Linger

The room was completely silent as Jayden’s shock-widened eyes moved from David to Brian and back again. The only sounds to be heard were the tyres of cars as they travelled along the asphalt outside.

David was sat on her computer chair, his feet barely touching the floor. An innocent look had made its way onto his face, a reflex action that Jayden knew all too well. His dirty blonde curls framed his cherub face as an angelic yet guilty smile spread on his lips. Brian, however, was sat as though frozen with his eyes looking at her apprehensively. The only part of his body that moved were his hands, which were fidgeting nervously. He was sat on the bed, his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.

“What’s going on?” Jayden asked, her eyes solely focussed on Brian.

She saw him bite his lip and fidget some more before he answered, “I didn’t plan this, I swear.”

She looked at David, who seemed perfectly at ease with the situation. She then remembered back to when David had reported seeing a boy in her room, and it all made sense. He had seen Brian before, and she’d completely forgotten about it.

“Why are you even in here?” she asked her brother as she calmly sat on the edge of her bed.

David looked at her before his eyes shifted to Brian, as if looking for an answer from him. Jayden leant towards him slightly, jerking a little as the ghost spoke instead, “He heard me in here. I was just, uhhh.”

Brian paused and looked past Jayden at the chest of drawers that sat in the corner. Stacked on top of it were various photographs in frames, a visual memory of days gone by. She followed his gaze curiously as he continued, “I was, uhhh, admiring your pictures an-”

“You were looking in her underwear drawer!” David piped up, a cheeky grin on his face.

Jayden instantly looked at the drawers before turning quickly to Brian, “You what?!”

“Hey, I did not!” he vindicated, holding his hands up in defence.

“Did too!” her younger brother argued.

Brian’s face was the epitome of innocent as he shook his head at Jayden. His eyes grew wider and resembled those of a puppy and the corners of his mouth dropped into a sad frown, “I didn’t, honestly.”

David was about to retaliate once more before Jayden held up a finger, “Stop. David, out.”

Just as he was about to protest, she pointed at the door. He glared and sauntered out of the room, leaving the door open. The distant sound of his door slamming echoed down the hallway as Jayden stood to close her own.

The room was once again silent as she sat back down and glowered at Brian, “You better not have.”

Once again his hands were held up in surrender, “I didn’t. I swear on my life.”

“What a load of good that’ll do,” she snorted, raising an eyebrow at him, “you realise that you’re already dead, so if you’re lying it won’t kill you again.”

Realisation seemed to dawn on him as his eyes cast downwards and he began fumbling idly with the bedspread, “Oh, yeah.”

The silence that passed at that moment was deafening. From the corner of her eye, Jayden watched him and instantly felt sorry for him. It had to be hard being dead, she thought to herself whilst observing him intently. Her mind began wandering, questioning silently about the deceased boy sat on her bed. What had happened to him? How? Why?

“How did it happen?”

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Not wanting to see his reaction, her eyes focused on the floor, but she felt his own eyes stare at the side of her head.

“I was in a car wreck.”

His voice was soft, hushed with emotion as he continued, “it was my own fault, it was dark and I was going too fast. I just…I needed to get away from this place. I took a corner and almost flipped the car. As soon as it levelled again, the traffic lights in front of me turned red. I tried to brake, I tried…”

Jayden forced herself to look at him. Brian was staring at the ceiling, his eyes focussed and unblinking. His entire body was rigid, and she daren’t move in fear of disturbing him.

“The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. I saw myself laying all blooded up on a gurney, I watched as doctors tried to resuscitate me, looked on at their failed attempts to restart my heart - they carried on for a good ten minutes before they called time of death; twenty-nine minutes past three.”

Jayden’s mind paused for a second before flickering back to her alarm clock. Her eyes settled on the luminous numbers that now read 01:04PM. So often had she seen it stuck at 03:29AM, and it finally made sense to her as to why.

She was pulled out of her thoughts and listened as Brian continued, “Then I sat there in the waiting room, watching my father pace, my step mom comforting my little sister in her arms, my brother and my friends sitting there, not knowing what to do.”

He paused, “I saw them all fall apart after the doctor told them I was gone. The tears, the sobs, the cries. I…I saw them all.”

She heard the slight break caused by the emotion in his voice, the strain of despair that he was trying so hard to hide from her. In her minds eye, she saw an older version of Brian pacing a sterile white hospital waiting room, hands behind his back, occasionally running his fingers through his hair out of nervous habit. A tired and sleepy looking little girl being reassured by her mother, who’s eyes darted around the space nervously. A group of teenagers, a gang of close friends, huddled together in a pack, talking in hushed desperate whispers with anxious and worried faces. A doctor, the nameless messenger of bad tidings, unleashing the heartbreaking and devastating news to a room filled with anguish and despondency. The sight of everyone breaking down and the images of her new friends attempting, in vain, to console one another brought a violently large lump to her throat.

“That night, I followed my family home. They didn’t sleep, they just sat there in silence. I tried talking to them, to tell them that I was alright, but they couldn’t see me. I shouted myself hoarse, but they couldn’t hear me. It broke my heart. So the next day, I decided to leave. I got as far as the end of the front lawn before I couldn’t go any more. I was stuck in a torturous hell, watching on helplessly as my parents grieved for their dead son. I was sure that my little sister could see me sometimes, so I tried my hardest to move things, let her know I was here. It just spooked everyone out, and they moved away. That was the last time I saw them.”

Numb.

That was the only word to describe what she felt in that moment. She hadn’t realised how tragic Brian’s story would be, she’d never given any thought to how he’d died before today. She didn’t understand how he could cope. Firstly seeing himself die in a heartrending accident, and then watch as his loved ones broke apart in front of his very eyes. It was all too much.

“Hey, don’t cry Jay.”

Jayden didn’t even notice the slight pool of water that had been pulled by gravity to collect on the floor near her feet, as she’d thought over Brian’s story. She swiped her hand across her cheeks, wiping the fresh and salty tears away. She felt a tickling cold sensation on her chin and looked up to see Brian sat next to her, tilting her head upwards. It seemed that transparent tears had welled in his own eyes, unable to be shed. She watched as he raised his arm, letting his fingers brush lightly on her face. He brushed her tear tracks with a feather-light touch before opening his arms out to her. She gratefully shuffled closer to him and was enveloped into his embrace. It was an odd feeling, and Jayden tried her best not to lean in too far in fear of passing straight through him. Surprisingly, he felt somewhat firm, albeit cold.

The next moment, the sensation of jumping into an ice cold pool of water in winter came over her as she felt herself permeate Brian’s chest. She shuffled away swiftly, shivering as he also backed up.

“Sorry,” he apologised with a nervous laugh as he let her go, “I haven’t got the hang of staying solid yet.”

Jayden simply shook her head and offered him a weak smile, edging towards him again. Brian smiled at her and held onto her again lightly, resting his chin on the top of her head and humming to gently ease the remainder of her tears away.