Six

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
"Help you?" I ask, furrowing my brow. "What could I possibly do to help you?" 
                          
Harry sits back down on the swing. "More than you know." 
                          
I cross my arms over my chest. "Haven't the police been on your murder case? I mean, it only happened three months ago, shouldn't the investigation still be underway?" 
                          
His jaw clenches. "They closed the case a month after the murder." 
                          
"What? How could they do that?" 
                          
"Something's going on within the judicial system in this town, I've suspected it for a while," he says. "They're corrupt, but not all of them."
                          
A short period of silence descends. 
                          
"So...can people see you?" I ask him. "Other than me, I mean." 
                          
"Yes. I'm tangible, but I can't...feel. Physically, anyway. My body doesn't function, only my mind." 
                          
I nod, understanding. That's why jumping from my two story window didn't bother him-he can't feel physical pain. 
                          
"It would be bad if someone around here saw me, though," he says seriously. "My family was well known enough that they'd recognize me." 
                          
I swallow, trying to comprehend everything he's telling me. A soft breeze blows through the clearing, and I shiver a bit, wrapping my arms around myself. 
                          
Harry notices. "You should probably get home before your parents find out you're gone." 
                          
"Wait, but I still have so many questions." 
                          
He cracks a smile, rising from the swing. "We'll talk soon." 
                          
I stand. "Where do you...you know...stay?" It would be odd to ask him where he lives.
                          
"Stay?" He scratches the back of his neck. "I don't exactly stay anywhere. I mean, I don't sleep or eat or anything, so I kind of just..observe." 
                          
"Observe?" 
                          
"Observe the world. It's different looking at it from death than it is from life." 
                          
"I can imagine." 
                          
I can feel his eerie coldness from where I stand. It almost feels like the death in him is reaching its icy fingers out toward me, grasping and clawing at my skin, knowing that I wanted so badly to die only a short time ago. 
                          
Don't you remember, Jane? You came so close.
                          
I step back. "Maybe I should get home."