Wandering aimless

Dead and shameless

- Taken from my poetry book "A boy in this f***ing world."

Sloane Rayner abandoned her motorcycle by road. She tossed the vehicle over and escaped into the trees, her heart racing and pounding heavily. Still, she could still hear the high shrill childish laughs behind her, rushing through the wilderness.

She had caught sight of them whilst having a cigarette by the park, stopping on her motorcycle after not long finishing work at the mall. And she saw them - the old couple. The man was thin, his bones screaming out of his skin, reaching to be free. The woman was toothless, with bulging blood shot eyes and long creature-like fingers. She watched them as she smoked, talking to a young girl with short black hair. Sloane observed them in conversation, the young girl looking concerned until all of a sudden, the old woman jumped on the young girl and ripped out her throat with her teeth, blood exploding everywhere. They just laughed and danced in the girls' blood.

Sloane puked up her guts and caught the attention of the old couple - and that's when the chase began. She thought she would have escaped, until the motorcycle failed on her - and she had to run on foot.

The old woman's laughs echoed through the woods, the shrill and terrifying cackle rippling through the atmosphere.

"Help!" Sloane screamed, heading for the boarding house. It seemed the woman's laughter had already awoke someone who lived there, as a light lit up in the window, and a boy came out on to the balcony, rubbing his eyes.

"What the-"

"Help me!" Sloane screamed desperately, hearing the trees moving behind her, and the laughs seemed to be right behind her ear.

The double doors swung open and an old woman came charging out, looking concerned and worried, hair tied up and still dressed in a nightgown. She held a large cross, her brows furrowed as she squinted to get a good look at Sloane.

"Come on, child!" She yelled, beckoning her behind her. Just in time.

The old couple emerged from the trees, grinning sadistically.

"You're not welcome here, spirits. The devil is not welcome here!"

The whole boarding house was full with crosses, it seemed to burn the couple as if the air was gas to them.

"Be gone!" She yelled, her body so small but her aura so large. She threw out the cross towards them, the air rippling and throwing a force towards the couple. Then they were gone.

"What the fuck was that?" Sloane cried, edging towards the doorway.

"I'm Lorelei Devereux. And they, were ghosts."

Sloane shook her head in disbelief. Bullshit. However, Sloane has just seen them disappear into nothing. It seemed her whole world was crashing down.

"Come on, sweetie, let's get you inside." Lorelei muttered, beckoning Sloane over the threshold and placing her down on the couch in the lounge. "Now let me fetch us a pot of coffee - it's early hours in the morning, we might as well stay up now."

Lorelei disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a pot of coffee and set it down on the coffee-table. The grandfather clock ticked continuously, just past 2.30AM.

The boy from the balcony appeared in the doorway, dressed in a set of cute blue pyjamas.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned. "I saw what happened. I'm Tobias, by the way."

Sloane nodded, appreciating his concern. "I'm good, thank you, I'm Sloane. I can't believe they're ghosts."

"How long have you been in Sachem Bay?" Lorelei asked, pouring three cups of coffee.

"I came from New York. I only came here for college, it was a cute quiet town... Guess I was wrong ." Sloane explained.

Lorelei nodded in agreement. "Well, Sachem Bay is definitely not cute and quiet."

Tobias, who seemed to be in deep thought, finally spoke up. "Lorelei... You told me, only mediums, young children and those who had stepped on to the astral plane could see ghosts. How could Sloane and I see them?"

Lorelei's face darkened, in what seemed like a fear he had never seen before.

"Because the wall between the astral world and this world is beginning to bleed into each other. The entities on the Other Side are growing stronger. Sachem Bay will soon be a ghost playground."

Sloane's head hurt. It was too much information to process in one night - she had seen a girl's throat being ripped out and had just found out that her college town was roaming in unwanted spirits.

"You're welcome to stay. It's safer here." Lorelei said, sipping her coffee.

At first, Sloane was going to protest but then she thought about going into the open at night, and accepted the offer gratefully.

"This town has a lot of dark secrets." Lorelei said sternly. "The gift of oblivion is the most sacred thing of all."

As Sloane drank her coffee, she thought to herself - she was oblivious no longer.

Sloane was a normal girl. She was a straight A student, never got into trouble and always had a quiet life. Of course, she was a bad ass bitch, rode a motorcycle and didn't let any punk mess with her. But she was relatively normal. Yet here she was, after just being chased by a couple of savage spirits and drinking coffee with a crazy old woman and her slightly effeminate male resident.

Lorelei Devereux cluttered out of the lounge and began rummaging around in the kitchen, as the boy - Tobias - sat down on the couch.

"It's kinda new to process. I only discovered all this mess fairly recently too." Tobias said with a weak smile. "My new friend is caught up in all of it. She was shot on Sunday."

"Is she okay?" Sloane asked, wide eyed.

Tobias shrugged. "No idea. She hasn't woke up yet. It's only been less than two days. Hopefully she'll come around."

Tobias studied this new girl; she had long straight brown hair, perky lips and sharp pretty green eyes. Her skin was soft and creamy, with a dash of pink in her cheeks from the temperature of the night. She was fairly tall, and thin, wearing skinny jeans, thigh high boots, a black top and leather jacket. She seemed cool and Tobias could only be glad that she didn't die in front of his eyes.

"So, I'm from New York, as you heard. What about you?" Sloane asked, leaning forward with a raised brow.

"Always lived here. My parents kicked me out for liking boys." Tobias said simply, with a shrug that signalled "no big deal."

But Sloane knew it was a very big deal.

"They're jackasses for kicking you out, just for being gay."

"Sure are. Though I'm bisexual, not gay. But it's the same principle." Tobias agreed.

At that moment, bangs seemed to echo throughout the boarding house, repeatedly.

Sloane backed away towards the window, fear rushing through her.

And then, the lights exploded into darkness, leaving them stranded in oblivion.

Sloane could feel the smell of foul breath on her face, the smell of rotting flesh and bone.

When the lights lit up into illumination, Sloane's body was hanging from the chandelier, her throat sliced open and her guts hanging from her stomach.