Ghosted

CELESTE

Celeste Baker had seen many horror movies, and a large range of special effects. She knew how to recognise when the producers had used too much fake blood, or when their special effects budget was clearly low. She knew every quote from every 80s slasher film by heart, had seen plenty of Final Girls die gruesomely at the last second - so why did this scare her so much?

Staring at the body in front of her, Celeste's hands shook. The man was young-ish, maybe late-thirties, with dirty blond hair and a trickle of blood down his temple. His wide-open eyes stared blankly into Celeste's own bloodshot and fearful ones, but he never blinked. Because he was dead. Dead dead dead. Because of Celeste.

She wanted to forget this had ever happened, leave, but wouldn't that be classified as a hit and run?

She would be in more trouble if she ran away than if she turned herself in. But... Her eyes trailed over the smashed car and the worn dirt road, over to the trees shadowing the undergrowth.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Celeste stepped out of her car, ignoring the shiver down her spine, not from the early autumn chill, but from the fact that she'd just murdered someone. Someone innocent, nonetheless.

She slowly opened the car door, trying to avoid the sight of his crumpled, limp legs squashed under the steering wheel. Celeste slowly eased him out of his seat, dragging the man out by the arm, pulling him onto the road. A long trail of red followed them into the woods...

A week later...

DAMIEN

"I'm sorry, Mr Reed. It's almost been a week and we still haven't found your father. He's over eighteen and technically doesn't have to inform anyone before leaving."

Behind him, Damien's mother let out a choked sob, and fled upstairs to her room.

"Thank you for trying," Damien muttered, avoiding the policeman's gaze. He was sure the man was wrong, that his dad wouldn't leave him and his mother just like that, that something had happened to Matt Reed. But he had no proof, just a pit in his gut.

Damien slowly led the policeman to the door before trudging up the stairs to his room.

He threw himself back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. His dad had been the most amazing person to Damien since he came out as gay. Matt didn't judge him, didn't treat him differently, still came to all his basketball games and hadn't even flinched when Damien had told his dad he was going to ask a guy from school to be his boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Damien's mother hadn't been so supportive. She didn't especially mind that he was gay, but her mum had just passed away from cancer so she wasn't feeling so great either.

But Damien's dad knew how to be there for both Damien and his wife, always offering a kind ear to listen. Now he was gone.

Damien rolled onto his side and picked up the picture sitting on his bedside table. He and his dad at the Pride festival last year, Matt laughing as Damien went cross eyed for his mum, who was behind the camera.

Suddenly a loud thunk shook the room and the picture dropped from Damien's hand, the glass smashing as it hit the floor. Damien yelped and tried to catch it but it was too late. His dad's face was shattered, broken into a million little pieces before Damien's eyes.

The ground rumbled and shook again. An earthquake.

Damien put his arms over his head, trying to shut out the noise as his whole world was flipped over.

CELESTE

The earthquake came suddenly, without warning. The glass on Celeste's window cracked and she screamed as she got a shard in her foot. The books on her shelf started to fall out, one by one, like a cartoon. A strong gust of wind surged through the broken glass, making Celeste fall back onto her butt, the wind picking up the pieces of glass and whirling them at her.

She opened her mouth to shout for help but before any sound came out, the wind dropped, just as suddenly as it'd arrived. The millions of little cuts on her face stung, and when she reached a hand up to her face it came back covered in blood.

Celeste stumbled to the bathroom on unsteady feet, her arms out to balance her. Once safely in the bathroom, she ran a cloth under cold water and wiped the blood off her face, gritting her teeth as the cuts stung her.

Finally she glanced up at the mirror and winced. Her face was destroyed, at least twenty deep cuts scarring her around her eyes, cheeks and mouth. The blood was gone but the wounds would probably scar, leaving Celeste an awful memory of this earthquake.

She wanted to see what other damage had been dealt, so she made her way outside to inspect her street. Her small flat was completely shaken up, every window shattered and a large chunk of wall was completely broken, leaving the kitchen completely exposed.

"Good gracious, Miss Baker, did you have another wild party?" Ana Forbes, the old lady from the house over with greying hair and a weary smile tottered up to Celeste and widened her eyes at the damage to the house. "Oh that's no party. What did you do?"

Celeste frowned. "It was - it was an earthquake. Did- didn't you feel it?"

The old lady raised an eyebrow at her. "Dear girl, there was no earthquake..."

DAMIEN

Damien's room was practically destroyed. Everything even remotely fragile that he owned was broken, including his windows and that picture of him and his dad.

As soon as the ground stopped shaking, Damien got up, immediately heading to his mum's room. "MUM!" he yelled, "ARE YOU OKAY?"

Cassie Reed stuck her head out from the doorway. "I'm fine. I... I miss him, is all."

Damien frowned. "No, I mean, the earthquake. Did you get hurt?"

"Honey, I know this is all very hard to process, but your dad will come home when he's ready. You don't need to make up stories-"

"I'm not making anything up!" Damien yelled. "There was an earthquake!"

Cassie only shook her head sadly. "Damien-"

He didn't wait to hear what his mum had to say. Storming back down the corridor, Damien slammed his bedroom door behind him and flopped back onto his bed. There had been an earthquake - there were his broken windows and destroyed room to prove it. So how was the rest of the house - and his mum - pristine?

CELESTE

When Celeste returned to her house, she was numb with shock and confusion. The rest of the street, not only Mrs Forbes, were still laughing at her about her earthquake story, but kind and caring as well, offering to help mend her house.

Celeste didn't want their help, though; she wanted answers. She returned to her bathroom, inspecting her face, the cuts growing more visible now.

"Why is this happening to me..." she groaned, resting her head on the sink. A loud scratching jolted her back up and she swung her head around the room, searching for the source of the sound. Finally, her eyes found the bathroom mirror. Written in dripping, stark red blood, were the words, REVENGE.