The Unknown

She walked home, with them following close behind her. When she arrived back home she opened the front door and went inside. Annabelle ran into her room and closed door and locked it. She sat on her bed with a picture of her and her father. She smiled and just lied there staring at it until it was night time. When darkness fell over the sky she decided to go outside for a walk. She saw a house with smoke coming out of it and just stared. She started to move forward but she heard screams and took a step back.
“What --- No, who was in there?” She asked herself. She walked over to the house and made the foolish mistake by going. The inside of the house was filled with black smoke. There were cries for help coming from under the house. The stairs that led upstairs were smashed. It looked like someone sat there breaking each step with a baseball bat. The cries were getting louder. The flames got bigger and the smoke got darker. The cries started to fade.
There was a faint whisper, “Why are you here?" It said in a voice that could send chills down anyone’s spine.
Annabelle looked to where the voice was coming from. She shuttered thinking someone may have been left here.
"Where are you?" She asked in a whisper. She wasn't very frightened for herself, just for whoever was trapped inside the house. She started coughing and tried to see through all of the smoke.
The smoke started to fade a little. There was a cold chill in the room.
Quiet footsteps were coming up behind Annabelle. "I'm right here," said the whisper. The flames calmed so she would be able to see.
"Are you okay?" The whisper asked her.

"I'm fine. Why are you here?" She asked the whisper as she started to turn around.

Nothing was there, only a smashed lamp lying on the ground. "I'm glad that you’re okay." The whisper said avoiding her question.
"You're not answering my question.... Why are you here?" Annabelle asked. She wondered silently where the whispered voice was coming from, a bit too afraid to ask.
There was a small sigh. It came from the other side of the room. "I can't leave, so I just stay in this hell." Quiet footsteps were approaching Annabelle.
"What do you mean you can't leave?" She asked looking around for the whisper.

"I'm trapped here. I can never leave, till my soul dies away with the ashes of this house."
She just stood there, not really knowing what to say, and then after five minutes of pure silence she finally said, "Is there any way I can help?" she asked and there was a tap on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure." The whisper said as something fell upstairs. She turned around, a bit startled at the fall from upstairs. She looked up at him, for a second she thought she was going insane and was just seeing things (more or less the smoke had just gone to her head) but then she realized the ghost of a young boy was actually in front of her. She reached out her hand as if she was going to touch him, but then she pulled her hand back thinking that was not the best idea. She stood there searching for the words to say, when finally she asked, "Is there any way I can get you out of the horrible place?"

He stared at her. He started to walk over to her. "I have been here since the day I was born. I hoped I would get out of here. But then I died," he let out small sigh. "I wish I knew of a way you could help me."

"Maybe together we could figure something out." She suggested to him. "I'll do anything I can to help you," Annabelle promised him. She automatically felt sorrow for the poor young boy. She knew her family couldn't know about her being there because they'd have her committed to a mental institution if she spoke a word about talking to a ghost. This was why she kept the fact about seeing her father’s ghost every night to herself. She never really questioned whether this was real or just a dream. Her main concern at the moment, though, was helping this young boy.
He smiled (well, as much as a ghost could smile), liking the idea of having someone he can trust. "Thank you, that means a lot to me." He looked her in the eyes, "why did you come here?" He asked softly. He stared at her looking into her dark blue eyes. He was thinking of how pretty she looked, even in a place so trashed.

"I saw the smoke and heard screaming, all I could think of was coming to help whoever was here." She told him never taking her eyes off his pale see-through face. Was it possible to have feelings for a ghost? Could you really treasure a soul so much that you would literally go through fire to help them? These were the questions running through Annabelle's mind. Even in death she could tell he was the most handsome boy she's seen in Transylvania. "I'm Annabelle, by the way." She told him, not bothering to ask for his name in return.
He couldn't help but smile. No one had ever cared about him. He liked that feeling. He thought to himself, if I had a beating heart it would jump every time I see her. "Thank you." he whispered. "No one has ever cared about me. It's hard for me to believe, that someone would go into a house that was on fire just to try and save me." He took a step towards her."What a beautiful name. I wish I could share mine. But I can't remember what it was."

"Andrew." She said to him without another word and smiled.

He tilted his head to the side, "Andrew?" He said confused.

Annabelle nodded and said, "It’s the perfect name for you."
Still partly confused he smiled.

She laughed lightly and said, "It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

"You have a point," he laughed. With a smile, he slowly moved across the floor to her. Why did he have to die? She thought to herself and frowned. She stood there in place and smiled, trying not show in her eyes what she was thinking.
"So, Andrew, what would you like to talk about?" Annabelle asked her new and only friend. Yes, it took a very strange person to befriend a ghost, but she didn't really care.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to feel him. He poked her and smiled. "Whatever you want to talk about," he said. He never thought in a million years he would have a friend. But the strange thing was she was alive. Being dead would be no big deal to some people, but he wanted so badly to hug her. Life was hard when no one cared. But death is worse when you can't hold the one person who cares.

"Hmm," she said thinking. "Can I ask you something?"

"The answer to your question is, sure." He smiled.

She laughed, "That wasn't my actual question, but okay." She smiled and took a short pause finding a way to word her question, "How exactly did you, I mean, well..." She said feeling like a complete idiot. "How did you...?" She said trailing off.
He stared at her with a blank look. "Um..." He couldn't think of a way to explain his death. "It was a year ago," he said with a dazed look. "I lived in this house with my parents and siblings. I was the eldest of 13 children, including myself." He said with a sigh. Memories of his past life flashed in his mind. "I was in my room; I pretty much lived in that room. It was dark and cold as ice there. I remember wishing I would die. I walked around thinking of ways to leave. But the plans wouldn't have worked out," he said and looking at her. "I spent a lot of time sitting outside my window. Sometimes I thought about jumping. Just to be done with it. It was about 8:15 when my parents started there nightly fighting." He shook his head trying to get rid of the thought of their fights. "I lay on the floor holding my breath wishing the fighting would stop. Of course it didn't do anything. I laid there for hours listening to their screaming. I could hear my younger brother running around his room." He made a face when talking about his brother. "When the fighting stopped, I was hitting my head on the wall, wishing I was dead. The room was cold as death." He lightly laughed like it was some sort of joke. "I sat in the corner crying. I cried for hours. I felt my heart racing in my chest. I sat there freezing. My heartbeat was getting slow. Everything went black. I had fallen hitting my head on the wall. My heart rate stopped and I laid there frozen on the floor dead." He looked at Annabelle.
She just stared at him for a second, searching for the right words to say, when finally she just said, and “I’m sorry..." She told him knowing of nothing else to say. The way he died was just completely horrible. She looked at the ground then back up at him with sad blue eyes.

"It's not your fault." He said with a half smile. "People die and I'm one of those people."

"Still, I'm sorry..." She said and continued, "I want to help you. I want to get your out of this horrid place." She stared into his pale see-through eyes.

"I wish there was a way you could help." He said looking into her dark blue eyes. She sighed and replied with, "In time I will figure something out. I promise." She told him. "Until then, we're just going to have to stay here. To tell you the truth, this is a lot better than my house right now, only some of the smoke needs to go," she said jokingly then coughed a bit.

Some of the smoke started to fade. "You prefer this hell?" He said confused. "What’s your house like?" He asked trying not to sound rude.
"I live with my bitchy mother, dick of a step-dad and asshole of a brother. All they do is yell at me for how I dress and act. The only one that ever understood me is gone…” She said trailing again off then closed her eyes fighting back tears, "I'm sorry. I'm ranting."

"I hate how parents think they can control you. But in actuality there just dumb bitches who have no life," he said. "You can rant all you want. It’s nice to hear someone other than I speak."
She laughed lightly. "I agree. They are dumb bitches. Speaking of the dumb bitches they're going to begin to wonder where I am... and my mom will send Edward," she said making a face at his name, "after me."

"What a dick, wait who’s Edward? Never mind, who cares! Edward’s a dick."
She started laughing. "For a dead boy, you're pretty funny!" She giggled jokingly. "Just kidding---but you are funny."
He laughed, "Well I am dead, so I am a dead boy and I'm funny." He smiled.
She smiled back. "But, seriously, I do have to go..." She frowned. "I can come back first thing tomorrow after ditching school if you want." She said grinning. "I skip all the time anyhow."
He lightly laughed, “Sounds like a plan. Hope you have fun ditching school. Don't die on your way home."
She laughed, "I'll try my hardest. Bye, Andrew," she said smiling at him, not really wanting to leave.
"Leave before Edda or whatever his fucking name is comes." He said with a stupid smile.
She started laughing, "Alright. I will see you in the morning."

She blew him a kiss and started to walk out.

He caught the kiss and ate it, walking out of the room laughing."Be safe."