Haunted || Drabble
It had only been a few weeks since the battle with the Arishok. Only a few weeks since Neil watched his brother die. Every night, the scene replayed in his mind. The Arishok would come out of no where and impale Alejandro. He would lift him into the air, then violently drop him back down to the ground. Every night, Neil would wake up screaming, and not even Antonio could get him to calm down. Neil locked himself away in the estate, hardly sleeping or eating. That's when it got worse.
He was simply trying to read one night when he caught a glimpse of him. But as soon as Neil turned to look, he was gone. At first, he just dismissed it as his grieving mind trying to process the loss. But then he kept seeing him more and more: behind a corner, sitting in the library, or standing by the fire. Every day, the hallucinations got worse and worse, to the point where Neil questioned if they were hallucinations at all.
Neil was coming out of the kitchen one night with a cup of tea when he really saw him for the first time. He was standing right in the doorway; hovering really. Neil could see him, yet also see right through him. He was pale, and his eyes lacked any life whatsoever. Most disturbing of all was the gaping wound in his chest that Neil swore still dripped with blood. Neil couldn't even breathe as he stared at the ghost. Then as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.
These sort of sightings became common, but Neil never got used to it. It was beginning to drive him mad, but he couldn't tell anyone. Who would believe him? The appearances grew more and more frequent, each one just as horrible as the first.
One stormy night, Neil awoke to find the ghost simply hovering by his bedside, just staring. Between his panic at the storm and the disturbing image, Neil broke. "What do you want from me?!" he shouted, "I already know it's my fault! I know I should have saved you! Why are you still here? Why did you keep doing this to me?!" But the ghost just stared. Neil shook his head and threw a pillow at the figure. It went right through him, and the ghost didn't appear phased at all.
Tears streamed down Neil's face and he hid it against his knees. "Stop. Please just stop."
