“Being different is cool, right?” [Part Two]

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Paranormal Showgirl”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33 [2]”. Enjoy!*

Chapter One-Racing mind

I pull back the covers and join my husband, Josh, in bed, trying my best not to think about Josephine’s words. Was that Josephine? I don’t know.

I don’t think that I’m going crazy. I’m not the type of person to go crazy. I’m just…not. I mean, I helped ghosts pass on when I was thirteen. I most certainly didn’t imagine that, because I can always tell when I’m dreaming or not.

“You didn’t really think that Amber and Charlie were those kinds of friends, did you? The fake ones? It’s pretty selfish of you to think that they just stopped talking to you because of some ghost story. What if they went missing? What if…they were taken?”

When Josephine said those words, she implied that she took my friends somewhere. That she trapped them somewhere. I just don’t understand how she would know they were friends, where to trap them and why. I get that she’s a witch, but she can’t possibly be that powerful…right?

I mulled it over in the shower and I’m still thinking about it now, in bed. Josh is already asleep, snoring rather unattractively. He always tells me that if I slept more, I would be less stressed.

He’s probably right, but how can I possibly sleep when my mind is constantly keeping me up at night with marvelous and yet terrifying thoughts about ghosts and monsters? I mean, it’s wonderful ideas for the kind of stories I write, but it still scares me. And now I have to wonder if Josephine somehow kidnapped Charlie and Amber without me knowing! I mean, how could I just…not know that my childhood friends were kidnapped? Didn’t they move away? Or did Josephine make it look like they moved away? Could she do that? Was she powerful enough to do that? I’ve always known about her strength, but have I never considered just how much power she had? Did-

Josh has rolled over next to me and placed one arm around me. He’s still asleep, but he’s bringing me into a hug. His snores have softened into something more tolerable.

He has no idea what I’m thinking about right now and I have no plans on telling him when he wakes up. I don’t need him to worry about me. I just need him to hold me close, to help me feel okay. Him being with me is enough.

I don’t feel completely better, but this helps. Just a little.

Chapter Two-Do they notice?

“And after the Earthquake thing happened, the good ghosts flew up to the sky and the bad ghosts disappeared! Isn’t that amazing? How I literally saved the ghosts? My brother did some of the help, but I did the most!” I say.

I’ve finished telling Amber and Charlie what happened last night at my house. The three of us are sitting on a bench outside, at recess. I mean, we were just having small talk before, so why not tell them what happened the other night?

Amber is raising an eyebrow judgmentally at me, Charlie looks concerned. Why are they both looking at me like that? Why don’t they believe my story?

“You’re telling us that this…really happened?” Amber asks, tapping her fingers against the back of the bench. Why is she doing that? Why is she silently judging me?

“Yes, Amber. This really happened. I know that it sounds insane but it’s true!” I say, hoping that Charlie won’t start now too.

But Charlie is looking at me with a pitifully sympathetic expression and she says:

“It’s okay to admit that you’re just telling a story, Stefania. We love hearing your ghost stories and you don’t need to pretend that this one is real to-“

“This ghost story is real, though. Also, what the hell, Charlie? I don’t tell my fake ghost stories to impress you guys, I just like doing it. Why would I need to fake a ghost story to impress you guys? That’s just so bizarre and random.” I say.

Hold on, now they look like they’re both mad at me. Why? Was it because of what I said? Was I being rude? I mean, I wasn’t TRYING to be rude. I was just pointing out how weird it was that Charlie said that. Isn’t that weird? Isn’t…

Their faces are starting to get all distorted and are melting with the landscape. I don’t know how it’s happening, but it is. I’m trying to reach out, trying to get it to stop, but…

Now I’m in some alley. It looks like it’s in the medieval era from how the stones are stacked up. There’s this young girl, about ten years old, sitting in the alley. She’s wearing a faded purple dress, her black hair is in tangles around her face.

I walk up closer to her and see that she’s crouched on the ground. She’s watching the other people walk past her with wide, brown eyes. Her lips curl up into a smile and I see that there are green streams of light coming from her hands.

What’s going on? Why am I seeing this? Why-

I’ve woken up. The sunlight is blaring in my face. I can hear Josh downstairs, making breakfast for the kids.

What were those dreams all about?

Chapter Three-Just think and it’ll come!

I’m sitting on the couch, watching reality TV. It’s one of the lowest types of television out there, because it’s just people so incredibly cruel to one another and watching them be cruel to one another isn’t making me feel good one bit, but it’s distracting. It’s distracting me from the fact that Caroline is watching incomprehensible garbage on her tablet, Alexandria is dancing in front of her phone for some video (and not even putting her heart and soul into it!), and I still don’t know where my friends are.

I suppose I should go and work on my next story, but how can I focus on that when my friends are trapped somewhere and I didn’t even sleep that well? I’m not in the mood to write right now. Matter of fact, I don’t want to do anything right now, but just sitting down and watching TV won’t help me. My friends are in the back of my mind, I can feel the guilt peppering my thoughts. But where could they be? Where could Josephine have possibly taken them?

It’s frustrating, how I can’t think of a good place they might be trapped in. Maybe they’d be in the maintenance shed at the playground? But then, wouldn’t somebody have found them already? Wouldn’t they be found out, one way or another?

What about the mall? We sometimes hung out at the mall together, so maybe Josephine sent them there. But that wouldn’t make sense either because it’s the mall. It’s a big store. Somebody would have found them one day.

So where could they have gone? Where could they be? Where-

I’m smelling the musky scent of dried rose petals and musty, decaying mold. There’s no reason for me to be smelling that right now, because me and Josh take care of the house and I got rid of my dried rose petal collection when I was nine. I only smelled that combination of smells when I was at the thrift store-THE THRIFT STORE! That’s it! That’s where my friends are! There’s so many different twists and turns of that store that maybe, Josephine found a way to hide them from me! I won’t know unless I check it out!

Josh comes in the room and hands me a plate of bacon and eggs and a cup of water, since I don’t like any other drink. He joins me at the couch, with his plate of waffles and so I smile at him.

Not only did he make my favorite breakfast, but now, I feel like I’ve got more control.

Chapter Four-Hope doesn’t stray

“I’m going to be going thrifting for a bit. You guys can stay here or you can all go out and do something else.” I say, because I’ve finished eating my breakfast and I’m not going to wait for hours to say something. I’ll just tell them all the truth (well, the truth that I want to say) so that no one worries.

“Okay!” Caroline says brightly, not looking up from her tablet. Even though she’s not looking up, at least she heard me. It’s better than Alexandria, who doesn’t say or react at all. She’s just dancing in front of her phone, completely ignoring me. I guess it wouldn’t be very mature of me to be upset with her, but it still hurts a little that one of my own daughters doesn’t seem to care about where I go or what I do.

“Can we come with you? As a family trip?” Josh asks, his eyes hopeful.

I know that he wants us all to get along and spend more time together. It’s sweet of him to ask me this, but I’m not going to have them get involved with this. Besides, I’m sure that the girls wouldn’t want to thrift anyway.

“No. The girls would be bored. This is just a me thing. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes!” I smile, because a smile always helps others feel better, right? I think so. I’m just worried that I’m being rude right now by saying no.

“Alright. Have fun.” Josh says softly, not a hint of feeling offended in his face.

Of course he doesn’t think that my response was rude! He’s not like that! I don’t need to worry!

I just hug him before I go upstairs to change out of my pajamas, because there’s no way I’m going to the thrift store looking like a hobgoblin.

I’m actually starting to get more optimistic about this.

Chapter Five-Passing thoughts

I’m on the road right now, headed towards the thrift store. I like how the bare trees twist and turn against the cloudy sky. It’s hauntingly beautiful and incredibly inspirational for my next story. The only problem is that it’s not yet October and with this weather, I’m missing it already.

The road stretches on before me, the houses seem to watch me silently amongst the trees. Occasionally, I’ll see people walk on the sidewalks, but there aren’t a lot of people out. There never are. There are more cars on the road than there are people outside. It doesn’t mean much, but like countless moments before, I’m wondering what everybody else is doing that either has them on the road or at home. Where are the people in cars going? What about the people walking, where are they going to? What about the people in their houses, why are they in their houses? What are they doing in their houses? Are they really just calmly going about their business or is there some kind of drama that I cannot see? Are they in their houses for a boring reason or are they hiding secrets? What kind of people are out and about or shut away?

Are they trying to fix something seemingly impossible, like me?

I don’t know. It fascinates and aggravates me. I don’t know anything about the people who live around me and I never will, because I don’t have it in me to make more friends than the two I’m trying to save. Sure, I write and it brings money, but Josh works a much higher paying job than me and I’m not even famous. Even if I was, I doubt the people here would want to talk to me. I could try my best to fit in but when I get too comfortable I’ll start talking about ghosts and all manner of things ghoulish, then I’ll get the funny stares. That’s if I get far enough to talk to them. Most would take one look at how I’m dressed and then walk away, towards another direction.

Caroline doesn’t seem to care that I’m different. I think she actually likes it. She’s always in awe of how I dress and the kinds of stories I tell. She calls me a “dark fairy Princess” which is cute, but not true, because there are days where I do not look or feel like a Princess, but I smile and thank her, because she’s six years old and she gave me a compliment. It’s just sweet.

Then again, Alexandria used to be like that too before she turned thirteen. Now she thinks that because most people see me as a freak, she must too. She also doesn’t like how she’s teased at school by other people and sometimes her friends for having me as a Mom. She thinks that I should change so that she can be happier.

I try telling her not to care about what others think, that I certainly don’t, but she doesn’t listen to me. She either ignores me or goes on a whole tangent about how I’m in the wrong. I try to be patient with her, I try telling her nicely that by her saying I need to change, she’s hurting my feelings and that she’s being just like the people who gave me dirty looks at school and “whispered” unsavory things about me, but she’ll just talk about how her life would be “so much better” if she had a “normal Mom”. That kind of stuff.

She’s starting to annoy me, so now Josh talks to her. Honestly, I don’t understand how I do the best I can to make her a good person and she still turned out insufferable, just like the other kids.

Whatever. There’s no need to think about my family right now. I’ve made it to the thrift shop. I’m gonna save my friends. I-

What is Aiden doing here?!

Chapter Six-There’s always help, whether one likes it or not

I get out of my car and walk up to Aiden, who is looking up at the sky with a telescope. He’s got boxes of gadgets all around him and he’s writing down notes on his notepad. He’s wearing a black shirt that has a constellation and a UFO on it and jeans along with blue and white sneakers.

Me and our parents are well aware that Aiden is trying to find aliens, but I never once thought that he’d be out in front of the thrift store searching for them. Yes, this makes him, by the standards of most people in our town, a weirdo, but he’s not “creepy weird” like me, so he’s more tolerated.

I don’t hate him for it. That’s just how it is. He’s my brother, we don’t understand each other, but we’re still always going to love each other. That makes it easier to bear the fact that he won’t talk about what happened when we were younger, that he won’t mention the ghost story to the kids, so I look like the crazy one. It’s okay, though. It really is.

“What are you doing here, Stefania? The thrift store is closed.” Aiden asks, a puzzled look on his face.

Oh, right. The thrift store closes on weekends and today is Sunday. Honestly, I wish it’d stay open all week, but for some reason, this particular thrift store in this particular town closes on weekends.

Hopefully Josh doesn’t realize that and decides to check on me. I don’t want him or the kids to get involved in this.

“I’m not here to go shopping. Josephine visited me last night and said she took my friends. I have a feeling that they’re here.” I say, walking past him and right up to the store. I can’t talk to him too long, I have to find a way to break into the store.

That sentence sounds insane out of context, but I’m doing this for a good reason. I’m going to save my friends.

“Didn’t they move away?” Aiden asks.

“That’s what I thought too, but with Josephine coming to me and saying that, then they must have been taken. I mean, she’s a witch. She can do that. She might have done something to trick me into thinking that they moved and-“

“Are you sure that they’re here, at the thrift store?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Can you please be quiet? I’m trying to find a way in.”

It’s funny how Aiden is judging me and seems to think that I’m in the wrong for doing this when he is literally out here to search for aliens. He is in no position to judge me at all.

The windows are locked and so is the door. Maybe I could break in? But then, I don’t want to break the skin on my hand. That’ll prompt my family to ask questions and even worse, it would scare Caroline. Why, I need to find a tool to break in, something to shatter a window, some-

“You can take my extraterrestrial-finding staff and smash it against a window. I don’t think that you’re right but if this helps you, then go for it.” Aiden says right behind me.

He’s holding out a long, silver stick with tiny red blinking lights at the top. I’m surprised that he’s helping me out, but I’ll take what I can get.

I grab the stick and thank him, then I walk up to a window, raise it high, and-

SMASH!

The glass shards shatter all around me like porcelain if not handled correctly, leaving only a window frame in front of me. Thankfully, no shards have brushed my skin, so there’s no blood! Yay!

I leave the stick behind, since it belongs to Aiden and I’m not about to steal his stupid stick that he likes, then I crawl into the store through the shattered window.

It’s good that I can get in, but now I feel bad for the people who work here. They’ve got to clean all this glass up and call insurance.

Poor them.

Chapter Seven-Does it truly fade with time?

Even with all of the lights turned off, I can still see the racks of clothes from the sunlight shining in between the blinds, the silhouettes of clothes like shallow husks of what makes me happy.

The scent of dried roses and mold is strong here, so I keep on walking. I’m not sure why Josephine would want to keep my friends here, out of all places. We used to spend a lot of time together in places like the mall, the park, the playground and the ice cream parlor when the weather got warmer, but never the thrift store. The thrift store was my thing. The contrasting smells were too much for my friends and they didn’t like the clothes there, either.

So why this place? Wouldn’t Josephine want to pick somewhere that connects all three of us? Wouldn’t-

“Do you guys like thrifting? I can get you clothes from the thrift store as a gift!” I beam. I’m at the playground with my friends. It’s going to be Valentine’s Day soon, but we don’t have any Valentines. That’s okay. We’re gonna give each other gifts.

Amber wrinkles her nose. Charlie is smiling, but it doesn’t look like a happy smile.

“The thrift store? But that place smells gross!” Amber cries out.

It smells gross? No it doesn’t. It smells different, but I don’t think that it smells gross.

“We don’t like the clothes at the thrift store anyway. Can you think of something else?” Charlie asks, still with the not-happy smile.

I guess. But I really thought that I could get them stuff from the thrift store. I didn’t think that they wouldn’t like it. If they don’t like it, then do they like me?

“I think I’ll talk to my Mom about taking us shopping.” I say.

My friends are smiling! Of course they are! It’s ridiculous of me to think that they don’t like me! They just don’t like the thrift store, but they love shopping! Everybody does!

I blink the tears out of my eyes. Wait, I was crying? Why? What happened to me then wasn’t sad, they just wanted to do something different. It wasn’t an attack on me. It never was.

They’re my friends. They care about me. I have to save them, because it would be selfish of me if I didn’t.

I keep on walking.

Chapter Eight-Beyond the silhouettes

I’ve been to this thrift store so many times, so how on Earth will I be able to find my friends here? Where could Josephine have possibly hid them where I didn’t look before? I know every inch of this store and I’m pretty sure that they’re hidden here, but I just have to find where in the store they’re hidden.

There are racks upon racks upon racks of clothes, along with shelves of them, too. There are clothes of all kinds, clothes that Grandmas and teens have worn, clothes that people have felt absolutely excited in and clothes that people have absolutely abhorred, but still, no sign of my friends. Where could they be? I need to look harder, I can’t get frustrated. I can’t cry. It’s happened less and when it does happen, I’m alone. Which is good, because I don’t want my children to see me cry when I’m overwhelmed. It’s not good for them to see.

It’s going to be okay. I’m going to find them. I just need to keep on going, I just need to keep on believing…there’s something on the ground.

It’s this glowing green stream of light on the floor. I’ve seen this green stream of light before at the old house. It’s energy, which lets me know that Josephine is here, that she’s taking my friends’ life energy.

I follow the green stream of light, towards where I think my friends may be.

Chapter Nine-Friends…forever?

The line curves along the wood until it seems to pool out into a green, electric puddle. I stop in front of a white curtain that I’m guessing serves as a door.

Huh. I’ve never seen this white curtain before. I pull it away and step inside, anxious to see my friends, to see if they’re okay. Well, as okay as they can be, considering that they’ve been kidnapped by a witch.

Once I’m inside, I’m surrounded by white curtains. I can still see the outline of the thrift store around me, but there’s just white curtains everywhere. At the center of the room are Charlie and Amber, standing with their backs to one another, tied up in tangles of green, pulsing lights. They’re adults, just like me, but they’re wearing dirty, long, frilly dresses with bows on them, dresses that they look insanely uncomfortable with wearing.

“Do you like how I made them look like dolls?” Josephine asks, her hot, elderly breath right in my ear.

I turn around to face her, because seriously, why would she ask me that, and then:

“No, I don’t like how you’ve made my friends feel like they want to crawl out of their skin! Seriously though, why did you kidnap them? What was that all about? What-“

“They’re your friends, Stefania. They have a connection to you. Or at least, they should. All of the other ghosts passed on, but I didn’t. I had enough energy to stay, so I watched you from the sidelines. I watched you with your friends and then, I took them! I waited until you were a bit older to tell you the truth and then…Stefania, can you really call them your friends?” Josephine asks.

What kind of a question is that?! Of course they’re my friends, they have always been there for me! I’m not going to fall for any kind of psychological mind tricks that she or any other health professional may do, because they’re my friends and they’re counting on me.

“I only kept them here for a long time for you. I’m doing this for you. If you agree to me killing them, then I’ll give their life energy to you and then you’ll be happier with their happiness. Isn’t that what you want? More happiness in your sad, pitiful life?” Josephine asks me.

Her brown eyes are dancing in the light of the thin streams, she’s smiling at me with lips that are so cracked they don’t look out together. Her face is unsettling me, but her words…

Amber and Charlie have always seemed to be embarrassed by my interests or just downright annoyed. I know that it’s not their thing, but seriously, did they really have to be that bothered by what I like? I never cared for their interests but I didn’t act all disgusted by it. Were their reactions really necessary? Especially when I told them the story?

What if Josephine is right?

Chapter Ten-They all wait

It’s not a very nice thing to think about, but it could be true. All I’ve got to do is stand in the green circle that’s connected not only to Amber and Charlie themselves, but also to Charlie’s baseball cap and Amber’s flip phone, items that they loved dearly growing up. It’s so easy for me to just step into the circle and take their life energy, take what keeps them alive, just so that I can feel happy and alive, that now I’m starting to wonder if it’s the right, reasonable decision and-

I met Amber when I was seven years old, at a records store. Mom was shopping for records and she decided to take me with her, because she’d thought I would have fun. I did, but I would have had more fun if I knew all of the artists’ records they were selling, because I only knew a few. Mom bought more records than me.

But one thing that really brightened my day was Amber. Amber had her black hair tied up in braids and was wearing these denim washed overalls that had all these cool pins on them. Underneath the overalls, she was wearing a bright pink tee shirt. On her feet were these big, black, clunky rain boots with dried-up mud stains on them. She looked so different from me, whose hair was a short, wavy black bob. I was wearing a white dress with pink bows, white socks and black Mary Janes. I used to dress like a porcelain doll when I was little before I started wearing more alternative and gothic clothes.

Yes, me and Amber were dressed differently, but the joy in her eyes was the same joy I felt when I was at the records store. After all, if she was searching for records to buy, like me, then didn’t that mean that we could get along? That we could be friends?

Amber saw me standing next to Mom and approached me. She talked to me! One conversation turned into the next and we’ve been friends ever since.

I met Charlie when I was ten years old. We were all outside for gym and we had to play baseball. All of us. Even never particularly athletic me. My anxiety was prickling inside of me as I thought of all the rules that I had to remember, as I thought of accidentally messing up and how everyone would yell at me if I did. The tears were almost going to spill, but Charlie must have seen the terror in my face, because she came up to me and very calmly told me the rules of the game. She said that everything would be okay whether I did good or did poorly and that at the end of the day, it was just a game. She was leagues better at playing than me and everyone but her and Amber got irritated at me for not “playing correctly” but not my friends. No, they were nice to me.

As I’m standing here, thoughts of my friends’ kindness being popping up, melding and merging in an overwhelmingly positive, hazy, dreamy sunlight sheen. Even though they didn’t believe my story, they do now. There’s time to connect with them more, time for us to learn more about one another. More importantly, they were there for me in a way that only friends are. Taking their life energy wouldn’t make me any happier, it would just make me more lonely. They love me. They care about me. We were just kids then, but we can fix it now.

Another line of green light is connected to a bone hand that is wearing sharp-edged, curving jewelry that looks like it’s going to choke the bones (I’m not sure if that makes sense, but that’s what I think of it) and has long, clawed fingers. It didn’t look that monstrous the last time I saw it, but maybe that’s because of the sheer power she has. I can see, very clearly, that this bone hand is Josephine’s hand.

She wants me to take their life energy, but by connecting her hand to the items and my friends themselves, she’s taking the energy for herself as well. To live? No, I don’t think so. There is no possible way that Josephine could be alive again, no matter what she does. For power? But then, doesn’t she already have enough power? What power would my friends give her? Happiness, then? Is she trying to take some happiness for herself? Does she possibly miss being happy?

No time to think about that. I’ve got to act fast, before Josephine starts realizing that I’m not doing anything and decides to attack me. Only thing is, I don’t know what to do.

Or do I? Her hand is what’s keeping her here, isn’t it? She’s a witch, so she didn’t easily pass on like the others did. Now, if her hand is keeping her here, then I have to destroy it. That’ll get rid of her entirely and free my friends. Hopefully.

But how am I going to destroy bone? It’s not like something that I can easily break into a million little pieces. Not with my hands, anyway. Hold on a minute, there are wooden boxes everywhere in this thrift shop as well as disassembled drawers! They’re here amongst the clothes! This thrift store not only sells clothes but also furniture, because that’s what people wanted for some reason!

I waste no time and grab a wooden box on the ground, then run towards Josephine’s hand, raise the box high up and just like the window-

SMASH!

The bone hand smashes into tiny little pieces. The green lines abruptly snake away and disappear. I catch sight of Josephine screaming with a mouth so wide open it’s like she’ll suck in every last bit of life before she disintegrates to the ground like the sparks from a bonfire. My friends rush towards me with teary eyes, hugging me and telling me that they’re sorry they didn’t believe me, that they’re grateful to have me as a friend, that kind of stuff.

I don’t say anything. I hug them back, but don’t say a word. Because truly, what can I say? Just like last time, I’m in disbelief. I did something good. I saved people. Why? Why me? How am I good enough to help the people around me, to defeat evil? How-

“Mom, who are they?”

I turn around. Right behind me is Josh, the kids and Aiden, all four of them looking at me wide, fearful eyes. But it isn’t the kind of fearful that would make afraid them of me. More so like they’re fearing for me. They’re waiting for me to say something. My friends, my family. They’re waiting for me to break the silence of floating dust clouds and shelved away clothes.

Now that Josephine is gone, my memory of the day my friends disappeared is clearer. I can remember that my friends just didn’t come to school one day, the day after that and the day after that. Nobody told me that they moved away and then, out of the blue, everybody was saying it! Even their parents, who only visited their old town…I can’t believe I didn’t realize it! Even the parents were brainwashed into thinking they moved away! They couldn’t have, because the parents were living in town all along, but Josephine made them think that they did! Goodness, just how evil was Josephine? I wonder if the people with me right now and everyone else in town is realizing that my friends disappeared and didn’t move away or if only my mind is cleared after Josephine left.

But right now, I don’t want to think about Josephine and her evil magic. I just want to be present. I just want to be clear with the people I love and hold dear, the people who I hope will be there to stand around my death bed, to support me so I don’t feel like I’m drifting off to complete nothingness.

Alexandria asked me a question, so I’m going to answer it. I’m going to let her and everyone else know that my story was true:

“These are my friends, Amber and Charlie.”