After the neighbors had left, Ray lay on his bed, listening to the Ramones. Suddenly, there was a scuffling. Ray looked down on the ground, and saw his boxes MOVING. He gasped. One of the boxes opened, and out of it came Ray's guitar pick collection. The box opened and, as Ray stared in horror, started making letters out of the guitar picks.
“What...” Ray started, then gasped.
“Get Out.” the letters spelled. Ray jumped out of his bed and sped to his brother's room. Louis was reading guitar magazines lazily.
“LOU!” Ray shouted.
“What's up, bro?” Louis asked, sitting up.
“Something....ghost....made...letters...guitar picks....” Ray was gasping in fear. Louis sighed.
“Okay, let me look.” he said, shaking his head. They walked back to Ray's room cautiously. They opened the door, and looked down at Ray's floor. All of the guitar picks were picked up and in their respective box.
“Haha. Yeah. You're so funny. You got me good. Now I'm going to bed, Ray. Don't bother me anymore.” Louis said, rolling his eyes and leaving the room. Ray stared in horror as his door closed after Louis left, leaving him alone in the haunted room. He lay down on his bed, and closed his eyes, tightly, trying to convince himself that is was all a dream.
When Ray woke, the sun shone into his room, there was no sign of anything out of place. Ray sighed and got up, pulling out his notebook where he usually made up songs. He pulled to a blank page and was about to write on it, when he decided to use the restroom first. When he got in, he started the shower. The room steamed up, and he got in. When he finished, he hopped out, drying his hair. As he was dressing, he saw the mirror had a message on it.
“You drool.” it said. Ray rolled his eyes. Louis must have come in and written that. He hated it when he drooled in his sleep. He sighed and started playing some Iron Maiden to calm his nerves. He still remembered that night as if it had happened just then. He pulled out his notebook, which was hidden under his mattress, so Louis wouldn't use it. He gasped again as he saw what was written, in a very elegant hand, “It's kind of gross. That bed used to be mine.” Ray dropped the notebook, and stepped away. He was shaking, he was so scared. Who was this who was doing this to him? Then he saw it. It only appeared for a second, but it was a girl, just about his age. She was sitting on the bed, looking out his window. She had long, blood red hair, and a pale face. There seemed to be something sticking to her clothes, and her clothes looked wet, sticking to her body, and showing bony ribs. Ray shuddered. She looked at him, with longing, green eyes. His fear grew, yet he somehow knew she needed help. Then she disappeared.
“Ray! Get up! Coffee's ready!” his dad called. Ray shook his head, running out of the room and downstairs.
“Yeah, Dad?” Ray asked.
“You need to start getting up earlier, so you can get used to waking up early for school.” his father shook his head.
“But it doesn't start for another two weeks!” Ray complained.
“I don't care, you need to get ready. I want you in college.” his father said gruffly. Louis was stuffing a muffin his his mouth and grinning cheekily.
“Yeaf...youf neef ta gef reafy iffle fro.....” his brother said, talking with his mouth full of muffin.
“Louis...Stop that. No talking with your mouth full.” his mom said, sighing. She slapped Louis's arm softly, and started pushing him out of the kitchen. “We're going school shopping with you today, so get ready.” she said.
“Awwwf. Mooof!” He said, swallowing the last bit of muffin before running up the stairs.
“What am I supposed to do?” Ray asked, worrying about the ghost in his room.
“Call the Way brothers over, or you can go to their house, but stay inside. This is New Jersey, after all, and I don't want you to get in trouble.” his mom said, sighing and looking out the window.
“What about that park, Susan? Maybe they could get fresh air there.” his dad asked his mom. His mom's eyes widened and she shook her head, quickly.
“No, they say they have found four dead bodies in the river. I'm not letting Ray anywhere near there.” his mom said. Ray shivered, though the idea of dead bodies in a river sparked his interest. Maybe he would look that up on the computer. That girl....her clothes were wet....
“I'll call the Way boys after you guys leave.” Ray said. Ray's mom and dad nodded, and he ran upstairs to grab his guitar, bringing it downstairs. He did not want another encounter with the ghost that morning. He practiced as his parents and brother got ready to go.
“Remember, stay inside!” his mom said, as they walked out the door. Ray nodded and ran for the phone, before anything weird could happen. He grabbed a cup of coffee, and then dialed the number.
“Hello?” came Gerard's voice.
“Hey, Gerard, it's Ray. You want to come over and hang out? You could bring Mikey.” Ray said. Gerard laughed.
“Sure. You kind of woke us up, though, so give us a few minutes.” he said. Ray laughed.
“Sorry to wake you.” he said.
“No prob, dude. We'll be there in few.” Gerard hung up. Ray set the phone down and looked at the counter where he set his coffee. There was nothing there. He looked up, and his coffee was floating at eye-level. Ray yelled and jumped back.
“You....You won't be doing that while I have company, will you?” Ray asked the empty air.
The coffee set down, and on the newspaper his dad was reading a few minutes earlier, and ripped out two words, setting them on the counter. “Only. You.” they said. Ray shivered. Then the girl was there, sitting on the counter, knees drawn up to her chest. She was crying. Ray stepped forward, reaching out his hand to her, and she screamed, pulling back and disappearing. Ray, at the moment, felt very put out.
