Squak! Ch-ch-cheiiiiiiiiiii!

Jaiden snapped her head up and fixed her slouched posture.

"Ari?"

Cheiiiiii! Squak-squak!

The sound of feathers slamming against a wall and even more shrieking got Jaiden moving. She jumped up from the cushioned chair, snatched her tablet pen, and sprinted to the source of her bird's panicked calls.

"Ari, I'm coming!"

Like a protective mother she burst into the living room, held the pen out as if it was a mini sword, and her other hand formed into a tight fist. But no person or animal in sight was freaking out poor Ari. Jaiden winced as she watched her bird crash into a window before recovering quickly. He flew in an unpredictable pattern, seeming to turn his head slightly, then soared in another direction. It almost looked like he was avoiding something she couldn't see.

"Calm down, Ari! What's gotten into you?!"

Her mind racked through possibilities of why he suddenly got hyped up.

"Was it the strawberry you had this morning?" She half-yelled, "It was a little too sweet, right?"

Ari didn't acknowledge her. He kept zooming around in zig-zags, constantly switching between flying just above the floor and super close to the ceiling.

"This must be a sugar rush."

She rubbed her forehead with the tip of her fingers.

"This is what I get for being an irresponsible human."

That's when she noticed a faint panting sound following Ari's beeline. Jaiden peered at the living room window, but she couldn't see a dog roaming outside.

"Ari..?" She listened closely, picking up the strange sound again over the birds' fluttering wings, "Are you making that noise?"

Jaiden focused her attention to Ari's head. While he continued to rush around the room, she heard the panting sound again---louder this time---but Ari's beak remained closed. Her breathing quickened and she remained frozen in her spot.

Am I hearing noises from staying up until 3:00 am? Is my mind making up the sound because I'm fried up from working 4 hours nonstop on my next video?

Or was Ari....humming? Do birds even hum? Sure, maybe the hummingbird can, but she recalled reading about it and the book stated that they 'hum' because it was the sound their little wings made. If Ari wasn't making the panting noise, then maybe the wind--

Her train of thought was interrupted by a new sound. Jaiden swerved around and held the pen an arms length in front of her. Her hands started to quiver and her feet were catching on, too. To her relief, nothing was behind her. The sound came again. To her ears, it was a thumping of padded feet. Small feet. Four feet.

Is my house becoming paranormal?! What in the actual heck is happening?!

She turned around again, scanned the living room, and witnessed Ari lose his mind. He crashed headfirst into Jaiden's face.

"OW!"

His sharp beak dug into the bridge of her nose, then jerked away. Feathers swatted against her shut tight eyes. In the 2 second chaos, she dropped her pen. Ari flew off, squawking like before. His chirping grew distant, so he was most likely freaking out in another room. Jaiden slowly opened her eyes.

Yep, he's gone.

Her hand reached up to touch a stinging sensation on her nose. When she pulled away, a dark red liquid dripped off her finger. She sighed.

"Woof!"

Jaiden froze.

Either she was losing her mind, or a dog was inside the house. Her feet stayed glued to the floor, but she checked her surroundings with quick glances.

"Um, hello?"

She waited, but no response--paranormal or not-- came to her.

Ugh, I can't believe I'm losing it! What do I need to regain my sanity? An 8 hour nap?!

"Woof! Woof!"

She could swear that the source of the barking was coming from right in front of her, but there wasn't a thing in her way other than a couch and clean wooden floor. Jaiden covered her ears and closed her eyes tight. She forgot a bit of blood was on her hand, but at this point it didn't matter. Her heart increased speed and a throbbing pain emerged from the back of her head.

There can't be a dog inside the house! I closed every door last night!

"Woof-woof-woof!"

She pressed her palms against her skull harder. A faint whimpering sound reached her ears. For a split second, she forgot the creepy factor of the situation and opened her eyes.

No way...

By her feet was a Shetland Shepard wagging its tail and staring directly at Jaiden. Her tablet pen was secured in its mouth. Something about the way it looked at her sent chills over her body. The dog titled its head. Another whimper echoed in the room. Jaiden couldn't take it any longer.

She screamed.

The dog didn't flinch. It drooped it head down, gently placed the black pen inches away from her bare toes, and let out a soft bark. After that, it gazed into her eyes one last time and faded away. Everything was silent in the house for a good minute.

Then she screamed again.

Jaiden stumbled back, creating as much distance as possible between her and the pen. When her back rammed into a wall, she stopped.

That dog...

She gulped, and pushed back the undeniable yet impossible thought. Her feet shuffled sideways, moving alongside the wall until she found her way into her room. Jaiden peeled away from it, grabbed the phone from her bed, and retreated to being pressed against the wall. With jittery fingers (the ones without dried blood) she called the one person who would help and not judge her.

"J-James?"

A voice on the other end sent his greetings, but Jaiden cut him off.

"I think I saw Kaisha."

~~~~~~~~~~

James raised an eyebrow,

"Who?"

"KAISHA!"

He held the phone away from his ear, confused at Jaiden's raised voice.

"The dog my parents had when I was a baby!"

Wait, what?

James put the phone back next to the side of his head,

"You mean you saw a dog that looked like her."

"No..." Jaiden's voice grew dark as she continued, "I saw her. Her ghost, but ghosts don't exist."

He gave a blank look at his phone,

"What?"

And Jaiden explained everything. How Ari freaked out for no reason, the weird sounds, and Kaisha appearing out of thin air then vanishing.

"I can't find any explanation for it," his friend rambled, "she held my pen in her mouth and she put it down in front of me--and--but...she looked so real, like I could reach out and pet her. I think Ari bumping into me did something to my head."

James smirked,

"A bird was strong enough to knock your brain and make you see things?"

"Uh...yeah, you're right. I must sound so stupid."

He shook his head,

"No, I think...I think--well--weird things happen all the time, 'kay? It's nothing to worry about."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jaiden sank to the floor, sitting with her knees tucked underneath her. She was struggling to deny the recent event or at least dismiss it with a rational reason, but to hear that her friend brushed it off like it was nothing....it made her sick in the stomach.

"You're kidding, you're joking...right James?" Her words trembled, "Ha-ha sarcasm, 'nothing to worry about'?"

"No. I'm giving out my full opinion. Whatever you saw, there has to be a logical explanation behind it."

Jaiden took in a deep breath to calm herself, to mentally tell herself that James was probably right. But her ranting came out timid,

"Okay, if this helps explain it: I've been working on a new video. I started late at night yesterday and stopped around 3 am. As of today, I put in 4 more hours. Do you think I hallucinated from animating too much?"

There was a pause, a short frame of quietness as she imagined James thinking on the other end. He said,

"I've put in a crazy ton of hours on videos, too. But that didn't make me see things. You don't have an illness that causes hallucinations and haven't been outside in the sun, right Jaiden?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then this means you weren't under a condition where you'd see imaginary things." 

          It was Jaiden's turn to think,

"So...what caused all of this to happen?"

          She knew James was a smart guy. He excelled at math, backed up real problems with common sense, so he could figure this out. Jaiden put a ton of trust in him in the past, just as she relied on him now.

"You know," he started, "if you believe  in ghosts, everything makes sense."

          Her eyebrow arched, she narrowed her eyes at the phone,

"Explain." 

          "When you coexisted with Kaisha, you were young and didn't have any memories of her. She, on the other hand, fully remembered you before passing away. My mom believes in ghosts and spirits and all that: she said that family members who died have the opportunity to visit their loved ones. Since you never really knew Kaisha, maybe she came back for a while to visit you: to remind you that she still loves you."

          It took a while to let his words sink in. If spirits were in the list of what Jaiden believed in...then it gave a clear outlook on the situation. If ghosts existed in her world, then Kaisha simply relived her loyalty to Jaiden. She said,

"This is...starting to make sense. But, uh, you got any other explanation?"

"Not really. Maybe the 'did you imagine it'. Though, you said that the dog picked up your pen soooo that couldn't have been a figment of your imagination. Not if it's in a different physical location."

She shrugged,

"Guess you're kinda right. Anyways, I've gotta hang up, need to make sure Ari has calmed down by now. Bye."

She waited until James said his goodbyes, then ended the phone call. With a heave, she pushed herself off the floor and went searching for Ari.
Not even a minute passed when she found him pacing back and forth underneath the kitchen chairs.

"Ari..." she chuckled, "everything's okay now."

She bent down, held out a finger and her bird grasped his toes on it. Jaiden steadily rose her hand until she was eye to eye with Ari.

Squak.

"Don't worry, I'm here."

Ari tilted his head. He showed every sign of being calmed down, and Jaiden was starting to cool off as well. 

Maybe ghosts do exist.

         Jaiden scratched the back of Ari's neck, and walked to the living room. She eyed the tablet pen on the floor. It hadn't moved since the supposed ghost of Kaisha left it there. 

Maybe James is right.

         She lowered her hand to rest on top of a couch. Ari moved off her finger and waddled off. Jaiden took a small step forward and slowly picked up her pen off the floor, half-expecting it to dissolve into thin air. However, the object remained a solid as she held it close to her face for inspection. Nothing had changed about it. No teeth marks. No drool. No warmth. 

Maybe...

          Jaiden walked to her room and plopped down on her comfy chair. She adjusted the drawing tablet in front of her and twirled the pen between her fingers. All fear and worry she was chained up to had washed away.

...'it's nothing to worry about.'

*********
A/N
I forgot to mention this earlier (because I was lazy) but the cover art belongs to Marco on AminoApp.