Spring
Caleb laughed as he said good night to his sister, Laura, and her roommate, Charlie, split ways for the night.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, thanks for studying with me,” he said, waving the two off.
The college campus was almost completely dark, other than the random lamp poles. Caleb was at the library entrance, and there was one lamp near him. He didn’t like the dark, little did he know, it would be the last thing he saw.
Caleb took a deep breath as he adjusted his messenger bag, and began the walk to his dorm.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” he blurted to himself, as he often did on nights like this one, “my door is right there, I’ll be fine.”
-
Caleb screeched as the pain in his abdomen began to become unbearable, the pain was searing. The boy looked behind him, and before turning his head back, the knife, already soaked in his blood hit his back and he tripped, hitting the ground hard as dirt filled his wounds. His legs wouldn’t lift him now, he began crawling on his arms, the knife still in his back. His crawling was for nothing, as his soon-to-be killer, now stood over him.
“Please! Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?”
“Save your breath, not as you’ll have to, it’ll run out any minute now. Y’know, I’m gonna miss you, I mean, not really, since we’re here and you’re dying.”
“You’re not going to get away with this.”
“Watch me,” the killer said, as they pressed the knife further into his knit shoulder blades.
Caleb screamed once more, blood filling his dry mouth, and the killer dragged him toward the water. Caleb’s mind was still fighting for life, his mind and eyes being the last to die. The killer grabbed his hand, unlocking his phone before tossing his still fighting body into the deep lake. The starless sky flooded with water would be the last thing Caleb would ever see.
Arlo jolted up, his face littered with confusion. It was the first time he had a dream in months, and it had to be about some character getting murked. One thing stuck on his mind as he came too: Why did it feel real? A knock on the door caught his attention.
“Arlo are you up?” his mom, Marla, opened the door. Seeing a messy bun collecting her graying curly hair was a sign that she had taken another night shift.
“Yeah Mami, don’t worry about me. Go get some rest,” Arlo smiled as he stood. His mom nodded, walking down the hall toward the living room.
His room looked a bit depressing, all his belongings were on the school campus. He was prepped to head back to his dorm, ready for spring term, but it felt like hell with the upped security the last term, after his neighbor Caleb went missing. Thankfully, the school felt that the extra security wasn’t needed anymore, and everything should be back to normal.
Caleb was that guy that went to every party, got great marks, and was notorious for flirting with everyone that crossed his path. Though that last part was probably an exaggeration, Arlo knew because he had talked to the guy a couple of times, and he never seemed like a flirt, at least to Arlo. He was so popular, that his disappearance last month was and still is a big deal. All the local news stations were covering the case. The biggest lead in the case, as far as Arlo knew, was Caleb’s discarded messenger bag found covered in blood around a mile and a half away from campus.
Arlo grimaced, he didn’t want to think about what happened to the poor boy across the hall. It felt weird, he had spoken to Caleb a few times, and the boy was nice. Arlo felt bad for Caleb’s twin sister, Laura. She has probably had the worst experience.
Arlo shook his head, it was too early to be thinking about what happened. He quickly got ready for the day, wearing a button-up collared shirt with a sweater over top of it and some baggy jeans. His round glasses magnified his brown-green eyes. He slid into the bathroom connected to his cluttered room. Arlo combed out his tight brown curls to prevent his hair from knotting.
Packing his things, Arlo was ready to head home, “bye Mami, I love you, and I’ll let you know when I get home.”
She grasped Arlo’s hand, “Mi amor, be safe it’s dangerous, with that Caleb boy going missing.”
“Mami, trust me I’ll be fine.”
“Promise me.”
“Okay Mami, I promise I’ll be careful.”
Arlo always dreaded the drive home, he did drive every break. The almost 4-hour drive had already been over with, but it stuck on his mind, a distraction from things he didn’t want to talk about. Arlo brought his things inside, when he got to his front door though, there was a tingle and the hair stuck upon his neck. He spun to see why, and there was nothing, but it didn’t feel right, so he rushed inside.
The living space was torn apart. God, Andrew has been home a while. The dorm smelled dirty, the sink was filled to the brim with dishes, and the living room had laundry scattered all around. Andrew was Arlo’s roommate, and he, well to put it kindly, was a walking tornado. Everyone who knew him knew that.
Andrew was what Arlo would describe as the token white guy. In the entire boy’s dorm building, Andrew was the only guy who was white with no ethnic background. He was blonde too, which made it worse. Andrew must have heard Arlo come in because he clambered into the living room.
“Hey bud, I wasn't expecting you home so soon,” the boy grinned, “I promise I was about to clean up this mess. It’s just that….”
Andrew was rambling, but Arlo knew how to tune out the less important things that left his mouth. Arlo sighed and began moving his things into his bedroom, the only room in the shared space, undisturbed by Andrew’s grimy hands.
The room’s royal blue walls were partially covered by assorted posters. A king-size bed sat on the floor, with at least ten blankets obscuring the pillows from view. A small wooden bookshelf sat next to the bed, underneath a window. On the other side of the room, there was Arlo’s desk that sat right next to his closet and standing mirror. Papers littered the surface of the desk, ranging from doodles to important notes. His mirror looked like one of those teen movie mirrors, covered in photos of him and his friends. A slight breeze blew through the open window. Was that open when I walked in? It couldn’t have been, Arlo was out of town for three weeks. Plus, it was the middle of January, who has their windows open in January? Arlo hadn’t faced the window in a while and it scared him a bit.
“Look at this idiot, he looks so confused,” a voice, seemingly from nowhere, spoke.
“I am not an idiot, well, that’s beside the point. Where are you?” Arlo turned to face the window, where he saw the translucent Caleb Scrat, his missing neighbor. His missing neighbor who was a ghost? His jaw dropped.
