Oblique
07-11-2011, 12:27 AM
Hey guys, my first post on these forums, just a quick background check on me as I don't want to get lost in my own narrative. I've only recently converted into writing fiction, been doing non fiction reviewing for a long time and my friend saw talent in me doing fiction. And so this is my first attempt of writing a short story post forced english assignments in high school.
Scrubbing the dishes is just an ordinary nightly chore for Kimmy. Wash, rinse, go onto the next dish, and repeat. Another night in the kitchen for her. Breaking off from her tedious routine, she looked straight outside the window to see what the outside world would hold at that second, maybe saving her from boredom, but just only for a moment. Nothing, if nothing meant a dead neighbourhood with activity scarcer than drinking water at the desert. Before Kimmy looked back down to resume her chore, something caught her eye. In the reflection of the mirror, there is a person.
Kimmy's eyes bulged wide open. Her heart racing, thinking it was her brother David playing a prank on her again and trying to scare her. "Dammit David you know I don't do well with being scared--" but as she turned around, nothing. Her heart stopped and her stomach was engulfed in a large tingle that shivered throughout her body. She left her chore duties and walked slowly around the kitchen, cautious of her every step. "Is anyone there?"
I am here whispered a faint and ghastly voice from behind. Kimmy, frightened more than she has ever been in her life with all her hairs on her body spiked, does not dare turn around. Instead she ran, ran outside the house for dear life. Her screams waked the whole neighborhood. Once she reached her car, breathing heavily with her heart wanting to jump out and her hands on the wheels ready to drive out in case it chased her, she looked back into the house. Through the opened front doors a light silhouette of a person stood atop the entrance. The shadow grew bigger, and lighter, and it eventually took form. A ghost. Kimmy, her shock reaching its limit, fainted.
The next morning, Kimmy found the courage to go back inside, but she didn't come alone. She is accompanied by a man in a suit with dark black glasses. If you saw them on the streets you wouldn't have thought they were together, but are only tied down to business matters. While Kimmy was taking midget steps into the house, the man in the suit walked in with no mind of danger. "Take me to where you first encountered the ghost," asked the man in the suit.
"Well, ummmm," the woman hesitates, afraid to retell her tale. "Well, I didn't exactly meet him face to face, he kind of came from behind me. When I asked 'Is anyone there?' He said 'yeah..." her pitch was much weaker than when the ghost whispered those same words to her, as if fear held her back from doing so.
The man in the suit took his glasses off. "Come out ghost!" he roared. Kimmy, triggered by the bad experience and mention of ghost, jolted outside. She even forget her porch has steps, missing the steps and tumbling over like a rag doll onto the cement. The man in the suit runs outside "Are you okay?"
Kimmy stood straight up with no injuries inflicted on her body. "What the hell are you doing you wacko! Why are you calling the ghost out like that?" The man chuckled. "If you wanted someone's attention who is hiding, wouldn't you say the same?"
"Why the hell do you want his attention? What if he kills me?"
"How else are we supposed to rid the ghost from your house without confronting it?"
Kimmy jumped out to defend herself, but words couldn't come out of her mouth. She wanted to argue, but knew he was right. "I had no idea it was that easy to summon ghosts."
The man chuckled. "Ghosts aren't like what movies and horror stories would lead you to believe. Many forget that ghosts were once human, and that they can be dealt in a humanly manner, such as having a conversation with them. There's no need for wild gizmos and burning of the bones of the original body or anything else you would see on Supernatural."
"And what does he want with me and my house?" asked Kimmy.
"Well, that's exactly why I called him out."
Kimmy and the man both walk into the house. Kimmy less frightened to enter her home this time around, walked in more normally, but less of that than a confident walk. The man yells out once more "Alright buddy buddy! We know you're around here, show yourself now!"
A sinister giggle is heard but its host body nowhere to be seen.
I take it this isn't your first time encountering a ghost, such as I.
Kimmy holds tightly to the man's arm, shutting her eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you, in fact I only hope to speak with you."
It's been many nights since I've last used words, but we are at odds here, we don't wish for the same thing. That girl, she is dead, midnight tonight.
Kimmy, with the words of the ghost promising her death, echo in and out of her ears, and she faints once more.
When she wakes up, a couple of hours have already passed into the night, and this time they are joined by another man, her brother. "David!" she cried out. The two siblings embrace each other as if time separated them by years. "Kimmy, who the hell is this guy?!"
"You two haven't met yet?" asked Kimmy. "We have," replied the man in the suit. "I've told him my story many times already, but he refuses to believe me. He even struck me on the face, and I had to quickly apprehend him."
"Darn right I wouldn't believe you! I see you, a person I have never met in my life, with my sister unconscious like that, telling me some bogus story about ghosts and whatnot! And the way you dress, you don't look like you're from around here. Kimmy, who the hell is this guy?"
Kimmy breathes in deeply. "Look, I know this is going to be hard to take in--" David is exasperated and shakes his head. He is in extreme disbelief and can do nothing but walk back and forth in a repetitive fashion while trying to process all that he has heard. "What the hell Kimmy! What the hell are you even saying?" he yelled. "Ghosts? What the hell, what are you on Kimmy? Is this your dealer?"
Kimmy, deeply offended, makes her way to David with stern and angry eye contact, and slaps him across the face. "I....don't even know what to say right now!" she storms off to her porch. The man in the suit follows her. Kimmy sits on the steps looking lost. "What the ****."
"What?" replied the man. Kimmy montonely says "What the ****. That's all that I can think of right now. What the **** without the question mark. I'm gonna ****ing die!"
"No you aren't," the man reassures her. "I think he's bluffing. There is no way a ghost can kill, or even touch, anything in this world. Well, seeing as how sensitive you are to the sight of ghosts, he could probably scare you to death, literally," the man giggled at the thought. Kimmy wasn't laughing. An awkward moment.
"What is your name?" asked Kimmy.
"Max," he replied.
"I was too scared to form coherent thoughts that I was driving around town looking for the first person to believe me. It's funny how the first person I saw, believed me. And oddly enough, you had the answer to my questions."
"Our meeting is not a coincidence. For some reason me and my brother were always drawn to where ghosts would haunt."
"And your brother? Where is he now?"
"Dead." A moment of silence.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
"We were haunted by ghosts our entire lives. We discovered how to deal with them, and rid them from the world not only to help those that we have come across, but for the ghosts' own benefit. Most of them are lost souls that don't know why they're still on this earth. You just need to convince them to move on because they are fueled purely by memories and not emotions. They can only remember old memories and not create new ones and much of the time, it is the last thing they remembered when they left this earth. Often, it is not of a good memory. When it comes down to it, dealing with ghosts is almost like dealing with people."
Kimmy for the first time in a while, is at ease. She started seeing ghosts in a whole new light rather than the transparent terrors she has always seen them as.
"This ghost wants to kill me though, why?" she asked.
"I honestly don't know."
"What if you're wrong and he does kill me?"
"I've never had a scenario like this but all ghosts are the same, you need to sit down and reason with them."
"I hope you're right."
The hour of midnight strikes closer and closer. Kimmy is terrified still, but does her best to brush her emotions under the rug. Her breathing is irregular, and she has yet to blink. David is still skeptical and is not afraid to show it. He lazily lounges on the couch with his big belly taking a peak out of his shirt. Max taps his hand on the desk repeatedly, looking to skip time and be distracted by his own hand activities. Without warning he stands up. Kimmy's head bolts to his direction. David is only concerned about matters that is on TV. "There's nothing good on right now."
Max ignored him. Kimmy as well, but not consciously; his behavior meant so little to her at the time his words didn't fully register in her head.
"All right mister badass, show yourself."
No...but you will hear my voice.
"What is your business here?"
To feed off of fear. Nothing delights me more than a woman's screams, and none are more delicious than this woman's screams.
"Who the hell is saying that?" cries out David, jumping out of the coach and falling to the floor face first. Again he is ignored.
"And what do you gain from feeding your hunger for fear? Is your thirst removed? Your stomach more full? You are ghost, you should not have those feelings."
I...don't know. All I know is that seeing people fear me is what satisfies me. It doesn't, but I feel like it should, and I won't stop until it does.
"Stop this nonsense, you gain nothing from tormenting the living! Move on, there is a better life for you."
No.
"No?" cried Kimmy.
"Show yourself now ghost," demanded Max.
The ghost, his appearance more tangible than the first encounter, rose up from the wooden floor. David, with the truth slapping him hard in the face, fainted. Kimmy is stronger this time and stayed conscious, but her heart isn't any less at ease. Max is shocked as if this is his first ghost he has ever seen with his eyes. His emotions run haywire, but the one most absent is fear. He is not afraid of this ghost, but surprised.
"Robert?" asked Max.
Robert? That name rings a bell, maybe from my past live.
"Our past life, brother."
So you are my brother? It would make sense, you look like someone I was once acquainted with, but older. I don't know how long ago I died, but if you really are my brother, time must have moved on without me.
"Robert, why are you still here?"
Yes, I remember now.
"Tell me then."
A partnership we were, you and I. Me the big brother and you always following my footsteps. We would track down ghosts and spirit them away into the next life. I treated you well, and you slain me with your own hands.
Kimmy, taking care of her own brother David on her lap, is taken aback. She is in awe not sure how to comprehend the ghosts' words. "Did he just say--"
"You're a liar! It was an accident! You slipped off the cliff by accident!"
By accident? Are you certain of those words? You've hated me.
"An utter lie! You were my brother! How could I have hated you?"
Because I was the big brother, I always knew what was best for you and I, but you rebelled against me more than once, and even fought with me. Not just with your fists, but your nails too. You would pin me down to the ground and grab whatever you can grab and beat me with it.
"That's because you were unfair, you treated me like ****. I hated it, but I never hated you. I still cry about how you are not with me now."
But it is who you are responsible for my death.
"I know, I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault. My heart has never been the same that day. I don't miss the tormenting, but I do miss you."
Max...
"I miss you, a lot."
Max, is that how you feel about me? Even then though, there is nothing that can be done.
"Yes there is. You are bound to this world because of one thing, me. You torture people because you enjoyed torturing me. Now here I stand, heart broken, is this not what you want? If it is then leave this world. You have come for what you've wanted!" cried Max.
I, that is now how I saw it.
"I don't care anymore, just leave, and go on living a different life."
I will go now....
Robert's spirit vanishes into thin air. Max falls to his knees, his tears traveling down his face like a storm. He can't stop crying. Kimmy, finally relieved that her house is ghost free, puts her hand on Max's shoulder like a mother would when her child is crying. "Thank you," she whispered.
The next morning, after a full nights rest, Max heads out from the house. "Your money is very appreciated, but you really didn't have to," he said. "Now now, you're going on a long trip, you need the money just to survive! And the money is miniscule compared to the great service you have done for us," thanked Kimmy. David reached out his hand, "Here's three hundred more."
"I don't think I can accept anymore," said Max.
"Nonsense, take it or I'll forever haunt you!" joked Kimmy.
Max chuckles at the joke, and takes the money. They exchanged their short goodbyes. Kimmy and David walk into the house, thankful it is safe enough to enter without fear. Max entered his car. While stashing away the money given to him in the glove compartment, he noticed in his back seat a figure is already sitting within the car. It is Robert.
"Whoa!" shrieked Max. "Dammit Robert, you always do this!"
I've been waiting here forever. I get sick of your little emotional goodbye act every time, they get longer and longer.
"I've learned that the more I drag it out, the more money I get. I needed to do it to get her brother to give me money. He wasn't fond of me so of course he would be more reluctant to give me money, and guess what? It paid off, big time. This is my Vegas money."
They disgust me.
Max drives through the neighborhood, smiling about the successful fleece he has just pulled off. "Robert, you can stop doing this."
And what is that you want me to stop doing?
"Being a ghost of course, join mom and dad, I'm sure they miss you."
I'm sure they do, but I have yet to fulfill my duty.
"I'm a grown kid now, you don't have to watch out for me anymore, I can watch out for myself. And I get really teary eyed whenever I have to pull out the 'you're my brother? ahhhh' act."
No, I won't leave. I'm still bound to this world of the torture I've laid upon you.
"I forgive you for that."
And a thousand times I've acknowledged it, but it is not enough for me to overcome my guilt. I will stay with this world, helping you in whatever you need, till the day you die.
"Have it your way man."
The two brothers, one alive and one ghost, drive off into the horizon, looking for their next target to scare their money out of.
Scrubbing the dishes is just an ordinary nightly chore for Kimmy. Wash, rinse, go onto the next dish, and repeat. Another night in the kitchen for her. Breaking off from her tedious routine, she looked straight outside the window to see what the outside world would hold at that second, maybe saving her from boredom, but just only for a moment. Nothing, if nothing meant a dead neighbourhood with activity scarcer than drinking water at the desert. Before Kimmy looked back down to resume her chore, something caught her eye. In the reflection of the mirror, there is a person.
Kimmy's eyes bulged wide open. Her heart racing, thinking it was her brother David playing a prank on her again and trying to scare her. "Dammit David you know I don't do well with being scared--" but as she turned around, nothing. Her heart stopped and her stomach was engulfed in a large tingle that shivered throughout her body. She left her chore duties and walked slowly around the kitchen, cautious of her every step. "Is anyone there?"
I am here whispered a faint and ghastly voice from behind. Kimmy, frightened more than she has ever been in her life with all her hairs on her body spiked, does not dare turn around. Instead she ran, ran outside the house for dear life. Her screams waked the whole neighborhood. Once she reached her car, breathing heavily with her heart wanting to jump out and her hands on the wheels ready to drive out in case it chased her, she looked back into the house. Through the opened front doors a light silhouette of a person stood atop the entrance. The shadow grew bigger, and lighter, and it eventually took form. A ghost. Kimmy, her shock reaching its limit, fainted.
The next morning, Kimmy found the courage to go back inside, but she didn't come alone. She is accompanied by a man in a suit with dark black glasses. If you saw them on the streets you wouldn't have thought they were together, but are only tied down to business matters. While Kimmy was taking midget steps into the house, the man in the suit walked in with no mind of danger. "Take me to where you first encountered the ghost," asked the man in the suit.
"Well, ummmm," the woman hesitates, afraid to retell her tale. "Well, I didn't exactly meet him face to face, he kind of came from behind me. When I asked 'Is anyone there?' He said 'yeah..." her pitch was much weaker than when the ghost whispered those same words to her, as if fear held her back from doing so.
The man in the suit took his glasses off. "Come out ghost!" he roared. Kimmy, triggered by the bad experience and mention of ghost, jolted outside. She even forget her porch has steps, missing the steps and tumbling over like a rag doll onto the cement. The man in the suit runs outside "Are you okay?"
Kimmy stood straight up with no injuries inflicted on her body. "What the hell are you doing you wacko! Why are you calling the ghost out like that?" The man chuckled. "If you wanted someone's attention who is hiding, wouldn't you say the same?"
"Why the hell do you want his attention? What if he kills me?"
"How else are we supposed to rid the ghost from your house without confronting it?"
Kimmy jumped out to defend herself, but words couldn't come out of her mouth. She wanted to argue, but knew he was right. "I had no idea it was that easy to summon ghosts."
The man chuckled. "Ghosts aren't like what movies and horror stories would lead you to believe. Many forget that ghosts were once human, and that they can be dealt in a humanly manner, such as having a conversation with them. There's no need for wild gizmos and burning of the bones of the original body or anything else you would see on Supernatural."
"And what does he want with me and my house?" asked Kimmy.
"Well, that's exactly why I called him out."
Kimmy and the man both walk into the house. Kimmy less frightened to enter her home this time around, walked in more normally, but less of that than a confident walk. The man yells out once more "Alright buddy buddy! We know you're around here, show yourself now!"
A sinister giggle is heard but its host body nowhere to be seen.
I take it this isn't your first time encountering a ghost, such as I.
Kimmy holds tightly to the man's arm, shutting her eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you, in fact I only hope to speak with you."
It's been many nights since I've last used words, but we are at odds here, we don't wish for the same thing. That girl, she is dead, midnight tonight.
Kimmy, with the words of the ghost promising her death, echo in and out of her ears, and she faints once more.
When she wakes up, a couple of hours have already passed into the night, and this time they are joined by another man, her brother. "David!" she cried out. The two siblings embrace each other as if time separated them by years. "Kimmy, who the hell is this guy?!"
"You two haven't met yet?" asked Kimmy. "We have," replied the man in the suit. "I've told him my story many times already, but he refuses to believe me. He even struck me on the face, and I had to quickly apprehend him."
"Darn right I wouldn't believe you! I see you, a person I have never met in my life, with my sister unconscious like that, telling me some bogus story about ghosts and whatnot! And the way you dress, you don't look like you're from around here. Kimmy, who the hell is this guy?"
Kimmy breathes in deeply. "Look, I know this is going to be hard to take in--" David is exasperated and shakes his head. He is in extreme disbelief and can do nothing but walk back and forth in a repetitive fashion while trying to process all that he has heard. "What the hell Kimmy! What the hell are you even saying?" he yelled. "Ghosts? What the hell, what are you on Kimmy? Is this your dealer?"
Kimmy, deeply offended, makes her way to David with stern and angry eye contact, and slaps him across the face. "I....don't even know what to say right now!" she storms off to her porch. The man in the suit follows her. Kimmy sits on the steps looking lost. "What the ****."
"What?" replied the man. Kimmy montonely says "What the ****. That's all that I can think of right now. What the **** without the question mark. I'm gonna ****ing die!"
"No you aren't," the man reassures her. "I think he's bluffing. There is no way a ghost can kill, or even touch, anything in this world. Well, seeing as how sensitive you are to the sight of ghosts, he could probably scare you to death, literally," the man giggled at the thought. Kimmy wasn't laughing. An awkward moment.
"What is your name?" asked Kimmy.
"Max," he replied.
"I was too scared to form coherent thoughts that I was driving around town looking for the first person to believe me. It's funny how the first person I saw, believed me. And oddly enough, you had the answer to my questions."
"Our meeting is not a coincidence. For some reason me and my brother were always drawn to where ghosts would haunt."
"And your brother? Where is he now?"
"Dead." A moment of silence.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
"We were haunted by ghosts our entire lives. We discovered how to deal with them, and rid them from the world not only to help those that we have come across, but for the ghosts' own benefit. Most of them are lost souls that don't know why they're still on this earth. You just need to convince them to move on because they are fueled purely by memories and not emotions. They can only remember old memories and not create new ones and much of the time, it is the last thing they remembered when they left this earth. Often, it is not of a good memory. When it comes down to it, dealing with ghosts is almost like dealing with people."
Kimmy for the first time in a while, is at ease. She started seeing ghosts in a whole new light rather than the transparent terrors she has always seen them as.
"This ghost wants to kill me though, why?" she asked.
"I honestly don't know."
"What if you're wrong and he does kill me?"
"I've never had a scenario like this but all ghosts are the same, you need to sit down and reason with them."
"I hope you're right."
The hour of midnight strikes closer and closer. Kimmy is terrified still, but does her best to brush her emotions under the rug. Her breathing is irregular, and she has yet to blink. David is still skeptical and is not afraid to show it. He lazily lounges on the couch with his big belly taking a peak out of his shirt. Max taps his hand on the desk repeatedly, looking to skip time and be distracted by his own hand activities. Without warning he stands up. Kimmy's head bolts to his direction. David is only concerned about matters that is on TV. "There's nothing good on right now."
Max ignored him. Kimmy as well, but not consciously; his behavior meant so little to her at the time his words didn't fully register in her head.
"All right mister badass, show yourself."
No...but you will hear my voice.
"What is your business here?"
To feed off of fear. Nothing delights me more than a woman's screams, and none are more delicious than this woman's screams.
"Who the hell is saying that?" cries out David, jumping out of the coach and falling to the floor face first. Again he is ignored.
"And what do you gain from feeding your hunger for fear? Is your thirst removed? Your stomach more full? You are ghost, you should not have those feelings."
I...don't know. All I know is that seeing people fear me is what satisfies me. It doesn't, but I feel like it should, and I won't stop until it does.
"Stop this nonsense, you gain nothing from tormenting the living! Move on, there is a better life for you."
No.
"No?" cried Kimmy.
"Show yourself now ghost," demanded Max.
The ghost, his appearance more tangible than the first encounter, rose up from the wooden floor. David, with the truth slapping him hard in the face, fainted. Kimmy is stronger this time and stayed conscious, but her heart isn't any less at ease. Max is shocked as if this is his first ghost he has ever seen with his eyes. His emotions run haywire, but the one most absent is fear. He is not afraid of this ghost, but surprised.
"Robert?" asked Max.
Robert? That name rings a bell, maybe from my past live.
"Our past life, brother."
So you are my brother? It would make sense, you look like someone I was once acquainted with, but older. I don't know how long ago I died, but if you really are my brother, time must have moved on without me.
"Robert, why are you still here?"
Yes, I remember now.
"Tell me then."
A partnership we were, you and I. Me the big brother and you always following my footsteps. We would track down ghosts and spirit them away into the next life. I treated you well, and you slain me with your own hands.
Kimmy, taking care of her own brother David on her lap, is taken aback. She is in awe not sure how to comprehend the ghosts' words. "Did he just say--"
"You're a liar! It was an accident! You slipped off the cliff by accident!"
By accident? Are you certain of those words? You've hated me.
"An utter lie! You were my brother! How could I have hated you?"
Because I was the big brother, I always knew what was best for you and I, but you rebelled against me more than once, and even fought with me. Not just with your fists, but your nails too. You would pin me down to the ground and grab whatever you can grab and beat me with it.
"That's because you were unfair, you treated me like ****. I hated it, but I never hated you. I still cry about how you are not with me now."
But it is who you are responsible for my death.
"I know, I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault. My heart has never been the same that day. I don't miss the tormenting, but I do miss you."
Max...
"I miss you, a lot."
Max, is that how you feel about me? Even then though, there is nothing that can be done.
"Yes there is. You are bound to this world because of one thing, me. You torture people because you enjoyed torturing me. Now here I stand, heart broken, is this not what you want? If it is then leave this world. You have come for what you've wanted!" cried Max.
I, that is now how I saw it.
"I don't care anymore, just leave, and go on living a different life."
I will go now....
Robert's spirit vanishes into thin air. Max falls to his knees, his tears traveling down his face like a storm. He can't stop crying. Kimmy, finally relieved that her house is ghost free, puts her hand on Max's shoulder like a mother would when her child is crying. "Thank you," she whispered.
The next morning, after a full nights rest, Max heads out from the house. "Your money is very appreciated, but you really didn't have to," he said. "Now now, you're going on a long trip, you need the money just to survive! And the money is miniscule compared to the great service you have done for us," thanked Kimmy. David reached out his hand, "Here's three hundred more."
"I don't think I can accept anymore," said Max.
"Nonsense, take it or I'll forever haunt you!" joked Kimmy.
Max chuckles at the joke, and takes the money. They exchanged their short goodbyes. Kimmy and David walk into the house, thankful it is safe enough to enter without fear. Max entered his car. While stashing away the money given to him in the glove compartment, he noticed in his back seat a figure is already sitting within the car. It is Robert.
"Whoa!" shrieked Max. "Dammit Robert, you always do this!"
I've been waiting here forever. I get sick of your little emotional goodbye act every time, they get longer and longer.
"I've learned that the more I drag it out, the more money I get. I needed to do it to get her brother to give me money. He wasn't fond of me so of course he would be more reluctant to give me money, and guess what? It paid off, big time. This is my Vegas money."
They disgust me.
Max drives through the neighborhood, smiling about the successful fleece he has just pulled off. "Robert, you can stop doing this."
And what is that you want me to stop doing?
"Being a ghost of course, join mom and dad, I'm sure they miss you."
I'm sure they do, but I have yet to fulfill my duty.
"I'm a grown kid now, you don't have to watch out for me anymore, I can watch out for myself. And I get really teary eyed whenever I have to pull out the 'you're my brother? ahhhh' act."
No, I won't leave. I'm still bound to this world of the torture I've laid upon you.
"I forgive you for that."
And a thousand times I've acknowledged it, but it is not enough for me to overcome my guilt. I will stay with this world, helping you in whatever you need, till the day you die.
"Have it your way man."
The two brothers, one alive and one ghost, drive off into the horizon, looking for their next target to scare their money out of.