Ghostly Love (My Short Story)

Ghostly Love
Book One In The Son Of Death Series
-----------------------
| Chapter One |
-----------------------
"I'm done," I mutter to myself. "I'm just fucking done." I stare into the waters beneath me and study the waves. I see the pollution that infests these
waters knowing I'll just be another piece of garbage in it's depths. People have started forming behind me telling me not to jump. Cars have stopped behind me on the
brooklyn bridge with curious passengers to see what decision I'll make. Live or die. The usual words you hear when someone's about to commit suicide are tossed through
the air. Dont do it, you have so much to live for, you can't die yet. Always the same. These people dont even know me. What do they care? My grip on one of the side
beams loosens as I crouch down. I'm ready to spring now. I push all regrets to the back of my mind and get ready to leap. One single shot forward will mean my death.
Just as Im about to spring forward something catches my attention.
I keep getting flashbacks of everything that's happened. My father beating me when I was younger, my mother's early death, constantly being hated or pushed
around by everyone untill just two years ago when I graduated highschool, The fact that no one besides my mother has ever shown me love in my life and they never will.
How can they? Who would want aperson like me in their life? Glasses, short cut hair, skinny as a stick due to an eating disorder...
In the distance I can just hardly see it but I can swear it's an angel. An angel without it's wings. A sudden warmth fills my chest and I stand straight up
getting a tighter grip on the side beam. Where is she going? The subway it looks like. As quickly as I dare, I turn around and step back on to the bridge. Some of the
people began to cheer abit and sigh in relief knowing that I'm not about to die. After pushing through the crowd I quickly jump into my beat up Alero. The crowd gives
me just enough room to turn around and drive off the bridge and onto the street. As fast as the law and my car allows me I drive down to the street next to the
subway. After parking my car I clumsily climb out of it and run down the stairs into the underground subway tunnel.
There she is. The train's door are just about to close as she walks in. She takes her seat and I run as fast as I can down the rest of the stairs and through
the doors. I sigh in relief knowing I made it. Looking over to where she sat I notice that something's missing. Her. Where'd she go? I look around the train car and
see if she had just moved. The only people in here seem to be me, a man in a dark coat with a newspaper hiding his face, and an old abandoned teddy bear. Where could
she have gone? Actually, what was I thinking? I wasnt. Did I really think I could hit it off with her? From what I saw she looked way to beautiful for someone like me
to have. I should have just jumped off the damn bridge. I'll never find love. Especially not when I stalk her through the streets of New York. Someone bumps into me
from behind.
"Oh," A soft, peacefull voice begins. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." I turn to see her. She has beautiful dark hair and blue eyes. Her lips are thin but
red and her face is a little rounded. She's beautiful. It takes me a few moments to realise I'm staring.
"Uh," I begin. "It's fine." Her deep blue eyes facinate me. "I'm sorry if I'm imposing but what's your name?" I can't help but look at her figure. The way she
stands, how her hands sag at her hips, her slightly plump yet smooth curves.
"My name's Nicole," she says softly. "And yours?"
"Julian."
"It's nice to meet you Julian." She gently pushes a few loose strands of hair out of her face. The delicate motion gives me a huge, geeky smile. As soon as I
realise this I quickly try to compose myself. "Listen, I'm not doing anything tonight if you want to maybe get something to eat later?"
She asked me out. Am I dreaming? I resist the urge to pinch myself and just barely get the nerve to nod my head. She smiles, tells me she can't wait and
then pulls a piece of paper out of a pink little purse I just noticed was hanging off of her shoulder. She writes her address down and hands it to me telling me to
pick her up at eight.I begin to try to memorize it and when I look up from the paper she's gone.
-----------------------
| Chapter Two |
-----------------------
I have a date! It's seven-thirthy and I'm clean out of the shower smelling like dragon fruit, thanks to my new body wash, and dressed in a tucked-in flannel
shirt, freshly ironed jeans, and freshly shined loafers. I walk over to the mirror and run a comb through my hair and having a smile on my face for the first time in
months. The clock says seven-thirty-five. After applying some quick cologne I run out the door and crawl into my Alero. the engine gives me no trouble for once and I
take this as a sign that things will go great.
I pull out of my drive way and type the address into my tiny GPS. About five minutes later I'm there. Wow, she lives close. Excitement courses through me. A
date. A real date. I just hope she doesn't want to go anywhere to expensive. I can only spend about fifty bucks. I unbuckle my seat belt and clumsily crawl out of the
car. Her house is small, but comfortable looking. The walls are a pale green and the roof is the same light brown as the door. The rooms behind the windows are blocked
by curtains. I walk up the small stone pathway leading to the front door and knock three times.
"Yes," a small, weak voice says as the door slowly creaks open. An elderly women with short white hair and slight hunch materalizes from behind the door. Do I
have the wrong address? I can't.
"Is Nicole here," I dare to ask. Her face get's hard like I've offended her.
"IS this a joke," she demands.
"No?"
"Then why do you bother me with this?"
"Do you know her?"
"She's my daughter!" Her voice is getting louder. "Well, she was."
"I don't understand."
She just sighs. She turns around and tells me to come in. She guides me to her tiny living room and sits down on the couch. I find a comfortable little chair
infront of her. The chair is made of a very shiny wood and the padding on the arms and seat are made of a thick leather. Her couch is a very dark brown and looks
like it's all leather. the walls are a yellowish tint and the floor is made of a shiny wooden tile. I can hardly bare to think about how this scene would look if she
tripped.
"So," she began. "How do you know my daughter?" Does she really not know? I'm so confused at this point. I think about how I should answer this.
"I met her on the subway earlier today," I finally said.
"That isn't possible," she says quickly. Her face shows great disbelief, then sorrow. Why sorrow? I voice my next question.
"Why isn't it possible?"
"She's been dead for a little over ten years now." My eyes widen. "I dont know how you got my adress or her name but whatever you've been told is apparently
a lie."
----------------------
| Chapter three |
----------------------
I cry. No, wait, a better word for it would be sobbing. I sob into my pillow. I should have known. I knew I couldn't get any girl in this world. There's only
two possible explanations. Either she really is dead or she changed her mind and got her mother to lie for her. What does it matter? that only proves I'll be alone for
the rest of my life. I'll do one final test. I stand up, walk to my dresser and slide out the drawer revealing a six shooter pistol. Six bullets lay sitting around it
and I load only one. I spin the bullet cartridge once and wait for it to stop to place it against my temple. This will prove my fate. Fate decides whether I live or
die. Just as the hammer slams forward I hear a knock on the door. I drop the gun from my hand and sigh as I walk towards the door. Upon opening it I find Nicole
standing on the porch.
"Is everything alright," She asks.
"What," is all I can manage to ask.
"I saw you talking to my mother," she began. "Just as I was coming out to greet you I saw you run away crying."
"Your mother said that you died."
"Died?" She starts laughing. "Mother's crazy."
I eye her suspiciously, my eyes still red from crying. Suddenly she hugs me. Her embrace is cold yet, for the first time since my mother died, loving. Without
thinking I wrap my arms quickly around her.
"So would you like to maybe go now," I ask. She agrees, I grab my coat and walk out to the car. Once I pull out of the drive way I ask her where she wants to
go.
"There's this amazing sushi place about four blocks from here," she says and off to Yin's Sushi Hut we go. After pulling into the parking lot we crawl out of
the car and walk into the restraunt. Okay, I'm on a date. We're at the restraunt so nothing can go wrong, right? Okay I know what to do. When the waitress walks us to
our table I pull her chair out for her. Once we've sat down we both order an Iced Tea in unison. she giggles and swirls a finger in her hair. This is going great!
"So nicole," I begin. "What did you do for a living?"
"What do you mean?" I just realise I said did.
"Sorry, what do you do for a living."
"Oh," she says. "I'm a teacher."
"Really," I say with a smile. "Where at?"
"Rockefeller Middle School." Oh my God! Rockefeller Middle School had a gas leak about ten years ago. Nobody knew about the leak untill a teacher decided to
light a cigarette in secret behind the school. When he threw the cigarette behind him the cigarette caused a fire to start. It spread so rapidly that it became to
large to be put out. Nobody survived the flame. The building was never rebuilt but instead they used the area to make a public park for kids. I remember back to her
mother saying Nicole died a little over ten years ago.
"Is everything alright," she says bringing me back to the present.
"You're-" is all I can say.
"I'm what," she says looking at me confused and full of concern.
"You're dead," I choke out after what seems like an hour of stuttering. I begin to wonder if that's waitress will ever show up.
"How can I be dead," she says laughing darkly. "I'm right here."
"I think you might be a ghost," I whisper.
"Look," she begins. "First of all ghosts don't exist." I sigh. "Second, aren't ghost supposed to be able to walk through walls and stuff?"
"Yea," I say softly. "You're point?"
"Not even an hour ago we hugged. Wouldn't I have fallen through you?" She has a great point.
"But," I stammer. "Rockefeller burned down ten years ago wich is when your mother said you died." She stares at me a moment then softly says, "Show me."
----------------------
| Chapter Four |
----------------------
Before the drinks can arrive she stands up and storms out of the restraunt. I follow her out and unlock my car. Am I an idiot? I think I really am. We're
together for an hour and already someone is dead. We crawl into my car and I start the engine. The motor roars to life and then we're off. From the minute we left all
she's done is stare out the window. So many thoughts rush through my brain that I feel abit dizzy. I really hope I dont get pulled over for drunk driving. The ride
lasts for about twenty minutes and we finally pull up to the park.
"Here we are," I say softly. She looks at the park with disbelief in her eyes. After crawling out of my car she walks over to a plaque sticking out of the
ground stating each person who died in the accident. I get out and we both silently scan the list. A tear falls from her eye as she reads her own name. I gently rest
my hand on her back comfortingly and the solid feel of her back suddenly has disapeared. I look over and see she's no long standing there. She's gone again.
I look around the area and see no one except for a man in a dark coat sitting on a bench. Wait, he looks familiar. Where have I seen him before? He stands up
ever so slowly and stares at me. The subway, that's where. He's the man who had a newspaper hiding his face. The only way I recognize him is cause of the coat and his
bodily shape. All he does is stare. He takes a step towards me and I get a slightly clearer image of him now. He's wearing dark black gloves and a brown fedora
with long dark pants and boots. His face looks old but wise. His eyes are blue and show no emotion what-so-ever. He takes another step towards me and then stops. I
tilt my head slightly confused. I'm tempted to walk towards him and ask who he is but something tells me I shouldn't. We stand there a couple of seconds and then his
head slowly turns to my left. I curiously look over to where he is and see Nicole huddled under a tree crying.
"Nicole," I mutter to myself then walk over towards her. The sky is cloudless yet a strike of lightning soundelessly blinds me a moment and the mysterious man
is standing next to her. His hand extends towards her but she knocks it away and tells him to fuck off. "Get away from her!"
He turns to look at me and then another strike of lightning soundlessly hits. Next thing I know he's standing about two inches away from me. How is he doing
that? He looks me dead in the eyes and whispers something that I can't understand. His breath smells of rotting flesh and blood. I resist the urge to cringe in
digust. From behind him I can see Nicole staring at me with worry in her eyes.
"Who are you," I say softly to him.
"You know me all to well," says the man. His voice is crackly and weak.
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean, julian." A final strike of soundless lightning hits and he's gone. He knows my name? I push this whole experience to the back
of my mind for later and quickly make my way towards Nicole. I crouch next to her under the tree and softly ask if she's alright.
"Who was that," she asks.
"I dont know," I say. We sit under the tree for abouth thirty minutes just staring in to each other's eyes. Finally, I let my head droop abit but her finger
catches my chin. I look at her again and she slowly leans in towards me. Our lips gently brush against each other. Our eyes close and I press in to her lips a little
harder. After holding the kiss for about three seconds the feeling of her lips on mine slowly vanish. I open my eyes and she's gone. She's dissapeared again. My only
reaction is a soft, sad little sigh.

----------------------
| Chapter Five |
----------------------
After sitting in the park for a few minutes thinking about all the events that have happened today I finally decide to head home. Once I enter the door I hear
a very familiar voice.
"Hello Julian," it says. "Don't be afraid. Come into the living room we must speak."
I walk into the living room and see the old man sitting on my couch. "How did you get in here," I ask.
"The front door was unlocked," he said with a slight smile on his face.
"Listen," I begin. "I really don't know who you think you are, but-"
"I know exactly who I am," he says cutting me off. "And so should you."
"Well I dont," I say with slight aggrivation in my voice. He stands up and slowly starts to walk toward the door leading to my room. "where are you going?"
"To give you a small hint," he replies. The old man opens my bedroom door and gestures towards the pistol laying on my dresser. I still don't understand.
I think he can tell this by the look on my face and then I begin to notice something. His hand is suddenly made of bone. there's no skin or muscle. It's pure bone.
Then I go to look at his face and it's concealed by the darkness inside of a hood that's over his head. The coat he was just wearing has become a large robe that
covers his feet. When he takes a step towards me it's as if he's floating. I now understand. This man is The Reaper.
"You're Death," I whisper. He nods his head and says nothing. "What do you want?"
"Julian," He begins. His voice is different now. It sounds like a loud whisper and has a slight chorus of people screaming in pain behind it. "there is
something you must know. About nineteen years ago I had an affair with a mortal. That mortal happens to be your Mother."
My eyes widen. "You mean that-"
"Yes, my son." I dont believe it. I am the Reaper's child. I am the son of Death. "And that gun of yours," he says. "Is your weapon of destruction."
"You want me to go around shooting people for you," I say shocked.
"Not in the way you're thinking."
"How do you mean?"
"That gun isn't just an ordinary gun," he says. "It's enchanted so that when I activate it the gun will damn any spirit you shoot straight to hell." He picks
up the pistol and slides a bony finger across the side of the barrel. The gun gives off a slightly noticeable purple glow and where his finger trced the barrel the
words "Death's Wish" appear. The Purple glow dies down and then he hands it to me. I look at the gun. "I will teach you all you need to know."
"Why do you need me though," I ask.
"Nothing is invincible my child," he answers. "Even my time is about to come."
"So you want me to fill in for you?"
"It is your destiny my child."
Next thing I know we're standing outside of a tiny wooden shack. "Why are we here," I ask. I look over and see he's the old man again.
He points to the shack. "Just look at the window."
I look over and see a man walk into view for a split second. I recognize him. It's Jason Kraz, the main guy who bullied me all through out middle school. The
flashbacks start running through my head. How he shoved me into lockers, hit me every chance he got, that glare in his eyes that could only mean he wanted me dead. I
load Death's Wish and pull back the hammer. "Everybody has a spirit whether dead or alive right," I ask darkly. Death just nods. Without aiming I hold the gun out
infront of me and pull the trigger. The hammer slams forward and makes a loud boom that sounds almost exactly like thunder. As he walks infront of the window the
bullet catches him right in the heart. His hands clamp to his chest in pain and before he can fall over a large tentacle rips out of the ground and wraps around his
neck. The tentacle is covered in dried blood and looks swollen and purple from plague. A loud hiss spills into the air as more tentacles shoot out of the ground and
grab his every limb. The tentacles spread him out so his arms and legs point out making him look like a star. Before he can scream a final tentacle shoots up and wraps
around his mouth. Before I can blink the tentacles pull him down out of view so I can only guess they pulled him underground. Then everything is silent.

----------------------
| Chapter Six |
----------------------
I'm exhausted. Death has been training me for his job for the past three weeks without stopping except for short naps and bathroom breaks. He's finally given
me a day off so I decide to head home and get some actual sleep. I stumble into my room and toss Death's Wish onto my nightstand then fall onto my tiny bed. Wierd.
I'm so tired yet I don't feel I can sleep. I just close my eyes and begin to think about everything in my head. The training, the damning, how that first date with
Nicole went wrong. Nicole...
I haven't seen Nicole since that kiss. Where did she go? Is she here now? I sit up and look around the room. Nothing. I lay back down and a sudden warmth
slowly covers my back and arms.
"Julian," a soft voice says. I recognize it immediatley. "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean," I ask in a whisper.
"You're helping that old man in his evil work."
I sigh and look over my shoulder to see her cuddling close to me with her arms wrapped around me. The warmth spreads to my heart as she smiles at me. I
roll over in her arms and kiss her cheek gently. It's so hard to beleive she's a ghost. She feels so alive. I can feel her body heat and her breath. Above all things
I can feel her love. It's the strongest thing I can feel from her.
"What else am I supposed to do," I ask softly. "What other purpose do I have?" A tear rolls down my cheek as I say this. "I truly have no other purpose. I
always try to figure out for what reason I was even born? All my life I was beaten by other people and my "father". My mother did nothing to stop it, The teachers and
authorities never stopped it, I've never saved anyone or anything in my life, no one has ever loved me besides my mother but that wasn't very much at all." I
realise I'm sobbing again.
"No Julian," she whispers softly. "Someone does love you."
Even though I know the answer I have to hear her say it. "Who?"
"I love you Julian," she says quietly but with passion. "And not even death will ever do us part."
----------------------
| Chapter Seven |
----------------------
I awake the next morning to the sound of Death shouting at me. "Wake up," he says. "It's time to train!" I look at the clock.
"It's five in the morning," I protest. As I expect he doesn't care. I crawl out of bed, take a quick shower, and eat a single piece of bread for breakfast.
Once we're outside of my house he hands me Death's Wish then snaps his fingers. The snap sounds like a sonic boom and next thing I know we're standing in the middle of
a large, barren, burning desert. The usual training ground. Today I'm learning to fly.
"Okay Julian," he says. He's in Reaper Mode as I like to call it. "What you didn't know is that if you were to jump off that bridge you would've floated."
"I would have?"
"Of course," he says. "You have the natural ability." I look at him. "Try it." I jump into the air and try to think about things that fly. Birds, planes,
clouds. Wait, my feet haven't touched the ground yet. I open my eyes and see that I'm floating. Adrenaline courses through my veins and I let out a loud whoop. It's
like I've done this all my life. It feels so natural. I shoot forward at great speed laughing like an insane person. I'm cut off by a sudden immence pain in my face.
I've slammed into something. A wall? I rub my nose and look infront of me. There's a vast landscape of desert and no wall in sight. Carefully, I poke my finger out
and touch a solid surface. The area infront of me wobbles then becomes still.
"This is a simulation room," I ask with an annoyed tone.
"Of course," he says. "You thought we were in a real desert and there just happened to be no travelers or animals?"
"Well," I stutter. "Uh.."
"Okay," he begins. "If you're going to get somewhere quickly you need to learn to fly past obstacles."
"Oh crap," I say softly. He snaps his fingers and large cactie rise from the ground along with stalagmites the size of sky scrapers. I watch them slowly
rise in awe.
"On the other side of this obstacle course is an old friend of mine that needs Damning." I can hear him shouting for help. "You're task is to fly through this
as fast as you can and shoot him with Death's Wish." I nod my head and lift into the air. I shoot forward and barrel roll away from the first stalagmite. Coming up
is a fatter one with a hole in the center. I fly though it with ease but hit an unexpected catctus that appeared out of nowhere it seems. I grunt in pain and reach
over to tear a few bristles out of my arm when I slam into another stalagmite. This sends me flying off course and into a larger cactuss. I slam to the ground in pain.
"Wow," Death says. "Just wow."
My only response is a painfull moan.
"Okay, let's do this from the top!" It takes me two days of crashing and Death healing me to get it right. I'm hungry, tired, in pain, covered in scars, and
stiff. The final run through I hit nothing and have finally reached the guy. I load Death's wish and aim it at him. Pulling the trigger I catch him in the head. In
come the bloody plagued tentacles again doing their little routine. Once he's in the ground Death nods his head approvingly.
----------------------
| Chapter Eight |
----------------------
Two weeks! Two weeks of this training and I'm exhausted. I can't even use my powers when I'm not training or damning. If I do I get punished. My punishment is
usually spending an hour in the flames of hell or experiencing dieing over and over again while I lay incapacitated in the dirt. Death's given me the day off so I
head home and sit on my couch to relax. I wonder...
"Nicole," I say softly. "Are you here?"
"Yes Julian," she says. She appears infront of me.
"I need to ask you something," I say. "where do you keep going when you dissapear?"
"I've been dissapearing?"
"Have you not been," I ask slightly suprised.
"Of course not," she says. "I'd never leave you. When we were at the park you broke off in mid-kiss and walked away. Did I dissapear then? Or that night we
fell asleep together you brushed me away the next morning. Did I dissapear then? Because honestly those times kind of hurt. I thought you didn't want anything to do
with me but you thought I dissapeared. That makes more sense considering you didn't hear me when I tried to speak to you. But now you can see me."
"From what I can tell," I say softly. "You've been going invisible." I look into her eyes and sigh. "You'd really never leave me?"
"Not for anything," she says quietly. I place my lips on hers softly and we stay there for a minute breathing in each other's scent. For a ghost she smells
rather sweet. She slides her toungue into my mouth and we fall back onto my couch. As she kisses me I reach over and turn off the lamp making it completley dark.
The next morning I wake up warm and naked. the blur in my eyes fades away to a clear image of Death standing over me. "what the fuck," he shouts.
I quickly cover up. "What?"
"why the hell did I come in to see this?"
"Because you never knock before entering my house," I say stubbornly.
"Watch your tone child," he warns. I sigh softly and start getting dressed. Once I'm fully clothed I walk up to death.
"What are we doing today," I ask.
"Today," he says. "I fill you in on some information." Interested, I sit down on the couch and listen. This is what he tells me.
Every twelve generations a new reaper is chosen. That new reaper is always the original's son. At the end of my twelve generations I will need to mate with a
mortal that is able to bear children and have my child. If there are two children, then they both train untill both have mastered every skill. To decide who becomes
the next reaper they fight to the death. The loser is Damned to hell forever and the winner obviously becomes the new Reaper. There is a Reaper for each area of land.
For the United states, there's one for each state. For the other continents and south america, there's a reaper for each country. So I am obviously going to become
the reaper of New York.
"Good morning Julian," a voice says from beside me. I look over to see Nicole hugging on my arm. Her and Death see each other and suddenly the air becomes
tense.
"What is this lost soul doing here," he asks. He bends over and stares her in the eyes. She looks away frightened.
"This is Nicole," I say softly. "And she's kind of the reason you caught me the way I was this morning."
"Are you telling me you had sex with a ghost," he demanded.
I just nod my head.
"Julian you fool," he shouts. "You've just done damage now."
"How?"
"She's trapped to this realm by the love you pretend to give off to her."
"I'm not pretending," I say firmly. I'm begining to get angry now.
"You're telling me you actually love this thing?"
I stand up and I'm yelling now. "Yes, I do!" he snarls in my face and strikes me. I fall back onto the couch and cringe in pain.
"watch your tone with me boy," he shouts. "I am your superior whether you like it or not!"
I sigh softly and he seems to calm down some. Nicole just sits there stunned. "now listen," he says. "She doesn't belong here in this world anymore."
"So what do you want me to do," I ask. He points to my gun. I pull out Death's Wish and load it with a single bullet from a pouch that he's enchanted to
never run out. I pull back the hammer and stand up next to him.
"Good," he says softly. I take the gun and aim it at Nicole. Her eyes get filled with fear and shock. I know what I have to do. I know what I must do. My
finger rests on the trigger as I get ready to shoot.
"No," Nicole says whimpering. I close my eyes and sigh.
"Everything in this world has a soul whether dead or alive right," I ask softly. He nods his head and I get a smile on my face. "Then so do you."
His shoulders tense up at hearing me say this and before he can do anything else I turn the gun in his direction and fire. The bullet hits him in the arm and
loud screams are heard all throughout the room. The tentacles rip out of the ground and wrap around his ankles. When he tries to move he trips and slams to the floor.
More tentacles rip out and wrap around his arms. Louder and louder the screams become and it begins to hurt my ears. A final tentacle rips out of the ground under him
and pierces his torso then wrap around his head. A black gas starts spilling into the air as he tries to resist but it's too much for him. The tentacles drag him into
the earth and finally he's gone and everything's gone silent.