No One Can Touch Us

Gena and Zacky had left after a few more plates of food and lively chit-chat with Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, though it was William who stuck around, making Elizabeth keep a fake smile on her lips so that her parents wouldn’t suspect how unhappy she really was. Awkwardly Elizabeth sat besides William on the living room floor, a board game set up in front of them on the coffee table as Mrs. Matthews was in the kitchen cleaning and Mr. Matthews had retired for the night. Elizabeth desperately wanted to tell William how much she wanted to just end things, for both of them to go their separate ways, but she was scared of the physical abuse that would surely follow.

“Just do it,” Jimmy’s voice said sweetly in the back of Elizabeth’s head, “To Hell with him, you deserve so much more.”

“It’s not that easy Jimmy,” Elizabeth thought, “he’ll do something horrible, I just know it.”

“Then I’ll break up with him for you. I’ll posses you and all that jazz,” Jimmy offered, making Elizabeth almost knock over the board game that rested on the coffee table.

“No. I have to do this on my own. How else am I ever gonna get things done if I have people doing it for me?”

“Good point, though my offer still stands. I’ll have your back no matter what.”

“You have no idea how much you mean to me,” Elizabeth thought, letting out a sigh, “Really Jimmy, you’re the best."

Jimmy appeared on the back of the couch, his legs crossed like an Indian and simply floating up in the air with a cheeky grin. He gave Elizabeth an encouraging nod, averting his eyes to William who seemed disinteresting in the game of Monopoly.

“William, I think we need to talk,” Elizabeth said meekly, swallowing hard as she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Talk about what, dearest Elizabeth,” William said sarcastically with a smirk.

Elizabeth immediately grew nervous, her eyes slightly stinging as she felt herself wanting to cry. In the back of her mind she suddenly began picturing life without William, and surprisingly the hand she saw herself holding belonged to none other than Mr. Beer-Wine himself.

“As much as I love Johnny, I’m not gonna lie and say that I’ll be happy if you get with him,” Jimmy said sadly, “but he’ll make you happy, I guess.”

Elizabeth looked down to her lap, suddenly feeling guilty. “I’m confused, alright? I’ve been picturing him a lot lately. I don’t know why. Maybe he’s just a good friend.”

“Maybe you two were meant to be. I know for a fact we’d never work out, as much as I’d try and make it work...”

Elizabeth sighed, bringing her eyes to look at William who sat before her with an unimpressed look gracing his face. Now or never, Elizabeth kept telling herself, yet as she was about to spill the words from her lips, William’s cell phone began to ring violently from his front pocket.

“Hold that thought,” William said with a cheeky grin, pulling out his cell phone and smiling as he looked at the screen.

“Can’t this wait?” Elizabeth asked with a sigh, “I really need to tell you something.”

“I’m sure whatever you need to tell me can wait,” and with that, William stood up from his seat on the floor and pressed his phone up to his ear, muttering, “hey you,” before he walked towards the front door for a little bit of privacy.

Elizabeth sighed, mumbling, “Well, I almost did it,” before she stood on her feet, beginning to gather the box of Monopoly in her hands so she could put away the board game. Jimmy, being the curious little bugger that he was, floated on over to William and stood beside him, listening in on the conversation that was being held. A frown graces his lips, followed by a glare, and Jimmy took a few steps back, looking at William as if he had just killed someone.

“He’s cheating on you,” Jimmy yelled from the front door, making Elizabeth almost drop the game of Monopoly for the second time that night, “He’s talking to some chick who’s bitching about a quick fuck right now.”

Elizabeth swallowed hard, leaving the game of Monopoly on the coffee table. She hugged herself, keeping her vision low and walked slowly towards her bedroom door.

“You know your way out,” Elizabeth called over her shoulder in a shaky voice, catching a glimpse of William nodding his head with a teasing smile before she entered her room and locked the door behind her.

At that point, Elizabeth wanted to fall down the stairs as she descended into her bedroom. Maybe then she’d die and be freed of all the bullshit that was going on in her life. She had a feeling though that if she willingly threw herself down the stairs, Jimmy would somehow catch her... or at least do something to break her fall.

“Elizabeth...” Jimmy trailed off, placing an icy hand on her shoulder which made her stop at the foot of the stairs. She could only feel cold air, and she hated that.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Elizabeth said meekly, “it’s not the first time he’s done this, so it’s all good.”

Jimmy, forgetting that he was currently transparent, wrapped his arms around Elizabeth’s waist, finding them to go straight through her. He sighed in frustration, glaring down at his hands and cursing them because they weren’t solid anymore...

“Keep your window open tonight,” Jimmy said suddenly, “I just... I’ll see you in the morning.”

Elizabeth frowned, turning on her heel and about ready to ask Jimmy what was going on through that crazy head of his, yet she was met with her staircase. She choked back a sob, chewing on the inside of her lip as she walked towards her bathroom door, ready to take a warm shower and knock out on her pillow-top bed. She just needed sleep.

--

Lazily, Jimmy walked around the small, dark apartment, picking up random objects and then setting them back down. He heard the sound of a television playing in the distance, making him smile as he followed the sounds of a zombie movie currently in the works. Just like he’d predicted, Johnny sat on the middle of his bed, his back pressed against pillows and a large bowl of chips resting on his lap. He was shirtless, in his boxers, and tube socks warmed up his feet.

“Why would you do that?” Johnny asked his TV, glaring at the main character and waving a hand angrily, “the first thing you do is run out of the house, not up the stairs! How the fuck are you gonna escape? Unless you can fly out the window or something...”

Jimmy couldn’t help it, he laughed loudly, leaning forwards and resting his hands on his knees as he belted out his once famous laugh he was known for. In an instant, Johnny muted the television and looked around his room, a grim expression on his face as he looked genuinely scared.

“Lacey, is that you?” Johnny asked skeptically, “I have a baseball bat!”

“No, not Lacey,” Jimmy chuckled, seeing all color drain from Johnny’s face, “more like Jimmy.”

It appeared to be raining potato chips as Johnny screamed, rolling to the side and falling on the floor. He had one hand on the edge of the bed, the other in his mouth as he bit on his finger nails nervously. He was crouched down low, fearing that what he’d just heard was real.

“You know, you should consider yourself lucky,” Jimmy said with a cheeky grin as he hoped on Johnny’s bed, “the others can’t see or hear me like you can.”

Squinting his eyes, Johnny looked up at the dark shadowy figure that jumped on his bed, not being able to fathom what was going on. It was true, Jimmy was right there, albeit he was transparent, though he was still there, jumping on his bed like the little kid he used to be.

“I need your help with something,” Jimmy spoke seriously, jumping off the bed to land on the floor silently.

“W-what?” Johnny asked in a meek voice.

“I don’t know if this will work, but, I need to borrow your body.”