A Paradise For Ghosts

"AAAaaaaahhhh!" screaming Daniel quickly rose up from bed. Taking deep breaths, Daniel could feel the thumping of his heart against his c.h.e.s.t.

The bed was soaked with sweat and the room itself was a mess. The bed sheets came undone and were hanging from a corner while the blanket was laying across the room. The pillows themselves were spread out in different corners, and it was clear to Daniel that he might've been moving around a bit last night. Strangely enough there was this long wet stain trailing from his room to the bathroom, almost as if someone had taken a pitcher of water and marked down their path.

Daniel felt like his mind was a mess. He couldn't remember what happened last night, but he vaguely remembers having seen someone in the house. Before Daniel could remember anything though, his head started throbbing painfully. The pain was too great for him, and so he quickly hopped out of what was left of his bed and rushed into his parent's room

"Hey mom do you have anything to deal with headaches," slowly opening the door, Daniel was shocked for a moment when he realized the room was empty.

That's right, they're gone

Daniel felt like as though a heavyweight boxer had punched him in the gut, and all of the sudden the headache didn't hurt as much. His family had died just two days ago and the pain was still fresh in his mind. The headache couldn't possibly be more painful than what happened to him just two days ago, and he didn't think there would ever be anything more painful than that.

Depressed Daniel slowly walked downstairs to eat some breakfast, but before he could even touch the cabinet where they kept the cereal, the phone rang.

It rang just like that too, that day. I wonder who it is this time.

Cynical and heartbroken, Daniel hesitantly picks up the phone

"Dan," from the phone Daniel could hear his uncle's voice gently call out to him.

"Uncle Ben," Daniel almost breaks out into tears once again when he hears his voice. Aside from his parents, his uncle and his cousin are probably the only real family that he has left. Hearing his voice brought back too many sad memories, but Daniel was glad. He was glad that he called, but mostly just glad that he was still here.

"I'm sorry my boy. I just heard about what happened to your parent's today, and I can't imagine how bad you must feel right now." His uncle would rarely call but there's nobody else that Daniel would rather hear right now.

"I... uncle Ben it hurts so much,"

"I know my boy, trust me I know. They were my family too."

That's right. Daniel had forgotten about how his uncle might've felt, and all of the sudden he was hit by this wave of guilt.

"Uncle Ben I'm so sorry. It was all my fault, if they hadn't gone out because of me then they would still be here." Full of hate for himself Daniel tried his best to apologize to uncle Ben. He was afraid that his uncle might blame him for their deaths and leave him too.

"Nonsense! You had nothing to do with it and I don't ever want to hear those words from your mouth ever again, or I will kick your a.s.s." As harsh as he sounded, Daniel couldn't help but cry harder as he thought about how much his uncle cared about him.

"Uncle Ben I don't know what to do," Daniel felt hopeless. He thought that he had everything, but when all of that was taken away in one day, he realized how little he was left with. He never applied for college since he was planning to work with his dad as a mechanic and just learn from him instead. He also couldn't afford to keep the house, which means he would have to rely on someone else for housing.

"Dan I've talked with your aunt, and she said she was willing to take care of you until you get back up on your feet."

"What why? Why can't I just come over and stay with you instead. You've treated me more like a family than any of them have." Daniel pleaded for his uncle to take him in but alas he would not budge.

"I... There's some things I have to deal with, and I just don't have the time to take care of you and your cousin. Listen to me this one time and go pack up your, stuff your aunt will be picking you up tonight." His uncle sounded sad, then again anyone would be sad over the loss of their brother.

"So soon? But I still have some things that I want to do, I can't say goodbye just yet." Daniel didn't want to leave just yet. Leaving would mean that he was accepting what happened and that he was moving on, but he wasn't ready yet. He didn't want to move on, not after just two days.

"No buts Dan, I'm afraid it won't do any good if I leave you alone, now listen to me and pack up your bags."

His uncle left no room for discussion. Daniel had one choice, and even though he knew that this is what he should do, he couldn't help but feeling that this was all wrong. It was almost as if the longer he spent mourning their deaths then the more he would be showing the world just how much they truly mattered to him. He knew that this didn't make sense, but he didn't want to make sense, Daniel just wanted his family back.

However no matter how much he wanted it, Daniel's parents would never walk through the front door ever again, and so he packed his bags. Just like his uncle said, his aunt showed up around 8 pm to pick him up, and they left to go back to her house.

The days that followed were filled with misery for Daniel. He would wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and a few minutes after he would scream and faint. This happened almost every night and the initial concern his aunt might've had over him had worn out and all that she was left with was frustration. He tried to tell her that he thought there was someone in the house and that's why he fainted, but she didn't believe him and why would she, the doors and window were locked and the alarm never rang.

Eventually Daniel tried to film whatever it was that he saw, but the lights would always go out before he screamed, and so he was left with nothing but footage of him walking into the bathroom and quickly after he would faint. When his aunt saw the footage she was absolutely fuming and kicking up a storm. She thought that this was all an elaborate prank that Daniel had concocted and after one month she was done with him. His aunt had kicked him out of the house and forbade him from ever coming back, even going as far as reactivating the burglar alarm for the house.

At this point even Daniel thought he was crazy. Left with no other choice, Daniel called him uncle and told him he was going to the place where he truly belongs, the New Hope Mental Institution. His uncle, perhaps feeling the despair in his voice, didn't even try to stop him and offered to pay for his stay.