Haunted.

"Do you really think that is going to work?" the voice echoed through Margeret's ears. The never-ending teasing tone seemed to have followed her since she had left the house that morning.

Why she was being stalked was beyond her imagination, and who was doing it even further from her knowledge. Did she know this disembodied voice? Was it someone fucking with her? Or was she haunted? That last one seemed quite a jump for most people, but Margeret's family wasn't most people. Her mother and grandmother often spoke of curious visions and sites, but Margeret had considered them a bit crazy. As most of the town did. Now though?

She sighed as she pushed one of her brown braids back over her shoulders and peered behind her for what must have been the hundredth or so time during this morning's walk to work. Whatever was talking to her had been there since she walked out the door. At first, she'd thought her friends may be creeping behind her, trying to play some sort of late-timed Halloween prank. A few days late was fine, right? No, all her friends were accounted for, and she knew she had dropped her little brother off at school. And she could not figure out how she was supposed to explain the whispering that seemed to always be coming from behind her.

She'd thought maybe her brother had managed to sneak a little microphone in her braids when she was taking a nap. But nope. She realized if she said that to anyone, it was probably going to sound insane, but the little shit was constantly playing with weird toy spy shit. She didn't know how many little magnet microphones she'd found in her room. "Little shit," she repeated out loud, sure the little punk was responsible for the strange whispering.

But what if her brother had nothing to do with this? What if she was genuinely losing her mind? Hearing things? Oh God! What if she was like her mom and grandma and would now be another family joke to the people in town! She didn't need this. No one needed this! How her mom and grandmother managed to brush off all the whispers and looks was something she just couldn't grasp.

"Oh god, my life is over!"

"It is not over. You are young. It is just beginning."

Fear ran down her spine as she heard the unmistakable voice speaking to her. She spun around in a flurry of braids and rage and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Leave me alone!"

This naturally caused many people on the road to turn and look at her. She lowered her head sheepishly, covering her face as she ran, rushing into the nearest corner store to get a drink of water and try and calm her nerves. She nodded to the man at the counter. She didn't remember his name, just that it was the same guy most days, on weekends his wife would take over so her husband could spend some time with their children. It was a pretty cute arrangement, she thought; her own parents acted like it was a chore to spend their off time with her and her brother, and she wondered what it would be like to be part of a closer, more tight-knit family. A family that wasn't haunted by weird ghost voices. 

Margaret pulled a bottle of water off the shelf and wandered towards the counter, pausing as she saw something out of the corner of her eye. There was her reflection. She could see it from the side of her vision; something was standing behind her. She swung around entirely to stare at her image. But there was nothing there. Well, there was. Her reflection was as expected as it always was. She reached out to touch the glass, wondering if someone was in the back. Instead, she heard the guy's voice at the register asking if she was ok. She turned and saw him looking at her oddly.

"I'm fine, sir." She quietly answered and moved to the counter to pay for her water. She was so far from okay that she wasn't even sure why she was lying to the guy. What was he going to do if she told him the truth? Tell her it was normal and ok for her to be another family freak? Finally, after a few moments of awkward silence, he said. 

"Ay. Have a seat." He pointed to the chair behind the counter. She was here enough, and so was her family. She talked to this guy and his various family members and saw no issue settling down behind the counter. Seated in place, she sipped her water and exhaled. "What's bothering you?" He finally asked as the two had stared at each other for a few moments too long, it had gotten a little weird, but the way he had asked her that reminded her of her father. 

"I think I am growing up to be like my mom and grandma, " she finally said as she looked up at him. She wasn't sure how to interpret his expression. It was a mixture of amusement, consideration, maybe a brief glimpse of fear—he did know her family—and then back to amusement.

"A lot of us do that, " he said finally. It's perfectly normal to develop personal aspects of those who raise us. One of my sons has the same habit of leaving napkins on a plate as my wife. The dang things get stuck to them, and I have to spend extra time peeling them off. It's annoying, but it's just part of what they do."

Margeret was pretty sure that hearing spirits talking to her was a bit worse then leaving napkins stuck to a plate but she could understand the point.

"Just go talk to your mother. Maybe you will find it is not as bad as you think." The owner had told her, and soon enough, Violet was heading home, sipping from her water bottle on the way.

Home wasn't that far from the store, and while there was a 7-Eleven between home and the corner store, the family preferred to make sure of the little mom-and-pop store on the corner longer than the corporate-owned gas station. Also, none owned a car, so there was no reason to pay the more expensive prices for the few things they needed at a corner store. She was passing this store with a new thought of getting home and figuring out exactly how to present the questions to her mother when she saw it again, a figure standing behind her as she looked at herself through the corner of her eye.

Her feet paused, and she slowly turned to look at her reflection, barely seen through the images of a massive taquito and slushie, a buy one get one deal. Besides what she would have generally noted as a good lunch meal deal, her reflection seemed perfectly normal. Her head tilted slightly, and she saw it. A hand rested on her shoulder. She turned her head. No one was there, but in her reflection, there was undoubtedly a hand on her shoulder. She reached up with her opposite hand, trying to place her finger on it. Nothing there. She reached out and placed her hand on the glass, and slowly, a face peaked from beside her head. It was a pale, deathly-looking creature with long hair covering red glowing eyes. Its cracked lips moved.

"Hello."

She screamed as she heard the voice in her ear. She swatted at her head and shoulders, trying to get it off her. Screaming that it was on her. People rushed away from her, staring wide-eyed as they watched her swat at herself. Eventually, a few men came in and pulled her arms to her sides as the owner of the store contacted the police and an ambulance. Once inside, she was injected with something and relaxed, falling asleep in the rocking emergency vehicle.

When she woke up, her mother and grandmother's voices could be heard, along with a few others she did not know. She opened her eyes to gaze at her family, relieved she could finally talk with her mother about what was happening. She breathed a sigh of relief; soon, this would be over, and she would be able to relax once more. She sat up carefully, able to feel the wires attached to her arms and chest.

"Momma?" she called out, and soon, she heard footsteps. She smiled wide at her mother and grandmother as they approached until she noticed the things looming over both of her relatives. She turned pale as she stared with wide eyes.

"Oh dear, we're so happy to see you are well." her mother said. Though the red eyes and pale faces smiled down at her from behind the kind faces of her relatives.