Shhh I'm dead

“Can you keep a secret?” Clara asked while smiling crazily.  Ben nodded hesitantly. He is afraid of her. Clara’s face became serious and deadly. She took a few steps towards Ben slowly, which made the latter feel fear.  “But a secret can be kept by two people if the other one is dead.” She whispered to him and crawled her hand to caress his hair. Ben is shivering from her touch. “If the other one is dead.” She repeated then choked Ben, which shocked him.  Ben is struggling to remove her hand around his neck, but she is strong. His feeling of fear is not helping him gain an ounce of strength. Ben is almost out of breath and is trying his best to remove her hand when she spoke. “Oh. I forgot.” Clara let go of Ben and has a surprised look. Her hands were in front of her mouth. “I’m already dead hihihi.” She giggled like a mad man. Clara is not dead but crazy. She committed suicide but did not die, and now she thinks she’s a dead person. Ben is still catching his breath and coughing. When his eyes landed on her, he felt fear again. He almost got killed by her hands. He wasn’t able to respond to her.  “I’m dead, and that’s my secret.”She looked at him and knelt in front of him. Their eyes leveled. “Shhhhh keep my secret, ‘kay?” Ben immediately nodded. He was afraid of being choked again. “Hihihihi. Good boy.” She patted his head and turned around.  Clara spread her hands and let her body weight bring her down to the floor. She is now laying on the floor while looking at the ceiling. “I’m already dead for days, but He does not seem to want me there.” She raised both her hands like she is reaching for the heavens.  Ben set aside his fear because realization hit him. “Are you really dead?” He asked out of nowhere. Clara looked at him with her head bent back to look at him.  “Yeah.” She smiled that sent some shivers down Ben’s spine. Her eyes look like she is in drugs. “I think you have a third-eye as experts call it because you can see and hear me while others do not.” She pointed her left foot at him. Fear consumed Ben once again because of the thought of being killed by an already dead person. He touched his neck while looking at her and took a step back.  “Do not worry. I would not hurt you anymore. I’m dead so we can keep my secret.” She giggled and stood up. “I might go down below any moment from now. Can you accompany me somewhere?” Ben is hesitant to nod, so Clara looked at him with deadly glares. “O-okay. Where d-do you pl-plan to go?” Ben’s voice is shaky that shows how nervous he was. Clara smiled and walked towards a wall. Ben was shocked when Clara’s body did not go through the wall. His eyes were wide as they can be. “Hihihi do not worry. I’m okay since I’m dead already, it does not hurt. They say dead people can go through walls, but I think not. I mean, no dead person has come alive to tell the details.” She shrugged her shoulders and marched towards the door. * Ben is still confused as to what is happening to him. They are currently in an amusement park. Clara is roaming around the whole place, and he was just trailing behind her.  “Mommy, look at that girl. Why is she wearing a hospital gown?” A boy around five years old asked his mom while pointing at someone.  Ben followed the boy's pointed finger and saw Clara in that direction. I’ll confirm my situation. If the mother sees her, she’s not dead, but crazy. If she does not see her, then I would be the dead one. He thought to himself.  “Where? I can’t see someone wearing a hospital gown honey.” The mother answered. Little did Ben know, Clara was hidden by a man’s body when the mother looked at her direction. “You can’t see her mom? She is right over there look closer.” The little boy insisted. The mother looked again but saw nothing. “Stop your wild imaginations, Sonny.” She is irritated and pulled his son to go somewhere.  “She’s really dead.” Ben spouted and looked at Clara, who was still busy looking around. He prayed to God to ask for his guidance and protection. “I’m going insane. I can see and talk to dead people.” He pulled his hair to show his frustration. “What’cha doing?” Clara put her head on top of Ben’s shoulder. Ben held his chest where his heart is, and bis breathing began to become faster.  “P-please do not co-come near me.” He pleaded. Clara’s face became stoic, and she traced her fingers on his neck.  “I’ll come near you whenever I want to.” She whispered and bit his neck, hard. Blood came dripping from his neck down to his collar bone. “Ohhhh there’s blood.” She is amazed by the blood and licked it. Ben’s body started to shake because of what she did. Clara looks like a murderer thirsty for blood. Ben took a step back slowly then ran as fast as he could.  “I don’t know if I’m crazy or she’s crazy. She’s dead, but I fear her more than anyone who breathes life in them.” He shouted. People looked at him with different emotions written in their eyes. He kept on running and bumped into someone. When he looked up, his whole world collapsed. It was Clara in front of him.  “Why are you running? You don’t want to play with me anymore?” Clara was teary-eyed but smiled like crazy. “Don’t run because you can’t run from a dead person.” She grabbed his hair and pulled him to stand up. “Ahhh stop. No, leave me alone.” He shouted while struggling to remove her grip from his hair. He can feel his hair being pulled out of his scalp from her grip. “Stop. Leave me alone. I don’t even know you.” He continued shouting. People were surrounding them, but no one dared to stop Clara from what she’s doing to Ben. All of them were afraid that Clara might do it to them if they interfered.  Ben is crying from pain and is about to faint when people in white uniforms started running towards their direction. “Give her a shot. Now.” A guy in white shouted. A woman grabbed a syringe from a box and immediately shot Clara. Clara’s hold on Ben’s hair loosened, which Ben was thankful for. Once Clara’s hold was off, Ben laid down on the cold cement. He hugged his legs and looks like a fetus from his position. He was shaking from fear.  “Sir, we’re sorry about what happened. Ma’am Clara is a mentally ill person. She thinks that she’s dead because she committed suicide the other day.” The nurse who shot Clara approached Ben, but he didn’t answer. The nurse continued talking to Ben, but he didn’t respond. Not even once. The nurse started to examine him physically, and tend to his wounds.  “Doc, I think he’s traumatized.” She pointed at Ben, and the doctor nodded. He went near him and tried to make him talk. Nothing happened. He shook his head and looked at the nurse to help him guide Ben to the ambulance. What he saw made him shook from fear. Clara regained consciousness, and now is running towards him. Clara jumped at him and laughed crazily. “Doctor, can you keep a secret?” She choked him while laughing. “But two people can’t keep a secret if the other one is alive.” She laughed louder and louder. A tragedy awaits the amusement park.