"OH, THEY SAY IT'S JUST A STATE OF
MIND, BUT IT HAPPENS TO EVERYONE."
— it's a hard life by queen

☆

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT NEW YORK that Freddie Walker despised. Perhaps it was the constant noise pollution from the city, or maybe it was the fact that so many spirits or the ghosts of the people from before meandered and roamed the streets in search of their 'fated' Havana.

This hatred was only one of the many things running through her mind as she weaved her way through pedestrians, clutching her bag straps as she scowled in annoyance. Another thought swirling in her mind was the fact she was late...again. Not by choice, but because she'd found herself sitting yet another school detention this year.

Freddie wasn't a bad kid— she did good in school and kept to herself. Her only downfall was that her lack of sleep tended to catch up to her during class, resulting in her taking a little, harmless nap during lessons.

She couldn't help it.

Tiredness would just sweep over her, and she couldn't stop her eyes from closing. Her teachers didn't understand, nor did they even try to. So after being yelled at to wake up, sent to the office, given detention and forced to stay in school for an extra two hours, it was safe to say that Freddie was not in a good mood.

The girl huffed in frustration at the boy who followed behind her, his voice grating into her mind as he rambled.

Taking out her headphones, Freddie stopped in her tracks, her heels digging into the floor as she whipped her head around to come eye to eye with Oliver, who looked to her with a mischievous grin.

"If you don't stop talking, I swear-"

"You'll what exactly, Phaedra, aye?"

"Don't call me that...it's Freddie, and you know it." She snapped tiredly, her hand running through her hair as she fumbled with her headphones.

"I know, but it's funny to see your face get all red and angry." The boy shrugged in amusement, earning a scowl from the girl.

"Ugh!" Freddie huffed, a woman passing her eyed the girl up and down at the sight of her declaration. Meeting the woman's nosy eyes and seeing her obnoxious expression, the girl's anger intensified. "What are you looking at?"

Needless to say, the woman kept walking, except this time just a little faster than before.

"Oh, she one hundred percent thinks you're insane," Oliver remarked, as the girl placed a singular headphone into her ear.

"Yeah well," Freddie scowled, "Not like she's being followed by some pubescent, teenage boy with boundary issues."

"Ouch, Phaedra, you wound me." The boy mocked as the girl swiftly pushed her way through a sea of pedestrians. "Besides, it's not my fault I'm stuck with you."

"Why couldn't you have just cleaned up all your loose ends before getting yourself killed!"

"It's not like I knew I was going to be killed!"

"Well, boohoo, you were...now, please, just stop talking." Freddie sighed as the music from her phone drifted through her earphones.

The music helped most of the time. It helped drown out all the noise and the horrors. Of course, the music only helped sometimes, but other than that the girl was haunted by the streams of phantom thoughts and despair.

After the disaster that was her grandfather's funeral, her father and mother finally had an answer to pin to their daughter's out of character behaviour. Since the revelation, the girl's powers expanded and only seemed to worsen over the years.

From extreme headaches to constant nightmares, Freddie had to learn to adapt and cope with her so-called 'gift'. She closed herself off, pushing away anyone who even had the slightest bit of interest in her, and perhaps she was cursing herself to a life of loneliness, but then again, would she ever really be alone?

As the girl turned the corner of the block, her feet carried her towards the building at the end of the street. With Oliver following closely behind, Freddie waltzed into the apartment complex. It was day three of her father being on some 'top-secret' mission for work, and Freddie was getting used to being alone in the apartment. It wasn't unnecessarily an unusual occurrence for her dad to leave her at home whilst he worked, but the quietness of being alone truly was tormenting at times, and evidently never got easier.

Dominic Walker was a good dad... at least, Freddie thought so anyways. He was a fair man, kind and compassionate, he gave her as much freedom as possible as long as she was safe. Freddie knew that he had his list of rules, and for the most part she followed them, even when he was away for work, rules were followed, it was a fair agreement and at least that way she didn't have to be babysat by one of her aunts.

As Freddie climbed the stairs leading to the eleventh floor, she took out her headphones, allowing for them to dangle as she continued.

"Oh, welcome back to reality!" Oliver boomed, his hands slowly clapping earning an agitated scoff from the girl.

"Shut up."

Freddie exited the stairwell, her hands fumbling for her keys. She found herself stopping in front of her neighbour's door and with a sigh of dread, the girl knocked on the door.

Rule number four, when her dad was away for work, she had to check in with her neighbour upon exiting and entering the building.

There was a shuffling sound from inside the apartment before Ms Davis opened the door with her signature smile.

"Ah, Phaedra," the older woman doted, as Freddie resisted the urge to scoff at the use of her full name. "Detention again or adventure?"

"Detention again." The girl mumbled feebly, her hands pulling at the cuffs of her jumper.

"Well, come in, come in," Ms Davis gestured, "I have some extra food, join me for dinner?"

In all honesty, Freddie liked the woman and she knew that Ms Davis longed for the company. So, although all the girl wanted to do was retire for the evening, she found herself nodding and entering the older woman's apartment.

After three, long hours of eating and listening to the woman talk about her grandkids, she finally excused herself, completely worn out from the day.

"Can you go drift somewhere else?" Freddie asked in exasperation, as Oliver merely returned a smirk. The girl entered her apartment, unceremoniously flinging her school bag onto the floor as she trudged through the home. Looking towards the boy who she'd been ignoring, her eyes rolled. "You're like a fly, just leave me alone!"

Flopping onto the couch, the girl stared at the ceiling, she had a headache— but then again, when didn't she?

"You seem stressed," Oliver remarked as he perched on the arm of the couch.

"You see, when you act like this, it's really no surprise someone murdered you." Freddie countered, ignoring his words as her hands reached to put her headphones back in.

"Oh, you're pulling that card?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Low blow, Phaedra, I'm hurt."

Freddie huffed in exasperation, throwing a book towards the boy. The book sailed through him, hitting the wall behind.

"Whoops, missed me again," Oliver commented monotonously, sliding off the arm of the chair as he skulked around the apartment.

Freddie rolled her eyes, her hands folding across her chest. She watched the boy closely, her eyes following him as he wandered aimlessly. The girl didn't know what she'd done in her past life to deserve the torture that was the presence of Oliver Greene, but it must have been bad.

Freddie was ten when she'd first encountered the ghost of the boy.

She remembered coming across him for the first time whilst her dad collected some of his belongings from work. The girl hadn't paid too much attention to him but when he started to follow her, she began to worry. Ghosts weren't meant to do that, they weren't supposed to follow, they were to linger near their bodies or wherever they'd been killed, sometimes, at a stretch, near their 'unfinished business'.

It seemed he'd been attached to her as if a part of a strange turn of fate. Freddie couldn't get rid of him and after years and years of trying and suffering through his presence she'd merely given up. She just willingly let him linger.

"Can we watch something?" Oliver asked, his voice cutting through the girl's internal monologue. "You're boring me."

"Fine," Freddie answered stiffly, grabbing the remote from the coffee table beside her. "-but I refuse to watch bargain-hunters again, okay?"

Switching on the television, the girl sunk back into the couch cushions, her eyes closing as the boy crouched on the armchair across from hers, his eyes glued to the screen. Turning up the volume of her music, she rolled onto her side, burying her face into the couch.

Letting the loud beat lull her, Freddie finally allowed for the overdue and imperious sleep to overcome her.

☆

"AS OF RIGHT NOW YOU'RE ALL ON DUTY FULL TIME until further notice...sorry, it has to come to this, agents."

Dominic Walker pinched his nose in frustration as he listened to Fury hand out orders. Seven agents stood around him, all of them standing up straight and willing as they awaited their commands. The man leaned against the wall, his exhausted mind spinning as the others dispersed. He had been on a mission in Cyprus when he'd gotten the call about immediate extraction, so not only was the man severely jet-lagged, but the frustration stemming from losing a target coursed through his veins.

"Agent Walker," Fury spoke, snapping the man out of his thoughts. "With me." Dominic obediently followed after the man as he strode down the hallway of the helicarrier.

"Nick, I need to make a few calls..." Dominic trailed off as he walked alongside the other man.

"No need," Fury dismissed, handing the man a file. "Coulson's taking care of it."

"No. There's no way."

"Walker, he's taking care of it, no further questions need to be asked."

Fury left the man standing in the hallway, holding a file. Dominic took a deep breath in to suppress his uproar of anger and flicking through the thick file didn't seem to be helping. Clutching it close to his side, the man jogged his way down a set of stairs, nodding quietly as he passed a few agents. Dominic stopped outside a small room, unlocking it with his badge before stepping inside.

Walking past the small bed and couch, the man shoved the file into his cabinet, kicking it shut as he finally let out a huff of rage. He crouched down with his head in his hands, breathing in and out to try calm the overbearing surge of annoyance.

He was screwed...he was screwed big time.

☆

FREDDIE AWOKE WITH A LOUD GASP, her hair plastered to her head with sweat as her chest rose and fell rapidly. The girl groaned quietly as she pressed her palms to her eyes trying to shake the nightmare from her mind. Her music had been turned off, leaving her in the silence of the apartment.

She could hear them beginning to gnaw their way into her mind.

Frantically, Freddie's hands scrambled for the remote as she switched on the television once more, its noise bridging the gap.

She just needed to focus.

Focus on the false laughter from the program on the TV, the buzz of electricity powering the apartment, the faint noise from the streets below.

Oliver could only sit and watch from the armchair across from her, his eyes glued to her figure as she trembled.

"It happened again." He stated, his voice cutting through the humming of the television, as her mind focused on the noise. Freddie didn't answer, opting to merely stare straight ahead with her eyebrows furrowed.

The moon shone into the room in beams of white, its glow illuminating the room along with the yellow shine of the living room lamp which she presumed Oliver had turned on.

"You slept for," The boy began, glancing towards the clock in the kitchen. "Five hours and ten minutes, which is a lot better than last time."

Freddie ignored him once more, standing up from the couch as she stumbled towards the kitchen sink. Her stomach churned, as she pulled out a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. Gulping it down, Freddie finally let out a calm breath as she leaned against the counter, fumbling to put away her glass.

"You look horrible," Oliver remarked, his body moving closer to the kitchen counter.

"Thanks," She croaked out, her tone blunt as she avoided his gaze. "Just what everyone loves to hear."

A sharp knock against the apartment door interrupted Oliver's reply. Looking at the boy in panic and confusion, she stayed quiet in hopes that whoever was at her door would leave.

"Answer it." The boy urged, motioning for the girl to go to the door. Freddie sent Oliver an incredulous look, flinching as another knock rang out. The girl grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer, feebly holding it to her side as she crept towards the door.

As another knock resounded, Freddie threw open the door, holding the knife up, the girl braced herself for the worst.

"Woah," the man chuckled, "It's only me."

The girl's cheeks burned crimson as her arm dropped to her side in embarrassment. Opening up the door wider, Freddie winced as she came face to face with the familiar man who was merely chuckling at her antics.

"Well, can I come in?"

☆

HELLO SLUTS AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER CHAPTER OF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY!

I hope you enjoyed it!

I'm very happy to introduce Mr Oliver Greene because he's one of my favourite side characters ever!

Anyways, I hope to see you all very soon and don't forget to vote and comment to give me motivation 👀