Little Ghost - Charles

[Posted by Ted H]

Today is January 17, 2021....Or December 48, 2020? Based on how the world still is, I don't think we're out of the woods yet...

...Also check out my new side project, MLB Showdown Obsession, if an obscure and defunct trading card game interests you...

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[Little Ghost - Charles]


It took longer than she thought it would, and more than once she got caught up wandering into the maternity ward looking at babies, but Kristina eventually found her way to the ICU where she hoped Ryan was. She came across various people in conditions ranging from near death to recovering from surgery. Many different people, but no 20-year-old males from a car crash. Just to be sure, she doubled back to every room on the floor, but no luck. Eventually she gave up when she realized she was entering her third lap through the same rooms.

The room she was in belonged to an elderly woman hooked up to oxygen. Her breathing was labored but her sleep was sound. Kristina approached her bedside slowly, not wanting to disturb her before she realized she wouldn’t be able to anyway. She watched the old woman sleep, heartbroken at this lonely woman alone and slowly dying, but then jealous.

This woman had her life. She lived. She married. She had children. She had grandchildren. When the next day comes, that family will likely be here by her side again. Then back again the next day. And every day. Every day until the end. She’ll die surrounded by loved ones. People who care. She won’t die in an ambulance. She won’t die with a stranger fruitlessly trying to save her. She won’t die young with an entire life stolen away from her. 

“God...” she scolded herself, realizing how bitter this night had made her. She didn’t have blood, or at least she didn’t think she did, but she felt her face would be red anyway from how embarrassed she felt for hating this old woman for the egregious sin of still getting to be alive. “Mom raised me better,” she said to herself as an opening door briefly let light into the room and someone stepped inside and closed the door. She assumed it was a doctor, or Bob, either or didn’t matter at this point. She had thoughts of just returning to where they were keeping her body and sulking around it until Bob tracked her down.

The man who entered the room wasn’t Bob. Kristina would venture a guess and say it wasn’t a doctor either. He wore a sharp black suit that almost perfectly blended into the darkness. His long dark hair was gelled back and reflected the low light in the room brightly as did the pinstripe accents on the suit. He had a clean-shaven face complete with a smirk that said he was here on business, but he was getting some personal satisfaction from it as well. Being in his presence made Kristina feel uneasy.

The man looked over the vulnerable woman as she slept with a hungry look in his eye. Kristina didn’t know his intentions, but she didn’t plan to stick around to find out. Despite being a ghost, she slowly backed away from the scene for the nearest wall to slip through. “Don’t run, little lamb.” the man said, making Kristina freeze. The man made no effort to move or even look away from the old woman, but somehow Kristina felt as if he were addressing her.

“Creep,” Kristina said under her breath as she turned to walk away. “Why are you leaving when there are only so many of us who can offer you companionship?” he said. Kristina spun around and uttered “What the fuck?” The man smiled and finally turned to look at her, his dark eyes piercing into her in the dimly lit room. Kristina felt a shudder, as if her skin were crawling as she asked “Are you another Reaper?”

The man tilted his head back and let off a short laugh, as if thinking of him as another Bob was a funny comparison. He did carry an air of prominence about him that Bob lacked, but Kristina didn’t like him. She didn’t like Bob, sure, but she disliked this guy even more. “I am no Reaper,” he clarified “Anywhere you go with me will be of your own choosing, I assure you.”

“How do you know me...and where I was?” Kristina asked, more frantic sounding with the second question. “Souls like you are a beacon in darkness to those of my ilk,” the man said “And you are quite well known now, little lamb. Quite well known indeed.” He turned away from her and returned his gaze to the old woman. “Such a shame,” he commented “To be cut down so young while people like this can grow old with a wasted life,”

“I can see your disdain, you know. The resentment. Do you know about her? Five children, only two she allowed to live to term. One abandoned with its father and the last used as a crutch for a government check. No family will weep for her. She hasn't got long, and she has no one love ones remaining to see her off.”

“You don’t know that,” Kristina said “You can’t possibly know her.”

“It’s my business to know. Now then, wouldn’t you say it would be just to deny her any more moments? Wouldn’t it be a service to humanity to end this wicked life early?” he had moved around the bed to where there were various plugs in a socket. He placed his hand around the cords and slightly tugged them, threatening to pull them out.

“That’s not my call to decide.”

“Oh, but it can be!” the man said excitedly “Your life was unfairly taken! Decide this woman’s fate and tip the scales of justice more even in your favor!”


Kristina wanted out. “I don’t know her! What will her death do about mine?” The man grinned and let his hand fall away from the cords. “I guess you have a point,” he said. Kristina decided enough was enough, an she had had more than her fill of this guy. She made for the door and even had one leg phasing through the door when the man spoke again.

“I can give you Ryan. I know where he is.”

Kristina stopped and brought herself back into the room. “He isn’t here anymore,” the man continued. “Are you the devil?” Kristina finally had the courage to ask. The man tilted his head back again, but this time didn’t laugh, seemingly more pleased with this comparison. “No, little lamb,” he said “You’re not *that* important.”


The man introduced himself as Charles and invited Kristina to follow him out of the hospital and to the parking lot where a bright red sports car waited. “I can’t ride that,” she said as Charles opened the passenger door and held it for her. “Yes,” Charles said “You’ll inhabit the space of the car. It’s fine.” She climbed into the undoubtedly comfortable leather seat she could not feel, then watched Charles walk around and enter. He revved up the engine, shattering the quiet night with a thunderous roar, then peeled out into the streets.

“How can I phase through walls but ride here with no problem?” Kristina asked, still fascinated as the outside world blurred by. “It’s...technical,” Charles said, not bothering to look over “You wouldn’t quite understand the specifics.” This frustrated Kristina. She knew she wasn’t the brightest person in the world, but she knew when someone smarter than her was just ignoring her because they didn’t feel like dumbing down to her level.

Charles glanced briefly in her direction and read her expression. “Let me put it this way,” he said with a sigh “Before ghosts and otherworldly being existed here, there was a certain set of rules already in place. A set of parameters that dictate how interactions work between the tangible and the paranormal. You and I just have to play by those rules.” For the most part, the explanation was going over her head, but Kristina seemed to grasp the gist on a basic level. She still was confused about being able to ride in a car while she could walk through walls, but she found herself appreciating the effort Charles made.

They drove a convoluted way through some side streets before emerging on the highway. Charles was focused on the road, but seemingly interested in something other than navigating the streets. In a dark section of the highway, with no one around, he pulled over. Charles looked to Kristina with a pleasant and satisfied look on his face. “Right around here is where it all began,” he said as he gestured his head towards the road behind him out of his window.

“What began?” Kristina asked, confused.

“Well, ended, depending on your interpretation.”

Kristina looked up and down the road and shrugged. “What began? What ended? I’m a little lost.”

“The ambulance was moving pretty quick. Maybe it was a bit farther down the line...” Charles mused.

It took Kristina a moment longer before her eyes went wide. “I...I died here?” Charles smirked. “Why would you bring me here? Why would you think I’d want to see this? Just...why? Why?”

“Relax, little lamb,” Charles said “This is your new beginning. Revel in it! Your rebirth! Your new act! The power you can wield, it should excite you!”

“I can’t open a door on my own anymore,” Kristina barked “What power could I possibly have?”

“You think too narrowly.” Charles had a look of pure lust in his eyes as he gazed over to Kristina. Without looking, he shifted back to drive and took off back onto the road for his destination. A sick feeling overwhelmed Kristina. “Where are we going?” she demanded. Charles had been coy about that.

“Ryan,” he responded.

“Yes, but where is Ryan?”

“Oh, I can’t ruin the surprise.”

“But he’s alive, right?”

“Very much.”

Charles let his foot weight heavier on the accelerator as his fancy sports car picked up more and more speed. Kristina missed Bob, and that was an admission that surprised even her. Bob was creepy, but Charles was in a whole other league about it. She wasn’t sure if Charles wanted to fuck her or eat her based on his eyes, but she didn’t want to find out.

Charles promised her Ryan, but now Kristina was questioning if that was just an empty promise just to keep her close by. “Not that I have a choice now,” she thought to herself “I’m stuck in this car going a million miles an hour.”

A realization hit Kristina about her predicament. First, she gave herself a long slow blink for her thinking; Jumping out of a car isn’t such an impossible idea if you’re just a ghost. Next, she considered what Charles explained before about rules and her ability to ride in a car. She figured the easiest way out was to simply phase through the door and stand up out of the car as if it were stationary. It was a scary thought, even as a ghost, so she closed her eyes and swung her legs out and got up as if she were exiting a parked car.

The roar of the engine was suddenly fading away quickly. Kristina opened her eyes and found herself standing in the road. She looked for Charles and saw bright red brake lights illuminate as the sports car screeched to a halt. Kristina took off without wasting another second, off the road, through a fence, through some woods, up a hill, through another fence and into a residential area.