I Became an Imaginary Friend

Chapter 2- The New Job

" I'm dead?" I asked aloud.

" Uh, I don't think you are," Stella answered. " I can touch you, so you're alive to me!"

I looked at the smiling girl in front of me. She was adorable in every way, and it was almost enough to stop me from having a full blown panic attack.

Almost.

" Oh my gOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD!" I cried, standing up from the bed and pacing around the room. " I'M FUCKING DEAD!"

Stella gasped. I looked at her.

" Sorry," I apologized. " I'm just so confused. I don't even remember how I got here!"

" There was a light, silly!" Stella replied. " A light came through the window in the night, and a man in a black robe put you on the bed. He was nice and fixed you up."

I stopped pacing for a moment to process her words. There had been a man with a black robe and hood, and he had "fixed" me.

" What do you mean by 'fixed'?" I asked.

" You were bleeding badly, and you had a lot of cuts," Stella answered nonchalant. " He touched you and POOF! You were better."

" Did this 'man' by any chance have a long, curved blade on a pole?" I asked stupidly.

Stella smiled at me with brilliant white teeth.

" Uh-huh!"

I sat back down on the bed slowly, allowing my head to drop into my hands as my elbows rested against my legs. The realization finally hit me like a boxer.

" I'm really dead, aren't I?"

" You're alive to me," Stella repeated.

I looked at the girl in disbelief. I had died, and now I was stuck with her for my afterlife. I had expected to be met by the Devil at the gates of Hell, or maybe I had expected retribution, and I had hoped to see my mother at the pearly white gates of Heaven. I got neither of those. Instead, the Reaper took one look and decided, " Yup, this kid is imaginary friend material!" 

What a fucking joke.

A soft knock came from the door. Stella looked over, but did not move. I watched as her small frame seemed to tense up, as if she were afraid of whoever was beyond the threshold.

" Who is it?" I asked her.

She didn't respond to me this time. Her cheery expression went blank, as if she were a fresh canvas someone had pulled out.

I took a hold of her small hand, which felt clammy against my own skin. I led her away from the door and to her hope chest. There was a small feeling of dread that was creeping into my stomach, yet I pushed it down. Why was I so concerned? This had nothing to do with me.

The door opened slowly, and a face appeared in the doorway. The red flags and warning bells went off in my head. The face belonged to a man with reddish-blond hair and cool hazel eyes. These eyes held the look of a predator. He stepped into the room, and I wish he hadn't. The man was very large, both vertical and horizontal, standing at about 6'1". He wore a black tailored suit with a red tie, and a gold pocket watch hung low from his left pocket. He was balding and sporting a tidy beard.

" Hello, little Stella," the man spoke.

His voice sounded like it was trying to seduce its prey before pouncing.

" Stella, call for your father," I told her sternly.

She remained silent.

" What are you doing all alone, my doll?" the man asked, creeping closer to the girl.

" I'm not alone," she replied quietly.

" Stella, please call for someone!" I begged.

I may be young, and I may not have had siblings of my own, but I'd be damned if this man laid a finger on her. I wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

" Would you mind if I kept you company for the evening?" the creepy man asked, walking even closer, and he closed and locked the door behind him.

" Say yes that you mind," I told her.

" I mind," she responded, not looking at either of us.

" Oh, what a shame," the man sighed. " I thought we could play a game together."

" No!" I cried.

Stella jumped at the sound, but remained quiet, thank God.

" Would you like to play-?"

" No," Stella answered firmly.

Good girl, I thought.

" It's a fun one though!" the man insisted. " I think-,"

He had moved behind the girl, and he now rested a large hand on her tiny shoulder.

"- You would like this one," he whispered sickeningly in her ear.

" TO HELL WITH YOU!" I yelled, and I grabbed Stella away from him, lifting her in the air and placing her on my hip like she was a baby.

I did't think about what the man would see. My rage took over, and I had to protect this little girl. The need to do this was strong, for many reasons. The first was that this man, presumably her uncle, was a creep. I had my suspicions about his intent, and I was not going to find out by standing off to the side. The second thing was that it was my job to protect her. I couldn't protect Melanie from the crash, but I could protect this little girl from abuse.

Wait, I thought. Who's Melanie?

At this point, I couldn't remember how I had died. I just knew that, officially now, I was dead. The other memories would come later.

I understood why the Reaper made me Stella's imaginary friend.

It was to protect her, and for my own retribution.

The man in front of me was standing deadly still, mouth opened wide. His eyes were bulging  out of his head, and it took me a minute to understand his shock.

He couldn't see me, so Stella to him was just floating in midair.

" WAAHHHHHH!" he screamed, and the man ran to the door, unlocked it, and hurried out of the room.

Slowly, I put Stella down, making sure he wouldn't try to come back in here. My body was placed in front of hers like a shield, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

" Well," I said after another minute. " I think I found a way to keep the creeps out of here."

Stella wrapped her small arms around my waist and buried her face into the side of my hip. I could feel my pants getting soaked with the tears she cried. I patted her back gently, soothingly, brushing her hair softly with the palm of my hand. Her tiny frame shuddered with every shaky, strangled breath she took.

A few minutes later, her sobs quieted down to sniffles. I knelt beside her and pulled her into a hug.

" Thank you," she said, her voice muffled by my shirt.

" You're welcome, kiddo," I responded.

We sat on the ground together in the bedroom, with Stella curled up in my lap, her head resting against my shoulder as she eventually found enough peace to fall asleep. I listened to every breath she took and counted how long it took for it to become smooth and steady. 

The man never returned to the room again that night, which I was grateful for. She didn't need this kind of stress in her life. No child did.

As I held her, the thought about this new job of mine grew stronger. Eventually, I smiled.

I was going to be the best damn imaginary friend this innocent girl ever had.

Word Count: 1301