All in the mind

Ava spent the whole day trying to avoid all the ghost-like creatures she was witnessing. When school was over, she left as quick as possible to go to her house. She entered the house as she remembered that her brother and mom were going to be late home. She locked the door double-checking it before she went into her room. She shut her room door and barricaded it with a chair. She threw her bag on her bed and stood still trying to calm her breathing down thinking of what to do next.

She went to get her laptop from her desk and sat on her bed. She started searching: 'Is it possible for a person to see ghosts?'. She searched far and wide on the internet, but she couldn't find anything. She went on the website and found out that there is a lady who could give her some answers. She wrote down the address on a piece of paper and kept it in her pocket. She was planning on going on Saturday after her Lucas went to his friend's house and her mom was at work.

There was suddenly a low knock. Ava instantly shut her laptop. She ran to her brother's room and grabbed his baseball bat. She slowly walked down the stairs and went to the kitchen counter and grab her keys. She paced towards the door and carefully unlocked it. She quickly opened the door and was about to hit the person when she stopped.

"Noah? What are you doing here?" Ava asked.

"Nice to see you too Ava."

"Sorry. Uuhhh.... Come in, come in."

Noah walked inside as Ava locked the door and put the bat down.

"So... what brings you here?"

Noah gave Ava a stern but disheartened look. Ava walked towards the sofa and sat down signalling him to do the same.

"Where were you?" Noah asked.

Ava looked at him confused until she realized what she did.

"Oh my God, Noah I am so sorry. I forgot."

"Did you really forget? You've been acting strange the whole day. Like you've been trying to avoid me. When I was talking to you, you totally ignore me and said that you couldn't hear me. You couldn't even keep eye contact with me. You didn't say anything to me since I spoke to you and now you bail on me without even calling or anything. What is up with you?"

Ava looked down at her feet trying to hold back the tears. She didn't know how to explain it to him.

"I don't know how to tell you. I don't even know what's going on myself. I am truly sorry about today; everything is just so complicated, and I can't tell you because you would think I'm crazy."

Ava looked up at Noah who couldn't keep eye contact with her.

"Fine. If that's your choice, then I respect it. I don't know what to tell you. But when you're ready to tell me the truth then call me."

Noah walked towards the door and opened, Ava quickly following behind.

"Noah, wait! Please. Forgive me."

Noah stayed silent looking outside.

"Meet me at the park tonight. I will tell you everything then."

Noah didn't respond and walked out of the door closing it behind him. Ava just stood there in disbelief and cried into her hands.

'What have I done? Why is all this happening to me? I have to find a way to fix this or else I don't know how everything will ever go back to normal. And I think I just lost the only friend that was here for me.'

Ava laid on the sofa contemplating what to say to Noah when he gets to the park. But a part of Ava knew he wasn't going to come. She was just relying on hope at the moment. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the door opening. Ava quickly got up from the sofa and cautiously eyed the door waiting to see who was going to come in. They were so silent. All you could hear was the footsteps, nothing else. Seconds later Ava's mum and brother walked through the door.

Ava let out a loud sigh and looked at them furiously.

"How do you just walk into a house not making any noise?"

"Oh, sorry honey, your brother is just angry, so he decided to ignore me the whole car ride."

Ava looked at Lucas who obviously seemed annoyed. Ava shook her head in disappointment.

"Mom, can I go to the park later at night?"

"Ava. You know it's dangerous, and you would be alone."

"No, I wouldn't. Noah is coming."

"Ok, but be safe. Let's go eat."

They all went and sat on the table eating their Chinese take-away. Ava was just playing around with her food as she couldn't stop thinking about the things that happened at school. She wasn't sure if she was seeing ghosts or not. She looked up and saw Lucas with a very serious look on his face. She wondered what made him that angry.

"Mom?"

"Mhm?" Ava's mom answered.

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

"We don't talk about that on the table, Ava. Why do you ask anyway?"

"No reason..."

Ava knew what her mom was keeping from her. Ever since the first disappearance of the young girl, mysterious things have been happening to people causing them to flee this devilish town. No-one talked about it or discussed to anyone else. They just kept to themselves and minded their own business.

"Ava. Whatever ghosts or supernatural things you're thinking about, it better end. NOW!"

Ava was taken aback by the response from her mother. The last time she's been this serious and nervous was when her ex came back. Ava was really curious to find out what made her mother react like that. She looked at her and studied her face. She could tell she was hiding something from her.

Suddenly there was a harsh, noisy knock on the door for the second time today. Ava looked at her mom as her mom looked back at her. She put down her plate and walked over to the door. She unlocked the door and she was dumbstruck to see who was at the door. She just stared at them in shock, not knowing what to say.