Post by HerWhisperIsTheLucifer on Mar 24, 2017 22:57:56 GMT -5
We died on April 18th, 2016. Today it is April 16th, 2017. My, how the time flies.
Joseph, Vincent, and I had had one of the best days planned. Joseph was about to get married to a sweet young woman named Lydia, and since I was the best man I had been responsible for planning the bachelor party. I didn’t get any strippers as that is incredibly disrespectful to the bride to be, but there was an extraordinary amount of alcohol. We were all extremely wasted, and while most were smart enough to take a cab home, Vincent and I rode together. We were on the freeway when we struck the ‘97 Acura and died along with the driver of that Acura. I remember the moment I saw the overturned and crushed cars from outside of my own. I was standing beside Vincent, who was shaking as we watched the pavement turn crimson. “Nicolas,” He squeaked, “What just happened?”
I didn’t know. One minute I was heavily intoxicated and behind the wheel, having a good time as Vincent and I sang along with the radio, then we were standing beside two completely devastated vehicles. I looked over to the Acura and saw a pregnant woman standing next to it, staring at us with hatred and scorn in her eyes. She didn’t speak to us, nor did she approach us. She simply turned her back to us and vanished, never to be seen again. I took a deep breath and looked back at Vincent.
“We died. We’re dead…”
I suppose Vincent had already known, but he looked to me so that I may tell him anything but the truth. Dead is dead and there is no disguising it.
We stayed until the scene was cleaned up and the cars were taken away. After that, we wandered. The woman we had killed was able to pass on immediately, but Vincent and I found that we were unable to. We tried a lot during the first week of our afterlives, but to no avail. After our many failed attempts at leaving this world behind, we decided to visit Joseph’s apartment. We knew he wouldn’t be able to see us, but we felt that we needed to pay him a visit. He would’ve been married by then, but we were curious to see if he had actually gone through with it. He hadn’t. He called off the wedding and was no longer with Lydia. I don’t blame him. I don’t think I could get married after the deaths of a couple close friends, either.
When we arrived at the apartment, we were shocked. Joseph, who had always been a bit of a neat freak, was lying on the trash coated floor with six empty beer bottles stacked beside him. He was passed out and drooling all over the floor, and the whiskey bottle he hadn’t touched in a month was now empty and held tightly in his left hand. Vincent and I looked at each other, sharing a silent exchange of sadness before sitting beside our dearest friend. We stayed there until the next morning, never moving away from Joseph’s side. Once the sun came up we decided to take a walk around the block, clearing our heads.
“Is this our fault?”
I looked to Vincent and sighed, walking with my hands in my pockets. “In a way. We were the ones who died. If we hadn’t, he would be happily married to Lydia right now. We ruined that…”
Vincent watched the ground as we walked, passing through people without a care. “He’s in really bad shape, Nicolas. What do we do?”
“I’m not sure.” I thought for a long while. What would make Joseph better? After a moment, I stopped and grabbed Vincent’s arm. “I suppose we’ll just have to let him know that we’re alright.”
I watched Joseph from his couch. Vincent and I had taken to living with him while we observed his behavior and figured out a way to reach him. Today, he was sitting in the corner of his filthy apartment, his back to the wall and the usual beer bottle in his grasp. Vincent was pacing in front of him. “This is so frustrating,” he spoke softly, “We’re ghosts. How the hell are we supposed to reach him?”
“Well, think about it.” I leaned forward and looked up at him, “People have seen ghosts before. They’ve seen things being moved on their own, and poltergeists happen as well. Those ghosts figured out how to reach the living world, so we can too.”
Vincent sighed as Joseph stood and wobbly made his way to the bathroom. I began to tap my foot nervously. If we didn’t somehow contact Joseph, he’d continue on this self-destructive path and inevitably end up like us. We had to save him, for we owed him that much.
We heard the shower turn on, and Vincent’s eyes suddenly went wide and he jumped up. “That’s it, Nicolas! Steam!”
There we stood in our friend’s bathroom, waiting anxiously for him to step out of the shower and look at the mirror. Using the steam that had collected on the glass, we were able to write a short message with our fingers. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t much, but we could only fit so much on the tiny mirror. “Think he’ll know it’s us?”
“No,” I shook my head, “I don’t think he’ll know it’s us until after a few times of doing this, but it’s a start.”
Vincent nodded slowly as the water turned off and Joseph pulled the shower curtain back. As he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist, Vincent and I were practically biting our nails. We would’ve been holding our breath if we had any. Joseph reached for his clothes but stupidly fumbled and dropped them, bending over to pick them up. As he did so, he reached up and cleared the mirror with his hand, completely erasing our message before he even got a chance to acknowledge its existence. Vincent quickly snapped his gaze back over to me, devastation in his eyes. “Nicolas…!”
I cursed and quickly began to formulate another plan in my head.
I tapped on my crossed arms anxiously as Vincent and I stood over Joseph in the bathroom a few days later. He had been drinking the day away when he wobbled into the bathroom and vomited in the toilet before passing out. Vincent placed a hand on his head. “Nicolas, how is it possible for me to be exhausted? I’m a ghost, I’m not supposed to feel anything.”
“Vincent, we feel more than anybody.”
I saw him clench his fists and all I could do was shake my head. “Maybe we have to be more direct,” he said quietly, “Make it more obvious that we’re here.”
“How?”
He picked up a soap bottle from the shower and tossed it onto Joseph’s back. He didn’t even stir. “So much for that,” I said, leaning against the wall, “Vincent, maybe-” I was interrupted by him charging over to the bathroom counter, sweeping everything off of it with his arm in a fit of frustration. “We have to reach him Nicolas,” he cried, “We have to!”
“I know, Vincent. We will.”
I looked over to Joseph and was surprised to see him sitting upright and rubbing his head, looking at the mess Vincent had made.
“Damn,” he sighed, “I should really stop drinking.”
After that, Vincent and I tried for almost a month to get his attention. Due to Joseph’s new hatred for being sober, he was never in the right state of mind to comprehend our efforts correctly. We moved, threw, and smashed things. We’d yell, scream, and holler. We received no response. Vincent and I could only watch our friend slowly poison himself. We both looked over at the door as a knock had caught our attention, and when Joseph answered it we were both puzzled. There stood a man neither of us had seen before holding a package, which Joseph quickly accepted before slamming the door shut. He sat on the couch and quickly tore open the package, pulling out a few syringes. Vincent gasped in horror. “Heroin…”
I sighed and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the apartment. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We quickly left Joseph’s apartment and started our walk around the block. “Why did you drag me out here? Nicolas, we have to stop him!”
“We’ve been trying to stop him since we died and it isn’t working. There’s nothing we can do while he’s in this state, and I don’t see him sobering up anytime soon.” I looked up at the gloomy sky. “I just couldn’t watch him do that to himself.”
Vincent whimpered and we walked.
“I feel like such a shitty person,” I whispered, “We caused this. We died from our own stupidity and it’s because of that stupidity that Joseph has become this.”
Vincent nodded and looked around, speaking after a moment. “I hate this city. We used to have good memories here, but once we died, they all greyed. Now we’re stuck in a grey city that taunts us using ourselves.”
I nodded and blinked. I suddenly felt a warmth within my chest, causing me to stop walking abruptly. Vincent turned to look at me, confused. “Nicolas?” I quickly turned around. There stood Joseph.
Vincent and I remained still. We stared at our friend with questioning eyes, wondering if he could see us. He looked less pale, having actual color to his cheeks. His eyes had more life to them and I noticed that they were, in fact, watching us. “Joseph…!”
“Hey, you two.” He placed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “How the hell have you been?”
Vincent took an urgent step forward. “How?”
Joseph shrugged. “Take a guess.”
His eyes lit up and he looked back to me. “Nicolas, we did it! We reached him!”
I narrowed my eyes on Joseph and looked him over. When we had left, he had been drunk beyond belief and was in the process of becoming high as well. He seemed sober now. The more I thought, the more it began to make sense. That had seemed to be too much heroin to handle, and it had seemed to be on purpose as well. “No, we didn’t. He’s dead, Vincent. Just like us.”
My friend’s eyes shot back to Joseph, who nodded. “But… But we’ve been trying to communicate with you… We wanted to tell you that we’re alright…”
“Well, it looks like all three of us are alright now.” He took a few steps forward so he was ahead of us. “You coming?”
Vincent nodded, flustered, and followed after our friend.
So here I am, preparing myself to leave my own existence behind. As I prepare to follow Joseph and Vincent away from this world, I turn back to take one last look at the grey city and I can’t help but wonder. “Is this what life was intended to be?”
Joseph, Vincent, and I had had one of the best days planned. Joseph was about to get married to a sweet young woman named Lydia, and since I was the best man I had been responsible for planning the bachelor party. I didn’t get any strippers as that is incredibly disrespectful to the bride to be, but there was an extraordinary amount of alcohol. We were all extremely wasted, and while most were smart enough to take a cab home, Vincent and I rode together. We were on the freeway when we struck the ‘97 Acura and died along with the driver of that Acura. I remember the moment I saw the overturned and crushed cars from outside of my own. I was standing beside Vincent, who was shaking as we watched the pavement turn crimson. “Nicolas,” He squeaked, “What just happened?”
I didn’t know. One minute I was heavily intoxicated and behind the wheel, having a good time as Vincent and I sang along with the radio, then we were standing beside two completely devastated vehicles. I looked over to the Acura and saw a pregnant woman standing next to it, staring at us with hatred and scorn in her eyes. She didn’t speak to us, nor did she approach us. She simply turned her back to us and vanished, never to be seen again. I took a deep breath and looked back at Vincent.
“We died. We’re dead…”
I suppose Vincent had already known, but he looked to me so that I may tell him anything but the truth. Dead is dead and there is no disguising it.
We stayed until the scene was cleaned up and the cars were taken away. After that, we wandered. The woman we had killed was able to pass on immediately, but Vincent and I found that we were unable to. We tried a lot during the first week of our afterlives, but to no avail. After our many failed attempts at leaving this world behind, we decided to visit Joseph’s apartment. We knew he wouldn’t be able to see us, but we felt that we needed to pay him a visit. He would’ve been married by then, but we were curious to see if he had actually gone through with it. He hadn’t. He called off the wedding and was no longer with Lydia. I don’t blame him. I don’t think I could get married after the deaths of a couple close friends, either.
When we arrived at the apartment, we were shocked. Joseph, who had always been a bit of a neat freak, was lying on the trash coated floor with six empty beer bottles stacked beside him. He was passed out and drooling all over the floor, and the whiskey bottle he hadn’t touched in a month was now empty and held tightly in his left hand. Vincent and I looked at each other, sharing a silent exchange of sadness before sitting beside our dearest friend. We stayed there until the next morning, never moving away from Joseph’s side. Once the sun came up we decided to take a walk around the block, clearing our heads.
“Is this our fault?”
I looked to Vincent and sighed, walking with my hands in my pockets. “In a way. We were the ones who died. If we hadn’t, he would be happily married to Lydia right now. We ruined that…”
Vincent watched the ground as we walked, passing through people without a care. “He’s in really bad shape, Nicolas. What do we do?”
“I’m not sure.” I thought for a long while. What would make Joseph better? After a moment, I stopped and grabbed Vincent’s arm. “I suppose we’ll just have to let him know that we’re alright.”
I watched Joseph from his couch. Vincent and I had taken to living with him while we observed his behavior and figured out a way to reach him. Today, he was sitting in the corner of his filthy apartment, his back to the wall and the usual beer bottle in his grasp. Vincent was pacing in front of him. “This is so frustrating,” he spoke softly, “We’re ghosts. How the hell are we supposed to reach him?”
“Well, think about it.” I leaned forward and looked up at him, “People have seen ghosts before. They’ve seen things being moved on their own, and poltergeists happen as well. Those ghosts figured out how to reach the living world, so we can too.”
Vincent sighed as Joseph stood and wobbly made his way to the bathroom. I began to tap my foot nervously. If we didn’t somehow contact Joseph, he’d continue on this self-destructive path and inevitably end up like us. We had to save him, for we owed him that much.
We heard the shower turn on, and Vincent’s eyes suddenly went wide and he jumped up. “That’s it, Nicolas! Steam!”
There we stood in our friend’s bathroom, waiting anxiously for him to step out of the shower and look at the mirror. Using the steam that had collected on the glass, we were able to write a short message with our fingers. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t much, but we could only fit so much on the tiny mirror. “Think he’ll know it’s us?”
“No,” I shook my head, “I don’t think he’ll know it’s us until after a few times of doing this, but it’s a start.”
Vincent nodded slowly as the water turned off and Joseph pulled the shower curtain back. As he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist, Vincent and I were practically biting our nails. We would’ve been holding our breath if we had any. Joseph reached for his clothes but stupidly fumbled and dropped them, bending over to pick them up. As he did so, he reached up and cleared the mirror with his hand, completely erasing our message before he even got a chance to acknowledge its existence. Vincent quickly snapped his gaze back over to me, devastation in his eyes. “Nicolas…!”
I cursed and quickly began to formulate another plan in my head.
I tapped on my crossed arms anxiously as Vincent and I stood over Joseph in the bathroom a few days later. He had been drinking the day away when he wobbled into the bathroom and vomited in the toilet before passing out. Vincent placed a hand on his head. “Nicolas, how is it possible for me to be exhausted? I’m a ghost, I’m not supposed to feel anything.”
“Vincent, we feel more than anybody.”
I saw him clench his fists and all I could do was shake my head. “Maybe we have to be more direct,” he said quietly, “Make it more obvious that we’re here.”
“How?”
He picked up a soap bottle from the shower and tossed it onto Joseph’s back. He didn’t even stir. “So much for that,” I said, leaning against the wall, “Vincent, maybe-” I was interrupted by him charging over to the bathroom counter, sweeping everything off of it with his arm in a fit of frustration. “We have to reach him Nicolas,” he cried, “We have to!”
“I know, Vincent. We will.”
I looked over to Joseph and was surprised to see him sitting upright and rubbing his head, looking at the mess Vincent had made.
“Damn,” he sighed, “I should really stop drinking.”
After that, Vincent and I tried for almost a month to get his attention. Due to Joseph’s new hatred for being sober, he was never in the right state of mind to comprehend our efforts correctly. We moved, threw, and smashed things. We’d yell, scream, and holler. We received no response. Vincent and I could only watch our friend slowly poison himself. We both looked over at the door as a knock had caught our attention, and when Joseph answered it we were both puzzled. There stood a man neither of us had seen before holding a package, which Joseph quickly accepted before slamming the door shut. He sat on the couch and quickly tore open the package, pulling out a few syringes. Vincent gasped in horror. “Heroin…”
I sighed and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the apartment. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We quickly left Joseph’s apartment and started our walk around the block. “Why did you drag me out here? Nicolas, we have to stop him!”
“We’ve been trying to stop him since we died and it isn’t working. There’s nothing we can do while he’s in this state, and I don’t see him sobering up anytime soon.” I looked up at the gloomy sky. “I just couldn’t watch him do that to himself.”
Vincent whimpered and we walked.
“I feel like such a shitty person,” I whispered, “We caused this. We died from our own stupidity and it’s because of that stupidity that Joseph has become this.”
Vincent nodded and looked around, speaking after a moment. “I hate this city. We used to have good memories here, but once we died, they all greyed. Now we’re stuck in a grey city that taunts us using ourselves.”
I nodded and blinked. I suddenly felt a warmth within my chest, causing me to stop walking abruptly. Vincent turned to look at me, confused. “Nicolas?” I quickly turned around. There stood Joseph.
Vincent and I remained still. We stared at our friend with questioning eyes, wondering if he could see us. He looked less pale, having actual color to his cheeks. His eyes had more life to them and I noticed that they were, in fact, watching us. “Joseph…!”
“Hey, you two.” He placed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “How the hell have you been?”
Vincent took an urgent step forward. “How?”
Joseph shrugged. “Take a guess.”
His eyes lit up and he looked back to me. “Nicolas, we did it! We reached him!”
I narrowed my eyes on Joseph and looked him over. When we had left, he had been drunk beyond belief and was in the process of becoming high as well. He seemed sober now. The more I thought, the more it began to make sense. That had seemed to be too much heroin to handle, and it had seemed to be on purpose as well. “No, we didn’t. He’s dead, Vincent. Just like us.”
My friend’s eyes shot back to Joseph, who nodded. “But… But we’ve been trying to communicate with you… We wanted to tell you that we’re alright…”
“Well, it looks like all three of us are alright now.” He took a few steps forward so he was ahead of us. “You coming?”
Vincent nodded, flustered, and followed after our friend.
So here I am, preparing myself to leave my own existence behind. As I prepare to follow Joseph and Vincent away from this world, I turn back to take one last look at the grey city and I can’t help but wonder. “Is this what life was intended to be?”
