by Jon Athan
“Georgie!” he exclaimed as he wrestled with his pants to retrieve his phone, “Call Georgie, call Georgie!”
As he grabbed his phone, a cold breeze dominated the room. The temperature had suddenly and inexplicably dropped. This can't be real, he thought as he blankly stared forward. His body trembled uncontrollably as the room became colder and colder. His breathing escalated and he could not control his coughing. As he began to dial for Georgie, his heart sank – he could see his breath every time he exhaled. The temperature drop was real.
“No, no, no,” Lee murmured – it was the only word he could conjure.
Suddenly, a banging noise came from the kitchen – the sound of a cupboard being hit repeatedly. The noise was clear as day, it was undeniable. Despite his reluctance, Lee shambled towards the noise. It was still dark, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to comfortably find his way. Slowly, he inched his neck into the kitchen. The tempo of the banging increased significantly, it seemingly became more aggressive. Lee scrunched his face as he lifted his camera and aimed towards the source. Do I really want to see this, he wondered.
His finger trembled uncontrollably as he placed it on the shutter-release button. The uncertainty of what he would see next was terrifying. The flashing images of Gina's disfigured body in the bathtub tormented Lee – it was a scarring experience. With one final sigh, Lee reluctantly snapped the photo and illuminated the darkness with the camera's flash.
“Gina!” Lee exclaimed in excitement.
For a brief moment, Lee could see Gina sitting on the kitchen counter next to the sink. She had a gentle smile and wore a white sundress – no more blood, no more bruises. She happily swung her feet back and forth, hitting the cupboard beneath her. Lee quickly shuffled through the photos in the camera, the immense excitement rushing through his body. The photo of the kitchen was normal, though. Due to his excitement, Lee had not noticed the banging noise stopped.
“Gina?” Lee whispered, “Are you still there?”
What the hell am I doing, Lee thought, this is impossible, it can't be real. An eerie dead silence once again dominated the room – not a single creak or howl in the entire apartment. Even the plumbing pipes were silent. Lee chuckled in a mixture of relief and disappointment – a very strange feeling.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” he asked as he stared at the front door.
Suddenly, the soft and feminine giggle erupted in the living room and a set of footsteps ran directly past Lee.
“Gina? Is that you?” Lee excitedly cried, “Please, Gina, talk to me.”
Without hesitation, Lee shook his head and started snapping more photos – he was convinced the flash would reveal Gina again. The blinding flash of his camera illuminated every inch of the disorderly living room – under the table, behind the sofa, even inside the damaged walls. Lee quickly returned to the kitchen to illuminate everything – the counters, the cupboards, under the kitchen sink, under the kitchen table, and even inside the fridge.
“Gina!” Lee shouted as he lightly pulled his hair in frustration, “Please! Where are you...”
The feminine giggle returned, it echoed from down the small hall.
“The bathroom?” he asked, “You're in the bathroom?”
Lee rushed down the hall and grabbed the bathroom doorknob. At that moment, he noticed the soft giggle again – it was coming from the closet at the end of the hall. The innocent snickering grew louder and louder, like a child playing a prank and anxiously awaiting the climax. Lee cautiously opened the closet door. There were heavy coats on the hangers and some shoe boxes on the floor with some empty space – much neater than he expected.
Lee crossed his fingers as he aimed the camera at the empty space. Although he was confused and petrified, he hoped to finally find Gina – he hoped to finally find closure for his unrequited love. He took one last deep breath and illuminated the small closet space with the camera.
From the brief illumination, Lee could see Gina. She sat on the closet floor, looking up at Lee and smiling sincerely. A tear rolled down his cheek from the realization.
As the darkness immediately filled up the desolate apartment, Gina's disembodied voice exclaimed, “You found me!”
Lee was ecstatic beyond belief, but he tried to conceal his emotions. He rubbed the tears from his cheeks and eyes, chuckling uncontrollably as he was swept up in ecstasy. Gina's soft and gentle giggling joined to create an orchestra of sincere happiness. He tried to keep his composure, but the feelings were overwhelming.
Finally, Lee happily murmured, “Yeah... I found you.”
Chapter 6 – An Unconventional Love
Lee could feel Gina walk directly through him, the footsteps leading to the living room. Lee continued to smile uncontrollably as he followed the disembodied steps. He stood in the middle of the messy and bloodied living room as he thought, is this all part of my imagination?
“No,” Gina's disembodied voice whispered, “It's not your imagination.”
Lee was startled by her voice, he searched every which way for its origin. He looked toward the kitchen, the hallway behind him, and the couch, but it was impossible to locate.
“Gina, where are you?” Lee asked as he continued searching.
“I'm not somewhere, I'm everywhere,” Gina's voice echoed through Lee's head.
Lee's eye flickered and his head twitched, he could quite literally feel the voice in his head – like if he were going insane. Lee scratched the back of his head as he contemplated; simultaneously, he tried not to think as he realized Gina may be able to intrude into his thoughts. What... I... How... Gina... A completely derailed train of thoughts without the slightest sign of comprehension.
“Don't worry, Lee, I won't read your thoughts if you don't want me to,” Gina said.
Lee sighed in relief and responded, “Please don't.”
Gina giggled once again as she continued, “Yeah, it's kinda creepy, isn't it?”
“Very creepy... You know, Gina, I really missed you...”
The pair continued to talk and laugh as Lee sat on the sofa.
“Ow, don't sit on me!” Gina shrieked.
“Oh, shit, sorry, sorry,” Lee immediately pleaded for forgiveness.
“I was kidding, Lee! I'm everywhere, remember? You're too uptight, loosen up a bit.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Lee apologized, anyway.
Lee continued, “Gina... Are you okay? Are you... are you a ghost?”
“I guess,” Gina responded nonchalantly, “I mean, I remember dying, but I don't remember the pain.”
“Good, you don't want to remember that pain,” Lee whispered, “How... why can I see you from the flash of the camera? Why don't you just show yourself now?”
“I don't know, Lee, you're going to have to find out yourself.”
Suddenly, a bright light blinded Lee as he sat on the sofa. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself sitting on a wooden bench, surrounded by an impenetrable fog bank – he could see no more than five meters ahead. The street lights were barely capable of seeping through the fog, they were clearly weak in comparison.
“Where the hell am I?” Lee whispered aloud as he searched his immediate surroundings.
But, alas, he could only see the bench underneath him and the street lamp above his head. At the very least, he could see it was nighttime. Lee cautiously stood up from the bench, and adjusted his black jacket while dusting his khaki pants. He was uncertain of what awaited, but he knew he'd have to leave the bench to escape this peculiar and eerie world. A dream world, he thought.
Lee started walking down the narrow road. He could see grass to his left and right, as well as small bushes and large trees. The further he traversed down the road, the more recognizable the area became. Yet, he couldn't put his finger on it – it sat on the tip of his tongue. A creaking noise could be heard from afar.
“Hello!” Lee shouted, “Is anyone out there?”
The creaking noise grew louder as Lee con
tinued to move forward. It was a dreadful noise, loud and unbearable – like someone scraping a chalkboard, except it was cycling over and over. Finally, Lee reached a fork in the road. A sign sat in the middle. It read: “HILL PARK.”
The loud creaking noise continued as Lee finally realized his location – the park down the street from his apartment. He had not been here since Gina met Doug. Lee quickly broke that train of thought as he looked towards the loud creaking noise.
“If I'm correct...” Lee murmured as he stepped off the park sidewalk and approached the noise, “It should be coming from the sandbox.”
As Lee moved towards the noise, the fog quickly swayed away to reveal the large sandbox. From the moist grass, Lee could see someone sitting on the swing in the sandbox. It was a woman, and she was wearing a white sundress. Lee turned his head, like a confused pup, as he stepped into the sandbox and walked towards the swings on the other side. Lee had fond memories of this park. He remembered playing on the colorful playhouse with his friends; being forced on the merry-go-round and violently spun by the bullies; playing on the monkey bars, only to bust his head open. Those bittersweet memories were short-lived, though, he was more concerned with Gina – it wasn't the time to reminisce.
Lee could feel a cold sweat on his forehead, he could feel his heartbeat increase. The sound of the swing was inexplicably creepy. The fog wasn't comforting, either. What if it isn't Gina, he thought.
“Oh, it's me, don't worry about that,” Gina said as she turned towards Lee on the swing.
Lee chuckled, “I thought you said you weren't going to read my thoughts anymore.”
“I wasn't, but... I could hear your heartbeat from here.”
The pair laughed as Lee sat on the swing next to Gina. He smiled nervously – he finally had a clear and consistent image of Gina, he didn't have to rely on his camera's flash.
“I wasn't scared...” Lee whispered, “You look... You look beautiful.”
Gina smiled at Lee, then continued to swing as she stared at the fog directly ahead of them.
“Why are we here,” Lee continued, “Why... why are we at the park? What happened to the apartment?”
Gina swung silently for a moment until she finally spoke, “We've had our moments in this park. This is where we first met, we didn't even know we were neighbors. We met here by chance. You were here to take photos and I was here to think. And, we'd keep meeting here whenever we had a problems...”
“Yeah, I guess so...”
“One time, just after we met, you told me your passion. You loved photography, you'd become a famous photographer one day, but you wouldn't let it go to your head. Now, that I can think about my life a bit more and now that I can read your thoughts, I realize you had another passion... You loved me.”
“Yeah...” Lee slowed his swing and stared at his feet as he kicked the sand beneath him.
“So, who knows, maybe it's your passion for photography and your love for me that, well, lets you see me. Honestly, I don't know, either...”
Gina continued to swing, the loud creaky noise echoing through the park. Lee continued to kick his feet in the sand, staring blankly and trying to avoid contemplation – he wasn't as safe in his thoughts as he'd like.
“Why didn't you tell me,” Gina broke the silence, “Why didn't you tell me you loved me?”
“I was... I was afraid of being rejected, I was afraid of Doug,” Lee stared blankly into the fog, “Now... I'm afraid of being alone.”
“You don't have to be afraid anymore,” Gina said, “I was alone for a while and now we're together. Two lonely people together can't be... alone, right?”
“I guess not,” Lee anxiously laughed.
“Anyway, Lee, I want to help you,” Gina continued, “You're helping me get through this ghost thing, so let me help you.”
“Help me? How are you going to help me?”
Lee watched Gina as she continued to swing majestically. What kind of help would I need, he wondered as he patiently awaited her response. Abruptly, as she swung, she pointed ahead. The fog suddenly created a strict field of vision leading to a 24-hour diner across the street from the park – he couldn't see anything else, the surrounding world was still covered in the dense fog.
“Alfonso's Diner?” Lee asked.
“Yeah, we had coffee there once,” Gina said as she reminisced.
“Yeah, I remember. I was going to tell you how much I cared about you there, but I ended up spilling boiling coffee on my lap. I might not have children in the future, Gina,” the pair laughed before Lee continued, “What about it, though?”
“Go there at 3 AM, and you'll get the scoop of a lifetime. You'll be able to expand your little business and your portfolio, and you'll learn a little about my death,” Gina chuckled, “I suffered a very similar fate...”
Mystified, Lee asked, “What do you mean? What's going to happen?”
Gina turned to Lee and smiled. Suddenly, the blinding light returned. Lee's eyesight slowly adjusted as he found himself sprawled on the living room floor of Gina's apartment. His body was trembling uncontrollably, some saliva foamed out of his mouth, and a cold sweat drenched his body.
Chapter 7 – A Violent Crime
Lee sat up in the apartment as he tried to compose himself, wiping the saliva from his jaw and the sweat from his forehead.
“Gina! Gina!” he shouted, “Are you there? Please... Talk to me, I'm still here.”
Gina did not respond, there was only silence in the apartment. Lee sat and pondered the situation: a dream or reality? He was completely uncertain, but had an overwhelming urge to visit Alfonso’s Diner on Main Street. Lee looked down at his phone – 2:13 AM.
“Where did the time go?” he murmured.
He hesitated to act, but realized he was running short on time – he needed to hurry. Swiftly, Lee stood up and dusted himself off. He jogged towards the front door before violently stumbling over something. He looked back and saw nothing. Lee was baffled and frightened until he thought, Gina... one of Gina's pranks.
Lee rushed out of the apartment and ran towards the elevator. The apartment halls were still dominated by an eerie silence – it seemed like the neighbors had miraculously vanished. In the lobby, the security window was still empty. As he exited the building, he once again noticed the police vehicle parked up front.
“Where the hell is he,” he whispered softly as he walked past.
With too much on his mind to be concerned with the missing police officer, Lee hopped into his four-door sedan and sped off through the harshly pouring rain. Fortunately, the park and diner were only a few blocks down from his apartment – they sat diagonally across each other on the Hill and Main street intersection. On his trip to the diner, Lee was relieved as he noticed other vehicles on the street – not as many as he expected, but enough to feel some relief. This is real, he thought, this has to be real.
Lee arrived at the diner with minutes to spare. The large diner had a steel frame and large windows all around, except for the back. “Alfonso's Diner” was sprawled across the front window in psychedelic colors – a neon sign reading the same stood on top of the diner. There were two parallel entrances to the diner – one on the left and one on the right side of the building.
Alfonso's Diner was beloved by the locals. It was a place of solace thanks to the delicious food and the sincerely caring crew. A warm feeling swept through Lee, despite the cold rain, as he stepped out of his vehicle and approached the diner. He felt even more comfort when he noticed the people talking and enjoying their meals inside. Everything was normal.
Lee stood at the entrance, anxiously pacing back and forth as he constantly glimpsed into the diner.
“What the hell am I doing here,” he whispered.
Lee looked at his phone – it was 2:47 AM. In that instant, he decided to enter the diner and ask about Gina. They have to know something, he thought, why else would I be here? As he opened the door, he saw a couple walking towards him to exit the
diner. So, he politely smiled and held the door open. As they left, he looked inside the diner from the doorway. There was a young woman at the cash register chatting with two older men who sat at the bar. There were two other groups in the diner sitting at two separate tables. Compared to the size of the diner, it was relatively empty.
“What am I supposed to see, Gina?” Lee murmured, “What happened to you?”
As he turned his head to leave, three brawny men wearing all-black clothing, leather gloves, and ski masks entered the diner; one carried a shotgun, the others carried handguns. Lee's heart sank into fear as he stood at the entrance of the diner – he knew what was coming.
As the final man entered the diner, he turned to Lee and said in a deep and grizzly voice, “Thanks, buddy, why don't you keep holding this door open while we finish our business, alright? We won't be long.”
Lee nervously nodded in agreement, trying to conceal the immeasurable fear that swelled in his body. The man patted Lee's shoulder and followed his associates into the diner. This particular man wore a short-sleeved shirt and his arms were completely tattooed. He was the only man wearing short-sleeved clothing. One tattoo stood out immediately: a large, scaly dragon that swirled around his left arm. He was only armed with a large handgun. The man was different, though, Lee could feel it. He had the presence of a leader – Lee assumed so. From the entrance, Lee watched in awe as the robbery transpired.
The man with the short-sleeved shirt roared at the cashier, “Take me to the back, take me to the money! Alfonso hasn't paid his dues, I know he's hiding the cash. Hurry up!”
The man continued to tap the crying woman's face with the barrel of his gun until she led him to the back. The other robbers continued to roar their demands as they disturbed the patrons and crew. The robbers tossed the food from their plates and threw their drinks to the floor.
One robber shouted at a glaring customer, “Don't look at me, eat your damn food. Eat!”
The robber shoved the patron to the floor and pushed the barrel of his gun to the back of his head.