Ghost In Red

---    

I heard her call out to me, but I just kept on walking fast while feeling my heart was about to jump out of my chest. No, it's not real. She is not real. I am just seeing and hearing things.    

"Hey, wait! Why do you have such long legs? Stop for a second, Roswell!" She uttered, and she seemed to be close behind me, and I would never look back. Instead of doing what she told me, I began to run to head out of the academy's gate.    

"Sydney!!!" She yelled out, but nothing can ever stop me.    

I arrived at a bus stop station, panting, and I think the creepy image of OJ is nowhere near me now, thankfully.    

Maybe I was just hallucinating that I am seeing her. Yes, I wanted to see her, but not this way. I do believe in ghosts, but I have never seen one in my whole life. And, I don't think that that one is a ghost. Yes, it's not a ghost. It's just a... it is just in my mind. Images are created in our heads involuntarily, especially if we think about something too much. Yes, that is what I should keep in mind.    

A bus finally stopped, and I got on it so I could head home.    

I searched for a vacant seat, and I found one near the back part of the vehicle. I walked on the aisle while the bus started running, and as I was about to sit down on the seat beside a person, I gulped when I saw the thing I was running away from sitting there and wearing a bright smile on her pretty face.    

"No, f*ck off! You are just in my head." I muttered in disbelief and noticed that people are looking at me weirdly, and I think I really am going crazy.    

"It's vacant. I won't mind if you sit beside me." She spoke, and I had no other choice but to sit beside her.    

I felt my breathing going too fast, and I tried to calm myself down by closing my eyes and relaxing my mind. This is not real at all. I am just exhausted and feeling a bit unwell.    

"So... You can notice me, huh?" She began, and I shook my head, saying, "No."    

"Mmm. Cool. How, though? I mean... You are the only one that could see me. How is it possible?" She continued, and I didn't bother to answer her because I am just adding the possibility of making myself more insane.    

I thought of the perfect idea to make the voices and images get out of my mind, and I took out my earphones from my bag to put them on and play some loud music.    

"Oh, nice! You don't want to talk to me? Come on, Sydney Roswell, why---" she kept talking but was cut off with the song playing on my earphones. Then, I closed my eyes. There, the problem was solved.    

My mind started to wonder about the thing I just saw and heard, and I am not quite sure if it is still here on the seat beside me. But one thing is for sure; I should not think of it because the more I think of her, the more I could feel her presence in an inhuman way.    

A song had finished, and I estimated that eight minutes from now, I would arrive at my destination. I just hope that I can't fall asleep, though.    

---    

A few minutes passed, and I felt the bus stop, maybe picking up passengers. I am still closing my eyes, but I have this urge to take a peek to see if the ghost in red is still beside me. It's a lot of risks to take; one is I would totally think I am going nuts, two is if she would still be there, she would talk to me again, and again I would think that I am losing my mind.    

I slowly opened my left eye, and I saw nothing.    

"Holy Ghost, I really am just hallucinating earlier." I cursed under my breath in relief and took off my earphones.    

I looked out the window and let out a deep sigh. I don't want to think about her again, especially now that I have seen something that involves her. What could it mean? If it really was her ghost, then... She could be... No, it's not possible. I can't accept it. She can't be, right? I don't want it; no one does. That would be the worst thing that could happen.    

I overlooked the time passed by so quickly, and the bus stopped at our village's bus station.    

I stepped down and walked to my house, wondering if I should tell my friends about my experience from the academy and on the bus.    

I suddenly stopped in my tracks as I was about to go and greet Kitty near the garage when I found that someone was petting my dog.    

They seemed to haven't seen me, and I didn't bother to go near them as I hurried inside, locked the front door, and rushed to the garage door near the dining area and locked it, too. What the hell is happening? Why is she here, too? No, nothing is going normal now. This is not in my head anymore!    

"Sydney? What is happening? Why do you act like there are zombies outside the house?" Wendy asked me, puzzled by my bizarre behavior, and I put an index finger on my lips to hush her quickly.    

"Don't make noise. And act like you have not seen me arrive here, okay? Don't go outside the house. Don't open the doors. Oh, the windows! F*ck!" I whispered to her and panicked as I just remembered that I need to lock the windows, too. She might get in through there.    

I was about to head to the living room to close the windows, but I shrieked in surprise when the thing was right inside our house now.    

"Shhhheez! Go away from me!"    

I hastily ran to go behind the pregnant woman to hide, trembling, and Wendy yelled when she was startled, too, "What the hell is happening, Sydney?"    

"That! There is... Can't you see her? Can't you see that?" I replied, trying not to glance at the girl before us, and the woman turned to look at me in the face.    

"What is in there? Who is it?" She asked me, curious and worried about my state, and I tried to breathe in and out to relax.    

"It's a... it's still there, Wen. It's... It's... OJ." I shakily answered her and slowly followed my gazes when the girl began walking while roaming her eyes around her.    

"Mmm, you have a nice place here, Roswell. It's cozy. Oh, I shouldn't call you Roswell because you could be all Roswells here." She remarked and stood near the dining table, and I looked back to the skeptical Wendy.    

"Are you okay, Syd? What is happening?" She asked me, and I shook my head in response while trying to think of my situation. I shouldn't stress her out, or else she'll give birth here.    

"I think... No. Never mind. Umm. There is... nothing. I... I need to go to my room. I was just exhausted with the quizzes today. I'm fine. I just need to rest." I told her with a lame alibi, and she seemed not convinced, but I left her anyway with the ghost in our dining area.    

Wendy can't see her, and that really could mean she is indeed a ghost or maybe just in my head. Probably the latter. It should be the latter.    

I went upstairs quickly and went to lock the door, and threw my bag on the couch near my bed.    

"Sydney, where are you? Is this your room? Can I get in? Oh, you don't need to be scared. Don't worry. I can't hurt you. And I won't hurt you. I just need to talk to you."    

When I heard her voice coming nearer and nearer, I jumped to my bed and hid under the sheets.