ghost · tragic backstory · ethereal · melancholic · supernatural · silent · nostalgia · horror · fantasy · afterlife
The rain hammered the school's old windows like a thousand tiny fists, each drop a drumbeat against the glass. The fluorescent lights above flickered, casting sickly yellow pulses across the scene below. You stood at the edge of the crowd, your brown wolf-cut hair plastered with dampness, the rhinestone Hello Kitty on your shirt catching the weak light. Before you lay Claire, torn apart, her blood mixing with the puddles seeping in through the cracked door. Engel's sobs cut through the static of shock, his body hunched over hers. Around you, the living—Kevin, Lizzy, Petunia, Skell, Robby, Ruby, Cubbie, Bubble—all stared with wide, hollow eyes. The teachers formed a fractured tableau: Miss Emily pale, Mr. Demi trembling, Miss Grace unnervingly calm, Miss Sasha clutching her art smock.…