The Sounds of a Ghost

Vic never closed his eyes anymore. Visions danced in his head of that day, the dreadful day he doesn't wish to repeat. Unsettling noises like creaks that shouldn't be heard made his heart beat faster and his stomach tie in knots. They reminded him of when she would walk around the big mansion, they sounded like her footsteps. When the ballet bar in the workout room creaked, his brown eyes would shoot like a bullet hoping to catch his love.
She was never there. And she never would be. Not anymore, not after what happened.
Ever since his heart was empty, he grew cold, he distanced himself from his brother and his friends. No one visited him and he visited no one. The calls had stopped, all hope was lost with Vic. It just wasn't worth their pain.
But she would have never given up. Vic believed she still hadn't given up.
There wasn't any reason to go out or do anything. Everyone and everything would be gone in a mere matter of years, maybe days. That was something Vic had learned the hard way and he refused to relearn that harsh lesson. He preferred to live alone than live with people he could lose.
Vic had fired the maid, gardener, and cook. Now the house was a mess, the beautiful flowers she'd planted were wilted and dying, and the food was all from the freezer. Even the pool, the one thing she'd volunteered to take care of herself, was dirty and gross with mold running up the sides.
The electricity sometimes wouldn't work because Vic would go months without getting his mail. Not that it mattered, he didn't always use the lights anyway. Like today, he had forgotten to pay the bill so his lights were out and he was attempting to read a book, her favorite book as a teenager, Spanking Shakespeare. He was on her favorite chapter, the one where Shakespeare is at a baseball game and when he goes to the bathroom his father is taking looks at his dick.
He didn't even smile. A smile was a distant memory, unknown by him anymore. He used to smile a lot with her and his brother and his friends. After she was gone he lost himself and his personality.
Jaime and Tony were the first two to stop visiting. They gave up quickly, getting easily annoyed with the long haired boy for not speaking.
Mike, Vic's brother, tried harder though. He kept going to the house that was slowly becoming ruins. Mike would pay the bills every few visits, he would drive Vic around the town when he could get Vic from the house, he would walk Vic around the withering garden. Some days he would come bearing groceries and water to help keep his brother alive.
Slowly though, Mike began getting annoyed with the lifeless boy. Eventually he started coming less and less before stopping altogether. He would call a few times a month but he stopped that too now only calling once or twice a year on major holidays.
Vic knew he was failing as a person when Mike stopped visiting. He didn't care though. It didn't hurt him. Nothing really hurt him anymore. After she was gone, Vic didn't really care. The less people he had close to him, the less he could lose again. That was all that mattered to him.
Two strong knocks took Vic from the one page he was still reading in the dark. He sighed considering not answering the door but he got up with hesitation. The lanky boy was rather curious as to who was actually paying him a visit. Last he checked the house looked as if no one owned it.
"Victor, you need to pay these." Mike wasn't expecting a response from the brown haired boy. He hardly spoke at all since she left him. "Jesus, how do you live like this?"
The younger boy shook his head as he led his older brother to the kitchen. They needed to sit and chat. Vic couldn't live in this filth and memories. He was dying here; not physically but emotionally. Mike knew Vic knew but it was the lack of concern worrying the younger brother.
"Let's get out the checkbook, Vic."
The older boy nodded hesitantly. He wasn't used to the human connection he was making. No one had been over at his house in over six months. It was surprising Mike even knew how to get there still.
Vic passed his brother the checkbook before taking a seat across from him at the round wooden table. He was interested in knowing why Mike was here. It was more than paying the bills, Vic knew that much. No one was worried about his electricity and phone bill. Mike was definitely here for an entirely different reason.
The younger brother was scribbling down numbers and letters, making sure to pay the right amount. Not that it would matter to Vic. The older boy didn't use much electricity anyway, he also didn't call anyone considering he cut everyone off.
Mike finished paying everything fairly quickly. He ran a hand through his long brown hair as he sat back in the mahogany chair. "Let's get you a new place." He told Vic bluntly unable to think of any other way to say that.
Vic paused in surprise, his mouth slightly agape. There was no way he could agree to that. She would have never approved moving. This house was her pride and joy. This house held all the memories. There was no way he could leave.
The older boy's brown eyes explored the house, still hearing Mike's words in his head. The falling wallpaper and chipped paint on the walls reminded him of a better time, when they'd done the walls together. All the ornamental decorations had been picked and put around the house by her and no one else.
Vic couldn't sell that. He just couldn't.
A new house didn't come with memories. Nothing came with as many memories as the house he'd lived in with her. There was no where he'd rather live no matter the horrid conditions.
"C'mon, bro, I've got a friend who has already agreed to let you stay in her apartment with her." When Vic refused to respond for a good five minutes, Mike simply sighed. "Just think about it. It doesn't have to be permenant; just to get you out of the house."
There was still no response from the long haired boy. Mike got up, bills in hand to mail, and bid his brother goodbye. The younger boy left leaving his older brother back to his isolation and depressing thoughts.
Vic left the kitchen chair and made made his way to the ballet room. He sat crisscross in the middle, where he'd sat when she wanted to perform for him. This was where he did all his thinking.
Whenever he was in the ballet room it felt as though the girl was still here with him. It made him calm himself and just simply lose himself in a better time when she was around. Some might say that Vic was crazy, but he wasn't. Reality wasn't lost on him.
He let Mike's words stumble around his head as he stared at himself in the dusty mirror. Vic was at lose on what to do. He wanted to do what she'd want him to do but he could figure it out at the moment.
Vic turned his head to the ballet bar. It reminded him of all the times she'd made him watch her routines or when he'd stood in the threshold of the door to just watch her warm-up.

She stood there, curly black hair put up in a bun with a pale pink ribbon tied around, her hand on the bar and her feet in first position. In a moment she would start a classical song Vic didn't know the name of and begin warm-ups, something she never permitted Vic to see.
He managed to watch, he loved to watch. She was so good at her warm-ups it surprised him she didn't make him watch. That's why Vic stood, everyday at three, leaning against the threshold of the door with his arms crossed. His brown eyes were trained on the beautiful girl doing pliés and leg lifts.
When she would turn to have her left hand on the bar, her dark eyes found Vic. She glared at her boyfriend playfully and took her left hand from the bar to walk over to him.
"No watching warm-ups."
Vic laughed as she neared him. "C'mon Alex, you're so good at warm-ups, let me watch!" He pleaded teasingly.
The beautiful girl rolled her eyes and shoved the lanky boy out of the door way. "No, warm-ups are when I'm worst."
The brown haired boy took her wrists as she shoved him and pulled her arms around his waist. "Warm-ups are just as wonderful to watch as the performances." Vic let go of her wrists and put his arms around her waist "Let me watch."
The girl looked up with pleading brown eyes. "Please, Vic, wait until I'm ready for you!"
"Let," he kissed her, "me," he kissed her again, "watch," he gave him her a final kiss.
The dark haired girl kissed her boyfriend again eagerly, she loved the taste of Vic's lips. She knew she was going to give in. Vic had a way with persuasion when it came to her. "Fine, don't distract me though."
Vic's brows furrowed. "How would I distract you?"
The dark haired beauty let out a loud laugh as she gripped Vic's ass tightly to answer. The boy swatted her hands away until he could push away the girl. "There's something wrong with you, Alexandria."
She only continued to laugh as she headed to the bar. The ballerina loved that she still knew how to surprise the boy. She loved him with all her heart, she truly did. There was never a time when she doubted the relationship and the best part of that was knowing Vic felt the same way.
There was something special about knowing someone loved you back as much as you loved them. There was nothing better.
"Love ya, Victor!"
"I love you, too."