#13

Summary:

Michael is diagnosed with schizophrenia, however he knows that the doctors are wrong for diagnosing him this way. He knows that the people that follow him around are real, he just doesn't know how.

"So, Michael, have you been taking your medication?" My normal therapist asked me.
"Yeah but it makes me drowsy," I replied with no emotion whatsoever in my voice.
"Yeah? It makes you relaxed, calm," She continued. I nodded, looking back at her.
"Okay, I'll try to get you a new medication that won't make you so drowsy. But, there's something else I'd like to talk about, Michael," She told me, folding her hands. I nodded, waiting for her to go on.
"Have you been hearing the voices?" She asked me.
It took me a minute to nod and mutter a feeble 'yes'. She nodded and smiled and I felt calm until I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"But, they're not just voices. They're real people. I know they are," I continued, feeling the gentle approving pat that Geoff gave me on my shoulder.
"Michael, I promise you these people aren't real. It's all in that head of yours. It's just your imagination," She told me, writing things down in her notepad.
"But, it can't be my imagination. If it was my imagination then how come I've seen them all my life? How come they haven't changed completely? How come they have their own set personalities, names, appearances, nationalities... One of them's British. If it was my imagination, then how come they feel so real?" I asked her, hearing the satisfied sounds of Geoff and Jack.
"Well, the imagination is a very powerful thing, Michael, yours being exceptionally powerful. It's very possible that you based these people off of real things in your life that you once saw, and therefore the realness factor went up because of that," She explained.
"Can I suggest something?" I asked abruptly.
"Of course," She said, surprised by my question.
"What if I didn't have schizophrenia? What if I was actually a sane person? Like... What if these people are... Or were actually real at one point?" I asked her, easing in on the topic.
"What are you suggesting?" She asked me, getting her pen ready.
"What if I could talk to ghosts?" I asked with the slightest bit of excitement in my voice. My therapist gave me a look that told me that she actually did think I was crazy.
"Well, do you believe in ghosts?" She asked me, setting her pen back down.
"Well, not ghosts per say but I do believe in lost souls. What if these people that I can see and communicate with are actually lost souls? Souls that want to be freed from the constraints they've been given. What if they chose me, for some odd reason, to be the person to help them?" I asked her, already knowing that the group of people behind me were smiling.
"What if I'm meant to free their souls? And... If I am... Then I'll do it. Once I figure out how," I said, feeling the pats and hearing the happy noises behind me.

I dashed upstairs, all the way to the attic. I liked to spend a lot of my time up there, just because it was dark and spacious and gave me a lot of room and time to think.
And to be by myself with my friends.
"What did you guys think?" I asked the group as they fanned out around me, taking their respective places in the room.
I watched as Geoff sat on a spiny chair and popped open a beer. I still didn't know where he got them, even after knowing about him for ten years.
Jack sat next to him, in his own spiny chair. He smiled politely to me, always having the kind and friendly aura surrounding him.
Then there was Ryan who plopped down on a couch that sat directly in front of me. He kicked his legs up and twitched from time to time.
Ray collapsed into a beanbag in the corner of the room. He sighed in contentment letting himself whisper 'yolo' after.
Then, there was Gavin.
Where was Gavin?
I suddenly felt a hand get placed on my shoulder and I jumped slightly. Gavin always had a way of being... Mysterious. But he always loved to scare me anyway possible.
I turned my gaze towards him, seeing his young and smiling face. Although I first met Gavin when he was four, me being five, he wasn't four now. He was still a year younger than me, but I was eighteen now, making him seventeen.
Gavin was the only one that really aged with me. The rest had stayed their same ages, Geoff stuck at twenty nine, Jack, twenty seven, Ryan, twenty four and Ray, sixteen.
But, maybe it was because Gavin was the first of them I had met.
I thought back to that day on the playground. Gavin had been sitting on top of the monkey bars. When I walked under them, he let himself dangle from his legs from there. He had scared the living hell out of me, but he quickly made up for it with his friendship.
Everyday, I met Gavin at the park on the monkey bars. Or at least, up until I was eight. That was when my mom had noticed I was 'talking to myself' and she figured I needed to get physiological help.
However, I still made sure I saw Gavin everyday, and he made sure he saw me.
The rest of the guys kind of came along gradually. I met Geoff when there was a drunk driving accident and tons of people surrounded the cars to see what was going on. I met Jack when I had to be in the hospital overnight due to some food poisoning I had. I met Ryan when I walked past a mental hospital and he kind of followed along with me. I met Ray when I was walking across a bridge and he happened to be there, staring down at the water.
These guys had just always been there.
"I thought it was pretty good. What about you guys?" Geoff said. The others muttered an agreement.
I nodded, and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, Gavin standing right next to me, a bit close. He had always done that and it had never really bothered me.
"Um... Anyway, I think I'm gonna go... Study or something," I told them, beginning to turn around and go back down the stairs.
"Study? You never study," Ray said, looking up.
"Well... Maybe it's time to start. Please don't follow me. I really just need some time alone," I told them, beginning to walk down the stairs to my room.
However, as I closed the door, I heard them begin muttering amongst themselves. I listened closely, wondering what they could be talking about.
"What if he finds out, Geoff? What if he tries to banish us?" Ray asked timidly.
"He won't find out. We destroyed every last record. He won't find out," Geoff whispered reassuringly.
I backed away in wonder, wondering what they could be talking about.
I quickly closed the door all the way and dashed to my room, locking the door and grabbing my laptop, beginning to look up information about the five guys.

"There's nothing. How could there be nothing. They aren't imaginary... They can't be," I muttered to myself.
It was going on one in the morning and I hadn't found a single bit of information about any of the guys. It was strange.
"You're not gonna find anything," I heard a British voice mutter.
Again, I jumped, almost flinging my laptop across the room. Gavin smiled a bit and approached me, sitting on the edge of my bed.
"You guys aren't imaginary. I know you're not," I told him.
"And I'm here to tell you that I'm not. Far from it actually," Gavin told me.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Look, I promised the guys I wouldn't let you find the documents... But I'm much closer to you than any of them so... I'm gonna show you the documents. You can do whatever you wish with them," Gavin told me.
I blinked in surprise at him, however, I was also very confused. Gavin just offered me a hand and pulled me from my bed, leading me out of the room.
Gavin led my through my house all the way to the basement. I felt a shiver race down my spine as he opened the door and began leading me down the stairs.
I hated the basement. It was the creepiest place you could possibly imagine. The walls were just cement blocks with graffiti all over them and the floor was just hard packed dirt. It was horrifying.
Gavin led me through all the rooms, stopping at one in particular. I gulped and pulled out my phone, turning on the flashlight. Gavin stepped back and let me peer inside the room.
There wasn't anything in there except a recently dug up spot in the ground. I looked back at Gavin, watching him nod towards it. I stepped into the room, looking at the spot. I began to dig through the dirt until I felt my fingers hit something hard.
I dug in deeper, eventually wrapping my fingers around the object. I pulled it from the ground, seeing that it was a wooden box. I looked at Gavin again, seeing that he was no longer there. When I looked forward, I saw him sitting in front of me. I jumped slightly, almost cussing out loud.
"Open it," Gavin said, his voice echoing in the room.
I slowly lifted the flap on the box and opened it.
Inside were papers. Five professional looking papers. I dusted off my hands and looked at the papers, gingerly picking them up. Some were older than others, already noticeably yellowing. Gavin watched me sift through the papers, reading some of the words.
"Geoff Ramsey... Time of death: 11:54pm. Cause of death: car accident. Driver was noticeably intoxicated and hit a car head on. Was killed on impact," I whispered reading through the oldest document. I read the date on the paper, noticing it was over twenty years old.
"Jack Pattillo... Time of death: 2:38pm. Cause of death: heart failure. Patient went to the hospital complaining of chest pains. Had a heart attack and doctors were unable to revive him," I whispered again, reading through the second oldest document.
"James (Ryan) Haywood... Time of death: 3:33am. Cause of death: insanity. Patient was admitted into mental hospital after being found harboring a mistreated cow in his basement-," I giggled slightly at that, looking up at Gavin and seeing him smirking. "Patient mysteriously died in their sleep with no evidence surrounding how."
"Ray Narvaez Jr... Time of death: 10:29am. Cause of death: Freak accident. Person jumped off a bridge trying to perform a stunt and suffered fatal head injury after the jump." I whispered, reading through Ray's document. "Freak accident?"
"His friends bet him to try and do at least three front flips before landing in the water," Gavin explained. I nodded, wondering why the hell Ray thought that would be smart.
Eventually, I came across the last document. I slowly lifted it from the box, catching Gavin's eye for a moment before reading the document.
"Gavin Free... Time of death: 4:32pm. Cause of death: Murder...-" I trailed off, looking up at Gavin. Gavin didn't look at me and instead kept his eyes glued to the document in my hands.
"Child was found with a gunshot wound in Austin Elementary playground," I whispered.
I kept my eyes glued to the last document. All the guys... They actually died. So, I was right. They were all ghosts.
When I finally looked up again, I noticed Gavin had disappeared. I spun my head around, trying to find him but he literally just vanished. I sighed and put all the documents in the box and closed it again. I stood up, box in hand, as I made my way back upstairs.
I opened the door and closed it again, going back up to the attic. As I walked past the kitchen, I heard my mom call me so I walked in there.
"Hey sweetie. What were you doing downstairs? I thought you hated it down there," My mother asked me.
"Um... Yeah. I was..." I got cut off.
"What's that?" She asked me, referring to the box.
I stopped and looked at the box, wondering if I should tell her or not. It would feel so nice to finally prove once and for all that I wasn't crazy and that 'the voices' were actually real people.
However, I thought back to when the guys were talking in the attic. My mother was religious, no doubt on that. If she knew I had ghosts following me around all the time she would defiantly have someone perform a blessing or an exorcism or something on me.
Then I would lose the guys forever.
And they'd be banished to God knows where.
"Michael?" She asked me gently.
"Um... Remember how I didn't want people stealing my rare Pokemon cards. I just remembered where I put them and I wanted to see how they held up," I told her, smiling. My mom rolled her eyes and smiled, stroking my cheek gently.
"You were obsessed with those cards," She said. She let me go afterwards and I ran back upstairs, all the way to the attic.
I opened the door and searched the room, immediately noticing the guys weren't there. I sighed and sat on the floor, setting the box in front of me.
"I know who you guys are," I said into the darkness.
"It's okay. I'm not gonna banish you or anything," I said, rubbing the box gently.
"In fact... I guess I feel closure knowing that you actually aren't in my head. I was beginning to have doubts but now... I can finally feel relieved to know I'm not crazy," I said, opening the box.
"It's amazing to think that you guys have your own stories to tell. I'd love to hear them sometime. Especially Ray's," I said, giggling slightly.
Just then they all appeared. All of them. They stood in front of me in a straight line, looking down on me. They looked very intimidating that way but when I caught their smiles, I instantly relaxed.
They all sat in front of me, minus Gavin who sat next to me. They stared at the box as if daring me to open it.
So I did.
They all stood up and retrieved their documents and held them, staring down at them. Some of them laughed and smiled, like Ray and Ryan, while others rolled their eyes and scoffed, like Geoff and Jack. However, Gavin just kept a blank look.
"What are you gonna do with us if you're not gonna banish us?" Ray asked, the first one to break the silence.
"I don't know. I guess just leave things how they are. I'm not telling anyone that you guys are actually ghosts. I couldn't give you guys up after you've been in my life for so long," I told them. They all nodded and smiled.
That night they all individually told me their stories. Well, everyone but Gavin. They told me of their lives before, how some of them were married and had kids, while others were just getting to the prime of their lives. It was depressing to think they were shot down in the most important times of their lives, and so young too.
Eventually, my mother came up, of course questioning me on who I was talking with. I didn't say anything, like I usually did, and followed her downstairs so I could go to bed.
I laid in my bed, staring out my window into the night sky. I still had my friends. Even if my friends were ghosts, I still had them.
I suddenly felt a weight behind me and I looked back to see Gavin sitting there. I raised my eyebrow at him. Usually he didn't come in when I was going to sleep.
"Would you like to hear my story?" He asked me. I immediately nodded sitting up and smiling.
So he told me his story. And I'm not gonna lie, it was very depressing. He explained how he hadn't a care in the world at that time in his life. He was just a little boy waiting to be older so he could do incredible things with his life. However that quickly came to a stop with that one fatal shot to the stomach. He explained how he laid there for hours, moaning and trying to call out for help, feeling absolutely and utterly helpless. He eventually bled out and finally died. He explained that his spirit stayed at the playground until the day I came along. He told me he felt safe around me so he stuck to me.
"If you had never came to that park... I'd probably still be there, a little four year old waiting for the day when he could finally grow up," He told me.
I nodded and sighed, rubbing my eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be killed at four years old.
"So, since you came along with me, you were able to grow up?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded, taking my hand gently in his. It was ice cold, but I had found the feeling to be soothing.
"And I was able to feel everything that comes with growing up. All the careless stages and awkward stages. And... The emotions," Gavin said, trailing off at the end.
"Emotions?" I asked.
He nodded and blushed, squeezing my hand. It took me a moment to realize what he meant but once I figured it out, I blushed and looked away.
"Oh," I said, giggling slightly.
Suddenly, I felt another ice cold hand touch my face. It sent shivers down my spine but I let it turn my head back to Gavin's. Gavin stared at me with sad, but love filled eyes. I gave him a slight smile and let him move closer to me until our lips just barely grazed each other's.
It was a quick and awkward kiss, but electrifying and, of course, cold. It was the complete opposite of what I always thought a kiss should be, but I loved it none the less.
When he pulled away, I watched him smile and blush. He looked away and giggled slightly, rubbing his hands together.
"I didn't think it was possible to kiss a ghost," I said, laughing at my own statement. Gavin laughed along with me.
"Of course it is. You've watched American Horror Story," Gavin said, smiling and laughing with me.
Suddenly, the air turned heavier and I watched as Gavin turned his gaze back to me. He held my eye contact for several moments before whispering a few words that will forever warm my heart.
"Thank you for saving me, Mi-cool."
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Please read the AN!!!
I really like this one shot. It's a lot different from the others and I really like it for that.
Anyway, I have a question to ask you guys! I've been writing a lot of one shots and there's two that I've recently written that are a little more... inappropriate. Basically, the two one shots are just completely smut. So if you want me to post those, please let me know!
Also, let me know what you thought of this! I love to see your feedback!
Thanks for reading!