Empty
~Not every ending is as happy as we hope ~
It's empty…
Mai gazed at the building in front of her, heart breaking even as the young man thanked her. It had taken her days to finally track the house down, only to find it a condemned ruin. What remained of its charcoaled roof sagged dangerously over a skeleton of broken windows and smoke blackened walls. The garden was an overgrown mess of dead plants locked in by a derelict brick wall with a rusty iron gate. This was not what she'd hoped to find.
It was clear to her that the family who had once lived here had left years ago, assuming they'd made it out of the fire that had clearly rendered the building uninhabitable.
It wasn't supposed to be empty.
Mai squeezed her eyes tightly closed, trying to shut out the reality before her, but closing her eyes wasn't nearly enough. She could still feel his presence beside her, a swirling ball of sorrow that set her skin tingling and stomach churning. She could still hear the creaking of the house foundations; the only sound in the silence was sickening to her ears.
There would be no denying reality, she realised bitterly.
"I'd always hoped that I would make it back home," the ghost said softly, his voice a sad whisper in her ear. Mai could feel her eyes itching to shed tears at his words. "Thank you for bringing me back, miss."
"You're welcome," Mai whispered back hoarsely, her voice too caught in her throat for her to muster any real volume. "I hope you can find the way now."
"I'm sure I will." The soft reply set the tears falling and she choked back a sob. There was a feeling of warmth for the briefest of moments and Mai was sure he was smiling at her. The thought made her sick to her stomach.
"Good bye, miss."
Mai felt the hairs on the back of her neck settle as the presence that had been her constant companion the last five days slowly faded away. The feeling of emptiness it left behind was nearly unbearable in her grief. She had failed to find a happy ending yet again.
The house wasn't supposed to be empty!
Unable to voice her grief or control it, Mai screamed in her mind, again and again, even though she knew it wouldn't help.
No amount of screaming would fix it, nothing ever would, and the knowledge was agonising.
It wasn't supposed to be empty…
A/N: Just a little something that popped into my head and had to be written. Hope you enjoy!