Chapter 171 - One Hundred And Seventy-one : The Amnesiac Ghost
Chapter 171 - One Hundred And Seventy-one : The Amnesiac Ghost
"Eww, I hate this" One of the students complained and tossed a dirty glass bottle to the side but it stumbled and reached Trevor\'s side causing him to look up.
He glared at the stupid student but said nothing nevertheless, instead carefully sorted out his own portion of the garbage.
Thanks to the incident of last week where the principal claimed they messed around with some psychedelic drugs which resulted in stabbing some students. Though he didn\'t harm anyone he had to join in the punishment too.
They had to perform community services for two weeks and right now they were sorting out the school\'s garbage which was part of their punishment.
Truth be told, Trevor found that day\'s incident highly suspicious. He clearly remembered he had dressed up for school and had planned to grab a bus at the station since his sister was sick, but that was all.
He couldn\'t remember anything after that! He couldn\'t remember going to school? Taking a hallucinogen? That was totally not like him, he felt like someone messed with his memory.
Williams suggested having a memory recovery spell performed on him but Trevor was against it. He hardly trusted those supernatural creatures, speak more witches?
If he could remember clearly, witches throughout history had always been controversial creatures, they were neither good nor bad since you can never tell when they would turn their back on you.
Moreover magic wasn\'t child\'s play, from what he knows, those kinds of magic don\'t come for free, there have to be repercussions - now or later, it must surely happen.
"If you\'re that tired, you can leave your portion to me. I\'ll cover up mine? and yours as well "
Ben\'s statement caused Trevor to glance up at him with a look of disbelief and surprise. Was that fool stupid? How could he add another waste to his already pileup workload?
"Really? " The student asked excitedly, just to confirm Ben was not pulling his legs.
"Yes, I\'m serious. You can leave it for me, I\'ll take care of everything " He acknowledged, causing a wide grin to break out on the student\'s face.
"Dude, you\'re the best " He bumped fist with Ben and sauntered out of the dump yard. The school was over already, so they were free to go home once they were done.
Seeing them work this hard made Ben\'s heartache, he was the reason everyone was in this mess in the first place. If he hadn\'t messed around with the mask, no one would have done community service or picking off the dirt from school grounds.
But the human heart would always be selfish and greedy. Not long after Ben favored the first person, the rest of the lazy students took advantage of his kindness and pressured him into doing their own share too.
The students thought they fooled Ben but what they didn\'t know was that he intentionally accepted all those works from them out of guilt.
Once they left, it was just he and Trevor left to sort out the rest of the garbage.
"Are you plain stupid or are you just a pure good Samaritan? How could you allow them to use you like that? " Trevor who couldn\'t take it any longer, burst out in anger.
" You won\'t understand, " Ben said with a big sigh, vexing him further.
"I\'m not going to understand? Alright tell me, how are you going to sort out all of those tremendous paper, plastic and glass bottles, food, aluminum, and drink cans and the others? Are you a robot? "
"Don\'t worry I would, alright?" he assured Trevor with a determined look.
" And if you don\'t? "
"If I don\'t finish it on time, I\'ll have to come to school earlier than usual to complete it before the lesson starts "
Tsk tsk, Trevor shook his head sympathetically, "Fine, whatever. That\'s your business, not mine. I\'m just concerned over the fact that my sister never make friends with normal people "
"No one is normal in Little Town " Ben blurted out but realized his mistake afterward.
A sharp glint was found in Trevor\'s eyes but he hid it and asked him jovially," What do you mean? "
"It\'s just a joke, nothing else. But if you really need an explanation, take me for example, do I look normal? " Ben laughed it away before going back to his work. His blabbermouth would lead him into trouble one-day.
"You definitely aren\'t normal " Trevor laughed along with him, but the suspicious gleam in his eyes still lingered.
For a moment there, Ben\'s comment really came close to home. He almost thought Ben knew one or two things about Little Town\'s secret.
Having learned a lesson, Ben didn\'t talk carelessly anymore but made small yet careful talks from time to time until they were through.
Perhaps, because he was determined, Ben finished sorting out every garbage with Trevor helping him out when he was through with his own portion.
Done with his work, Ben decided to visit the restroom. Ripping off the gloves from his hand, he tossed it into the bin and turned on the faucet, washing his hand in the washbasin.
He tore sheets of toilet paper from its dispenser and wiped his hand but the instant he glanced up at the large mirror, he got the shock of his life.
Standing behind him was Alexa or what remained of her.
She was very pale, even paler than the vampires. There was a messy bloody gush on her head and a stab wound on her stomach. Dark purple bags surrounded her sullen eyes and she had blue lips.
Suddenly, those eyes rested on his through the mirror and Ben felt a violent shiver run down his spine. He gulped, then peeled his eyes away, pretending not to have seen anything.
But the moment he turned around, Lo and behind, Alexa was standing right in front of him; their faces almost touching. Ben screamed and fell to the ground, crawling backward on all fours.
"Stay away, Stay away from me! " He cried out until his back touched the wall.
"You can see me? " There was a trace of confusion on Alexa\'s face.
Alexa had been wandering around for a while now and had no idea what was going on. Each time, she tried to gather attention or make contact with anybody, she found out that her body always went through them; she was invisible to everyone until she met him.
"No, I can\'t " Ben denied and shut his eyes tight, hoping she would take that as a cue to leave him alone.
Her frown deepened, If he can\'t see her, how was he able to talk to her? He was the first human that could speak to her.
"But you can see me, how are you able to see me? Others aren\'t able to see me " Alexa asked him excitedly but the human was not looking at her.
When Ben felt the hairs on his arm stand on edge, he instinctively knew she was drawing near to him.
"Don\'t come any closer " He put out his hand in a defensive manner.
" Why shouldn\'t I come closer "
"Because you\'re dead and I\'m alive. Although I love paranormal activities but seeing you right is spiking my blood level, I\'m afraid I would die too if you dare possess my body. Don\'t assault my precious body too, please Alexa? " He pleaded frantically, rubbing his palms together with his eyes still closed.
Ben continued, "Although we weren\'t the best of friends when you were still alive, yet you didn\'t hurt me so why hurt me now? "
The information was too much for Alexa to process, the only words she could make out? was "dead" and "Alexa "
"You know me? "
The strange question made Ben furrow his brows in confusion. Why was she sounding like an amnesiac ghost?
"Open your eyes please " Alexa requested of him politely.
Ben was at a crossroads, should he or should he not open his eyes? Well, since she asked nicely.
One eye first, followed by the other, Ben slowly and cautiously unlidded
his eyes, he almost got a heart attack upon finding out her face was too close for his liking.
"Could you give me a little space, Alexa?" he asked Alexa who was kneeling in front of him. Her skin was so cold it made him shiver.
"Alexa? Is that my name "
Ben searched the girl\'s face, trying to discover any form of pretense but came up with nothing.
"You don\'t remember anything? " He asked.
Alexa touched the side of her head that was bleeding and shook her head.
"Strange " Ben mumbled under his breath. He once heard that once a person dies, they forget their time on earth.
Was it that or was her own case different because she was hit on the head before she died? Maybe, his theory was right, she was indeed suffering amnesia.
"Why am I like these? I see other people like me? but they don\'t talk to me? Then I see people like you too but they don\'t talk to me either. So far, you\'re the only one that has ever spoken to me "
Ben groaned inwardly, of course, she could talk to him because he\'s a medium.
"What are you doing? " Trevor\'s voice sounded from behind startling him.
Ben shot up to his feet, " Nothing "
"I heard you talking to someone "
"I was just rehearsing my line, I have a role in the drama organized by the drama club next week " He lied flawlessly.
"Come on, let\'s go home. The curfew would begin soon "
"Alright," Ben agreed and picked up his backpack from the floor where he had dropped it earlier while passing one last glance at Alexa who was watching him intently.