Ghost Whispers |-/ Joshler

per·ni·cious

/pərˈniSHəs/
adjective
having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

Tyler was slammed to the floor, head knocking on the linoleum. The almost-crack could be heard throughout the gym, followed by gasps.

The loudest of those gasps was Joshua's but it was the one unheard.

Tyler got up and shook it off, mainly his head.

"You okay, man?" Jay asked, placing a caring hand on his brother's shoulder. Tyler shrugged it off and went to the sidelines, where the coach was beckoning him in.

"Are you alright, Tyler?" He asked, motioning for number 89 to sub for him. Tyler rolled his eyes and sat down. He was perfectly alright to play and yet the coach set in someone else because of a minor head injury.

Tyler watched from the sidelines, head in his hands. Joshua stood behind the row of cushioned chairs where the extra players sat, arms crossed over his chest in worry.

The back of Tyler's head had grown a rather sizable goose egg. It looked like it hurt.

The buzzer blared, signaling half time. All the players and coaches huddled up by the water cooler with respectable distances between them. The stench of sweat was overbearing.

"Listen, we're down 10 points. We can easily make a comeback, but we gotta play dirty." Coach Sinseri, the one with the nasty scar said.

Tyler hated playing dirty. It took away from the fun of the game and people only got hurt. Jay, however, was overjoyed at the thought of elbowing, tripping, and stomping on feet. It was times like this that made Tyler question if they were really related.

Joshua tried to peek his head in the huddle without having to drift through anybody, but they were too close together and the crowd was too loud for him to hear anything.

Letting out a small whimper at the discomfort he knew he was going to be feeling, he stepped through Jay, and emerged in the middle of the circle, in front of Tyler. He shuddered to get rid of the nasty sensation.

He had to crouch down so he didn't feel like every player and coach was staring at him, and when he noticed his head was directly next to Tyler's...you know what, he cleared his throat and looked up at number 32, across from him.

Every boy was a sweaty, panting mess, number 34 being the first placer in it. His dark brown skin gleamed with sweat and his mouth hung open to allow his heavy breaths in and out.

Joshua paid close attention to everything the coach was saying. He never played basketball growing up, but he was told he should've by many people. He was sporty, but mainly in running activities. He thrived in track.

When the buzzer screamed yet again, the group broke. Tyler was going back in, against Coach's Mathis' better judgement. They needed his skill to at least climb the ladder and gain points on the opposite team.

Joshua took his spot behind the chairs and cheered. His eyes watched Tyler's every movement, every reluctant shove of his body into another player. Even from just that, Joshua could tell he didn't like dirty playing.

He watched Jay happily body check others, only to get fuming mad when fouls were called. By the end of the 3rd quarter, he had fouled out.

There was ten seconds left of the clock and Tyler's team was up by three points.

Except the other team just scored a three pointer. Joshua groaned. He didn't want this to go into overtime, he wanted Tyler showered and in bed. School was tough today, and this stressful game wasn't going to make anything better.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...

Tyler was straight down the middle of the other team's basket. He had a clear shot, and Joshua could hear him chanting in his head, "Do it, Tyler."

He dribbled one last time before taking his shot. The ball soared through the air and sunk into the basket. Two seconds left on the clock.

Everyone rooting for Tyler's school erupted into cheers. It wasn't a buzzer beater like most of them had hopes for, but it was close enough.

They were tied now, and with those two seconds left, they'd play that and then go into overtime.

Joshua sighed.

They won. Tyler was left a sopping mess and even had to go to such lengths as using his spare jersey as a towel.

Joshua wanted to congratulate him. He wanted to put a hand on his shoulder and tell him how amazingly he played.

Jay jogged up to Tyler and handed him a bottled water. "You played so good!" He cheered.

"It's 'well.'" Tyler muttered.

"What was that?" Jay asked, unfazed by the fact that his brother just corrected him. Jay hated that, so thank god he couldn't hear him.

"Nothing, never mind. Let's just go home. Where are mom and dad?" Tyler said louder now, snatching up his bag.

"Out by the car. C'mon."

Jay led Tyler out, unintentionally leaving Joshua by the water cooler. When he noticed Tyler had left, he cried out, "Oh!" and jumped up in place a little.

He scanned the slowly emptying gymnasium, finally finding Tyler being ushered out of the door by Jay.

And there was someone else. Hovering just there; right behind Tyler.

It was...

It was Tyler.

Or at least, Joshua thought it was. He looked exactly the same, except for the all-white wardrobe he wore. To top it off, he was wearing a bright red beanie on his head.

His red eyes flickered over to Joshua, 50 feet across the gym, and grinned. Slowly, he raised a finger up to his lips, not breaking eye contact.

Keep quiet, Joshua. Keep quiet. It spoke maliciously in his head.

The voice rang in his head and knocked all around in there. It reminded him of a voice he had heard before, he knew he heard it.

Of course.

It was the one he heard when he was ejected from the plane.

"No!" Joshua screamed. He didn't know why he did that. He just felt he had to protect Tyler from that-that thing! It wasn't him and he knew it at least had evil intentions.

Joshua ran through the crowd, literally, and shook every time he did so. By the time he reached Tyler and his family in the parking lot, the other Tyler was gone.

"W-where?" He asked no one. "Where did he go?"

I'm still here, Joshua. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.

Tyler showered and went to bed, ignoring the bag of fast food his mother had gotten him on the way home.

Joshua was in shock the entire ride home. The image of that-that doppelgänger Tyler had been burned into his mind. He couldn't shake it no matter he thought of.

Lillian was snuggled up with Tyler as they sat under a blanket, Tyler doing his homework. He couldn't focus all that well either, but thankfully Lillian was there to mediate his mood and calm him.

He pet her as he wrote out some bullshit sentence for a Lit paper. Being a junior in a new school wasn't the hardest of transfers, but Tyler despised the idea.

He felt like he was constantly being stared at. It was an...icky feeling, for lack of a better word. It was like their eyes were stuck on him and wouldn't let go, just pop out of their skulls if he dared move.

The room was silent. It was a good one this time around, however. It was comfortable. It was safe.

Joshua had begun to drift off to sleep when he saw something pop up just as his eyes shut. It was the doppelgänger.

His eyes snapped open again, and it was gone.

Told you I wouldn't leave, Joshua.