Jerry reeled back from the screen, looking at the before picture of the broken and bloodied boy next to it. It was definitely the Jack he had talked to only a few moments ago. None of it made any sense. Jack couldn't be dead, he was a student at Seaford High; Mrs Eddison had even talked to him!
He rounded on Kim and Milton, narrowing their eyes at their nervous expressions. "No way," he said, shaking his head and refusing point-blank to believe it. "You're making this up," he declared, accusingly pointing a finger in their direction. Who would make this up? This was sick and twisted when compared to what usually happened to him, and for it to be from Kim and Milton...
Were they even his friends?
Milton laid a sympathetic hand on Jerry's shoulder, but he immediately jerked away from him, nostrils flaring in anger. "Jerry..." he said slowly, almost carefully like he was afraid that he was going to do something.
He wanted to scream. "Can't you stand me being happy, is that it?" he spat at them angrily, Kim looking completely taken aback by his tone, her expression faltering. Jerry didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty for ruining their sick prank.
"Jerry, it's common for people to make up something as a safe haven when they're under duress or upset," Milton explained, but Jerry shook his head again, starting to feel like his chest was constricting. It wasn't true, Jack wasn't dead and Jerry wasn't crazy.
No," he said once more, shaking his head again. "You saw him, you shook his hand!" he said triumphantly to Milton, who paled a little and bit his lip.
"And then I couldn't see him anymore," he admitted and Jerry scoffed in disbelief; why were they still trying to pull this off? It was clear he wasn't going to fall for it. "It's like you were talking to someone, but I couldn't see or hear anything," he said, more to himself than either Jerry or Kim.
"Neither did I," Kim chipped in nervously. Jerry couldn't believe this. Why were they doing this to him? Did someone put them up to it?
"Well, if I made him up, how did you both see him?" he asked, folding his arms. When he didn't get an immediate answer, he continued. "And how did he beat that guy up?" he added, feeling like he was grabbing at rocks, but he wasn't. He'd seen Jack, he wasn't dead. "I sure wasn't imagining that and dozens of other people saw," he said, but Milton still had that pitying expression on his face that Jerry wanted to smack off so badly.
"People were saying that there was nothing there and he was just lunging and swinging at mid-air, but some others said a boy was there and then gone again," he explained gently to him and Jerry was about ready to punch a wall, but he managed to compose himself.
"But I saw him!" he said in exasperation, trying not to let his voice rise so people around them and those coming into the class didn't hear. "He walked up to me and" - he gulped nervously - "touched me," he added in a more quieter voice. Jack's touch on his shoulder had certainly been real, but he didn't want to think Milton was right, although a tiny, microscopic part of him was starting to.
Kim went up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "Jerry... he's dead," she said and Jerry once again jerked away from her, from the both of them.
"How can I see him then?" he asked, not particularly wanting Milton to open his mouth to explain a bullshit answer. "How did the both of you?" he finished triumphantly, watching their expressions change slightly as they looked at each other.
"Jerry-" Kim began, seeming affronted, but he cut her off.
"Don't." He abruptly turned away from them and pulled up a chair, sitting at his own computer and starting it up. "Just leave me alone and don't talk to me,"
"He's real, and I don't care what you say," he added finally, turning away and refusing to say anymore about the matter. He didn't care if he'd ruined their pathetic little prank, let them be sour about it. He wasn't going to get fooled again.
"Alright, class," the teacher called as he entered the room, putting a stack of papers on his desk. "We're carrying on with the spreadsheets that we started last week, if anyone missed that lesson, pair up with someone who was here," he ordered and there was some chair shuffling and movement while Jerry logged onto his computer and opened the spread sheet up.
The numbers looked blurred against the bright white screen and hurt his eyes. It didn't help that around him people were whispering about him and jostling each other to laugh and snigger at some joke. But maybe that wasn't real, maybe - he glared in Milton's direction - none of it has been true and he was making it up, he thought bitterly, trying to concentrate on the spreadsheet, but it wasn't easy.
-"Look at Jerry"-
-"Such a freak"-
-"Shoud've died"-
-"So sad he has to make up a friend"-
-"He's insane"-
-"I'm worried about him"-
-"Ghost boy"-
-"Ghost boy..."-
Jerry tried to block the taunts out, but 'ghost boy' started to echo around in his head and the other voices blended together in a menacing cacophony of cackles and snorts of laughter. He stood up abruptly and walked out of the classroom.
He was stood, leaning against the wall and rubbing his temples when the teacher decided to follow him out.
"Jerry, is everything alright?" he asked in concern, but Jerry really didn't need it right now. His two supposed best friends had resorted to trying to put him down, just like everyone else.
"I've got a headache," he muttered bitterly, refusing to look at him. Everything just hurt for some odd reason.
"Feel free to go to the medical office," the teacher said kindly, smiling slightly at him, but Jerry didn't return it. He wasn't even in a mood to try.
"Thanks," he said flatly and headed off to the medical room, ignoring the pounding in his head and the teacher's call of, "But remember to ask next time."
He got to the medical room and knocked on the open door, alerting the nurse that had been putting things into the desk beside the bed. He walked in when she saw him.
"Hi, Jerry, what can I do for you?" she asked, although she wasn't really looking at him, she was too busy trying to organise the mess that someone had left behind. "It's not often I have to see you," she noted and Jerry didn't even want to think about when he had passed out. That had been humiliating.
"Got a headache," he said with a sigh.
"Alright," she said, briefly stopping cleaning for a minute to come over and check his temperature. "Sit down outside and I'll get you a glass of water," she said and Jerry went outside, sitting down just as the bell for lesson change over rang.
Wow, he thought jokingly to himself, I was goin' crazy for that long?
Babble broke out along the hallway as a crowd of people walked through to get to their next lessons. A boy spotted him and Jerry groaned internally as he sat down in the seat next to him.
"Hey," he said, poking him in the side of the head. Jerry turned to look at him. "Is it true you saw a ghost?" he asked with a stupid grin on his face and Jerry didn't answer, just glared at him with narrowed eyes.
"You must be as crazy as Duncan," the boy went on, clearly not deterred by Jerry's ignorance. "Says he's been seeing things that aren't there, too," he added with a nod, barely managing to control his snort of laughter.
"If there isn't a point to this, just get lost," Jerry hissed angrily. He did not need this right now, otherwise he could end up landing himself into huge trouble.
"Hey, I'm just saying that you'll both have lots in common when you get sent to the loony bin," he snickered and Jerry gritted his teeth to hold back his acid remark as he saw the nurse come out of the medical room, holding a glass of water for him.
She handed Jerry the glass of water and eyed the boy sternly, folding her arms. "Mr. Martin, get to your next lesson," she ordered him and he gave Jerry a 'playful' pat on the back before he got up and went.
She sighed, rubbing the circles under her eyes, and turned to Jerry. "Just make your way to lesson when you feel better, Jerry," she advised kindly and he nodded, taking a sip of the water. It actually didn't feel so bad.
He huffed out a breath and relaxed slightly, now that the huge crowd was gone and it was just the stragglers that usually left him alone; they were mostly the lower years, still finding their own social standing in the school ranks.
The doors opened again and Mrs Eddison walked through, Jerry nearly getting whiplash from standing up so fast.
"Hey, Mrs Eddison?" he called to her and she turned to him, dazed like she was in her own little world and she hadn't realised he was talking to her yet.
She broke out of whatever it was after a sudden start and smiled warmly at him. "Oh, hello, Jerry," she greeted him.
"This is probably gonna sound weird," Jerry began quickly, but then he did remember who he was talking to. "But you know my friend Jack I was with yesterday?" he asked, trying not to bite his lip in anticipation.
"Of course," she said and Jerry tried not to let his eyes widen. Finally, someone else had seen Jack too. "Such a nice boy," she added as an after thought, almost dreamily and she had that look in her eye that said she was miles away.
"So you definitely saw him?" Jerry asked and Mrs Eddison looked at him, slightly bemused.
"Sure," she said with a nod, smiling. "Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him like she was suspicious.
"No reason," he said hurriedly, forcing a grin that she thankfully didn't catch up on.
"Well, okay then," she said brightly, and continued on her way to wherever it was she was going.
Jerry sighed heavily as Mrs Eddison left, finishing the glass of water. He rubbed his temples and groaned; all this was really giving him a headache. And to think he was almost as crazy as Mrs Eddison... he would never hear the end of it and piled on with the fact that people were already hearing about his supposed 'ghost' problem - where was Jack in all this when he needed him? - could very well give him a real one.
What the Hell was going on? Who did Kim and Milton think they were anyway? trying to convince him about some bullshit that a new student - who several students and Mrs Eddison had seen - was actually dead and was a ghost who apparently only a handful of people can see? And one of them was not the boy he beat absolutely senseless on his behalf.
Without a backward glance, he walked past the main office, under the guise he was going to his lesson, but when he was out of view, he changed direction and headed for the school gates. He knew there was one place he could go where no-one would really press about what happened.
He made it to the Dojo in a surprising amount of time, having to lie to several strangers that he was off sick, but was sent to pick something up from the mall for his Mum - special order and had to be picked up immediately - and opened the door, knowing Rudy would be inside. He hardly ever left.
"Rudy...?" he called hesitantly, looking around for him. The door to his office clicked open and he walked out, eyeing him strangely and then looking at the clock.
"Jerry?" he said in confusion, checking the clock again. He left just before break time, either way it was still early in the school day. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
"I ditched," he admitted bluntly, knowing Rudy wouldn't judge him. He was one of the few adults that he actually knew and trusted most things with. But things like the beating he had taken after that tournament and the current Jack situation, those things he would never know.
"Yeah, I heard about what happened," he said sympathetically and Jerry tried to gratefully smile back, but he didn't need sympathy right now. He needed someone other than a crazy R.E teacher agreeing with him about Jack. "Sorry I didn't see if you were okay sooner," he apologised and Jerry held up a hand to stop him going on a tirade.
"That's okay, man," he reassured him, managing to force a smile.
"You can stay here before practice and grab forty on the sofa in my office if you need to," Rudy offered. "I'm only gonna be across the courtyard at Phil's," he said, pointing across the courtyard from them. "You look tired," he stated suddenly, it making Jerry impulsively rub under his eyes.
"I am," he replied, although not just physically. Mentally he was exhausted. He just needed one fucking day where shit didn't get sloppy for him and nothing came by to ruin it. A day where he could smile and mean it.
This day had been close, but then Kim and Milton met Jack and thought they would play their little prank. Well, it was so hilarious that Jerry didn't even want to speak to them ever again. They just didn't understand how he felt, and they never would. But for him to be attacked by the two of them like that - which made no sense since they were his best friends - it felt like the pack of wolves were shredding him further apart.
"I'll just call your Mum so she doesn't worry," Rudy said, getting out his phone and dialling. He put it to his ear.
"What happened today anyway?" Rudy asked worriedly, waiting for Jerry's Mum to pick her phone up. "It's not like you to just leave," he said and Jerry shrugged. He honestly didn't know what was 'like him' these days.
"People were teasing me," he said, lip curling into a sneer that thankfully Rudy didn't see. Again, he thought bitterly to himself. Why was it always him?
"Uh, hello, Mrs. Martinez," Rudy said after a sudden start, jumping to catch his phone before he let it drop to the floor. "No, Jerry's come from school after having a bad day-" He stopped and Jerry knew his Mum was probably worrying too much about what had happened.
"No, he's still here with me, Mrs. Martinez," he said, glancing over at him. "Sure, I'll pass him over." He handed him the phone and Jerry tried not to groan. He really didn't want to talk to her right now.
"Jerry?" she asked immediately, worry clear in her voice. "What happened?" she asked.
"I was getting teased again," Jerry said with a sigh, hearing a click like his Mum tapping a nail on the side of the phone while she held it. "About..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"About what happened?" his Mum said in a tender voice, filling in the gap.
"Mmmhmm," Jerry said, nodding even though she couldn't see him. It wasn't a complete lie; he actually was, or else Jack wouldn't have had to step in. He was just going to leave him out of the equation until he figured out what the deal with that was anyway.
"The nerve of some people at that place," his mother fumed quietly, whether to herself or if she was trying not to shout. "Well, I'm going to have to tell your Principal about it again," she decided.
"It won't do any good," Jerry said simply, trying not to groan down the phone at her. The last thing he needed to be known as was a snitch and a Mummy's boy. "Last time just made it worse 'cause everyone knew after an assembly he had about it," he told her, trying not to bring too much up in case she went crazy over it.
"Alright," his Mum sighed, giving over on holding off. "But if anything gets too bad again, tell me or someone, please," she begged him and Jerry could hear the beginning of tears in her voice. "I can't think about maybe having to bury you because you've really done it this time." Her voice quivered and Jerry sighed.
"I promise," he swore, and he meant it. He would never be that weak again, wouldn't allow anyone to make him so.
His Mum sniffed. "I'll see you when you get home," she said in a quieter voice. "I love you,"
"Love you too," Jerry said with a half-hearted smile. "Bye." He handed Rudy's phone back to him and went inside his office while he left the Dojo and headed over to Phil's.
Jerry shut the door behind him and went over to the sofa, laying down on his side and tucking his arms under his head. He needed to find Jack and see what was going on. Being crazy was not what he needed.
Although it chill him to the bone to think he could have been imagining everything.
A few hours later, Kim and Milton had turned up for practice - Kim had been concerned and had apologised to him, but Milton hadn't said a word - and a well-refreshed Jerry had been paired with Milton and was aggressively kicking a kick target that Milton held for him while Kim was doing more advanced drills with Rudy.
"Are you okay?" Milton asked tentatively, like he was thinking Jerry was going to go on another rampage, but what did he expect? Jack was real and he and Kim, his best friends, had to go and make up that he wasn't to try and stop him from being happy.
"Just fine," he said sarcastically, continuing to pelt the target with kicks. "My friends think I'm crazy and everyone's calling me 'Ghost Boy'," he spat bitterly, his last kick making a satisfying sounding slap on the target.
"Jerry..." Milton began hesitantly, but Jerry didn't want to hear any of his pity or apologies.
He gave the pad a hard, abrupt kick that had it nearly falling from Milton's hand. "What?" he asked in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. "You've seen Jack, and don't lie," he warned in a low voice, pointing an accusing finger in Milton's direction.
He looked more confused, so Jerry decided to elaborate, having to lower his voice so that Kim and Rudy didn't hear. "That night at my house," he began, taking a deep breath, "We both saw him out the window," he reminded him and Milton paled, shuffling from one foot to the other.
"And then he disappeared," Milton finished for him, swallowing hard. He had conveniently left that part out when he and Kim were showing him the 'murder report', Jerry noticed.
"Do you believe me or not?" he demanded sharply, folding his arms. He was tired of his before it had even had a chance to fester around the school like all the other crap about him. He just needed some people who were going to believe him.
"I do and I don't," Milton said with a sigh. "It's just... impossible," he said, not being able to find any other word for it.
"I'm sorry," he apologised and Jerry smiled gratefully.
"Me too, man." They wrapped their arms around each other in a typical, what Kim would call, 'guy hug'. One which Jerry had to break when he saw a very familiar face sat on the base of the fountain in the courtyard. Someone who would not believe the day Jerry had had and the stuff said about the both of them.
Jack.
"Uh, Rudy, I gotta go," Jerry called over to him suddenly. "It's getting late and Mum's making dinner," he lied, immediately rolling his eyes at himself for not coming up with a better excuse.
"Sure thing," Rudy said, waving him off and thankfully not pressing about his lie. "I'll see you tomorrow if you're up to it," he added kindly and Jerry nodded and once he was out those double-doors, he was all-but running towards Jack.
"We need to talk," he said in a low voice, not giving Jack a chance to greet him or open his mouth. If anything, Jack didn't look at all surprised, just nodded solemnly.
He looked around and spotted several couples sat on the tables outside Phil's restaurant, eyeing them with worry before turning back to Jerry. "Not here," he murmured and Jerry nodded, following Jack to a dimly lit alleyway.
When they were in the clear, it was a struggle for Jerry to compose himself and not let rip with all the questions.
"What's going on, Jack?" he asked, managing to refrain from all the questions pouring out at once. "How am I the only one besides Mrs Eddison that can see you?" he demanded, although he wasn't sure if that was right, he sounded desperately hysteric if anything.
"Well you, I'm letting see me," Jack said and dread filled Jerry from the inside out like needles piercing into him. "She's a psychic," he explained and Jerry's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"Seriously?" he asked incredulously, Jack nodding slowly. That explained so much about Mrs Eddison. "So you're actually a ghost? Kim and Milton weren't making it up?" he said, sounding small and defeated. Just once could nothing go his way?
"I really am dead, yeah," Jack said with a shrug, seeming too nonchalant about the matter, but that wasn't what freaked Jerry out in all of this, he couldn't figure out what, but something scared him.
"I don't even know what to say right now," Jerry admitted, swallowing a lump in his throat. All his earlier tirade had been for nothing and Kim and Milton were right. "I must have looked like an idiot defending you," he muttered, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. Idiot probably wasn't even the right word - deluded was, and just another one to add to the endless list.
"I'm sorry about that," Jack apologised, but it sounded hollow and Jerry wasn't even sure an apology would cover everything at this point.
"Why don't you let other people see you?" he asked, folding his arms. "Y'know, so I don't look insane and like I'm talking to thin air?!" he said that last with a hiss, but still, Jack didn't look the slightest bit fazed.
"Because some people still, clearly, remember me from when I died," he explained softly and Jerry nodded in understanding. Kim and Milton must have, because he couldn't remember anything about Jack's death on the news, or even in gossip around school.
"Wait," Jerry began slowly, holding up a hand. "Did you disappear when you were fighting with that boy?" he asked, a sly smirk forming on his face. That must have been infuriating for him.
"Yeah," Jack nodded, not fully returning the smile, although Jerry didn't exactly know what to expect. "That's why he looked so mad," he added, then he chuckled.
Jerry smiled back at him, although something still confused him. "But, if you're a ghost, how can I touch you and stuff?" he asked, reaching out and poking Jack's arm for emphasis.
"'Cause I've got a physical foothold here, meaning I can interact with anyone and everything," he explained and Jerry only pretended to understand what Jack meant. Long story short, he was a ghost that could touch people and disappear at will.
"Why are you here, then?" Jerry asked in bewilderment. Of all people, what would a ghost want with him? He was a social outcast and a freak. Nothing special, yet a dead person saw enough in him to want to help him? It didn't make any sense.
"I heard you that night in the alleyway," Jack said softly and Jerry tensed up, closing his eyes only to hear his pleas for the pain to stop and the merciless laughter of the boys and the sound of their boots on his skin. "I was there," he added and Jerry looked at him, wide-eyed.
"You were?" he asked in confusion. He definitely would have remembered seeing someone, but his vision had been clouded with bootprints and it hadn't exactly been the brightest lit alleyway in the world.
"You wished for a guardian angel," Jack reminded him and Jerry bit his lip at the thought of someone being able to read his mind. "Well, I'm no angel, but it still was enough to pull me onto this plane," he explained and Jerry nearly became exasperated. What the hell did 'plane' mean anyway? He was sure they were on the ground.
"Why were you in that alleyway?" Jerry asked, leaning back against the wall as his legs started to cramp.
"Ghosts haunt the places they died," Jack said and it was eerie to think Jerry had been attacked in the same place as where someone died. He was glad he hadn't made a second on the tally, though. "Essentially, I died in a hospital, but the alleyway was where I went back to," he said, although he didn't seem to understand why himself.
"But why would you anchor yourself to me?" Jerry asked, not sure whether to be flattered or creeped out that a ghost had taken interest. It was more than any of the living had done, anyway.
"I was pretty much watching my own death but just with a different person," Jack said in a gentle voice, outstretching a hand and sympathetically rubbing Jerry's arm when he looked away from him. "I guess I could sympathise with you," he added and Jerry looked back at him.
He swallowed hard. "Have you been..." he trailed off and Jack looked inquisitive. "Killing everyone?" he got out eventually, the words hanging around in the air.
"I have to," Jack said slowly, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Why?" Jerry asked in disbelief.
"Because, believe it or not, I can sense how those people made you feel," he explained and Jerry scoffed lightly, not wanting to admit it. But he supposed, in some sick way and twisted sense of justice, they did deserve it. Every one of them; they all but destroyed him.
"I'm talking to a ghost," he stated bluntly, although there was a smile on his face. "That's not the strangest thing that's happened," he admitted and Jack smiled back, looking to be in agreement.
"That's why I was here," Jack stated and this time it was Jerry's turn to be confused. "Milton and Kim made you upset," he elaborated, seeing his expression. "I was here to kill them," he admitted.
Jerry stood up from the wall at that, suddenly feeling like Jack was an explosive time bomb. "Was?" he repeated, glancing back towards the direction of the Dojo.
"You made up with them," Jack explained and Jerry nearly passed out with relief. "I had no reason to," he said with a shrug.
"But still, why do you have to kill everyone who upsets me?" Jerry asked in bewilderment. Surely his life wasn't that precious where a ghost was concerned, was it?
"The first bunch was more personal; they were the same people that attacked me too; it wasn't a gang like the news had said," he told him, his voice deepening to a growl when he mentioned that bogus cover-story. "And every time one of those bullies died, you may not feel it, but I can tell it makes you feel a tiny bit better," he said as some form of reassurance, either for himself or Jerry.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't kill Kim and Milton," he said with a nervous chuckle at Jack. He wouldn't be able to bear it if Kim and Milton died because of him. "But, Jack... It still doesn't make it right," he said in a gentler voice, like he was speaking to a little child.
"They treat you like a freakshow!" Jack hissed suddenly and Jerry reeled back from the sudden change in Jack's behaviour. "They deserve everything they get, and you know it," he added in a low voice, pointing a finger at him in warning as if he was going to start sympathising with the murdered.
"And I couldn't stop if I wanted to," Jack said in a tone that gave off to Jerry that he really didn't seem bothered at all about it. But then again, who would be? Killing people who made your life Hell and deserved everything they got?
"Why not?" Jerry asked, his curiosity now piqued.
"Because until your life isn't Hell anymore and you don't need me, I can't move on," Jack said simply, folding his arms.
"Move on?" Jerry repeated in confusion, his brows furrowing. Jack nodded. "To where?" he asked. Was there even a place for ghosts to go?
I don't know," Jack shrugged in earnest, looking like he hadn't actually thought about it. "I think that's what scares everyone the most," he said observantly, a pensive look on his face. "The not knowing what's gonna happen when you die; if there's clouds and choirs or fire and brimstone," he added and Jerry had to admit he had wondered that too. It was weird to think that one day life would just end and there would be nothing.
"I wasn't gonna let you turn into me, Jerry," Jack admitted softly, sincere emotion in his eyes. "A boy who died in an alleyway that everyone forgot about," he said with a wry smile, scoffing at himself.
"Thank you." He smiled genuinely at that and was likely that Jack sensed it, returning a smile of his own. It felt good to know that someone was looking out for him, even if that someone was dead, and that someone wanted him happy. Even if the cost was the murder of others who had belittled him and tore him down at every opportunity.
But something bothered him.
"Wait," he said abruptly, making Jack tilt his head in confusion.
"What?" he asked, motioning for him to carry on.
"If you kill people based on how they've upset me," Jerry said, slowly piecing Jack's motive together, "Then why is Eddie dead?" That had been nagging him ever since the murders started, and now if they were connected to him, what had he done that was so terrible Jack felt the need to brutally end his life?
"Jerry," Jack began slowly, but for the first time since they spoke, he couldn't meet Jerry's eyes and his nerves were getting the better of him.
"Why is he dead, Jack?" he asked in a shaking voice; Eddie had been his friend so why would he feel the need to betray him in whatever way he had? It was killing him. "Please, just tell me," he pleaded, reaching out to grab at Jack's arms.
"I didn't want to have to, but..." he trailed off, like he was trying to avoid the subject altogether and Jerry was getting worried. If Jack - a ghost - was nervous, it must have been bad.
"But what?" he asked impatiently, almost too eagerly. He had to know. Hell, he had a right to!
Jack bit his lip at looked up at him, his face emotionless. "He was the one that made that website, and made you want to kill yourself."
Ha-a! Bet you weren't expecting that were you? ;) Sorry this took so long guys, but I'm back now and I hope you all liked the chapter. Don't forget to leave me a little review in that box down there. Seriously, do it, it won't explode. xD Let's try and get over 55 and I will see you guys when the next chapter is written. :)