A Fading Memory

One month. One month was all it took for planning permission to come through on the basement and Aled and Stella to really kick it off. He was living with us, and by God did we know it. His presence was like a nasty smell you can't get rid of. He was everywhere! I had to watch my own sister be snogged to death by this complete stranger every single day. If that wasn't bad enough, he insisted he was my brother. No way would that man ever become my brother.

"Here's a thought," I mused one day whilst helping Stella with the basement. "Jay and I, we're adopted now, right?" I asked. Stella paused and thought for a moment.

"I guess so. I'm your guardian. Aled is too." She replied. Anger boiled inside me. Aled was nothing to me. He would never be. Stella had been through so many abusive and controlling relationships. Aled won't be any different.

A piercing shout came from upstairs. Stella jumped and dropped the paintbrush she was holding, staring at the ceiling. The shouts grew louder and more frequent, turning to screams and sobs. It took a minute for the sound to register in our minds. It wasn't Christian screaming. It was someone a lot younger than Christian. It was Jay.

As soon as that sunk in, Stella jumped down the ladder and sprinted up the stairs. I followed soon after, straight upstairs into our room.

Jay was backed as far against the wall as he could get from Aled, tears pouring from his little eyes. His nose was bleeding heavily like he'd been punched. Aled did his best to calm the child down, trying to tell him it was okay, but we already knew.

"You fucking hit my little brother." Stella said slowly and quietly but anger clear in her voice. Jay gasped at her language and came running straight to me. I scooped him up in my arms and carried him downstairs into the kitchen to clean him up, where he could be away from the shouting that was to follow.

Aled had just hit Jay.
Aled had just hit Jay.
Aled had just hit Jay.

It didn't make any sense. The man who supposedly adored my sister had just beaten up our younger brother. The man who insisted I look at him as an older brother just abused my younger one. Why would he do that? Jay was a helpless, harmless five year old boy who wouldn't hurt a fly. Everyone who ever knew him said he was a sweet little thing. He was Mam and Dad's treasure. They loved him to bits. There was no reason for anyone to hurt him. Jay was everyone's perfect boy.

The shouting that I had predicted suddenly burst into our eardrums, scaring Jay even more, He nestled closer into me and whimpered, like the frightened little child that he was. He was so innocent, he was just a sweet little boy subjected to something he didn’t know existed.

A sudden dizziness came over me, my hands trembling as I mopped the blood from Jay's mouth. My vision became blurry and distorted like a kaleidoscope. "Sean, he'll be okay." The unfamiliar voice of Christian called. I glanced around, expecting to see him standing in the doorway, but he was no where to be seen. "I felt that once too, Sean, just remember that."

I pushed Chris voice to the back of my head and carried on mopping up Jay's bloodied face. By then, the shouting upstairs had stopped. Stella came back down the stairs, Aled in tow. They both looked flustered and upset, Stella holding Aled's hand tightly. "It was an accident. Case closed." She huffed. She glared at Aled, obviously not believing his story but unwilling to argue in fear of their relationship. Aled smiled sweetly. "We're going down to work on the basement. Jay, you can go play in our room. Sean, you do... whatever." And with that, she pushed Aled forcefully towards the basement door. Jay jumped down from the counter and ran as fast as he could upstairs. Alone in the kitchen, I stood listening. For more shouting, for Jay, for Chris.

"We've never properly met, Sean." Chris’ voice called out. I spun around and saw him standing opposite me, only a few feet between us.

Chris looked as human as any other living person in the world. He looked solid, like a living person. But really, Chris was dead. His torso was covered with a slim fitted shirt that couldn’t cling to his body and his legs were decorated with tight skinny jeans. His hair was messy and as bright and poofy as ever. His skin was perfectly white, like cream or snow. His eyes were so dark they shone like black vortexes that went on forever. He smiled as I stared at him. ”Christian Monroe. I've wanted to talk to you for a while." He took another step closer to me, his voice oozing a nervous confidence that suited him.

"How are you even real?" I gasped in fear, stepping back until I touched the counter. Chris crossed the space between us until our noses were nearly touching. I couldn't feel his breath against my lips. His eyes met mine and he smiled. His eyes were like glass up close. Glistening with death. I could see the dark chocolate swirling as he smiled. He giggled and took my hand. His skin was icy cold.

"Because you want me to be." He said softly. Experimentally, I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer towards me. The ghost boy's body was cold to touch, but solid. He was an actual human boy, only he was dead. "And I want you... "

Those were his final words before he kissed me. He took my breath away, his cold lips and piercings working against my warm ones. I felt a breeze travelling through my body, chilling me to the very core. It was like Chris was taking the life out of me. Despite that, I pulled him closer towards me and trailed a hand through his soft orange hair. He bit down on my bottom lip, lapping at the blood that burst through the broken skin. Every movement, every sound, every touch. It all had me captivated. My worst fears and my one true wish came alive at exactly the same moment. A ghost was kissing me, but he was the most beautiful ghost in the world. Chris was the reason things were bad with Josh, the reason Aled hit Jay. He had it all mapped out in his head and it could only be disastrous. I was his goal, and I couldn't care less.

He pulled away all too soon, his glass eyes meeting mine. A smile stretched across his lips and his touch left me completely. "One day, you should come out and play."

And just like that, he was gone.