Or at least, that was the first conclusion he reached upon catching sight of the grossly distorted figure of what may have been a child once. God, how he would love to run away, or, move at all. But he can’t. His hands are tense and his legs are cramping and his eyes are having an awful lot of trouble focusing on anything but the thing in front of him; or focusing at all? It’s hard to tell. It’s hard to tell what’s happening at all. It wasn’t even quiet anymore, and god, did he hate the noisy, drowning silence.
When did you start believing in ghosts, Mike? a corner of his mind demanded. When did that become a fact of life? The rest of him couldn’t answer.
Just as he started to recover from the initial assault on his senses, just as he thought his heartbeat might begin to slow down again, it started moving. Oh no. No, don’t do that, don’t come any closer, don’t–
Too many things happened at once. Those eyes, that shriek, and it–
Mike couldn’t stop himself from staggering backwards. He wanted to scream in horrified response but his lungs refused to cooperate. Instead he choked on air and let the flashlight slip from his fingers, which clattered painfully against the tile.
“…Wh..” The stillness of the world so quickly overturned, he suddenly found himself too slow to fight against the current of fearful energy. “..I didn’t.. n..no, I’m not…!..” Everything shifted into overdrive, allowing the poor guy to mutter incoherently while also clawing desperately at the discarded light and reaching for the safety of.. well, anything really.
As soon as the glowing combination of metal and plastic returned to his hands, it was pointed at the assumed ghost once more.
“..I..I’m, I’m not going to hurt you, I.. don’t, want to scare you… it, it’s okay,” and other things to that effect spilled out from his lips, but he doubted their effectiveness. He doubted a lot of things.
The ghost was shielding himself as the words came flooding out of Mike’s mouth, and at first the little ghost didn’t seem to even be listening, he was just too afraid. The ghost lowered his arms and his large, black eyes reappeared, he was still shaking though and he seemed unsure. The ghost seemed ready to get away if anything happened, but, It seemed Mike had his attention at the very least, and for second, he was dead quiet, before the ghost spoke.
“Y̳-̭̹̪̪y̨̗̹̩̹̰̗̗o͕͕̤͇̱u̼͔̲͖̞ͅ'̦̟̞̘r̻͘e̷̫͉̰̖̫̙.̭̘̥̝̝͉.҉.̷̩̭̬̰̻.҉ ̠͎̬͍́ṇ̷͖͖̫͖͍̘-̝̭̜̦͖͜n̳͖̻͕͟o̝̫̰̝̖t̹̰͈̬ ͔t̢̫̹͍̠͍ͅh̛̝͕̻͍e̝̯̩̣̮͔ͅ ͕͉̣͙̬̦m̮͓̞̜͠an̟͎̲͡ ̵̭͓͓͇̠in̥̳̠͕̝͝ͅ ̱͍̻̠͟ͅP̩̦͍̱̥ṷ̠͉̻̗͍͓͢r̥̯̖̪͓p̖̭͔͍̭̳̙͜ḻ̡̘e̘͍͘.̡͖.̴̰̬̭̜͈.̮͚̘͎̰̬” he said, his shaking beginning to
slow, he seemed more... skeptical than anything, like he was still unsure about something. They seemed to stare at each other for what felt like a painful eternity, before the tension finally let up... and the ghost spoke again.
“ .̠̣͍.̲͓.̫̤̥̫͡W͍̙̰̣̰̝͓h̗o҉̼̲̲ ̮̱͙ar҉̮̝̖̯̠͕e͎͎̜̝͔͇ ̭̜̘͟y̥̬o̩̰̱̯̤̱̫u ̣ͅt̟̼͔̜̩-̧͓̯̥̘t̯͖͈͇͟ḩ̥̘͉̳͈̹e̱̳͚n͈̱̠͉.͕͓̝̘̤͉͟.͏͖͖̮̯̺̫.̙͉̳͇.͖̱̩͇̘̠͖͢ ͙̮̙͈a̶͈̼-̻͓̩̥̜á͖̬̗̬̠̲ṋ̗̗̭̱̤d̮́.͞.̭̗̥̟̬̦͝.̡ w̥͎-̰͔̗̙͕͕̥wh͠a͈͚͍̻̞ͅt̖̮͇̯̳ a͉͙̭̰̲̕-̶̪͖̪̮a̜̺̮̗͈̲̫r̺̟̠̲̗e͚͖̝̼͖ ̷͇͇̹̩y̯̘o̭u̷ ͍̗͍d̞͉̳͚͍̹o̯͓͔̖̳i̩͍͔̻͖̗n̢̺g͉ ̝̪̜̪h̢̞̝e̫̺r͉͔̖̻͞e͙̱̥͓̕?͔̗̟̼̦̰̖.̖͉̰͔̳͚̞͞.̱͍.͔̘̰̘̺͚͍”