There was some weird Séance going on in the community center and us girls were outside with Rudy waiting till we had to be inside. I had been complaining about some pain. Suddenly Simon came bursting through the gate causing me to sit up concern building after everything that happened to him recently. "You OK?" My eyes darted trying to find an injury, but as usual the problem was not physical. "I think I've just seen a ghost." Rudy kicked a ball uninterested in the arrival "Why would there be a goat in the community center?" Simon turned confused at the mishearing, "I didn't say a goat, I said there was a ghost, like the spirit of a dead person." Now holding the ball Rudy nodded, "That makes more sense. Who ever heard of a goat, just hanging out in a community center?" I rolled my eyes "Especially when a psychic was inside." I wiggled my fingers talking about his supposed powers. Kelly looked at her phone then gestured inside, "Time to go inside can't avoid work any longer." I stood up with a sigh walking up to Simon, he wrapped an arm around me as we started to walk. His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear though he didn't turn. "She was in the corridor. I think it was Sally, the probation worker." I quickly turned my head to him but kept my mouth shut. There was no way of knowing what had actually happened.
It wasn't a very eventful day we simply waited till the man had left so he couldn't mention us acting suspicious, and it seemed that no one else saw a ghost. I had stuck behind with the girls as Kelly was struggling with Seth. When I finally arrived home I found Simon standing in the middle of the room seemingly lost in thought. I called out to him and he jumped, "Are you all right? What is it?" I stepped towards him as he turned around. Given his ability I was worried he had seen something, what he said was far more concerning. "I'd never do anything to hurt you." My brows furrowed and I stepped back on impulse. "You know... that makes it sound like you're going to do something to hurt me." Simon made a tiny shake with his head, something was clearly happening up there he didn't want me to know. "OK, just pretty strange. You sure you're okay?" Once again he seemed lost in thought as I received no reply only a stare. "You're staring again... that's been a while." His head shook and he apologized but I couldn't shake the suspicion, there wasn't over and Sally seemed to be back, in one way or another.
When we got to the community center everyone was waiting outside except for Rudy. After 5 minutes without any news we gave up and just wandered inside. Stopping when we heard a sudden banging noise. Turning the corner we found Rudy bashing a fire extinguisher into the vending machine. "Fuck's sake." He was talking to himself but noticed our arrival and nodded a quick "All right?" before continuously banging on the machine. Curtis stepped forward his head tilted, "Do you need change?" Alisha shook her head and Rudy stopped, "What are you doing?" He gestured to the machine and started talking "Well, there's no probation worker," suddenly he banged the machine again as if he only needed to surprise it. "So I thought fuck it, smash your way into t' vending machine, but it's toughened glass!" He turned back to us complaining. "How desperate do they think people are to get a Twix? Stupid." There was a group sigh as well all gave up and walked into the main room ready for another day of waiting around without a probation officer.
During the wait Simon had head into the bathroom and took a few minutes to come back. Despite the fact it was probably nothing and I was definitely being overbearing I quietly left to wait in the hallway. A minute passed and I felt my worry rise, "Simon?" I called out anxiously, unsure if I should go in. With no reply I walked closer, trying again "What are you doing?" My shouts didn't get a response from Simon, I walked even closer hearing him talking to someone but unable to make out words when Alisha opened the door. I jumped as she walked in, then again when Simon walked in. I immediately turned to face him, hoping for answers. "Simon..." my voice was timid probably exposing my fear but Simon wasn't always the most perceptive. "Who are you talking to?" He didn't seem to have an answer staring for a moment before speaking. "No-one." I stared back in completely disbelief, having heard the mumbling myself. He glanced side to side, trying again. "Myself." Alisha was still at the door preparing to leave us alone but stopped to laugh at the idea, turning to Simon who hadn't noticed her until now, "You talk to yourself when you're taking a piss?" He stared at the ground probably embarrassed but something seemed off. "Sometimes." I opened my mouth to speak but he quickly changed the subject. "I thought we were going to the shop." I nodded shocked as Simon walked past without another word.
We did go to the shop, Simon still walking ahead of the group not calming down enough to join us till we all had our treats, Cornettoes for those of us who could eat them and an ice block for Curtis. We had taken residence at the picnic table when a man walked through the gate. He was looking around not paying attention to us in our bright orange jumpsuits and Simon moved closer to the group to whisper, "That's him. That's the medium." Without hesitation Kelly shouted at the man, "You, you fucking twat." He turned to us but said nothing so Alisha continued with the same anger, "He said that you brought back the ghost of our dead probation worker." He shrugged having finally processed what was happening, "Hey, what can I say? I communicate with the spirit world." I squinted there seemed to be an obvious situation going on here, "You were in that storm, weren't you?" He man started to scratch his arm, basically a tell of his lying as she mumbled out a no. Rudy scoffed, "Oh, mate, even I know you're lying and I thought it were a goat." The man sighed, turning his head back and forth trying to decide what to do before eventually inviting us inside.
As we hadn't cleaned up the chairs from his show yesterday we were all set up. We all sat down as he paced, trying to explain. "I was a complete fraud, I was making up all kinds of stuff. Then the storm struck, and I could actually communicate with spirits." He picked up a pile of flyers and started to place them on the seats. "Sometimes they come back and they're wandering round like real people. The first time it happened, it was this kid, who drowned in a lake." He chuckled at his story while we stared on seriously. "Spooky little fucker. Scared the shit out of me!" Simon was first to speak, almost accusing the man, "Why do they come back?" This was the kind of stuff he was interested in I suppose, I leant back eating the last of my ice cream while the man answered. "Usually it's because they've got some unfinished business with the living, something they need to do before they pass over into the spirit world. Some bollocks like that." No one said anything at the response and I started to think of all the people we killed who would have had a reason to want to come back and hurt us. Interrupted when he spoke again, "So, what's the story with you and this probation worker? Have you seen her again since she first appeared?" This piqued my interest. It meant Sally really was back, I turned to Simon looking for a reaction. His eyes were shifting from person to person before he denied the question. He let out a whistle with with a small smile spoke, excited to show off his talent. "OK. Let's see if we can communicate with her."
He waved his arms in the air, probably a trick from when he was a fake. "Are there any spirits who wish to communicate with somebody present in this room? ls anybody there?" We all looked around the room trying to see if anyone was believing the show. After a moment Kelly groaned, "God, I knew this would be a load of bollocks." The man didn't show any sign of hurt a voice was heard behind us "What is this?" We all immediately whipped our heads to see a familiar girl standing there. Standing up, backing away. She stood still her hands facing outwards at her side. Alisha was the first to break our shocked silence, "Isn't that the girl who brainwashed us?" Curtis laughed as if this was a joke turning to the man, "That's really impressive." I couldn't take my eyes off her, my voice was cold when it came out, "That's the wrong spirit." I glared at the medium as if this was really his fault and she stepped towards us, scared. "What's going on?" Alisha turned her head to face the medium, "It's that dickhead. He brought you back." He bowed his head and spoke swiftly, "OK, you guys. Obviously you've got some issues to sort out, lots to talk about." He started to stumble on his words as he stepped back, "I've got to make some phone calls, so I'll leave you to it." All eyes fell back on the ghost waiting to see what she would say.
Rudy was the first to move, walking towards her introducing himself. "I'm Rudy. Aloha." He laughed turning to Simon, "It's Hawaiian." Her voice was quiet, "Will someone please tell me why I'm here?" Alisha tsked before sizing her up, "Really?! You'd better not be here to fuck with us again." We had all kind of ganged up on her but given what she had done our caution was reasonable. "Sorry about the whole brainwashing thing. Got a little bit carried away." She tried to apologize but the only person to respond was Rudy. "Hey, don't sweat it. It's fine." I turned towards him and huffed, "You weren't even there!" He nodded sagely and turned to her once again, "Yeah, I know, but you forgive and you forget, man. And I forgive you." She raised an eyebrow in question, "For what?" Rudy shrugged, "For whatever it was they were talking about." Simon was the next to speak, "What's it like? Being dead." A rather loaded question but knowing that he was dead, I assumed it was important to him. She sighed disappointed in her afterlife, "Well, the big news is there's no God." There was a chant of excitement from Rudy. "Thank fuck for that!" She glared at his outburst. "I might've done one or two things that weren't exactly... Christian in the strictest sense of the word." Her voice was filled with disappointed, it was almost pitiful. "Well, none of it matters anyway, so..."
"Yeah, if there's no God. That's a result."
"It's all right for you. I dedicated my whole life to Him. I was always so good. I never swore or drank or took drugs." She started to get more animated questioning her decisions. "I never even kissed a boy. I was always just worrying about trying to do the right thing." Rudy stepped closer as the rest of us silently looked at each other, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do. "What's the right thing? Mm? You know, is it right to sleep with your best friend's mother? No. Pfft..." I tore my eyes away from the others and our silent communication to ask her the most important question. "So, do you think this is why you came back, so you could do some stuff you missed out on?" Kelly lent back on her chair still staring, "Well, you're already dead. I don't think it could hurt. You might actually enjoy it." She smiled at the idea unware that Rudy was unzipping his jumpsuit. "Would you like to see my penis?" She looked him and down before nodding her head a little before a spark ignited in her eyes "FUCK, yes!" Rudy thankfully zipped his jumpsuit back up, waving his hand behind his head. "All right! I expect we'll have a few drinks first." So we set off to try and find her some alcohol.
We were sitting in the hall with some of the old wheelchairs. Simon had gone to the locker room, I had wanted to follow him but he smiled and told me he was fine. Kelly had also gone off having received a message from Seth and left to go talk to him. "Amazing." Rachel was holding a bottle of Vodka and drinking from it quickly, "This is fucking brilliant!" She then slowly closed the bottle staring at Curtis. He tried to question her but gained no response as she just struggled to walk over to him. Eventually she just fell on him attempting to kiss him much to everyone else's disgust before Curtis stood up causing her to fall to the floor. In the same moment Kelly burst into the room. "It's the probation worker." She gasped for breath walking towards us, "He's come back from the dead or something. He's just chased me!" There was a bang on the glass as a shadow covered the door window. "The first one we killed is out there!" There was an urgency that spread through the group that Rachel was unaffected by mumbling on the floor cradling her face. Curtis pulled her up but before we had turned the first corner she could be heard talking again. I slowed to look back to see her grabbing Curtis' arm pleading with him, "I want you to have sex with me!" The rest of the group stopped unsure of what we were supposed to do and then Rudy spoke up, "Wait! I'll do that. I've already got a semi." There was barely time to roll my eyes before the door in front of us opened, revealing our very first probation worker.
Kelly was at the front of the pack and hit him in the head with the fire extinguisher Rudy had been using earlier. "You think you can try and kill us again?" She screamed as she hit him. He moved to protect his head, something he hadn't worried about last time he came to attack us. "No!" He shouted as Kelly continued hitting him. "This time, you're going to stay dead!" Alisha called out in a strange attempt to help as he spoke again, "Stop hitting me! I'm not gonna hurt you." His voice was filled with anger and it was hard to figure out if he was telling the truth. I glared at him for a moment "You tried to kill us!" He looked at the ground and shook his head, "Yeah, I know. It was the storm. It turned me psycho. It's not who I am!" He stood up reaching for his head where blood was visibly dripping. "Jesus, that hurt!" Kelly stepped towards him again, fire extinguisher still in hand, "So, why did you chase me just then?" He struggled to find words, "I was just trying to talk to you. Trying to figure out why I'm here." Curtis stepped forward trying to get away from Rachel who was trying to wrap her arms around him. 'You know your girlfriend, Sally? Yeah... She's back, too. At least, her spirit is." I turned to glare at him. He died, he had no idea and Sally may have been some way to get on his good side. "Sally's dead? How did she die?" His voice was quiet, I turned back to him looking us all in the eyes. No one could answer though. "You killed her as well?!" Rachel had finally succeeded in getting Curtis in her grasp. She barely looked at Tony, "They killed me too. I'm a spirit like you." She moved on, looking up at Curtis. "Can we have sex now, please?" Rudy looked at the two before standing forward with his hand out in greeting "I'm Rudy. I'm new." Tony ignored him turning and staring at me "Where's Sally?" I couldn't tell him and we were interrupted by Rachel's pleading again. "Will you please have sex with me?" I looked at him questionably "Are you gonna shag a ghost?" Alisha turned to look at him disgusted, "She's fucking dead!" Curtis seemed to think it over "Only technically." Rudy laughed at the absurdity, "What would your mam say, eh, if she knew you were shagging a dead girl? You're better than that, mate. I'll do it. Come on." Curtis tilted his head finally accepting her request. She smiled smugly and left the room. The rest of us were in shock before Tony pushed past us uninterested in the petty squabbling. "I must find Sally." With Tony and the adrenaline gone I realized how long it had been since I'd seen Simon. I turned to look at Alisha and Kelly, my face fallen. We had killed a lot of people, what if one of them wanted revenge.
After searching the whole building I had found nothing, Kelly and Alisha were trying to help calm me down while Rudy was preoccupied mumbling about missing out on sex with Rachel. My chest was tight as I felt like giving up. There might not have been a body but if Simon had just left something was wrong. Alisha had been rubbing my arm to console me as Kelly paced in front of us. "Maybe he had to run? Like with me and Tony, yeah? You should try calling him or something." Alisha nodded enthusiastically and I held out hope pulling my phone out. I bit my lip thinking and slowly walked out into the corridor, glancing around I couldn't see any one else so I hit call and held the phone up to my ear. I waited listening silently pleading with Simon or perhaps the world for an answer. Only for the call to be cut off. I wanted to scream, to throw my phone on the ground as if it was its fault. I hit my head against the wall, heart beating as I tried to calm myself. I opened the door slowly. The girls were whispering and I could guess it was about me and how things seemed to always be going wrong recently. They stopped as soon as I was visible only confirming my fears of their topic. "Nothing..." I swallowed harshly, shaking my head. "I guess I'll have to wait till the day is over." I knew I could have just left now. With no probation worker there really was no reason to stay. I was just scared of what I would find and what it would mean for my future. Something was clearly up with Simon.
Everyone had caught back up on our wheelchairs with the exception of Tony. Rachel was trying a cigarette and I found myself calling Simon again. Hoping that it was a fluke and this time he would answer. I got nothing again. I tried to hide my disappointment, feeling sad eyes from Kelly and Alisha. I turned to see what was happening. Rachel had taken the cigarette out and was holding it all in as Rudy coached her. "Let all the lovely goodness sink in. And... breathe." She let out her breath. I found my self fidgeting barely able to pay attention to them. Tony walked in, surprised to see us just sitting in the hall. "What are you doing?" Alisha lent in her wheelchair as if trying to prove a point. "We are relaxing." He looked at us confused, "Haven't head office sent another probation worker to replace Sally?" I nodded my head unable to speak in the moment. Curtis was more nonchalant. "Got stabbed to death by a coma girl who body-swapped with Kelly." Kelly's face fit her words as she nodded, "Shit happens." Curtis spoke again, telling the whole story for the first time. "The one they sent to replace him, she got attacked by a zombie cheerleader. He battered her to death with a baseball bat." He pointed at Rudy who was wheeling back and forth on the two main wheels of his chair. "Mmm. She had a shocker of a day." He gave up sighing and gesturing to the machine "What happened to the vending machine?" Rudy laughed, "Oh, that's a funny thing, that. I was carrying the fire extinguisher and I tripped and fell into it... repeatedly." Rachel stepped in with a laugh, "I'm off my fucking tits!"
Tony was taken back at the situation, "Look at you. You're out of control. Completely immoral. You're feral." Alisha wheeled herself forward sick of the conversation. "Right." She cleared her throat, "All we have ever done is defend ourselves from you and every other fucker that's tried to kill us. We've done our best, and if you've got a problem with that, then fuck you!" There was a feeling of solidarity as Curtis nodded and Kelly let out an impressed scoff. "Like you're so perfect?! Sort your own shit out. I think we've done all right, considering." Alisha started to turn around finished with her speech. Rudy agreed with her, "I think we've done more than all right, love." He moved forward but instead of talking to Tony simply pointed at the hole he had made in the vending machine. "Free chocolate." Tony sighed, turning away from the rest of us "I've got to find Sally." I felt a connection to him, to his pain. He had been Sally for much longer, but it was still hard. After the confrontation I received a text from Simon. A video file. I waited till I was alone to hit play, assuring the others I would be fine for a moment.
I had the answer to both of mine and Tony's missing people. The video revealed Sally and Simon standing in our flat, Sally taking off her top. I watched as she kissed Simon and he accepted, allowing himself to fall back on the bed. I watched another moment praying that he would stop, that he meant it when he said he wouldn't hurt me. But with no end in sight I shut the video. My heart seemed heavy, it's beating pounding in my ears as I struggled to calm myself down. I was unable to go back to the others, they would have their hands full with Rachel and wouldn't miss me for a few more minutes. I sunk to the ground in the locker room. I exhaled slowly trying to get a grip on my emotions when the door opened. I held my breath not wanting to call attention to my pathetic situation. Then I saw who it was in a reflection. Simon. He had come back here acting like everything was fine. I stood as wobbly as my voice, "I've always loved you." Simon turned caught off guard by my sudden appearance.
"How could you do that to me?" My voice was clear despite my struggles, "You had sex with her... in our bed." I focused on my breathing, the floor, anything but Simon and the video playing in my head as I spoke again. "And... you send me a video of it." I closed my eyes gathering my strength, "Why would you do that?!" He stared at me struggling for a defense, "It's not what you think. I didn't have sex with her!" His voice dropped in volume, almost a whisper. As if that would make the situation better. "I thought I was supposed to..." It seemed hopeless, I shouted back "You were supposed to cheat on me?!" He shrunk back, his struggling fueling my anger instead of diminishing it, "I was... I was trying to help..." I squinted at him, questioning if he believed it, "I trusted you! You can't do this!" He tried to call my name apologize but I was done. I stormed past, his hand reaching out to touch me. A pause in my stride as I spat my words out "Don't fucking touch me." I continued to the sound of his pleading, "It's not what you think. It's complicated." I reached the door with a scoff, my voice now even "No, it isn't." I closed the door, hearing my name called out again ignoring it. I walked past the others my momentum pushing me. As soon as I was out of sight, I felt a façade fall, I hid behind a strangers face and walked to the only quiet place. The roof.
I had only been up for a couple of moments, letting my tears finally falling. "You're not who I was expecting." I turned to find Sally standing in the doorway of the roof. I stepped back, closer to the edge, unconsciously deciding the fall would be better then seeing her. Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Or maybe you are... where else could she have gone." I swallowed unable to think of a defense with my jumbled mind. If I should revert back to me. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Her voice was filled with venom. I let my disguise melt away, even if she had the wrong person she wasn't going to stop now. The pain felt insignificant and my voice was tiny, "Why are you doing this?" She spoke in contradiction to me, sure and strong. "You killed Tony. I want Simon to know how it feels to lose everything." She started to walk towards me, I glanced behind me looking for an exit only to see the ground below me. Knowing it was deadly after Nathan's first accident. Instead I turned and look her straight in the eyes, "And I want him to know that you died hating him." She rushed forward trying to shove me, I managed to grab onto her top and keep my feet grounded. In amongst my struggling a voice called out for Sally. She stopped for a moment to see, allowing me access to my friend's faces. Simon was the closest to me and I felt another stab of betrayal. barely hearing Tony pleading for my life. Sally's voice was clear though, "They killed you." My attention was back on them despite my peril. "It was the storm. Turned me crazy. You always said I had a temper." Tony's voice was soft. "I attacked them. I would've killed them. It was self defense." It was true, he was trying to kill us, but I felt a little sad, he was really good at his job. "This isn't why you're here. You're not here for revenge. Let her go." She listened, Sally let got me and I gasped, my life no longer in danger I was exhausted and my adrenaline was already falling. Tony smiled, pleased to see her no longer filled with pain and rage. "I have missed you so much." I couldn't see her face but Sally's voice was thick with tears. "I never thought I'd see you again!" She rushed forward and they kissed. A moment later they had simply disappeared.
I stood still, with no energy to move. Simon stepped forward, all our friends still behind him. "I didn't have sex with her." My voice was quiet, but despite the wind and distance he heard me, "I saw you." He walked closer. "I kissed her. I thought I had to because I killed her. As I was kissing her, all I could think about was you." There was pain in his voice as well, "I never want to be with anyone else. Kissing her only made me realize how much I love you." I held back a sob, and smiled a little. "I couldn't go through with it." I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him. I held onto him like a life raft. Even as we walked back down the stairs. Everyone else was walking ahead in their own discussion when I dragged Simon off to the locker room alone. There was no needs for words, just our bodies. We simply worked together perfectly. We were ready to leave and join the group, their voices faintly drafting in through the door. I turned at the last moment reaching for Simon's face and a final kiss. My smile large as things finally felt secure. We would finish our community service, we would have a child. Hell, it was probably time we moved into a real house, leaving behind our superhero life. Keeping only our friends, because I knew I didn't want to lose them.
I hadn't noticed the voices had stopped as I opened the door. My smile still on my face as I walked forward, ready to see the others. To tell Kelly and Alisha what had happened. I didn't see what Rachel had in her hand, but I felt the pain. Blood rising and filling my mouth while she disappeared in a light. My hand reached up, attempting to stop the pain but I could feel the blood covering it immediately as I fell backwards. A scream from behind me, the arms that had grabbed me. "No!" I struggled to breathe, trying desperately to focus on Simon as he cradled my head, sobbing wracking his body as he pleaded to the others. "Get an ambulance! No..." His eyes stayed on mine, a small relief as I lay, blood pooling out of my mouth hot. I coughed a little still struggling to live even though it was fruitless. It was all too hard. My eyes slowly slipped shut, a silent whisper for forgiveness as Simon continued to watch me, tears streaming down his face as he repeated no, almost unaware of his own state. My last moment I tried to focus on something other then the pain. My hand on my stomach, the baby inside. The tears on my face. It was sadness, but it was also love.
*This chapter is based on Season 3 Episode 8 of British Television Drama Misfits I wrote it purely out of passion so it isn't perfect or an attempt to steal any works from Howard Overman or anyone else*