The Ghost Story

Chapter 4

For the next few nights at home, Emerson stayed up late every night with little sleep. It was obvious his brothers were worried, but he knows he just can't tell them anything. The reflection he saw back at the other town really horrified him, he hasn't looked at himself in the mirror since in fear of seeing himself all deathly again. He's had Remington doing his makeup for the past few days instead of doing it himself, his brother hasn't minded that since it means more time with each other. The clock ticks slowly as he waits for his brothers to get home from the grocery store. It would probably be a while so he stays patient. There's a cold feeling on his shoulder, a feeling he strangely feels familiar with. He turns and there he is, the ghostly man from that house. With a swift motion, he gets up and backs away a foot or so,"How did you get into my house?!". The man just looks at him before letting out a cold misted breath. "I'm a ghost and as long as you have that necklace I can find you.", He says, his blue eyes scanning Emerson. Emerson looks at the necklace before looking up at the man again. "How did you get it?", The man asks, walking through the couch and reaching out to touch it. Reluctantly, Emerson answers, "I bought it...why do you ask? Is it yours?". Cold fingers touch the crystal, it glows pretty purple as usual. "Besides that ragdoll I gave you, this item was one of the most important things I owned. I trust that you'll keep these things safe, even if I don't know you.", The man replies, moving his hand away. They seem to fall silent for a moment, neither of them speak for a minute or so. "Wait, am I not supposed to have this?", Emerson adds very quickly after the silence. Now he's assuming that maybe he shouldn't have this. What if someone stole it just to sell it off. The ghost looks away, "Um...well", he starts, "You see...you aren't the person I expected to get my necklace.". Emerson looks at the necklace before looking up again. "It was meant for someone else, but it's too late to take it away and try to give it over to someone else. I'm sorry about the inconveniences it's caused you, I noticed over the past few days that you haven't been sleeping much...that thing you saw in the mirror scared you, didn't it?". A light gasp can be heard from Emerson, "You know about it..?". The ghostly man sighs before nodding, "If I knew it wouldn't go to one of my selfish friends and end up in an innocent person's hands, I wouldn't have cursed it…", he says. "Cursed it..?", Emerson asks, a little fear in his eyes. He yawns after a moment and looks down. The two sit in a dark silence, obviously the man was thinking of some way to give Emerson some sort of answer. After maybe 2 minutes, he speaks, "Yes, I cursed it because I didn't think they'd give away anything of mine. I don't know who ended up with the necklace before you because they have to enter the house to fully activate it. They obviously didn't put it on if they didn't end up at my house the first night of wearing it. Now you're gonna be stuck seeing me and other ghosts you probably won't recognize, you're going to see and hear things that other people can't see or hear. You're going to experience things that other people can't explain, maybe you won't be able to either. You may worry for your own safety, but don't, you're in no danger of the other spirits. They can't hurt you as long as you wear that necklace, only I can but I won't. Since the necklace has cursed you, you can take the necklace off but the ability you have with it on, it won't go away, only the protection it gives you. Just so you know, maybe off topic, you can talk to me through Clockwork as well. Now I have an important question...who did you buy it from?". The words he spoke seem persistent, Emerson could tell he really wanted to know. If he could guess, he's going to be upset to find out where he got it from. It takes a moment for him to take in all of the spirit's words, everything he'll have to live with now. His process of thought may have to wait till later, he has little time till his brothers return. Hesitantly he gives the truthful answer, "I bought it from a thrift shop. The guy who sold it to me was pretty set on giving it away to me as soon as I showed interest in it. He told me a little backstory on it and I bought it. I didn't think this would happen..I didn't think I'd get cursed from it.". There's a flash of anger on the ghost's face as he finishes his sentence, a rage only a ghost can have. Emerson wonders if he should have lied a little or not. In a slightly lowered tone, the man replies, "No one knew what I did to it after I died and cursed it before it left the house...there's only one person I know that would pawn my necklace off. After all the haunting I've done, I didn't f-cking realize he had it.".