Ghost by the Graveyard
2022
Five years, six months and eleven days ago, Khun had died and became a ghost. He was killed by his best friend… how ironic; perhaps that was why he became a ghost in the first place. That was what he thought, before Khun met him.
A human named Viole had accidentally stumbled onto his territory, the graveyard behind the school. Khun was getting rather lonely, so he used this opportunity to befriend him. Perhaps it was the fact that Viole had reminded Khun of his best friend that killed him. That was what he had thought, but who could have thought Viole was his brother?
“I know what my brother did to you was unforgivable, but please find it in yourself to forgive him!” Viole yelled out as he bowed his head towards Khun.
“You’re his brother?” Khun widened his eyes in disbelief. Was that the reason why Viole looks so much like him?
“My brother told me everything that happened! You thought your death was his fault because he pushed you, but it was an accident! Please forgive him!” Viole’s head lowered, eyes closed.
“Where is he now?” Khun asked, arms in front of his chest as he narrowed his eyes at Viole.
“He… moved with our parents to America to start anew. On the day of the departure, he looked so terrible. I couldn’t even help him! I thought that maybe you… stayed in the human world to take revenge on my brother, and I was right. Please forgive my foolish brother! I’ll do anything to help you to atone for his sins.” Viole begged.
Khun tried to process the information and sighed. “That was a long time ago. I forgave that idiot already. I just wanted to know why he tried to kill me. Who knew it would turn out like this?”
“Really?” Viole sat up and looked at Khun with tears in his eyes.
“Really.”
“Thank you!” Viole shouted as he tried to hug the ghost, only to fall through Khun, falling onto the ground.
“Whatever,” Khun muttered as he stared at Viole who was face-flat on the ground. “But you’ll still be my friend, right?” Khun’s ears tinted red as he looked away.
Viole lifted his head from the ground, face stretched into a smile, “Of course!”
Khun also smiled along, but in his little mind, he was in a bit-of-a problem. It was about the curse that was affecting him. The truth was that he had to kill humans that were in his territory, and Viole would be next.
***
“So, that’s the reason why I called for you,” Khun recalled the situation to the Reaper. The hollow eyes of the Reaper stare towards Khun with a deadpan look, sighing to himself. “Well, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”
“Hey! Help me for once.” Khun yelled in frustration, “How do I break the curse?” The Reaper gave Khun another look. A scythe appeared in the Reaper’s bony fingers. With a swing, the blade was pointed towards the ghost’s pale neck.
“What I am about to tell you, you better not let this slip out of your mouth. Or else…” the Reaper threatened. Khun agreed with a nod, not wanting to be beheaded by the Reaper since it was a pain when trying to stick his head back on. The Reaper looked around before grabbing him, pulling Khun closer to him. “There is that library in the spiritual realm. I’m pretty sure you know that, right?”
Khun felt confused. “But I searched before and couldn’t find anything.” The Reaper boney-like-hand face-palmed himself and whispered, “You didn’t search that section, right?”
Khun’s eyes widened, stunned that the Reaper before him had suggested it. “Wait, wait. I can’t do that!” Khun jumped up, shouting out loud. The Reaper immediately grabbed Khun’s neck and pulled him back down, hissing towards him, “What are you yelling out loud for? If any souls passing by heard that, we’ll both be in trouble. Besides, that’s the only option left. That will be the only choice unless you want your buddy Viole here to die.”
“But-”
“No buts. You choose. Get the spell to break your curse, and Viole gets to stay alive, or you kill him now.”
Khun could only grumble in defeat. The Reaper was right. He had to choose. Two choices were laid out before him, one that he considered highly illegal while the other is considered painful to ignore. The battle of his logic and his heart. What will he choose?
***
Khun regrets all his choices.
He should not have listened to that damn Reaper. He was probably laughing at Khun’s misery right now. Cursing under his breath at the Reaper, Khun ducked behind a shelf full of books. The place was crawling with ghost guards, and it was almost impossible for him to get in or out. He should have expected that though. The library’s restricted section was infamous for being home to books where top-secret knowledge was stored there (a potential place where the spell to break his curse is held). Khun should stop listening to the Reaper. He could even hear him laughing at him right now.
***
“It appears that setting off fireworks to distract the guards was a good idea,” Khun thought as he slipped into the restricted section, unnoticed by the guards. The area was densely packed with cobwebs, and soul spiders hissed at Khun before retreating into their dark hole. He brought his hands towards one of the bookshelves. The dust was thick on the bookshelves he felt with his ghostly hands. His wispy hands continued dragging along the shelves, searching.
Thud! The sound of a book falling off a shelf echoed off the shelves. Khun flinched. Upon realising it was just a book, he began creeping toward it. Still wary of it, he picked it up. The title ‘THE REMOVAL OF DIFFERENT CURSES’ stared back at him. Khun’s mouth agape at his insane luck; there was no way a book that had just happened to fall off the shelf could be the one he had been looking for. There was simply no way.
However, in front of him lay the book that had the potential to end his curse and prevent him from killing Viole. This was the answer. Khun immediately flipped through the book’s pages, searching for the answer. His attention was drawn to something. A curse that was strikingly similar to his own! This was his chance. Khun’s brows wrinkled as he studied the contents of that curse, his eyes narrowing at the cure, making sure he was reading it correctly. Once. Twice. Thrice.
However, before Khun could grunt in frustration, the alarms of the restricted section rang loud and clear. A booming voice at his right suddenly yelled, “Oi, over there! What are you doing here? This is the restricted section!” One of the guards must have seen him! He quickly sat up, book in hand, and bolted out of the place with guards right behind his tail.
Exiting the section, Khun rushed towards the library’s exit, only to be blocked by other guards waiting for him. Curses spewed out his mouth as he turned towards the direction of the library’s backdoor. Turn right? A group of armed guards were there. Turn left? The guards were also there. Jumping out the windows? Guards probably are waiting there for him. Khun gulped. At this rate, he would be captured with the number of guards chasing!
He regrets all his choices.
A tinkling sound was heard beside Khun’s ear just as he was about to accept his fate of being taken. The sound became clearer as it soon became booming laughter. Narrowing his eyes, Khun would recognise that laughter anywhere. “Now… You aren’t about to give up, are you?” The Reaper appeared, smirking at him.
Now it was Khun’s turn to give him a deadpan look. “Really? Right now? We have no time! Get us out of here!” He hollered out as guards inched closer to them. The Reaper rolled his eyes and waved his hands in an unhurried manner. Both of them disappeared and appeared back on top of the school rooftop.
Once Khun confirmed they were out of danger, his face turned dark and glared daggers towards the now sheepish-looking Reaper. He hissed out, “This was your fault. If you didn’t develop this idea in the first place, we wouldn’t even be in trouble.”
“Hey, now. At least you got what you wanted, right? That book in your hand…”
“You! You’re the one who lured me into taking the book, right? There was no way a book would magically drop from the shelf that so happens to be the one I was finding! You did something. I’m sure of it!”
Putting his hands up in the air, the Reaper smirked, “Yeah, that was me. I was watching you through the ghost spiders I possessed. Had to push you a little to find the right book.” Khun looked enraged as he glared, “The solution is to move on. You did it because you wanted me to move on to the afterlife, right?”
The Reaper calmly pointed his boney fingers at Khun. “Haven’t you already fulfilled your reason to stay in the human realm?”
Khun’s eyes widened for a second before hastily turning away, the tip of his ears bright red. “Viole… my friend. I… am staying for him. If not, he’ll be sad.”
The Reaper softly shook his head before sitting on the icy rooftop floor. He beckoned Khun to join him. He gazed at the starry sky for a brief moment of stillness before turning to face Khun.
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. In this world, we’re the moment of the past in the present. You know you need to move on, Khun.”
“But–”
“I’m sure Viole would be happy for you if you moved on. There is no point in staying in this world as a memory of the past. Maybe in your next life, you’ll meet Viole again.”
“Are you sure?” Khun’s voice still had uncertainty in it.
“I’m sure.”
“How sure are-”
Suddenly, the rooftop doors slammed open, and Viole rushed forward to Khun’s side. “Khun!” Viole tearfully yelled as he tried to hug the ghost while the Reaper looked at the scene amusingly.
“Why are you here?” Khun choked out.
“I heard you were going soon! So I rushed here! I understand you’re leaving because you’re trying to move on right? So, I’m just here to say goodbye!”
“Where did- Reaper!”
The Reaper’s grin broke his face as he stared at the duo. “I’m guessing this is one way to convince you, right?”
Khun’s face turned to disbelief as his face flushed red. He stared at the Reaper, then at Viole’s questioning gaze. He contemplated for a while before sighing. “I…I think I made up my mind.”
A small smile was etched on his face as Khun glanced at the Reaper and reached over tentatively. Their hands touched as a light shone on top of Khun. His body began to disintegrate slowly starting from his feet.
“I’m going to miss Viole!”
“You too Reaper!” With tears streaming down his ghostly cheeks, he uttered his last words, “See you in my next life!” and Khun vanished.
The cold winds howled throughout the night as dark clouds began to form on top of the school. Pitter-patter. The rain became heavier as time passed. The Reaper sighed to himself, sitting up from his position. His head turned toward the human boy who sat alone on the floor where Khun had just been. Turning his head away, he whispered one final goodbye. “See you, kid.”
In a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the night, nothing but the sound of winds rustling behind him.