Spook

Chapter 6
Spook

THE BOY crunched his face trying to remember. He started fidgeting on Danny's bed. He looked at Charlie, as if wanting the answers to come from Charlie.

"I don't suppose you know what happened to you, either. I mean, how you died and why," Charlie sat up so that he could be face to face with the boy. He knew he was supposed to be angry with this boy for what he did to him, but seeing the boy all confused and bothered just tugged at his heart. He couldn't be mad at him. The boy just seemed so lost and lonely.

The boy smiled sadly and said, "I didn't even realize I was dead until about a week ago... after I came to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know..." the boy looked down on the floor. He began to fade.

"Don't go," said Charlie. And as soon as he uttered those words, the boy stopped fading away.

The boy looked back at him. "It seems that you have some power over me. Like I said, as far as I could remember, your face is the only one I see everywhere in this place. But you never really looked at me... I mean, the you that I used to see... at least not until last week when you finally looked at me after I made love to you," the boy gave him a pained smile.

"I was contented with just being your slave, you know," he continued. "Even if you treated me like a boytoy, it was okay. And then, you began looking at me... and talking to me. And everything else became clearer."

"Clearer?" asked Charlie.

"After the first time you looked at me, I began to see other people in this place," said the boy. "I realized that there are other people here besides you and me. And then I realized that they don't see me. Only you could see me and hear me."

"I heard you talking to that Tim guy downstairs and I realized you were talking about me. I began to think hard about the life that I knew, which pretty much revolved around my obsession with you. I heard him calling me an incubus and I knew what it meant. And I realized that he must have been right. I existed on a different plane than the rest of you. That would explain why sometimes I feel like I was reliving some parts of my life over and over. And that would also explain why other people don't see me... why I always feel so alone."

"But for some reason, you could breach the barriers between the planes. You could see me and hear me. And I don't know why. I just know that somehow, I'm connected to you."

"I don't understand it either," said Charlie. "I'm not really psychic or anything. But I see you... and hear you. I always feel it when you're near. At first, it totally freaked me out. But now I realize that you're really harmless and that you probably need my help... to move on or something."

The boy smiled. "Now, I realize something else," the boy looked at him intently again. "I wanted to leave a few minutes ago. But when you told me not to go, I couldn't. It also happened in the showers, when I started touching you and you told me to go away. I felt like I was pushed away hard and I just found myself alone in here. It seems like I'm still your slave in a lot of ways. Once you tell me to do something, I have no choice but to obey it."

Charlie smiled at him reassuringly. "Well, don't worry. I won't abuse it," he said.

The boy smiled back gratefully. They fell silent for a while.

"So, if I could tell you to do something and you have no choice but to obey anything I say, couldn't I just tell you to move on to the next life?" Charlie asked.

The boy laughed softly and said, "I don't know if it could be that easy. But it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

"Okay then," said Charlie. "Move on from this earth and start your eternal life."

They waited for a few seconds but nothing happened.

"Didn't think so," said the boy.

"Maybe it would take longer than a minute," Charlie grinned. "Or maybe you're just not ready to move on," he said seriously afterwards.

"Or maybe you're not ready to let me go yet," countered the boy. "Maybe you didn't really mean it when you said it."

Charlie thought for a while and then grinned at the boy again. "Nah, I meant it. I guess it really should be up to you. You have to figure out whatever it is that's keeping you here. And I guess my job is to help you figure it out."

The boy grinned back at Charlie. "Funny... I've always thought that it's you who's keeping me here."

"Are you coming on to me again?" Charlie laughed softly.

"I gotta try," said the boy. "I mean, could the sex be that bad?"

Charlie smiled at the boy and said, "If you weren't a ghost, I'd say it was pretty damn good, not that I have anything else to compare it to. It's just that you are, and it's really freaky when I think about that."

"I'm sorry if I offended you or hurt you in any way," the boy said seriously.

"No harm done," said Charlie. "Technically speaking, I'm still a virgin. I mean, we can't really count ghostly experiences, can we? I'll just think of it as a wet dream with a little help from my spooky roommate."

"We can do it again some time, you know," the boy smiled seductively at him.

"Probably not a good idea," said Charlie. "I don't think Danny would appreciate seeing me having sex with a ghost."

"Who's Danny?" the boy's face became serious again.

"My roommate," said Charlie.

"I thought I was your roommate," said the boy, sounding a little jealous.

"Well, you're our ghost roommate," explained Charlie. "I have a real, flesh-and-blood, roommate who's staying on that side of the room."

The boy's face was full of confusion again.

"You mean you haven't seen Danny yet?" asked Charlie. "I thought you began to see other people in this dorm since last week? He's only here, like, all the time."

"Well, there is this one entity that I couldn't see," said the boy. "I mean, I know it's there because whenever it comes in the room, I feel like something is pushing me away and I couldn't get back in. Like, there's this force field that I couldn't break into. And all the people within that force field becomes invisible to me, too. Sometimes, I hear you talking to someone and then you're gone. I know you're still there but I couldn't see or hear you anymore. It's really frustrating."

"I guess that explains why I couldn't feel your presence whenever Danny's around," said Charlie. "And I guess I wouldn't have to tell you to stay away from him 'cause he would really freak out if you come near him."

"So, his name is Danny," said the boy. "My competition."

Charlie scoffed. "I have a straight boy and a ghost competing for my attention. Lucky me," he said sarcastically.

"So, he's straight, huh?" said the boy smiling.

"And you're a ghost," Charlie retorted. "It's not like my choices are great, is it? I mean, don't get me wrong, if you were flesh and blood instead of ectoplasm and electromagnetic resonance, I would definitely go out with you in a heartbeat. But you're not. Like you said, we exist on different planes."

"There may be a way to permanently breach our barriers," said the boy, still smiling seductively at Charlie.

"You better mean that there is a way for you to be alive again because me being dead is definitely not an option," said Charlie incredulously.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. Although I think it would be a lot easier if you're the one who's gonna cross over," the boy grinned. Charlie's brow arched and they both burst into laughter.

They fell silent for a while before Charlie remembered the writings in his closet.

"Hey, I gotta show you something," he told the boy as he stood up and walked to his closet. The boy stood up as well and followed him.

"This may jog your memory a bit." Charlie opened the closet and let the boy see the writings on the wall.

The boy looked at it intently. He tried to touch it, but as his hand brushed through the writings, he felt a jolt of electricity running through his body and random images flashed through his mind.

Charlie noticed that something was happening when the boy seemed to flash before his eyes. The boy's face was in agony as virtual electricity coursed through his body. The writings were turning red as if it was burning at the boy's touch.

Charlie tried to pull him away from the closet but his arms just went through the boy's body. Then, suddenly, the boy fell on the floor, looking flustered, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Charlie, concerned.

The boy looked at him. "I uh... I think I... wrote this," he said. "I s-saw myself w-writing this. The p-pain I was f-feeling while I was writing this was so i-intense. I... I don't wanna feel that way ever again..." He began to sob silently.

Charlie sat beside him. "You know, this is probably why you don't remember anything," he said sincerely. "Something really bad and painful happened to you that you just wanted to forget. So you did. And now you're stuck here because you couldn't remember whatever it is that started this whole thing in the first place."

"So what should I do?" asked the boy.

Charlie looked at him and said, "Feel the pain and see where it takes you."

"I don't think I can do that... It's just too much," the boy said.

Charlie wanted to hug him, to reassure him that everything will be alright. But he knew there was no way that he could touch him. So he just comforted him with his eyes.

"We'll just have to take it one step at a time," he said. "I'll help you figure out who you are and what happened to you. Then, I'll help you make peace with it. And let's hope that it would be enough for you to move on."

The boy looked at him. "This isn't gonna be easy, is it?"

Charlie gave him a reassuring smile. "Nothing in life that's worth fighting for is easy. And apparently, that's true even in the afterlife."

The boy smiled at him. "Thank you," he said gratefully.

"You must be a mad man to write something so unintelligible as that," Charlie teased the boy. "Do you remember what it means?"

The boy smiled and then turned serious. "I know it was meant to look like that. And I know it meant something very important to me. It's like encrypted or something. But other than that, no, I don't know what it means."

"Well, you're in luck," Charlie smiled. "If it's in code, I could probably crack it. I'm good with those kinds of stuff. It's gonna take a little time, though. But don't worry, I'll work on it. I promise."

"I know you would," said the boy. "I'd really appreciate it."

"Like I told you before... I'll figure you out. I'll figure this all out," Charlie promised. "There's just one last thing..."

"What is it?" asked the boy.

"You don't know your name," said Charlie. "And I need something to call you. I mean, I couldn't just call you 'my spooky roommate' all the time, could I?"

The boy laughed. "Well, why don't we just shorten it a little?" proposed the boy. "Call me Spook."

Charlie grinned. "Spook," he repeated. "I like that."