Angel From My Nightmare

What are you spouse to do when you find out your friend is actually dead? Probably not a question asked by many, for Jack the answer was drink. He doesn’t remember much of the day he found Alex was in fact dead, after getting off the phone with Lisa he’d basically gone straight out to buy some alcohol. Drinking it until he couldn’t stand any longer, he just didn’t want to remember. He didn’t want to remember how fucked up he was, how he was imaging the life of a person he’d never met. How he didn’t have a mum anymore, how his dreams of playing guitar were just that dreams. He worked in a club serving drinks to rich people, he had no one in his live he loved, in fact he’d never said the words to anyone outside his family. The one person he’d felt close to a long time, the one person he’d trusted and they were dead.
A week had past and Jack was just sobering up long enough to get to work on time, Matt somehow talked him into doing part-time for a few weeks. Jack didn’t mind too much, he could still pay the rent. Plus it was a distraction from Alex, it felt like he was being reminded of him everywhere.
“Jack... Jack did you hear me?” Lisa called.
“Huh? Sorry Lis I was... Miles away”
“I was asking if you felt like coming out tonight, see the inside of a different club for a change”
“Yeah why not” he nodded.
“Maybe see if we can hook you up with someone” she nudged his shoulder playfully but he didn’t say anything. For once he had no interest in meaningless sex. He didn’t say anything and neither did Lisa, letting the subject drop between them as they continued work.

At the club that night it was Lisa, the new kid Zack and Jack, all out drinking together in a dimly lit room on the other side of town. Jack wondered why he’d agreed to come, he didn’t want to be there but to be truthful he didn’t know where he’d rather be... Okay that was a bit of lie, he knew where he’d like to be but he couldn’t bring himself to go back.
“What’s up with you tonight? You’re being very quiet” Lisa asked.
“Nothing...” he sighed.
“Jack I’ve known you since we were 14, I know when something’s bothering you, plus you haven’t even looked at a girl all night”
“I’m just not interested tonight” He got up and walked away, with the aim of getting another drink. Standing at the bar he looked over at the notice board, pictures of events been and gone and even a few news clippings. One stood out to Jack, he leant across to get it, he knew the face of the boy staring back at him. Alex Gaskarth, the lights in his eyes and the colour in his cheeks, things Jack had never seen in him before. It was a news story about the band he’d been in. Jack scrunched in up in his hand, why was Alex everywhere he looked?
The letters AWG seemed to be everywhere, even now he could see one on a bottle on the other side of the bar. He kept catching glances in reflections that looked like Alex, even his dreams where haunted by the boy.
“You knew Alex?” a voice from behind him took him by surprise.
“What gave you that idea?” Jack asked, turning to face Zack who was standing behind him.
“The picture” he said, nodding towards the slightly crumbled picture of Alex Jack had in his hand.
“Yeah guess I kinda did, how do... did you know him?”
“We were in the band together” he said, taking the article from Jack and pointing out his name ‘Zack Merrick’ printed in black and white on the aging paper.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“No one really knows, he just lost control of the car and it ended up rolling” Zack said, staring at the empty bottom of his glass.
“Oh”
“I’m sorry, I think you two really would have gotten on well” Zack patted Jack’s shoulder and walked off. Jack was left with his own empty glass and the continued feeling Alex was haunting him.

Jack had gotten so used to waking up on the couch for the past week he was surprised to actually wake up in his bed. The sun streaming through his open blinds, he groaned looking at the time and realising he didn’t have to be at work for hours and could in fact go back to sleep. Putting the pillow over his head he tried to sleep again but his thoughts were keeping him awake. He’d dreamt of Alex again, they were running together from the darkness chasing them. Giving up on sleep, fearing another dream Jack pushed himself out of bed and went to have a shower. If anything to wash away the cold sweat he’d woken in.
Feeling better than he had done in the last few days, fresh and clean shaved at least. Jack surfed around the internet, sending out a few tweets to barely over a 1000 followers. Feeling bored and with the sun shining he grabbed his headphones and left his apartment with the intention of wondering the streets until it was time for work.
With Fall Out Boy pumping through his headphones Jack bobbed his head in time with the beat, walking down the quiet streets in early morning Baltimore. Passing people making their way to work he brought a coffee having passed the local starbucks, he sipped it enjoying the sun and for once feeling kind of relaxed, the nightmare that had woken him forgotten in the haze of the sun. Jack continued to walk through the streets, passing a stall selling flowers, normally this wouldn’t have caught his attention but then he saw the lilies, his mothers favourite. It had been awhile since he’d gone to see her, the thought made him feel like a bad son. His mum had been gone not even a month and already he’d forgotten about seeing her. Buying a large bouquet of lilies he walked back to his apartment and to his car. As he drew closer to the cemetery he couldn’t help thinking of Alex, what if he’s there? Could he even face seeing him? Wasn’t it all just proving that he was crazy? He tried not to think about it, he was going to see his mum and that was it.

Jack walked up to his mum’s grave, taking care not to walk past Alex’s on the way. He laid on the flowers on the ground.
“Love you mum, I miss you” he whispered.
“Jack?” a voice whispered back.
“Alex” he turned and there standing at the foot of his mum’s grave was Alex, still the same as ever expect his eyes looked... Sad.
“I didn’t think you’d come back” he said.
“I came to see my mum, I’m going now”
“No please Jack, please let me explain” Alex begged.
“What so you can tell me I’m crazy? That I’m imaging some dead kid so I can have a friend? Thank but no thanks” Jack begin to walk away, repeating the words ‘he’s not real’ in his head over and over again.
“Jack! That’s not what’s going on at all, please I need you”
“What?” Jack turned back to Alex, if Jack knew anything he would have said that it looked like Alex was about to burst into tears.
“I need you please listen to me”
Jack sighed, why was he doing this? But for some reason he felt like he needed to.
“Okay”
Alex smiled, a look of relief in his eyes. Reaching out he took Jack’s hand, their skin touching.
“How... How can you touch me again?” Jack asked as Alex pulled him through the cemetery until they were back at the grave marked with Alex’s name.
“I’ll explain everything but just don’t say anything until I’m done okay? And try not to freak out too much”
“Okay...” Jack answered shakily. The pair sat down on the cold ground, no matter how hot the sun in the sky was the cemetery was always cold and Jack had to try not shiver in his thin t shirt.
“Jack I’m a ghost, yes that does mean I’m dead but you’d probably guessed that. I died in a car accident 2 and half year ago. I’ve been here ever since, stuck here at my grave with no way out. I don’t know what’s keeping me here I’m just stuck. I watch my family come and go, leaving me flowers and crying and I can’t do a thing to comfort them. They can’t see me Jack, only you can. I don’t know why, that day at your mother funeral you looked right at me I didn’t know what to do so I ran when you ran after me I realised you could in fact see me. I didn’t know what to do I felt like maybe I had a way out if I could contact someone living but I couldn’t just tell you so I lied. I’m sorry about lying about my mother but I didn’t know how else to get you to stay. I need you Jack, you’re the only one who can help me”
“H...How can I help you?” Jack asked, trying to take in everything Alex had said.
“I can feel it, like there’s a connection between us. No one else can even see me, so why can I touch you?” He asked, reaching out he pressed his hand to Jacks.
“Like something’s pulling me towards you. I kept seeing you everywhere, your name was on everything, I kept seeing your reflection passing in mirrors, it’s like you were haunting me”
“A ghost haunting someone that’s new”
“What does it mean though?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know, something, somewhere is pulling us together”