A Paradise For Ghosts

The girl whose complexion is a sickly pale looks at Daniel from across the room. She tries to speak but all she can do is choke as the water that is in her throat and lungs gushes forward blocking any attempt at forming any words.

Daniel is no stranger to this occurrence, and by now he is somewhat dull to its presence. The girl standing in the corner of the room is Daniel's sister, and yet it isn't. 7 months ago Daniel's sister, Alex, died along with his parents in a car accident. It happened the day before his 18th birthday, as they were on their way back from a bakery. The day started like any other and Daniel himself couldn't have known how badly things were going to get from that day forth.

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It all started with a phone call in the middle of the night. Before they left Daniel could already tell they were up to something when he saw his mom and dad get on the car along with this little sister. Every year they'd make up some lame excuse like going to the store to pick up some milk, and when they came back his sister would try to distract him while his parents would sneak in a cake and some gifts. Daniel knew what they were up to but even then he would just go along with it, because he felt happy seeing them try so hard to surprise him, and he couldn't bear to let them work so hard for nothing.

That day things were different. They never came back, and they never would.

Daniel woke up to the sound of the house phone ringing. It was a call from the police department informing him that his family was involved in an accident. Daniel felt his heart sinking and he remembers asking the officer if his family was ok, however things were never that easy when the word 'accident,' was involved.

His father, in a state of panic, had driven the car off the side of the road in order to avoid a careless drunk driver. The car then rolled down the hill knocking everyone in the car unconscious, unfortunately that was not the end. The car kept on rolling down and it eventually fell down into a river. It didn't take long for the water to fill up the car drowning everyone inside while they were still unconscious.

That day Daniel felt a mix of emotions. He was angry at the driver for having caused the accident that took his family's life. He was sad that he was never going to see his parents or his sister again. He was shocked over how things could be fine one second and the next everything suddenly went downhill. He also felt guilt over being the reason his parents were out there in the first place. All these things that no one should ever have to experience came crashing down on him all at once.

The following month felt like a true hell for Daniel. The day after the accident he was called into the police station in order to reclaim a couple of items, one of which was a present from his sister. The officer in charge told him that they had found the box still in the arms of his sister. Even as she was drowning she never let go. After what happened yesterday Daniel didn't think he'd still have any tears left, but that day he was proved wrong.

The officers tried to comfort him, but no matter what they said the pain was too great. Daniel's hearth throbbed as he held the box close to his c.h.e.s.t and broke down in tears in front of everyone. They all looked at him weird, but he didn't care. He felt so alone and nothing that anyone said could ever change that.

Daniel didn't know how he got home that day; perhaps a police officer took pity on him and drove him home, or maybe he walked all the way. All Daniel could remember from that day is opening the gift only to find a beautiful silver necklace with a cross attached to it, and staring at it for hours. With shaky arms and tears in his eyes, Daniel grabbed the necklace and hung it around his neck. Eventually Daniel tired himself out and decided to head to his room to sleep, for only when he was asleep would the pain finally stop. However, this was just the beginning for Daniel.

Around midnight Daniel woke up to the sound of water coming from his bathroom. It was a slow but rhythmic sound that echoed eerily across the house. The drops came one by one as though they were following some sort of timer. Daniel ignored the sound as much as he could, but almost as if it knew that it was being ignored, the water started to echo louder and louder until Daniel finally couldn't take it anymore.

He rushed into the bathroom in a fit of anger determined to take out his frustration on the sink, and when he finally stepped into the bathroom it was as if the temperature had dropped several degrees. He could feel that the atmosphere had taken a turn for the worst and the floor of the bathroom seemed to be coated with something slippery. Cursing his own rotten luck, Daniel assumed that the sink was clogged and that the water must've spilled into the floor. Carefully stepping around the dark, Daniel fumbled across the room looking for the light switch.

When he finally found the light switch, Daniel couldn't help but notice that even the walls themselves were wet. At this moment he felt that something was truly wrong. Even if the water spilled onto the floor how could it have possibly gotten on the walls. He hurriedly flicked the light switch on, but the room remained as dark as when he first came in, and that's when the cause of all of his nightmares began.

From the corner of the room Daniel could swear he had heard something. Paralyzed with fear, Daniel did nothing aside from stand there dumbly as the sound grew louder and louder, and soon enough it was louder than the drops of water that were hitting the sink. At this point Daniel could tell that it was the sound of more water dripping into the floor, but this time it was different. It no longer sounded like the rhythmic stream of drops that were falling from the sink, this was more erratic. Sometimes he would hear water pour down for a few seconds before stopping, and other times he would only hear it for an instant.

At this point Daniel was in a full blown panic attack, and all he could think of was leaving the bathroom as soon as possible. Before Daniel could even take one step the lights flickered for a quick second before turning on completely, and there it was. Absolutely nothing. When the lights came on all the sounds that were echoing around the bathroom were no longer there, and even the strange gurgling of water coming from the corner of the room was gone. All Daniel could spot was the wet floor, but that was it.

Regaining some sanity, Daniel thought that he was too tired and stressed about the accident, and so he walked to the sink to splash some water on his face. When Daniel had reached the sink the dripping sound that he previously thought was part of his delusions started again. Feeling his anxiety rising up again, Daniel looked at the faucet closely only to find that it was just some drops that were falling into the sink. He didn't think too much about it, but then he noticed that there was barely any water in the sink.

Previously Daniel had thought that the reason there was water on the floor was because his sink was clogged and the water must've spilled, but there was barely any water there. It was also at this point that Daniel remembered that the walls were wet and there's no way that water falling from the sink could've caused that. All the dread and fear that was previously swept away from the lights turning on rushed back into Daniel as he shivered uncontrollably.

Daniel's teeth clattered as he looked at the mirror for the first time since coming into the bathroom, and there she was. A little 14 year old girl with long blonde hair cascading down her back. Her entire body wet and pale as a corpse, the little girl who Daniel thought he would never see again was there looking at him from across the room. Her mouth opened as though she was about to speak, but all that came out was water, and suddenly Daniel could hear that strange sound from before.

Daniel's anxiety had reached an all time high, and he could feel his consciousness slipping, as he thought that the girl in the mirror looked somewhat familiar. His body leaned forward as Daniel's mind had overloaded from fear and shut down. Water splashed as Daniel's body now laid itself against the cold bathroom floor.

Meanwhile from across the room, the girl looked at Daniel with an helpless expression on her face. With a watery sigh her dainty features scrunched up as she walked up to Daniel and dragged his body back to his bedroom, where she placed his body on the bed and then faded out of existence almost as if she was never there.