crater in the classroom.
She didn’t know where he was until Friday when the school held an assembly for cam, his school picture day photo on full display as the words of the school counselor fell on deaf ears.
Cam was dead, and she hadn’t known. She felt sick. How did it happened? How long had it been?
Everything faded into the background and the weeks passed by without much explanation.
Then he came.
The second Brian sat down he was on Tal’s bad side, anger flared and all she could do was stare, but then he started talking about ghosts, and her friend. He knew things he shouldn’t, and it made her believe him just long enough to find her answers.
At first she just played along, enough to get into his house to investigate. The kid seemed crazy, way too trusting with his thoughts, and seeing that bandage on his head probably had some sort of brain damage, but he was right.
Cam was here. And she’d seen enough to know what she had to do.
She felt bad, really, but he made it so easy. He wasn’t gullible but he was so desperate that he did everything she needed him to and all she needed to do was show up.
a hop
she came to his house with the promise to help
a skip
cam took over Brian’s body as the boy slept and got things set up for her
and a jump
and when the time was right she made her move, stopped Brian’s heartbeat in it’s tracks, and her best friend would be with her
forever