I See Dead People

Eight

"Machigai.."

     Flipping the photo back over, (Y/n) reread the message on the back and looked once again at the black haired girl in the photo. Without a doubt, it was definitely the chick she'd spoken to moments ago. The photo appeared to be a school picture, based on the bland background and uniform shirt she appeared to be wearing. Contrary to the usual photo of a highschool student when picture day came up, the girl's hair wasn't worn in a pretty style, nor did she wear any makeup. Instead, along with Aldera's uniform, Machigai adorned a big bandage on her cheek and a few scratches on her face, along with a small bruise under her left eye as she stared at the camera with a dead look in her golden eyes and a frown on her pale lips. If you looked closely, you'd probably notice small scratch marks going down her neck also.

     In slight disbelief, the usually cheerful girl repeatedly flipped the photo back and forth, dots that she didn't want to connect forming in her head. It seems that her silence had caught the attention of the other girl with her on the rooftop. Turning around, Adelaide's brown eyes caught sight of her smaller friend observing what looked like a photo, but based on her expression, she didn't seem to hold good vibes to it. With dilated pupils and (s/c) hand covering her mouth, the girl looked like she'd vomit any second now.

     Curious, the dark skinned female crept behind (Y/n) and snatched the photo out of her smaller hand, snapping the girl back to reality. Putting a hand to her chin, Adelaide looked at the girl in the picture, a sense of familiarity took over her as she stared into her golden eyes. A focused look was placed onto her face for a second before she snapped her fingers, a victorious look taking over her features as she exclaimed, "That's where I know her from!" Confused, (Y/n) looked up to her. "You know Machigai?" She asked, receiving a smirk from Adelaide who shook her head and answered, "Not exactly, but I heard a few upperclassmen talking about a girl who fit her description earlier. They said she used to attend Aldera a few years ago but was bullied so badly during her time that she jumped. I guess that's why we have fences 'round here now," Adelaide paused, dropping her smirk as she gripped the fence, her back now facing (Y/n).

        "I overheard that soon after her death, strange things started to happen around the school. I remember reading about it once on the flight here. Water tinted red. Janitors reporting mysterious wailing in the bathrooms after school. Even scary messages written on the walls and ceiling of the class she used to be in. But here's the icing on the cake. A few months into Machigai's 'haunting', the main kids who used to bully her began to stop attending Aldera one by one. The article I read the other day told of one of the bullies going into a random psychotic rage and committing a homicide-suicide on one of the others. It's said that the rest of the misdoers to Machigai also ended up dying gruesome deaths eventually," The American concluded, sighing. "Poor girl."

     (Y/n) frowned, finding the story shocking. 'But how? I was able to touch her! She was just here, I swear she's alive,' the girl thought in mild shock. She wasn't quite sure how to grasp the fact that Machigai was a ghost, but seeing Adelaide give her that worried look, quickly snapped her back to reality-at least for the moment.

     "You good (L/n)?" The girl's lax voice rang though (Y/n)'s ear, bouncing off the walls in her mind, and the out of the other. Almost as if she hadn't spoken in the first place, which caused a delayed response from the shaken girl. She shook her head rapidly in an attempt to clear her mind,-it didn't help at all- and attempted to send a reassuring smile to her friend, which came off as weary and didn't shake Adelaide off her tracks in the slightest. She decided to let it go for the moment though as the (e/c) girl responded, "No- yeah, I'm fine. She just looked... familiar." (Y/n) tried to calm down silently but her hands continued to shake as she clutched them at her sides. Nanashi looked at his companion apprehensively, as he had knew from the the beginning what the girl was. Yes, he'd felt bad for her for a moment and wondered where she'd went, but what happened was in the past. Besides, he had bigger priorities at hand. Reaching out a hand to the uneasy girl, the ghost released a silent sigh and shut his eyes for the moment.