Home
Ever since Seth realized that a local high school housed the entire new class of Celestials, he made it his business to hang around campus as much as possible; and whenever Seth hung around somewhere, there are bound to be numerous deaths. Tiring of just sitting on his hands, he liked to go out and have some fun; today was one of those days.
Sitting on the bleachers Seth watched the cheerleaders practice, but more specifically he watched a girl named Alexandra Vanderbilt; she had become somewhat of an infatuation of his lately. It was at this time that another girl got his attention. It was another cheerleader; she all of a sudden became a bit worried about something and when fear is in the air, Seth’s attention is peaked. Delving into her mind, he sensed some fear and guilt; continuing to be intrigued, he probed further. The squad captain, Alex, had been on Angela Benson’s case for a long time now; she had threatened to kick her off the squad if she didn’t shape up. Angela had once again screwed up today in practice; luckily no one really noticed and she was able to play it off, but she really needed to get her act together fast.
Seth spied her walking into the gym, she wanted to practice some more alone. Following her into the gym, he hid behind the bleachers in a dark corner. “You suck, you know that right?” an image of Alex appeared out of thin air and began berating Angela, “I don’t even know how you made it on the squad.” Angela turned around quickly and started backing up slowly, “where did you come from?” she questioned the apparition. “Don’t change the subject”, the illusion continued with its insults, as Seth smirked in the darkness watching his handy work, “you’re fat, ugly and pathetic, you should just go ahead kill yourself. I know I would if I was you.” “Alex is right, you so suck”, a new illusion appeared behind her, “that isn’t the only thing I heard she does”, and yet another, “OMG, look at the rolls on her side, what a pig?”
The illusions started to surround her, “oink oink oink”, the group started to make fun of her in unison. “No please, leave me alone. I’m trying, I really am honest”, she pleaded with them to no avail. Angela used to be a chubby girl that worked her ass off to lose the weight and to hear them make fun of her like that was almost worse than death. “Just hang yourself and get it over with”, the voices continued forcing Angela to take a step back and walk into the climbing rope that was hanging. “Hang yourself!!!! Hang yourself!!!” the voices kept egging her on, drowning out her own thoughts. Angela tried to hold out until she could no more and finally gave in to the voices' suggestions and did what they asked.
Seth smiled and shook his head, “now that was amusing.”
***
Mickey reached into his pockets and sighed. Out of his track pants he pulled out a bottle of pills. Mick opened the child-safe bottle. Inside the orange container sat little blue pills, Prozac. His therapist wanted him to return to a regular dosage. But if he took the pills, he lost his sister. He lost his sister again. Ally, a product of his own sanity or not, was alive when he missed a dose.
"Oh come on big brother." Ally said. She was at his ear. Mickey looked over to her. He swallowed hard. He always expected ghosts to, well, be transparent. Or white, like baby powder was thrown on them. He remembered once he put baby powder in Ally's hair drier. She was so mad. She looked like a ghost then. Right now, now, she just looked like his sister
"I see how it is. You don’t love me anymore. You want to take those pills and kill me all over again." His sister said. Mick shook her head, but before he could protest Ally changed. She looked, dead. Decaying, rotting flesh glazed eyes dead.
"No! Don’t I. Stop!" Mick said quickly. Ally went back to normal. He looked around the school halls. People stared at him. "Dude." One boy said. "I wasn't doing anything." He said then held his hands up defensively. "Freak." he said under his breath. Mick Bit his lower lip nervously.
"Stop talking to me during school." He said under his breath. Ally shrugged. She pointed to the gym. "What." He said "You look stressed Big brother. Go shoot some hoops." She said then pushed some of his hair out of his face. "Don’t you need to work on you're three pointer?" She said with a smirk.
"Like you know what that is." He said rolling his eyes. He pursed his lips. Ally knew what that was, because Ally was a figment of Mickey's own imagination. He sighed and looked at the pills. Ally rolled her eyes and walked into the gym. Mick felt torn. She was his sister. His, dead sister. Dead sister that no one else saw.
Mick closed the bottle. Maybe it would help him blow off some steam. Mick sighed and pushed the doors open and followed his sister. He snatched a basket ball off the rack. He dribbled and then shot into the net. "Good job Mouse." Ally said from the top of the bleachers. Mick looked at her.
"Oh my god." He said and then broke into a run. "Oh my god!" He said then ran up the bleachers. "What?" Ally said. "She was a bitch." "Angela! Ange Hey!" He said running up the bleachers. The girl was dangling sickeningly from her snapped neck. It was the thick climbing rope coach used to 'separate the boys from the men.' She had it wrapped around her neck several times. She was dangling off the side of the bleachers.
Mick reached out and pulled the rope close. The girl slid down the rope with the change of the tension. He stopped moving and covered his mouth feeling sick.
"Oh quit being such a baby." Ally said "Like you haven't seen a dead body before." "Angela!" Mick said. "Angela!" Ally said in a mocking tone. She reached out and then shook the rope. The girl untangled landing with a thud.
"Oh my god!" Mick said he scooped the girl up. "HELP!" He said. "HELP!" he said then pushed the girls hair out of her face. "HELP! Someone help!" He said frantically
"She was a bitch. She deserved it." "ALLY!" He said angrily. "Oh my god." he said looking at his sister. "You did this! You killed her." "Maybe I did." She said with a grin. "They cant lock up a ghost can they." She said back to him with a little laugh.
"HELP Somebody!" Mick said shouting. The doors to the Gym flew open with help, or at least overly interested students. "ALLY Shut up!" Mick said angrily at his nonexistent, dead, sister. "Somebody help her!" He said holding the limp broken body of a cheerleader.
***
"What the hell are you doin' Freak?!" A loud voice called from across the football field. Moments later, a brown pigskin ball crashed into the loner's hands. His silver camera fell onto the grass at his feet. He dove to the ground, reaching for it frantically. He blew it off, rubbing it with his sleeve. Angrily, the short blond alumni stuffed the sleek camera into his pocket and reached for the football.
"My name is ANDREW!!" Throwing the ball as hard as he could, Andrew Reed watched in embarrassment as it fell yards short from his target. The tall high school-er laughed at Andrew, followed by the rest of his surrounding buddies. The girl's chimed in with their heckling giggles. Andrew's face grew red in humiliation as he turned away from the mocking crowd.
Freak. That was what they called him. All through high school, even in his junior high years. Andrew always got good grades, except in gym class. He'd always been awkward toward girls, and never had a real girlfriend. He loved taking pictures, and had quite a collection from the girl's locker room. That was another thing for the high school kids to make fun of Andrew for, hanging around when he graduated a year ago. Only freakish losers did that, right? It wasn't his fault the high school was on the way to the arcade. He was supposed to be opening it for the day. That is, until he was distracted by high school girls stretching in their spandex. He'd have to remember to look at those pictures later...
"Ahhhhhh!" Loud screams rang out from all around Andrew. His eyes darted quickly, falling on numerous students running out of the building. The football field was now covered in students, along with even a few teachers. More students could be seen flooding the parking lot. Andrew's ears picked up phrases like "dead body' and 'hung herself'. With an eyebrow raised, Andrew blended himself in with a mob of students who were heading inside. Maybe I can get some pictures of the scene, Andrew thought to himself as he entered the hallways he'd walked only a short year ago.
***
Seth stood there admiring his handiwork, when he heard the gym doors being pushed open; it was Mickey Luciano and he was talking to someone. Drowning himself in the shadows, Seth faded out of sight, “more mundies to amuse me”, he thought. Watching Mickey walk over to the basketball rack, he looked around the gym to see whom he was talking to; but no one else was there, “is he talking to himself?” the thoughts continued, “oh this guy is going to even more fun than the others; he is already deranged.”
Before Seth could reach into Mickey’s mind and snatch out his worst fears, he noticed that the boy looked over at the bleachers. At first he thought the he had seen the masterpiece that was just finished, but no, the way he turned in that direction was as if he was about to respond to someone; perhaps his unseen ‘friend’. Laughter rung out in Seth’s blackened heart, as Mickey finally saw the hanging girl. His pleas for help bounced off the walls of the gym; the echoes amusing Seth even further, until he realized something, “fuck; now others will come. Just when I was starting to have fun. Oh well, I guess I will just lurk about and watch things unravel. All is not lost; maybe I can still pull a few strings here and there."
Shaking his head at the sight of Mickey holding the dead cheerleader’s limp body in his hands, Seth was doing all he could to stop from playing with the already fragile mind of the Luciano boy. He then heard him mention the name Ally. “Ally?” he thought, “why is that name so familiar? Ah, Ally Luciano; the girl that was torn to shreds a while back. A sister, perhaps?” Seth started to make a connection.
His attention then reverted back to Mickey, watching him panic at the scene, “to hell with it”, he finally gave in to his urges, “this is too much fun, I can’t resist.” Using his demonic gift, Seth forced the image of the dead girl’s head to rise in Mickey’s mind, “beep beep Mickey; we all float down here”, a voice seemingly coming from Angela Benson’s body mocked Mickey before slumping back down to its original state. A smile formed on Seth's face, "I'm such a dick."
***
Mickey was freaking, the fuck, out. His dead sister had killed a girl. His Ally killed a girl! A girl she had always hated. Sure, her haunting him was one thing! But, She was killing people.
No no no no. That cant be right. That cant be. Something else happened.
"Mickey! What happened?" One of the kids said dashing over
"Oh my god she's dead." Another said.
"ANGIE's dead!" Yelled another cheerleader. Mickey held the girl and rocked back and forth in a nervous manner. His sister Ally was standing on the bleachers. She made a motion and pulled an invisible rope. She held her neck and then squirmed.
"Stop it." He said under his breath. "Stop it Ally." He said angrily. His sister grinned she let out a laugh.
"She had it coming." She said then took the bleachers two steps at a time. "She was a bitch." Mickey shook his head and then looked down at the girl. The girl looked up at him. She moved her head in a sickening disembodied way. The girl spoke to him, then closed her eyes again. Mickey stared at her in utter horror.
He pushed her off his lap quickly. Her body fell lifelessly to the ground. Mickey backed up crab crawling away from her.
"What are you doing! Your going to hurt her!" One of the cheerleaders said.
"Did you do this! You did this! You freak!" One of the cheerleaders said pointing at Mickey.
"No I." He said but looked back at Angela. He put his hands on his mouth. He was going to be sick. Mickey scrambled to his feet.
"Hey. Hey where are you going!" One of the other jocks said. Mickey held his mouth and darted out of the gymnasium.
"Hey, someone follow him." The meat head said. "The police are going to need to talk to him." The boy said. He shrugged. "Mickey's harmless, but crazy. He didn't kill her."
"What if he snapped?" The cheerleader said.
"ALRIGHT Alright everyone out. EVERYone!" One of the teachers said. "Someone go with Mick. Everyone out."
***
"Incredible..." Andrew mumbled under his breath as he reached for his silver camera. He was only a few short feet away from the body, and was surrounded by chattering people. Some guy Andrew thought he recognized held the dead girl in his arms. And they call me the freak... Andrew scoffed to himself. He couldn't help but laugh a little when the obviously disturbed teen dropped the girl. Her body folded into an unnatural twist as it hit the floor.
Making sure to turn the flash off on his camera, Andrew took a few steps closer to the body. The dead girl's hair was mangled around her face and neck, but Andrew could still see the red rash around her neck. Her face was purple, and it looked like a few blood vessels has popped. Andrew nodded to himself in agreement with the whispers from the football field. Even though everyone around him thought otherwise, Andrew was sure of it. He'd watched enough of CSI to know a suicide when he saw one. Focusing the camera on the dead girl's face, Andrew began to click the top button on his digital camera. He blatantly ignored the voice that was commanding everyone to leave.
***
Seth watched as the circus of mundies began flooding the confines of the gymnasium, he couldn’t help but think of all the damage he’d be able to do right at this very moment; how he could send the entire crowd into a panicked frenzy. He could make jock fight jock; pit cheerleader against cheerleader; hell he could even have the teachers smack around the geeks and dweebs whose names no one even knew.
He began to chuckle at Mickey’s reaction to when the illusion of the dead girl’s reanimated body addressed him. Using the crowd to his advantage, Seth emerged out of the shadows and blended in with the with the sea of teenagers; a twisted notion struck his mind, “they claim to better than us, yet I am willing to bet that the real reason for all of these mundies filling this gym isn’t out of love and concern for their fellow classmate, but merely to see another dead body. Footage of this will flood websites and be the sole topic of their tweets and texts.”
One of these teens caught his eye in particular; an overexcited cameraman pushing his way closer to the body and snapping several photographs of the girl and the scene, “hahaha, someone to document my work. Lovely”, the demon thought. Looking deeper into the photographer’s mind, Seth saw his fears; he saw the constant neglect that this Andrew Reed had to endure, “this one is even worse than the boy that talks to himself”, Seth smiled, “I will surely keep an eye out for this one; he is already near the breaking point as it stands right now. Let’s test the waters with him, shall we?” he thought to himself.
“Watch out freak”, a hot female student bumped into Andrew or at least that was what his mind told him. She looked at him and elbowed her friend, another figment of his imagination, “wow what a geek, do you even go here? Didn’t you like graduate years ago. Hahaha”, they started laughing at him before disappearing. Almost immediately afterward, Seth forced an image of a jock hovering behind Andrew and continued on with his games, “what the fuck are you taking pictures for, you sick fuck? I bet you’re going to go home and masturbate to them, huh? Fucking necrophiliac freak”, the illusionary jock shoved him and made the same disappearing act the girls did seconds ago. Seth looked on, surveying the ramifications of his work.
***
There it was, that word again. Freak. The skinny blond who'd bumped into him moments ago was taunting Andrew. Her and her mousy looking friend. Their laughter pierced through Andrew's ear, making him cringe. His free arm hung at his side, fist balled tightly. With his other hand, Andrew slid the silver camera back into the pocket of his jeans.
"Get fucked you ugly whore," Andrew replied through gritted teeth. Taking a step toward them, he raised an eyebrow to the small group of confused faces staring back at him. What the hell? the just as confused photographer asked himself. Am I fucking losing it? As if to answer Andrew's question, a voice from behind him broke into his thoughts.
"FUCK YOU!" Andrew shouted, quickly turning to face the one that challenged him. He wondered how long the guy had been watching him. He obviously saw him taking pictures of the dead girl who was still only a few feet away.
"Fucking necrophiliac freak," the unfamiliar high schooler continued to taunt a frustrated Andrew. Feeling the guy's weight on his chest, Andrew stumbled and fell backwards. His face twisted in anger, he quickly rose to his feet.
"I... AM... NOT... A FREAK!" Andrew swung his closed fist at the boy's face. His mouth formed an 'o' when he realized he'd swung at thin air. Slowly turning to face the now larger crowd behind him, Andrew felt his face grow hot. He was sure it was red with embarrassment.
"Yeah," a voice piped up from the group of confused students and teachers. "Yeah you are..." Andrew's eyes darted from face to face before landing on a tall man in a suit. His eyes falling on the man's golden badge, Andrew quickly lowered them to the ground.
"Alright people, scene's over," A voice spoke above the whispers of the crowd. "Everyone out!" Andrew knew what they were saying. They were calling him a 'freak'. He wished that for just one moment, he could be seen as something else. Called something else. Anything else.
***
"Clear out kids." Grayson said "You." He stopped the photographer. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll need your memory chip from that camera." He said to Andrew. He eyed the boy who had been acting strangely. Grayson looked across the gymnasium. Suicide at school? It was one of a string of suicides. What was wrong with these girls.
"Can you tell me what was going on here son?" Grayson said to the boy. He held out his hand for the memory chip still.
"Gordon." he said pointing to some of the kids. "Get a kid on getting their statements please." Grayson said to his partner. All of a sudden there was a handful of police. "I need someone to quadroon off this area please." He said pointing to parts of the gym.
"I'm sorry." He said to the boy with the camera. "Please, if you could tell us anything, it would be a huge help." He said "Was there anyone here? Who found the girl?"
***
Damn it, Andrew thought to himself as he tried to walk away from the staring faces. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Andrew quickly turned around and found himself staring at the same badge he'd spotted moments ago.
"M-My memory chip?" Andrew asked with a lump in his throat. He stared at the Detective's out held hand. It was urging him to obey it's command. With a reluctant sigh, Andrew stuffed his hand into his pocket and fiddled around for a moment. It was extremely convenient that Andrew always carried a back up chip. Sliding the extra chip into the palm of his hand, Andrew wrapped his fingers around the camera and pulled it out.
"I'm sorry Sir," Andrew replied, shaking his head. His eyed were lowered to his camera as he opened the back and removed the memory chip. Bringing his eyes to the meet the Detective's, Andrew began to explain his story. "I was on my way to open the Arcade. I heard and saw all kinds of commotion as I walked by, so I came inside to find out what happened." Making sure to hold eye contact with the Detective while he told his story, Andrew slipped the camera's memory chip into his palm. Just as quickly and easily, he pulled the blank chip out and placed it into the Detective's hand. "Can I go now?"
***
"Yes the memory chip." Grayson said again.
"Grayson." His partner came up and said something low. Grayson sighed and then nodded. He took the memory chip. Grayson looked at the boy.
"You didn't answer my question." He said to Andrew. He put a hand on the boys shoulder. Grayson directed Andrew away from the body. "I asked who found the girl?" He said then looked at a notebook in his hand. "Did you know Angela?" He asked quietly. Grayson looked at the boy for a moment. "Aren't you a bit old to be on school grounds?" Grayson inquired. "Where's your visitor badge?" He said raising an eyebrow. Grayson plucked a pen out of his jacket. He scrawled something on his pad. "I'm sorry," He said then looked at the boy again. "I'm special agent Barclay. I've been put on the case of these suicides. It seems that a number of girls from this school have been feeling their life isn't worth living." He said tapping the pen on his pad. "What's your name? Are you an Alum? When did you graduate." He asked quickly in rapid fire succession.
***
Once again Seth’s entertainment was interrupted, but this time it was by an old acquaintance; Special Agent Grayson Barclay. Although the two had never met, Barclay was the poor soul assigned to the suicide cases; all of which Seth was responsible for. The demon felt he knew Agent Barclay. The officer was a highly dedicated man and was determined to close all his cases, failure wasn’t an option. He was good at his job, but so was Seth. Regardless of the agent’s job expertise, Barclay wouldn’t be able to solve these cases unless he’d be willing to open his mind and acknowledge that demons do exist. How else could these deaths have occurred? All these suicides, was it that believable that teenagers all from the same school hated their lives so much that they’d end it or was something else at play here. Seth knew that Barclay didn’t rule out the supernatural, not with the Luciano case; a case where the girl was torn to sheds, “ah that name again”, he thought to himself, watching the agent approach Andrew. “The imaginary girl that Mickey was talking to, his dead sister”, he connected the dots, “ I knew the name was familiar, it was the only case that Agent Barclay never solved; the case that was plaguing his every waking moment; the case that cost him a marriage”, the demon paused as he plucked the information from Barclay’s mind, searching for anything he could use against him, “noble Grayson here was so obsessed with the Ally Luciano case that it cost him his wife, I can use that”.
Seth had allowed the agent a moment’s peace while he initially questioned Andrew about the scene, but the boy didn’t know anything. Barclay wasn’t going to get anything from the boy, so Seth decided to play with the agent. “You’re in over your head Grayson”, a voice whispered in Grayson Barclay’s mind; Seth began heightening his fears and doubts, “you should have just given up on the Luciano case and you would have still been married”, the voice continued. He watched Barclay barrage the confused cameraman with a series of questions, “now look at where it’s got you, high school suicides; questioning someone who obviously doesn’t know what saw, if he saw anything, you’re getting no where. Just give it up, more girls are going to die and you can’t do anything about it”, Seth continued to prey on him.
Officers were questioning the students and one walked up to Seth, “excuse me son, when did you arrive on the scene? Did you see anything, something that perhaps could be helpful? I know how hard this has been on you kids with all that has been going on.” Seth gave him a smile and answered the cop, “no sorry officer, I just heard a bunch of people screaming and rushing over here…..and I guess I just followed the crowd”, his demeanor gaining the cops trust, “it has been hard; I mean I didn’t know the girls personally, but it still sucks, you know? They were living beings and deserved more”, Seth held back the urge to laugh, “Deserved more?” he chuckled internally, “those pathetic mundies; I did them a favor, aiding them in ending their worthless lives. I should be rewarded for doing the world a justice. “Thank you son”, the officer moved on to the next student. Once again Seth attention returned to Andrew and Agent Barclay.
***
Grayson was a man, not a boy. He was also good at his job. Grayson was not some uncertain teenage girl. He was curious though. His eyes darted for a moment. He furrowed his brows contemplatively. The man smiled confidently at Andrew for a moment. He looked about the Gym for a moment. The voices only cemented in his mind that this was no mere coincidence. Grayson was blinded enough by the Luciano case to give up his marriage. A voice in his head wouldn't waver his fortitude. Grayson's eyes landed on a young boy. Grayson stared at Seth for a moment.
"Do you know him?" He added to the line of questioning to Andrew. Grayson eyed the photographer. "Go on," He said tapping on the edge of his notebook impatiently.
***
I am so fucking late! Andrew exclaimed to himself, stuffing his camera and hidden memory chip back into his pocket. He stared blankly as the Detective threw a series of questions at him. It seemed like the Detective was a robot. Asking all the questions in a routine style. Andrew wondered if the dude's heart was even in it. Agent Barclay, as Andrew was sure he heard.
"Look, Officer Barclay," Andrew began, shuffling his feet as he spoke. "No disrespect, but I already told you I don't know. I was on my way to open my arcade, saw the commotion, came in to see what was going on." Andrew hoped his response would get him leave to go, but he was wrong. He only grew aggravated as he noticed the Detective's attention wasn't on him. The same Detective that was questioning him, that wouldn't let Andrew leave, wasn't even paying him any attention. Letting out an aggravated sigh, Andrew's face twisted into an angry frown.
"Do you know him?" the Detective's attention was back to Andrew. Raising an eyebrow, he followed the cop's gaze. His eyes landed on an older man, at least a couple years older than Andrew. He was off by himself, hidden by the shadows of the bleachers. I take pictures of girl's asses while that guy hides ominously in the shadows, but I'm the freak? Andrew scoffed, completely forgetting why he was in the gymnasium to begin with. He returned his attention to Detective Barclay and shook his head.
"Never seen him before in my life," Andrew replied, his patience gone. "I already did part of your job by taking those pictures you have in your hand," Andrew stated in an obviously annoyed tone. "I told you everything I know, which is nothing, and I'm really late for my job. Can I please go now?"
***
Grayson stared at the boy for a moment. He was being entirely obstinate. But special agent Barclay had bigger fish to fry.
"I see." he said then looked at Andrew. He rubbed his forehead then smirked at the boy. "Officer Hunt." He said waving over a policeman. "This young gentleman is in a hurry." He said then raised an eyebrow. "Could you please make sure that he goes to talk to Detective Vicero before he leaves." Barclay grinned. Vicero was the Daftest slowest detective on the force. He slapped Andrew on the shoulder hard.
"You have a good rest of the day. Thank you for your help." He said not meaning a word of what he said. Grayson devoted his whole life to justice. Grayson didn't take kindly to boys who disregarded the the process of law. The officer nodded to Grayson then escorted Andrew out.
***
Witnessing the officers escort the crowd out of the gym, Seth realized that the herd was thinning out rapidly; he felt that he overstayed his welcome. Per Agent Barclay’s orders, the cops were questioning the bystanders and having them leave the scene, not to confuse them with students they had yet to speak with. “Excuse me young man”, an officer grabbed Seth’s arm, “have you already spoken with an officer?” Seth’s first instinct was unleash his fury on the unsuspecting cop; it was one thing to play along with the questioning but to be touched by a mundie, now that wasn’t tolerable.
Not a demon to get his hands dirty, he decided another approach to punish the cop. With what seemed like a blink of an eye, Seth shifted from his usual appearance and into a decaying one. Officer Mitchell stumbled back a few steps knocking a few kids off balance as he did so, “No, no this can’t be”, he responded to the vision before him, “you’re dead.” “Sir, are you OK?” the devious Seth played things off, “what do you mean I am supposed to be dead? I don’t understand”, he continued to play the role of the innocent as people began looking in their direction. To everyone within the gym Seth appeared to be just another young man, perhaps one too old to be in high school, but a young man nonetheless; although to Officer Mitchell, he was something else entirely. Mitchell saw the man he killed during his rookie year. There was a robbery at a liquor store and the robber came out shooting, it was either the robber or his partner; the ramifications of that decision have stayed with him all these years. Mitchell thought those years in therapy had helped him get past that night and they had, until now. Two nearby cops walked up to Mitchell to see what had occurred; he pointed at Seth and explained, but all they saw, albeit a bit suspicious, was an ordinary guy. They escorted Mitchell out and told him that all he needed was some fresh air.
Seth then felt as if he was being watched and turned in the direction his senses led him to. It was Agent Barclay; he was pointing in his direction and talking to Andrew, “it is most definitely time for me to leave”, he smirked at the Agent and started to walk off, “these simpleton cops are easy to play with, but Barclay has a strong will about him and I don’t have the time, nor do I feel like putting the required effort to properly deal with at this time. There is always the next suicide victim; our paths will cross again, of this I am sure of.”
***
"You've got to be kidding me!" Andrew replied as he was guided away from Detective Barclay. He rolled his eyes and huffed as he remained a step behind the other cop. I hope this doesn't take long... Andrew thought to himself.
"Detective?" The cop stopped abruptly, tapping another man on the shoulder. A middle aged man turned to face Andrew and the cop with a puzzled look on his face. His clothes and hair were sloppy, as if he'd rolled out of bed and came straight to the scene. "Agent Barclay wants you to ask this young man some questions," the cop nodded in Andrew's direction. Without another word, he turned and quickly walked back toward the dead girl.
"Uhh... okay..." Detective Vicero started, seemingly confused. Andrew quickly realized that the Detective had no idea what was going on. "What was am I supposed to ask you?"
"I have no idea," Andrew responded quickly.
"Well... did Agent Barclay ask you anything?" the confused Detective scratched his head.
".... Yeah." It took everything Andrew had not to laugh at the dumb cop. He had no idea what was going on. How'd a guy like him get to be a cop?
"Well... what did he ask you?" In disbelief of the Detective's stupidity, Andrew shifted his weight and sighed in annoyance.
"Why I was here, if I saw who did it, the usual questions I guess."
"Well.... then I guess that's everything we need to know. You left your number in case we have any more questions?" Andrew was fighting the urge to hit the stupid cop. If he said the word well one more time...
"Yeah, address too." Andrew lied to the cop. He really had no choice. He had to get to the arcade. Every minute it wasn't open, was a minute Andrew wasn't making money.
"Well, then, I guess you can go then," The Detective nodded and turned his back to Andrew. Fists balled at his side, Andrew scowled at the dumb cop. He really wanted to just punch him in the back of the head. Restraining himself, which didn't really take much, Andrew headed for the big doors that led to the school hallway.
***
"Detective Barclay." A voice said. "We know who found the body." Grayson sighed. He had been eying the girl. If she was so keen on killing herself, why did she put so much effort into accessorizing for school? It just didn't add up. Grayson looked at the cop.
"Who is it?" He inquired. He ran a hand through his short hair then stood up.
"Mickey Luciano." The cop said. Grayson raised his eyebrows in surprise. He shook his head.
"Mick found her?" He said softly. "That cant be good." He said with a worried glance.
"No he's freaking out in the boys bathroom." The cop said with a worried glance. Grayson sighed.
"From the reports we're getting from the kids, the boy was acting really weird before and after he found the girl." The cop said looking at his notebook.
"Weird how?" Grayson said making his way to the boy's bathroom.
"Well," he said softly. "talking to his dead sister, he kicked the body someone said. Like he didn't know she was dead. Or something." The cop said with a worried glance.
"That's not good."
"Yeah he's freaked out the student body." The cop said.
"There's no way that he's killed the girl." Grayson said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Well, he might not hurt someone, but, he did scare them." The cop said.
"I'll go have a talk with him." Grayson said.
***
Mickey paced the stall of the bathroom.
"Will you chill out big brother." Ally said sitting on the top of the toilet. Her feet were resting on the rim.
Mickey looked at his sister.
"What is there to chill about? You killed that girl." He said under his breath.
"I didn't kill her I'm a ghost remember?" Ally said with a quick smirk.
"Ally you killed her. You did! I saw you. You were there next to." He said pacing in the small confined space.
"What I wrapped the rope around her neck and told her to jump?" Ally said playing with her hair. Mickey stared at her and stopped.
"I wouldn't put it past you." He said frantically. "You hated her!"
"Oh please." She said then let out a little malicious laugh. "That sucker never stood a chance at this school She was suicide waiting to happen." Ally said with a bright smile. "Maybe I just helped."
"You're crazy!" Mickey said.
"That's a little like the pot and the kettle Mick." Ally said. "Maybe," She said standing up on the rim of the toilet seat. "Maybe you killed her." She said then stepped to the ground. Mickey looked at her in shock. "Maybe you were acting on my orders?" Ally said with a wicked grin. "do you even remember what happened?" She purred. Ally gave him a shove, then like a ghost disappeared.
"No!" Mickey said. "No! I didn't. I didn't do anything. I swear. I didn't hurt her." He said frantically. He pushed the stall door open. Mickey tumbled into the bathroom. He ran over to the sink.
Ally was in the Mirror. She smirked.
"Are you so sure?" she said. Mickey reached into his pocket and pulled out his pills. "What are you doing?" She said angrily. "Put those down you coward."
"I didn't kill anyone." He said panicked. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"You so sure?" She said with a smile. Mickey stared at her. He popped open the pill case. He spilled out a few pills onto the floor. "Why are you so scared? What are you afraid of if you didn't kill her?" His sister whispered. Mickey picked up a pill and swallowed it. He then threw another one in his mouth for good measure. He kicked some of the pills on the ground under a stall.
"I didn't do anything." he said under his breath. "I didn't kill her." He said frantically.
***
Grayson pushed the door to the boys room open. He raised his eyebrows. Mickey seemed to be the only one in the room. Who was he talking to? What was he saying? Grayson took a step in. He looked in the mirror. All the stalls appeared empty.
"You okay son?" He asked softly. He walked over to Mickey. "Hey Mick." He said then took the boy by the shoulders. "What's wrong?" He asked. "What are you saying?" He said then looked around the room. "Who are you talking to?" He said.
Grayson wondered if it was that same voice buzzing around in his head earlier. Something to with that sulky looking boy.
"Mick." He said softly. "Keep it together son. What happened? How did you find the girl?" He asked. "Did you know her?" He said then looked at Mick. "Are you going to be okay? Can I get you something? You look sick." He said softly.
***
Mickey jumped as he saw the Detective in the mirror. He held his chest.
"Oh Grayson. I didn't see you." He said then looked frantically for his sister. She was no where to be seen. "Yeah. Um. Yeah I'm fine." Mick said looking frantically around the room. He wrung his hands. "I'm, I wasn't saying anything." He said then spotted his sister standing to the left of Grayson.
"The G, girl?" Mick said with a little stutter. "What girl?" He asked softly. "Oh um. Angela? I uhm" He said then swallowed hard. "I went to the gym cause I had a free period. I was, um. Going to shoot some hoops. I uh. There's nothing wrong with that." he added. "It's totally allowed." He said softly. "I mean I'm a senior." He said then looked at his sister.
"He wants to know about the dead girl you idiot. Not your detention record." She said putting a hand on her hip.
"Shut up." Mickey hissed at his sister. "Um." He said looking nervous at Grayson. "Yeah I knew her, well sort of, um. Well, Ally knew her. They weren't close though. Like at all." He said. Mickey then waved the man off. "Im uhm fine. I'll be fine." He said running a hand over his forehead.
***
Grayson looked over his shoulder. He shot a quizzical look at Mickey. But before he could question the boy more the door opened. Grayson's partner walked in. He listened quietly to what Mickey had to say. Grayson wished he had time alone with Mick. This didn't look good at all. But, how could Mickey kill the girl? It just didn't add up. Grayson raised an eyebrow when Mick told him to shut up.
"I wasn't saying anything." He said leading. "How did the girl get to the floor Mickey? Did you move the rope? Had she fallen already?" He asked softly. "Hey its okay. You're right. You are going to be fine." He said softly. "Just tell me what happened.
***
"The floor?" Mickey added. "Um. She fell." He said then sort of drifted off. She fell because his sister moved the rope. Mickey didn't move the rope.
"Can you be so sure of that Mouse?" His sister said. "I mean if they finger printed the rope wouldn't yours be on there."
"No." Mickey replied to her. "I didn't touch the rope." He said.
"Then how did she fall Mick? Hmm. You know I cant touch things. I'm dead remember?" She said quickly.
"I didn't touch the rope!" Mickey said.
"Maybe you wrapped the rope around her neck then..." Ally said.
"NO. I didn't kill her I didn't! I didn't touch her!" Mickey said. He looked at Grayson. "I didn't touch her I swear. I mean, I did. But I was trying to help her! I was I swear. She was dangling on the rope and looked." He said then covered his mouth. He swallowed hard. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"She looked what?" Ally said. "What like a strangled cat with her limbs dangling and foot twitching?" Mickey covered his mouth and burst through a stall and got sick.
***
"Barclay." His partner said. Grayson watched the whole scene unfurl with horror. What had the boy done? Why was he so upset. "Grayson." His partner said quickly. Grayson turned and looked at him. "We have to take him in."
"Oh come on." Grayson said. "He didn't do anything."
"He probably didn't." His partner said. "But we still have to bring him in. He's a basket case." He said then looked at his partner. "He could hurt someone."
"He's not going to hurt anyone. He's just a kid." Grayson said to the sounds of Mickey heaving up his guts again. "He didn't hurt anyone."
"Look if we don’t bring him in. Someone might hurt him." His partner pointed out. Grayson sighed. He ran a hand distraught over his forehead.
"Mickey." He said then leaned on the stall. "We have to take you in for questioning." He said then held up his hands. "You didn't kill anyone. But, you're acting really strange. We just want to make sure you're going to be okay. I'll take care of everything." He said quickly. "Promise nothing bad will happen to you." He said softly. "Just come in and calm down. Come in and talk to us." Grayson said watching the boy warily.
***
Mickey looked up at the detective from his position on the cold tile floor.
"He can't do that!" Ally said self righteously. "Tell him you want a lawyer." She said eying the detective. "He can't just take you in. You didn't do anything."
"I didn't do anything." Mickey said.
"Yeah he didn't do anything." Ally said. But Grayson mirrored those comments. Mickey sighed. He ran a hand over his face. He stood up. Mickey opened the pill bottle and popped a few more in his mouth.
"Okay." He said worried.
"WHAT!" Ally said. "Oh you are sooo grounded."
"Lets go." Mickey said.
***
"Okay kid." Grayson said softly. He walked over to him. He put an arm over the boys neck. "Lets get you out of here." He said softly. Grayson's partner pulled out handcuffs. "Hey he'll be fine."
"It's procedure." The partner said.
"He'll be fine. I'll escort him myself." Grayson said defensively.
"You cant keep going against protocol Grayson." His partner said.
"It' will all be okay." Grayson said. He rubbed Mickey's shoulder. "It's going to be fine. Let's get you to the station." He said with a worried glance at the boy. Grayson ushered him out of the school. Grayson commandeered a police car. He sat Mickey inside. Grayson heaved a worried sigh. He saw the boy in the rear view mirror. Grayson shook his head then put the car in reverse with another sigh.
Sitting on the bleachers Seth watched the cheerleaders practice, but more specifically he watched a girl named Alexandra Vanderbilt; she had become somewhat of an infatuation of his lately. It was at this time that another girl got his attention. It was another cheerleader; she all of a sudden became a bit worried about something and when fear is in the air, Seth’s attention is peaked. Delving into her mind, he sensed some fear and guilt; continuing to be intrigued, he probed further. The squad captain, Alex, had been on Angela Benson’s case for a long time now; she had threatened to kick her off the squad if she didn’t shape up. Angela had once again screwed up today in practice; luckily no one really noticed and she was able to play it off, but she really needed to get her act together fast.
Seth spied her walking into the gym, she wanted to practice some more alone. Following her into the gym, he hid behind the bleachers in a dark corner. “You suck, you know that right?” an image of Alex appeared out of thin air and began berating Angela, “I don’t even know how you made it on the squad.” Angela turned around quickly and started backing up slowly, “where did you come from?” she questioned the apparition. “Don’t change the subject”, the illusion continued with its insults, as Seth smirked in the darkness watching his handy work, “you’re fat, ugly and pathetic, you should just go ahead kill yourself. I know I would if I was you.” “Alex is right, you so suck”, a new illusion appeared behind her, “that isn’t the only thing I heard she does”, and yet another, “OMG, look at the rolls on her side, what a pig?”
The illusions started to surround her, “oink oink oink”, the group started to make fun of her in unison. “No please, leave me alone. I’m trying, I really am honest”, she pleaded with them to no avail. Angela used to be a chubby girl that worked her ass off to lose the weight and to hear them make fun of her like that was almost worse than death. “Just hang yourself and get it over with”, the voices continued forcing Angela to take a step back and walk into the climbing rope that was hanging. “Hang yourself!!!! Hang yourself!!!” the voices kept egging her on, drowning out her own thoughts. Angela tried to hold out until she could no more and finally gave in to the voices' suggestions and did what they asked.
Seth smiled and shook his head, “now that was amusing.”
***
Mickey reached into his pockets and sighed. Out of his track pants he pulled out a bottle of pills. Mick opened the child-safe bottle. Inside the orange container sat little blue pills, Prozac. His therapist wanted him to return to a regular dosage. But if he took the pills, he lost his sister. He lost his sister again. Ally, a product of his own sanity or not, was alive when he missed a dose.
"Oh come on big brother." Ally said. She was at his ear. Mickey looked over to her. He swallowed hard. He always expected ghosts to, well, be transparent. Or white, like baby powder was thrown on them. He remembered once he put baby powder in Ally's hair drier. She was so mad. She looked like a ghost then. Right now, now, she just looked like his sister
"I see how it is. You don’t love me anymore. You want to take those pills and kill me all over again." His sister said. Mick shook her head, but before he could protest Ally changed. She looked, dead. Decaying, rotting flesh glazed eyes dead.
"No! Don’t I. Stop!" Mick said quickly. Ally went back to normal. He looked around the school halls. People stared at him. "Dude." One boy said. "I wasn't doing anything." He said then held his hands up defensively. "Freak." he said under his breath. Mick Bit his lower lip nervously.
"Stop talking to me during school." He said under his breath. Ally shrugged. She pointed to the gym. "What." He said "You look stressed Big brother. Go shoot some hoops." She said then pushed some of his hair out of his face. "Don’t you need to work on you're three pointer?" She said with a smirk.
"Like you know what that is." He said rolling his eyes. He pursed his lips. Ally knew what that was, because Ally was a figment of Mickey's own imagination. He sighed and looked at the pills. Ally rolled her eyes and walked into the gym. Mick felt torn. She was his sister. His, dead sister. Dead sister that no one else saw.
Mick closed the bottle. Maybe it would help him blow off some steam. Mick sighed and pushed the doors open and followed his sister. He snatched a basket ball off the rack. He dribbled and then shot into the net. "Good job Mouse." Ally said from the top of the bleachers. Mick looked at her.
"Oh my god." He said and then broke into a run. "Oh my god!" He said then ran up the bleachers. "What?" Ally said. "She was a bitch." "Angela! Ange Hey!" He said running up the bleachers. The girl was dangling sickeningly from her snapped neck. It was the thick climbing rope coach used to 'separate the boys from the men.' She had it wrapped around her neck several times. She was dangling off the side of the bleachers.
Mick reached out and pulled the rope close. The girl slid down the rope with the change of the tension. He stopped moving and covered his mouth feeling sick.
"Oh quit being such a baby." Ally said "Like you haven't seen a dead body before." "Angela!" Mick said. "Angela!" Ally said in a mocking tone. She reached out and then shook the rope. The girl untangled landing with a thud.
"Oh my god!" Mick said he scooped the girl up. "HELP!" He said. "HELP!" he said then pushed the girls hair out of her face. "HELP! Someone help!" He said frantically
"She was a bitch. She deserved it." "ALLY!" He said angrily. "Oh my god." he said looking at his sister. "You did this! You killed her." "Maybe I did." She said with a grin. "They cant lock up a ghost can they." She said back to him with a little laugh.
"HELP Somebody!" Mick said shouting. The doors to the Gym flew open with help, or at least overly interested students. "ALLY Shut up!" Mick said angrily at his nonexistent, dead, sister. "Somebody help her!" He said holding the limp broken body of a cheerleader.
***
"What the hell are you doin' Freak?!" A loud voice called from across the football field. Moments later, a brown pigskin ball crashed into the loner's hands. His silver camera fell onto the grass at his feet. He dove to the ground, reaching for it frantically. He blew it off, rubbing it with his sleeve. Angrily, the short blond alumni stuffed the sleek camera into his pocket and reached for the football.
"My name is ANDREW!!" Throwing the ball as hard as he could, Andrew Reed watched in embarrassment as it fell yards short from his target. The tall high school-er laughed at Andrew, followed by the rest of his surrounding buddies. The girl's chimed in with their heckling giggles. Andrew's face grew red in humiliation as he turned away from the mocking crowd.
Freak. That was what they called him. All through high school, even in his junior high years. Andrew always got good grades, except in gym class. He'd always been awkward toward girls, and never had a real girlfriend. He loved taking pictures, and had quite a collection from the girl's locker room. That was another thing for the high school kids to make fun of Andrew for, hanging around when he graduated a year ago. Only freakish losers did that, right? It wasn't his fault the high school was on the way to the arcade. He was supposed to be opening it for the day. That is, until he was distracted by high school girls stretching in their spandex. He'd have to remember to look at those pictures later...
"Ahhhhhh!" Loud screams rang out from all around Andrew. His eyes darted quickly, falling on numerous students running out of the building. The football field was now covered in students, along with even a few teachers. More students could be seen flooding the parking lot. Andrew's ears picked up phrases like "dead body' and 'hung herself'. With an eyebrow raised, Andrew blended himself in with a mob of students who were heading inside. Maybe I can get some pictures of the scene, Andrew thought to himself as he entered the hallways he'd walked only a short year ago.
***
Seth stood there admiring his handiwork, when he heard the gym doors being pushed open; it was Mickey Luciano and he was talking to someone. Drowning himself in the shadows, Seth faded out of sight, “more mundies to amuse me”, he thought. Watching Mickey walk over to the basketball rack, he looked around the gym to see whom he was talking to; but no one else was there, “is he talking to himself?” the thoughts continued, “oh this guy is going to even more fun than the others; he is already deranged.”
Before Seth could reach into Mickey’s mind and snatch out his worst fears, he noticed that the boy looked over at the bleachers. At first he thought the he had seen the masterpiece that was just finished, but no, the way he turned in that direction was as if he was about to respond to someone; perhaps his unseen ‘friend’. Laughter rung out in Seth’s blackened heart, as Mickey finally saw the hanging girl. His pleas for help bounced off the walls of the gym; the echoes amusing Seth even further, until he realized something, “fuck; now others will come. Just when I was starting to have fun. Oh well, I guess I will just lurk about and watch things unravel. All is not lost; maybe I can still pull a few strings here and there."
Shaking his head at the sight of Mickey holding the dead cheerleader’s limp body in his hands, Seth was doing all he could to stop from playing with the already fragile mind of the Luciano boy. He then heard him mention the name Ally. “Ally?” he thought, “why is that name so familiar? Ah, Ally Luciano; the girl that was torn to shreds a while back. A sister, perhaps?” Seth started to make a connection.
His attention then reverted back to Mickey, watching him panic at the scene, “to hell with it”, he finally gave in to his urges, “this is too much fun, I can’t resist.” Using his demonic gift, Seth forced the image of the dead girl’s head to rise in Mickey’s mind, “beep beep Mickey; we all float down here”, a voice seemingly coming from Angela Benson’s body mocked Mickey before slumping back down to its original state. A smile formed on Seth's face, "I'm such a dick."
***
Mickey was freaking, the fuck, out. His dead sister had killed a girl. His Ally killed a girl! A girl she had always hated. Sure, her haunting him was one thing! But, She was killing people.
No no no no. That cant be right. That cant be. Something else happened.
"Mickey! What happened?" One of the kids said dashing over
"Oh my god she's dead." Another said.
"ANGIE's dead!" Yelled another cheerleader. Mickey held the girl and rocked back and forth in a nervous manner. His sister Ally was standing on the bleachers. She made a motion and pulled an invisible rope. She held her neck and then squirmed.
"Stop it." He said under his breath. "Stop it Ally." He said angrily. His sister grinned she let out a laugh.
"She had it coming." She said then took the bleachers two steps at a time. "She was a bitch." Mickey shook his head and then looked down at the girl. The girl looked up at him. She moved her head in a sickening disembodied way. The girl spoke to him, then closed her eyes again. Mickey stared at her in utter horror.
He pushed her off his lap quickly. Her body fell lifelessly to the ground. Mickey backed up crab crawling away from her.
"What are you doing! Your going to hurt her!" One of the cheerleaders said.
"Did you do this! You did this! You freak!" One of the cheerleaders said pointing at Mickey.
"No I." He said but looked back at Angela. He put his hands on his mouth. He was going to be sick. Mickey scrambled to his feet.
"Hey. Hey where are you going!" One of the other jocks said. Mickey held his mouth and darted out of the gymnasium.
"Hey, someone follow him." The meat head said. "The police are going to need to talk to him." The boy said. He shrugged. "Mickey's harmless, but crazy. He didn't kill her."
"What if he snapped?" The cheerleader said.
"ALRIGHT Alright everyone out. EVERYone!" One of the teachers said. "Someone go with Mick. Everyone out."
***
"Incredible..." Andrew mumbled under his breath as he reached for his silver camera. He was only a few short feet away from the body, and was surrounded by chattering people. Some guy Andrew thought he recognized held the dead girl in his arms. And they call me the freak... Andrew scoffed to himself. He couldn't help but laugh a little when the obviously disturbed teen dropped the girl. Her body folded into an unnatural twist as it hit the floor.
Making sure to turn the flash off on his camera, Andrew took a few steps closer to the body. The dead girl's hair was mangled around her face and neck, but Andrew could still see the red rash around her neck. Her face was purple, and it looked like a few blood vessels has popped. Andrew nodded to himself in agreement with the whispers from the football field. Even though everyone around him thought otherwise, Andrew was sure of it. He'd watched enough of CSI to know a suicide when he saw one. Focusing the camera on the dead girl's face, Andrew began to click the top button on his digital camera. He blatantly ignored the voice that was commanding everyone to leave.
***
Seth watched as the circus of mundies began flooding the confines of the gymnasium, he couldn’t help but think of all the damage he’d be able to do right at this very moment; how he could send the entire crowd into a panicked frenzy. He could make jock fight jock; pit cheerleader against cheerleader; hell he could even have the teachers smack around the geeks and dweebs whose names no one even knew.
He began to chuckle at Mickey’s reaction to when the illusion of the dead girl’s reanimated body addressed him. Using the crowd to his advantage, Seth emerged out of the shadows and blended in with the with the sea of teenagers; a twisted notion struck his mind, “they claim to better than us, yet I am willing to bet that the real reason for all of these mundies filling this gym isn’t out of love and concern for their fellow classmate, but merely to see another dead body. Footage of this will flood websites and be the sole topic of their tweets and texts.”
One of these teens caught his eye in particular; an overexcited cameraman pushing his way closer to the body and snapping several photographs of the girl and the scene, “hahaha, someone to document my work. Lovely”, the demon thought. Looking deeper into the photographer’s mind, Seth saw his fears; he saw the constant neglect that this Andrew Reed had to endure, “this one is even worse than the boy that talks to himself”, Seth smiled, “I will surely keep an eye out for this one; he is already near the breaking point as it stands right now. Let’s test the waters with him, shall we?” he thought to himself.
“Watch out freak”, a hot female student bumped into Andrew or at least that was what his mind told him. She looked at him and elbowed her friend, another figment of his imagination, “wow what a geek, do you even go here? Didn’t you like graduate years ago. Hahaha”, they started laughing at him before disappearing. Almost immediately afterward, Seth forced an image of a jock hovering behind Andrew and continued on with his games, “what the fuck are you taking pictures for, you sick fuck? I bet you’re going to go home and masturbate to them, huh? Fucking necrophiliac freak”, the illusionary jock shoved him and made the same disappearing act the girls did seconds ago. Seth looked on, surveying the ramifications of his work.
***
There it was, that word again. Freak. The skinny blond who'd bumped into him moments ago was taunting Andrew. Her and her mousy looking friend. Their laughter pierced through Andrew's ear, making him cringe. His free arm hung at his side, fist balled tightly. With his other hand, Andrew slid the silver camera back into the pocket of his jeans.
"Get fucked you ugly whore," Andrew replied through gritted teeth. Taking a step toward them, he raised an eyebrow to the small group of confused faces staring back at him. What the hell? the just as confused photographer asked himself. Am I fucking losing it? As if to answer Andrew's question, a voice from behind him broke into his thoughts.
"FUCK YOU!" Andrew shouted, quickly turning to face the one that challenged him. He wondered how long the guy had been watching him. He obviously saw him taking pictures of the dead girl who was still only a few feet away.
"Fucking necrophiliac freak," the unfamiliar high schooler continued to taunt a frustrated Andrew. Feeling the guy's weight on his chest, Andrew stumbled and fell backwards. His face twisted in anger, he quickly rose to his feet.
"I... AM... NOT... A FREAK!" Andrew swung his closed fist at the boy's face. His mouth formed an 'o' when he realized he'd swung at thin air. Slowly turning to face the now larger crowd behind him, Andrew felt his face grow hot. He was sure it was red with embarrassment.
"Yeah," a voice piped up from the group of confused students and teachers. "Yeah you are..." Andrew's eyes darted from face to face before landing on a tall man in a suit. His eyes falling on the man's golden badge, Andrew quickly lowered them to the ground.
"Alright people, scene's over," A voice spoke above the whispers of the crowd. "Everyone out!" Andrew knew what they were saying. They were calling him a 'freak'. He wished that for just one moment, he could be seen as something else. Called something else. Anything else.
***
"Clear out kids." Grayson said "You." He stopped the photographer. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll need your memory chip from that camera." He said to Andrew. He eyed the boy who had been acting strangely. Grayson looked across the gymnasium. Suicide at school? It was one of a string of suicides. What was wrong with these girls.
"Can you tell me what was going on here son?" Grayson said to the boy. He held out his hand for the memory chip still.
"Gordon." he said pointing to some of the kids. "Get a kid on getting their statements please." Grayson said to his partner. All of a sudden there was a handful of police. "I need someone to quadroon off this area please." He said pointing to parts of the gym.
"I'm sorry." He said to the boy with the camera. "Please, if you could tell us anything, it would be a huge help." He said "Was there anyone here? Who found the girl?"
***
Damn it, Andrew thought to himself as he tried to walk away from the staring faces. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Andrew quickly turned around and found himself staring at the same badge he'd spotted moments ago.
"M-My memory chip?" Andrew asked with a lump in his throat. He stared at the Detective's out held hand. It was urging him to obey it's command. With a reluctant sigh, Andrew stuffed his hand into his pocket and fiddled around for a moment. It was extremely convenient that Andrew always carried a back up chip. Sliding the extra chip into the palm of his hand, Andrew wrapped his fingers around the camera and pulled it out.
"I'm sorry Sir," Andrew replied, shaking his head. His eyed were lowered to his camera as he opened the back and removed the memory chip. Bringing his eyes to the meet the Detective's, Andrew began to explain his story. "I was on my way to open the Arcade. I heard and saw all kinds of commotion as I walked by, so I came inside to find out what happened." Making sure to hold eye contact with the Detective while he told his story, Andrew slipped the camera's memory chip into his palm. Just as quickly and easily, he pulled the blank chip out and placed it into the Detective's hand. "Can I go now?"
***
"Yes the memory chip." Grayson said again.
"Grayson." His partner came up and said something low. Grayson sighed and then nodded. He took the memory chip. Grayson looked at the boy.
"You didn't answer my question." He said to Andrew. He put a hand on the boys shoulder. Grayson directed Andrew away from the body. "I asked who found the girl?" He said then looked at a notebook in his hand. "Did you know Angela?" He asked quietly. Grayson looked at the boy for a moment. "Aren't you a bit old to be on school grounds?" Grayson inquired. "Where's your visitor badge?" He said raising an eyebrow. Grayson plucked a pen out of his jacket. He scrawled something on his pad. "I'm sorry," He said then looked at the boy again. "I'm special agent Barclay. I've been put on the case of these suicides. It seems that a number of girls from this school have been feeling their life isn't worth living." He said tapping the pen on his pad. "What's your name? Are you an Alum? When did you graduate." He asked quickly in rapid fire succession.
***
Once again Seth’s entertainment was interrupted, but this time it was by an old acquaintance; Special Agent Grayson Barclay. Although the two had never met, Barclay was the poor soul assigned to the suicide cases; all of which Seth was responsible for. The demon felt he knew Agent Barclay. The officer was a highly dedicated man and was determined to close all his cases, failure wasn’t an option. He was good at his job, but so was Seth. Regardless of the agent’s job expertise, Barclay wouldn’t be able to solve these cases unless he’d be willing to open his mind and acknowledge that demons do exist. How else could these deaths have occurred? All these suicides, was it that believable that teenagers all from the same school hated their lives so much that they’d end it or was something else at play here. Seth knew that Barclay didn’t rule out the supernatural, not with the Luciano case; a case where the girl was torn to sheds, “ah that name again”, he thought to himself, watching the agent approach Andrew. “The imaginary girl that Mickey was talking to, his dead sister”, he connected the dots, “ I knew the name was familiar, it was the only case that Agent Barclay never solved; the case that was plaguing his every waking moment; the case that cost him a marriage”, the demon paused as he plucked the information from Barclay’s mind, searching for anything he could use against him, “noble Grayson here was so obsessed with the Ally Luciano case that it cost him his wife, I can use that”.
Seth had allowed the agent a moment’s peace while he initially questioned Andrew about the scene, but the boy didn’t know anything. Barclay wasn’t going to get anything from the boy, so Seth decided to play with the agent. “You’re in over your head Grayson”, a voice whispered in Grayson Barclay’s mind; Seth began heightening his fears and doubts, “you should have just given up on the Luciano case and you would have still been married”, the voice continued. He watched Barclay barrage the confused cameraman with a series of questions, “now look at where it’s got you, high school suicides; questioning someone who obviously doesn’t know what saw, if he saw anything, you’re getting no where. Just give it up, more girls are going to die and you can’t do anything about it”, Seth continued to prey on him.
Officers were questioning the students and one walked up to Seth, “excuse me son, when did you arrive on the scene? Did you see anything, something that perhaps could be helpful? I know how hard this has been on you kids with all that has been going on.” Seth gave him a smile and answered the cop, “no sorry officer, I just heard a bunch of people screaming and rushing over here…..and I guess I just followed the crowd”, his demeanor gaining the cops trust, “it has been hard; I mean I didn’t know the girls personally, but it still sucks, you know? They were living beings and deserved more”, Seth held back the urge to laugh, “Deserved more?” he chuckled internally, “those pathetic mundies; I did them a favor, aiding them in ending their worthless lives. I should be rewarded for doing the world a justice. “Thank you son”, the officer moved on to the next student. Once again Seth attention returned to Andrew and Agent Barclay.
***
Grayson was a man, not a boy. He was also good at his job. Grayson was not some uncertain teenage girl. He was curious though. His eyes darted for a moment. He furrowed his brows contemplatively. The man smiled confidently at Andrew for a moment. He looked about the Gym for a moment. The voices only cemented in his mind that this was no mere coincidence. Grayson was blinded enough by the Luciano case to give up his marriage. A voice in his head wouldn't waver his fortitude. Grayson's eyes landed on a young boy. Grayson stared at Seth for a moment.
"Do you know him?" He added to the line of questioning to Andrew. Grayson eyed the photographer. "Go on," He said tapping on the edge of his notebook impatiently.
***
I am so fucking late! Andrew exclaimed to himself, stuffing his camera and hidden memory chip back into his pocket. He stared blankly as the Detective threw a series of questions at him. It seemed like the Detective was a robot. Asking all the questions in a routine style. Andrew wondered if the dude's heart was even in it. Agent Barclay, as Andrew was sure he heard.
"Look, Officer Barclay," Andrew began, shuffling his feet as he spoke. "No disrespect, but I already told you I don't know. I was on my way to open my arcade, saw the commotion, came in to see what was going on." Andrew hoped his response would get him leave to go, but he was wrong. He only grew aggravated as he noticed the Detective's attention wasn't on him. The same Detective that was questioning him, that wouldn't let Andrew leave, wasn't even paying him any attention. Letting out an aggravated sigh, Andrew's face twisted into an angry frown.
"Do you know him?" the Detective's attention was back to Andrew. Raising an eyebrow, he followed the cop's gaze. His eyes landed on an older man, at least a couple years older than Andrew. He was off by himself, hidden by the shadows of the bleachers. I take pictures of girl's asses while that guy hides ominously in the shadows, but I'm the freak? Andrew scoffed, completely forgetting why he was in the gymnasium to begin with. He returned his attention to Detective Barclay and shook his head.
"Never seen him before in my life," Andrew replied, his patience gone. "I already did part of your job by taking those pictures you have in your hand," Andrew stated in an obviously annoyed tone. "I told you everything I know, which is nothing, and I'm really late for my job. Can I please go now?"
***
Grayson stared at the boy for a moment. He was being entirely obstinate. But special agent Barclay had bigger fish to fry.
"I see." he said then looked at Andrew. He rubbed his forehead then smirked at the boy. "Officer Hunt." He said waving over a policeman. "This young gentleman is in a hurry." He said then raised an eyebrow. "Could you please make sure that he goes to talk to Detective Vicero before he leaves." Barclay grinned. Vicero was the Daftest slowest detective on the force. He slapped Andrew on the shoulder hard.
"You have a good rest of the day. Thank you for your help." He said not meaning a word of what he said. Grayson devoted his whole life to justice. Grayson didn't take kindly to boys who disregarded the the process of law. The officer nodded to Grayson then escorted Andrew out.
***
Witnessing the officers escort the crowd out of the gym, Seth realized that the herd was thinning out rapidly; he felt that he overstayed his welcome. Per Agent Barclay’s orders, the cops were questioning the bystanders and having them leave the scene, not to confuse them with students they had yet to speak with. “Excuse me young man”, an officer grabbed Seth’s arm, “have you already spoken with an officer?” Seth’s first instinct was unleash his fury on the unsuspecting cop; it was one thing to play along with the questioning but to be touched by a mundie, now that wasn’t tolerable.
Not a demon to get his hands dirty, he decided another approach to punish the cop. With what seemed like a blink of an eye, Seth shifted from his usual appearance and into a decaying one. Officer Mitchell stumbled back a few steps knocking a few kids off balance as he did so, “No, no this can’t be”, he responded to the vision before him, “you’re dead.” “Sir, are you OK?” the devious Seth played things off, “what do you mean I am supposed to be dead? I don’t understand”, he continued to play the role of the innocent as people began looking in their direction. To everyone within the gym Seth appeared to be just another young man, perhaps one too old to be in high school, but a young man nonetheless; although to Officer Mitchell, he was something else entirely. Mitchell saw the man he killed during his rookie year. There was a robbery at a liquor store and the robber came out shooting, it was either the robber or his partner; the ramifications of that decision have stayed with him all these years. Mitchell thought those years in therapy had helped him get past that night and they had, until now. Two nearby cops walked up to Mitchell to see what had occurred; he pointed at Seth and explained, but all they saw, albeit a bit suspicious, was an ordinary guy. They escorted Mitchell out and told him that all he needed was some fresh air.
Seth then felt as if he was being watched and turned in the direction his senses led him to. It was Agent Barclay; he was pointing in his direction and talking to Andrew, “it is most definitely time for me to leave”, he smirked at the Agent and started to walk off, “these simpleton cops are easy to play with, but Barclay has a strong will about him and I don’t have the time, nor do I feel like putting the required effort to properly deal with at this time. There is always the next suicide victim; our paths will cross again, of this I am sure of.”
***
"You've got to be kidding me!" Andrew replied as he was guided away from Detective Barclay. He rolled his eyes and huffed as he remained a step behind the other cop. I hope this doesn't take long... Andrew thought to himself.
"Detective?" The cop stopped abruptly, tapping another man on the shoulder. A middle aged man turned to face Andrew and the cop with a puzzled look on his face. His clothes and hair were sloppy, as if he'd rolled out of bed and came straight to the scene. "Agent Barclay wants you to ask this young man some questions," the cop nodded in Andrew's direction. Without another word, he turned and quickly walked back toward the dead girl.
"Uhh... okay..." Detective Vicero started, seemingly confused. Andrew quickly realized that the Detective had no idea what was going on. "What was am I supposed to ask you?"
"I have no idea," Andrew responded quickly.
"Well... did Agent Barclay ask you anything?" the confused Detective scratched his head.
".... Yeah." It took everything Andrew had not to laugh at the dumb cop. He had no idea what was going on. How'd a guy like him get to be a cop?
"Well... what did he ask you?" In disbelief of the Detective's stupidity, Andrew shifted his weight and sighed in annoyance.
"Why I was here, if I saw who did it, the usual questions I guess."
"Well.... then I guess that's everything we need to know. You left your number in case we have any more questions?" Andrew was fighting the urge to hit the stupid cop. If he said the word well one more time...
"Yeah, address too." Andrew lied to the cop. He really had no choice. He had to get to the arcade. Every minute it wasn't open, was a minute Andrew wasn't making money.
"Well, then, I guess you can go then," The Detective nodded and turned his back to Andrew. Fists balled at his side, Andrew scowled at the dumb cop. He really wanted to just punch him in the back of the head. Restraining himself, which didn't really take much, Andrew headed for the big doors that led to the school hallway.
***
"Detective Barclay." A voice said. "We know who found the body." Grayson sighed. He had been eying the girl. If she was so keen on killing herself, why did she put so much effort into accessorizing for school? It just didn't add up. Grayson looked at the cop.
"Who is it?" He inquired. He ran a hand through his short hair then stood up.
"Mickey Luciano." The cop said. Grayson raised his eyebrows in surprise. He shook his head.
"Mick found her?" He said softly. "That cant be good." He said with a worried glance.
"No he's freaking out in the boys bathroom." The cop said with a worried glance. Grayson sighed.
"From the reports we're getting from the kids, the boy was acting really weird before and after he found the girl." The cop said looking at his notebook.
"Weird how?" Grayson said making his way to the boy's bathroom.
"Well," he said softly. "talking to his dead sister, he kicked the body someone said. Like he didn't know she was dead. Or something." The cop said with a worried glance.
"That's not good."
"Yeah he's freaked out the student body." The cop said.
"There's no way that he's killed the girl." Grayson said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Well, he might not hurt someone, but, he did scare them." The cop said.
"I'll go have a talk with him." Grayson said.
***
Mickey paced the stall of the bathroom.
"Will you chill out big brother." Ally said sitting on the top of the toilet. Her feet were resting on the rim.
Mickey looked at his sister.
"What is there to chill about? You killed that girl." He said under his breath.
"I didn't kill her I'm a ghost remember?" Ally said with a quick smirk.
"Ally you killed her. You did! I saw you. You were there next to." He said pacing in the small confined space.
"What I wrapped the rope around her neck and told her to jump?" Ally said playing with her hair. Mickey stared at her and stopped.
"I wouldn't put it past you." He said frantically. "You hated her!"
"Oh please." She said then let out a little malicious laugh. "That sucker never stood a chance at this school She was suicide waiting to happen." Ally said with a bright smile. "Maybe I just helped."
"You're crazy!" Mickey said.
"That's a little like the pot and the kettle Mick." Ally said. "Maybe," She said standing up on the rim of the toilet seat. "Maybe you killed her." She said then stepped to the ground. Mickey looked at her in shock. "Maybe you were acting on my orders?" Ally said with a wicked grin. "do you even remember what happened?" She purred. Ally gave him a shove, then like a ghost disappeared.
"No!" Mickey said. "No! I didn't. I didn't do anything. I swear. I didn't hurt her." He said frantically. He pushed the stall door open. Mickey tumbled into the bathroom. He ran over to the sink.
Ally was in the Mirror. She smirked.
"Are you so sure?" she said. Mickey reached into his pocket and pulled out his pills. "What are you doing?" She said angrily. "Put those down you coward."
"I didn't kill anyone." He said panicked. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"You so sure?" She said with a smile. Mickey stared at her. He popped open the pill case. He spilled out a few pills onto the floor. "Why are you so scared? What are you afraid of if you didn't kill her?" His sister whispered. Mickey picked up a pill and swallowed it. He then threw another one in his mouth for good measure. He kicked some of the pills on the ground under a stall.
"I didn't do anything." he said under his breath. "I didn't kill her." He said frantically.
***
Grayson pushed the door to the boys room open. He raised his eyebrows. Mickey seemed to be the only one in the room. Who was he talking to? What was he saying? Grayson took a step in. He looked in the mirror. All the stalls appeared empty.
"You okay son?" He asked softly. He walked over to Mickey. "Hey Mick." He said then took the boy by the shoulders. "What's wrong?" He asked. "What are you saying?" He said then looked around the room. "Who are you talking to?" He said.
Grayson wondered if it was that same voice buzzing around in his head earlier. Something to with that sulky looking boy.
"Mick." He said softly. "Keep it together son. What happened? How did you find the girl?" He asked. "Did you know her?" He said then looked at Mick. "Are you going to be okay? Can I get you something? You look sick." He said softly.
***
Mickey jumped as he saw the Detective in the mirror. He held his chest.
"Oh Grayson. I didn't see you." He said then looked frantically for his sister. She was no where to be seen. "Yeah. Um. Yeah I'm fine." Mick said looking frantically around the room. He wrung his hands. "I'm, I wasn't saying anything." He said then spotted his sister standing to the left of Grayson.
"The G, girl?" Mick said with a little stutter. "What girl?" He asked softly. "Oh um. Angela? I uhm" He said then swallowed hard. "I went to the gym cause I had a free period. I was, um. Going to shoot some hoops. I uh. There's nothing wrong with that." he added. "It's totally allowed." He said softly. "I mean I'm a senior." He said then looked at his sister.
"He wants to know about the dead girl you idiot. Not your detention record." She said putting a hand on her hip.
"Shut up." Mickey hissed at his sister. "Um." He said looking nervous at Grayson. "Yeah I knew her, well sort of, um. Well, Ally knew her. They weren't close though. Like at all." He said. Mickey then waved the man off. "Im uhm fine. I'll be fine." He said running a hand over his forehead.
***
Grayson looked over his shoulder. He shot a quizzical look at Mickey. But before he could question the boy more the door opened. Grayson's partner walked in. He listened quietly to what Mickey had to say. Grayson wished he had time alone with Mick. This didn't look good at all. But, how could Mickey kill the girl? It just didn't add up. Grayson raised an eyebrow when Mick told him to shut up.
"I wasn't saying anything." He said leading. "How did the girl get to the floor Mickey? Did you move the rope? Had she fallen already?" He asked softly. "Hey its okay. You're right. You are going to be fine." He said softly. "Just tell me what happened.
***
"The floor?" Mickey added. "Um. She fell." He said then sort of drifted off. She fell because his sister moved the rope. Mickey didn't move the rope.
"Can you be so sure of that Mouse?" His sister said. "I mean if they finger printed the rope wouldn't yours be on there."
"No." Mickey replied to her. "I didn't touch the rope." He said.
"Then how did she fall Mick? Hmm. You know I cant touch things. I'm dead remember?" She said quickly.
"I didn't touch the rope!" Mickey said.
"Maybe you wrapped the rope around her neck then..." Ally said.
"NO. I didn't kill her I didn't! I didn't touch her!" Mickey said. He looked at Grayson. "I didn't touch her I swear. I mean, I did. But I was trying to help her! I was I swear. She was dangling on the rope and looked." He said then covered his mouth. He swallowed hard. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"She looked what?" Ally said. "What like a strangled cat with her limbs dangling and foot twitching?" Mickey covered his mouth and burst through a stall and got sick.
***
"Barclay." His partner said. Grayson watched the whole scene unfurl with horror. What had the boy done? Why was he so upset. "Grayson." His partner said quickly. Grayson turned and looked at him. "We have to take him in."
"Oh come on." Grayson said. "He didn't do anything."
"He probably didn't." His partner said. "But we still have to bring him in. He's a basket case." He said then looked at his partner. "He could hurt someone."
"He's not going to hurt anyone. He's just a kid." Grayson said to the sounds of Mickey heaving up his guts again. "He didn't hurt anyone."
"Look if we don’t bring him in. Someone might hurt him." His partner pointed out. Grayson sighed. He ran a hand distraught over his forehead.
"Mickey." He said then leaned on the stall. "We have to take you in for questioning." He said then held up his hands. "You didn't kill anyone. But, you're acting really strange. We just want to make sure you're going to be okay. I'll take care of everything." He said quickly. "Promise nothing bad will happen to you." He said softly. "Just come in and calm down. Come in and talk to us." Grayson said watching the boy warily.
***
Mickey looked up at the detective from his position on the cold tile floor.
"He can't do that!" Ally said self righteously. "Tell him you want a lawyer." She said eying the detective. "He can't just take you in. You didn't do anything."
"I didn't do anything." Mickey said.
"Yeah he didn't do anything." Ally said. But Grayson mirrored those comments. Mickey sighed. He ran a hand over his face. He stood up. Mickey opened the pill bottle and popped a few more in his mouth.
"Okay." He said worried.
"WHAT!" Ally said. "Oh you are sooo grounded."
"Lets go." Mickey said.
***
"Okay kid." Grayson said softly. He walked over to him. He put an arm over the boys neck. "Lets get you out of here." He said softly. Grayson's partner pulled out handcuffs. "Hey he'll be fine."
"It's procedure." The partner said.
"He'll be fine. I'll escort him myself." Grayson said defensively.
"You cant keep going against protocol Grayson." His partner said.
"It' will all be okay." Grayson said. He rubbed Mickey's shoulder. "It's going to be fine. Let's get you to the station." He said with a worried glance at the boy. Grayson ushered him out of the school. Grayson commandeered a police car. He sat Mickey inside. Grayson heaved a worried sigh. He saw the boy in the rear view mirror. Grayson shook his head then put the car in reverse with another sigh.
