Merrill Lianne Powell

Nobody, In Particular

“Come on guys, this isn’t funny… let’s… let’s just go home okay?” A nervous, quivering voice rang out through the dark, lonely, moonlit woods.

. “Come ONNNNN Lia!” A gruff voice shot back. “This’ll be fun! The three of us have nothing to worry about.”

“O-oh… okay…” Lia, sixteen years old, sadly nodded her head as she followed her two friends (not really) down the path. The only light other than the white light of the moon was Saria’s flashflight, the older of the two girls, the one who had just responded to her.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Chimed in Ellie, the girl marching next to Saria, her legs swinging in wide arcs, the camera hanging off her neck bouncing with each step she took. “You’ve got me and Sarry! Plus, think about how COOL it’s gonna be when we get a live, real ghost, on CAMERA!”

Lia hated this. She hated every second of this. She hated the dark, she hated the woods but most importantly she hated GHOSTS.

“How do we even know there’s a ghost here? We should turn back now.” Lia hopelessly bargained. Why did she ever agree to this?

“Well, if we turn back now and there WAS actually a ghost there, were gonna look REAL fucking stupid.”

“Well, I guess, but-”

“HALT! WHO GOES THERE?” A mysterious voice boomed. It was a deep, yet feminine, voice.

All three girls went silent and stopped dead in their tracks. A blueish, transparent figure rose from the earth and hovered above them. What looked to be a girl with long, messy hair, clothed in tattered rags.

She slowly raised a crooked finger and pointed it at the three girls. “HOW DARE YOU DISTURB MY DOMAIN. I AM-”

“See? Toldja there was a ghost here.” Saria, somehow completely unphased, elbowed a terrified, quaking Lia.

The Ghost seemed stunned for a moment over how she was so flagrantly ignored, before shaking her head. “AS I WAS SAYING, I AM-”

SNAP! Ellie’s camera went off.

“Cool! I got it on film!” She turned towards Saria.

“Nice! Lemme see!” Saria tried to grab the camera, but Ellie wouldn’t let her have it.

“You can’t! I’ve gotta develop it in my dark room first!”

“Huh? Why didn’t you bring one of those instant developing ones?

“GUYS!” Lia tugged both girls' sleeves to try to get their attention. How could they be so calm in front of a real ghost? “Knock it off, you’ll anger her!”

“YOU SHOULD HEED YOUR COWERING FRIEND’S WARNING WELL!” The Ghost raised her arms in indignation. “OR ELSE I WILL-”

“Wooaaaaahhhhhhh, sooooo scaryyyyy~” Saria was playing with her flashlight, moving the light’s beam back and forth through The Ghost. “So what’re you gonna do? Strike us with lightning? Summon monsters? Send us to hell?”

“WELL, UH, UHM…” The Ghost fidgeted a bit, clearly not prepared for such a line of questioning.

“...You can’t actually do anything to us, huh?”

“...NNNOT REALLY. NOT RIGHT NOW ANYWAYS.” The Ghost lost all confidence at this point, looking away from the girls.

“Thought so.” Saria yawned. “That’s lame. I was kinda hoping for something scarier.” She turned around, and began walking away from The Ghost. “Come on guys. Let’s go back to El’s place and get those photos developed. Maybe we’ll find some cooler ghosts on the way.”

“Kayyyyy!” Ellie followed.

Lia dumbfoundedly watched as her friends, not noticing that she wasn’t following along, disappeared into the dark.

“ARE… YOU GONNA FOLLOW THEM?”

Lia honestly wasn’t sure.

“SOOO…” The Ghost boomed, causing Lia to flinch. The Ghost paused for a moment, looking at Lia with what she could only read as pity. “Soooo…” A much softer voice, one that trailed off as The Ghost waited for Lia to do anything.

But what could she do? She was staring down a ghost! She was still trying to grapple with her conception of morality!

“Uhm… uh… “ Her mind raced for things to say. What do you say to someone who's probably been dead for… oh god… how long had this ghost been dead for?

That’s when it hit Lia, the idea that this ghost has been around for what's probably decades, centuries, EONS. She’s heard rumors of a ghost in the woods since she was a child, it wasn’t out of the question. This ghost had probably existed since before her parents, her grandparents, and their parents. This ghost has probably absorbed several lifetimes worth of information. It’s probably seen whole cultures rise and fall. They’d probably seen the forest change many times over. Was it always even a forest? What has this ghost seen, what has this ghost felt? Could ghosts feel? Does dying hurt? Is there a heaven? A hell? A god? Are there other ghosts? What sort of life did a ghost lead? What does being alive even mean to a ghost at all? All at once, Lia processed all this information, and she comprehended the vast, dividing canyon between her and this ghost. Her stupid teenager problems felt so small, insignificant. This ghost was everything, and she was just nothing.

“W-what’s… your name?” She managed to eek out, cringing immediately after at how lame she was. She could’ve said anything, and she picked a college icebreaker tier question.

The Ghost’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, as if no one had ever asked her that question before. Then, a smile formed on the ghost’s translucent blue lips. A kind smile, on that suddenly pushed all the stress and anxiety out of Lia’s body, but still making her feel even smaller in The Ghost’s presence.

“Oh, me?” The Ghost asked in what sounded like a bashful tone. “Oh, I’m Nobody.”

“N-nobody?” Lia almost choked on her disbelief. “T-that can’t be right! You’re a ghost! You were somebody at some point!”

The ghost… Nobody shook her head. “Maybe at one point I was. But that could not be further from the truth now.” Nobody sighed, putting a hand to a chest as she floated around Lia. “I was a poor, sad girl that no one ever cared about. I was murdered in these woods, and was left there, forgotten. No one ever looked for me. I’ve been in this forest so long, I’ve lost track of how many years it’s been. I’ve even forgotten my own name, but, well, it’s not as if anyone ever remembered it in the first place.”

Lia wrung her hands together as her heart ached for this girl. “I’m sorry… it must’ve been awful to be alone for so long…” She immediately scolded herself in head for her own words, as if her shitty platitudes would mean anything to someone who’d been suffering for eons.

Nobody shrugged. She leaned back and crossed her legs, as if she was sitting on a recliner. “It’s actually not that bad. I kind of enjoy it.”

“W-what? How?” Lia sputtered in surprise.

Nobody got up from her invisible chair and began stretching, still unphased by Lia’s reactions. “Well… I don’t really like people. I prefer the quiet of being alone. It’s nice.”

“Oh… I see.” So that’s why she was trying to scare them off, she probably just wanted to be alone. Lia figured she should make herself scarce before she bothered Nobody anymore.

“BUT!” Nobody flew right up in front of Lia’s face, causing her to yelp and stagger back a bit. Nobody was so close to her now. She was so… beautiful. Nobody’s lips curled into another dazzling smile, warm smile. “You’re not like most other people, are you?”

Lia froze. She wasn’t. She could barely get out of bed in the morning, she hated her own reflection, she hated going to school, she couldn’t keep up with her classmates, no one even liked her at school.

“I’m… not.” Lia felt an odd surge of confidence from admitting that. She straightened her back, standing much taller now, looking Nobody right in the eyes.

Nobody’s smile grew even wider and prettier, Lia felt completely hypnotized. “Well, I guess that makes us kindred spirits, doesn't it?” Nobody laughed at her own joke, her laugh was light and floaty, just like her noncorporeal body. Lia had no choice but to join the laughter.

As the laughter died down, Lia realized something. Oh! She hadn’t introduced herself at all yet! How rude of her!

“Oh! By the way!” Lia outstretched her hand. “My name is-”

Before Lia could finish, Nobody swiftly moved her hand over, and into, Lia’s. For just a brief moment, Lia could feel warm, slender fingers wrap around her hand, the small jolt of static electricity you sometimes get when you touch someone else. Then, nothing. Nobody’s translucent fingers sunk a bit into Lia’s.

“A pleasure to meet you!” Nobody grinned.

As Lia fumbled for something to say in response, a loud blare suddenly cut the silent atmosphere, even causing the nonchalant Nobody to hover back a bit in surprise. It was her phone! Lia fumbled again as she scrambled to get her phone out of her jacket pocket. She answered without even checking who it was, and put the phone to her ear. “Um, hello?” Who even called her.

“GIRL! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!” Sarria’s angry tone blasted Lia’s eardrums.

“OH! UM! Hi Sarria, I um, uh-” Lia looked to Nobody for any help, who understandably just raised a confused eyebrow.

“We thought you were following us! Are you still in the woods?”

“Y-yeah!” Lia nodded her head for no one. “Im uh, got a little lost, but I’m okay! Promise!”

“Figures…” Sarria’s huff crackled through the phone speakers. “Listen, were at Ellie’s place now. You know how to get there, right?”

“Um… not really, no.” Lia shook her head for no one.

“Ugh… figures.” Lia could swear she heard Sarria pinching the bridge of her nose over the phone. “Here, I’ll text you the directions-”

“Nonononono that’s fine! I’m fine! I think… I think I’ll just head straight home tonight.”

“You sure girl?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Well.. alright I guess. See ya at school, I guess.”

“Bye…”

The phone hung up, and Lia sighed. She just wanted to go to sleep after today.

“Well, seems you must be going, hm?” Lia looked at Nobody, hovering right next to her. “Don’t worry about me, you just focus on getting home safe, alright?” She winked and began sinking into the ground. “See you around.”

“Uh, it was nice meeting you, um, b-” but before Lia could finish her goodbye, Nobody had already vanished.

–

Lia moved through her classes like a zombie. She had barely gotten any sleep, the replaying of last night’s events kept her up all night. Ghosts were real. Ghosts were real and she met one. Ghosts were real and she met one and she befriended one. She had a friend now.

She was spacing out to the droning of another one of Mr. Harrington’s boring, pointless history lectures, when a buzzing in her pocket knocked her out of her stupor. There was a brief burst of excitement as she reached into her coat pocket, before stopping and realizing that Nobody probably didn’t have a phone. Her enthusiasm died as she realized who the text was actually from. She sighed as she dug the phone out and turned the screen on.

Sarria: Hey. Girl. Hey. hey hey hey hey.

Sarria: Group meeting today at the cafeteria during free period

Sarria: MANDATORY

Sarria: no flaking ; )

Lia could already feel the migraine coming on.

-

The cafeteria was far too noisy and far too crowded. Lia pushed past the crowd of people milling about, attempting to balance the mediocre cafeteria pizza on the tray she was carrying. A few people bumped into her on the way. Some likely intentionally.

Then, through the crowd of people, she spotted her, well, their table, with Sarria and Ellie chatting away.

Sarria Minera. Tall, intimidating, and very, very loud. Rough, tumble, and messy. The “bad girl” of school. Smoked cigarettes behind the school. Wore bulky jackets and sunglasses indoors. She would prop her feet up on the table and no one could tell her to stop

Then there was Ellie Hammand. (Lia once asked if Ellie was short for “Elliot” and got an intense death glare from Sarria.) Contrasting Sarria’s somewhat rugged, masculine vibe, Ellie was dripping with girlishness. Pink, pink, and more pink. Her jacket, shoes, the beads in her dreads, all bright hot pink. Only thing not pink was the black camera hanging around her neck at all times. Personality wise she was all sunshine and rainbows. How these two were the best of friends, Lia could never fathom.

Or why they were “friends” with her. In truth, she had always sat at this table, by herself, and she was fine with that. They just decided to start sitting with her one day, without even asking. Probably because they pitied her, or as some sort of joke. Regardless, she was stuck with them now.

The two were engaged in the middle of a conversation, Sarria had her signature smug smirk, but Ellie wore a rare frown on her face.

“Was she mad?” Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed with what seemed to be worry.

“Are ya kidding? She was FURIOUS!” Sarria cackled a bit, lazily leaning her body weight onto the table.

“Did she…” Ellie didn’t seem nearly as amused.

“Nah, I’m fine.” Sarria waved a hand dismissively. Now Lia was curious.

“What are you two talking about?” Lia’s question immediately got the the attention of the two, and Lia felt immediately uncomfortable. This is why she didn’t like speaking up.

“Nothing you gotta worry about, princess.” Sarria shook her head, before then biting into a cookie. She seemed to just be siphoning off whatever Ellie packed from home again. “You got home alright?”

“Y-yeah.” Lia mumbled as she sat down.

“Girl!” Sarria clapped and Lia flinched. “Speak! Up! When! You! Talk!” She clapped as she enunciated each word.

“R-right!” Lia nodded far more than necessary. “I made it home safely!”

“Nice! That’s more like it.” Sarria applauded.

Ellie giggled, seeming to be back in her usual mood. “Look at you, being all confident! Have a cookie!” She leaned over the table and placed a chocolate chip cookie into Lia’s hands. “Momma made extras today! Don’t feel bad about asking for seconds!”

“R-right.” Lia bit into the cookie, and scrunched her face a bit. Ms. Hammand should use WAY less salt. “Um… how do the photos look?” She asked as she chewed. She was hoping there were some good pictures of Nobody.

Sarria grimaced, and Ellie stuck out her tongue and made a “pbbbtt” sound out of what sounded like frustration.

“See for yourself.” Ellie dug out the wrinkly folder from her bag where she kept photos in. She pulled out four polaroids and tossed them onto the table, like a poker player throwing down their hand. Four polaroids, all of trees. And nothing more.

“Turns out, ghosts don’t show up in pictures.” Ellie sighed. Lia felt similar in her disappointment.

Sarria placed her left elbow on the table, and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. “Man, met a lame ghost and can’t even get a photo of it…” Lia’s sheepish false smile twitched a little. That comment bothered her.

“Umm.. Sarria… can I ask a question?” Lia raised her hand.

Sarria arched an eyebrow. “…You don’t need my permission to ask a question.”

“Y-yeah! But um… why do you think that the ghost we met was lame?” Lia expected mocking from Sarria, but was genuinely surprised when Sarria’s eyes seemed to light up at the question. She took her legs off the table and shifted her body to face Lia.

“Well, it’s like…” Sarria scratched her chin. “When ya meet someone, you gotta asses their vibe. This ghost was being like. A HUGE asshole and telling us to go away and shit and it’s like. It’s kind of a buzzkill thing to do. Tells me this ain’t someone I wanna hang with. I don’t vibe with that vibe. Y'nno?”

Lia blinked. She did not ‘nno at all. “N-no?”

Sarria shrugged. “Never promised I was good with words. Anyway, the reason I called this meeting…” She turned to Ellie and gestured.

Ellie excitedly dug through her bag. “Dum-dee-dee-dum…” She slowly pulled out a massive black book, and plopped it on the middle of the table, causing everything on it to clatter. “TA-DA!” The book had a skull on it’s front, with the title in a language Lia couldn’t discern.

Sarria flashed a wild grin. “If we can’t FIND a cool ghost… then we just gotta SUMMON one!”

“Yeah!” Ellie pumped a fist into the air. “This afternoon, ghost summoning!”

“Nerrrrp.” Sarria shook her head. “Mom’ll flip. Gotta give her a few days to cool off.”

“Aww, boo!”

-

“Nobody! Hellooooo, Nobody?” It was once again night time. Lia had snuck out, well, had been sneaking out, for the past few days. Going out into the woods at night, looking for Nobody. She arrived at the same clearing they met a few nights ago. Lia was hopeful every night that Nobody would show up, but tonight was another dud. Well, she hoped that maybe she could luck out tomorrow. She really wanted to see Nobody again.

-

“Why… are we in the back parking lot?”

“Girl, why AREN’T we in the parking lot?”

Lia had somehow managed to find herself dragged out into the parking lot behind the school by her captors. The sun’s setting was turning the sky a deep, beautiful, orange, and there weren’t many cars left in the lot.

“It’s cuz we’ve gotta draw a summoning circle, that’s why!” Ellie chimed in as she walked past Lia, the spooky tome tucked under her arm. She said it with such certainty, as if her explanation made any sense at all.

“But why… does it need to be drawn… here?” Lia looked over her shoulder, to see a student walking towards their car. They were staring. Ugh.

“Cuz’ we’ve gotta draw it in chalk! The book was really specific about that.” Lia could see Sarria a few feet away scribbling something in chalk, referencing her phone as she worked. As Lia was distracted, Ellie shoved the tome into her hands, just her to stumble. It was heavy. “Here, take a look!”

Out of some morbid curiosity, Lia complied with the demand and opened the book. She opened to the first page, entitled About this Tome and It’s Author. Revulsion took over and she immediately turned to a different page. She didn’t need to know anything about the kind of freak that was writing necromancy books in their spare time. She flipped through the pages, containing tons of disturbing illustrations of zombies, ghosts, demons, monsters, and all sorts of manner of viscera. She closed the book, feeling queasy.

“Yeah, I think I’m good.” She held the book away from her body, presenting it toward Ellie.

“Nuh-uh-uh!” Ellie waggled her finger, and pushed the book back to Lia. “You’ve got a VERY important job missy! You’re leading the incantation! It’s on page 57!”

Before Lia could protest, Ellie had already skipped off to help Sarria with the circle. Lia watched as the two works, making jokes and laughing with each other as they did. They were a perfect pair together. Why did they need someone like Lia?

Lia sighed and opened the book to the assigned page like it was textbook work, and sighed. She silently rehearsed the incantations in her head when suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Lia flinched and turned her head to see the source of the contact. It was the student she noticed earlier in the distance. He was a taller boy, probably a senior.

“Hey.” The taller and older boy said, smiling. “The hell are you freaks doing out here?” His grip on Lia’s shoulder tightened.

Lia just stared at him, wide eyed. Paralyzed. What was she supposed to do?

“HEY!” Sarria shouted. Lia swung her head to the other side to see Sarria running over “KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF HER YOU FUCKING CREEP! UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR SKULL CAVED IN!” Immediately the boy took his hand off Lia, and bolted back towards his car. All the while Lia stood glued in place, helpless, useless. “YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT!” Sarria was now next to Lia, her screaming hurting her ears. “YOU BETTER RUN! PIECE OF SHIT!”

After the boy got in his car and drove off, Sarria closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, releasing the tension in her body. Lia couldn’t say the same for herself.

“Hey…” Sarria scratched the back of her head, probably unsure of what to say. “You uh… alright?” Sarria wore an uncharacteristic expression of concern. Ellie was not here too, also with the worried face Lia saw her with earlier at lunch. She hated this. They were pitying her. Why couldn’t they just leave her be? Sarria didn’t have to interfere. She would’ve been fine on her own. Probably. Maybe. It didn’t matter.

“I’m fine.” Lia forced out, not sounding convincing at all.

“Are… you sure?” Sarria’s gaze was focused on Lia in a way she absolutely hated.

“We don’t… have to do this. We could do another day!” Ellie wrung her hands in worry. Lia didn’t want to do this at all, any day, but she couldn’t say that. She didn’t want to drag things down further than she already had.

“No, guys I’m fine, really.” Lia lied. “We’ve got a ghost to summon, right?”

-

Sarria and Ellie had finished the chalk summoning circle on the parking lot pavement. Lia had barely noticed how long had passed, instead keeping her nose on the pages of the book containing the verses she had to read. The sun had nearly set at this point, Lia was using the light of her phone to inspect the drawing. It was very detailed and intricate, containing many odd symbols that she couldn’t recognize.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Sarria shot a smug, self satisfied grin.

“Y-yeah!” Lia would be lying if she said she wasn’t at all impressed. Though, Lia doubted that someone like Sarria could really do something so precise. She probably made Ellie, who was always far too happy to pick up the other’s slack, shoulder most of the work.

“So!” Ellie clasped her hands. “Does our star actress have her lines all memorized?”

What? Lia hoped she was referring to the incantation. “Yeah, I think so…”

“You think so? Or do you know so?” Sarria called out.

Lia sighed wearily. “Yeah. I’ve got my… lines… memorized.”

“Hell yeah! Let’s begin!”

The two girls went to either side of the summoning circle, and knelt down, closed their eyes, and wrung their hands together in some sort of form of mock prayer.

Now it was up to Lia. If she had any sort of spine she’d throw the book on the ground, and run away. But she didn’t. She was too scared of what retaliation could occur if she turned tail. So she played her role.

Lia checked the text of the book one more time, just to make sure she had it right. On the left page, descriptive text written by whatever creep author who wrote this book, explained the ritual.

The key to summoning an entity of any sort is “desire”. The desire of the summoner to bring forth the entity, and the entity’s desire to be summoned. Both desires need be true, else the ritual fail entirely.

I pray for whoever wields this tome, that their endeavors bear the fruit of success, where mine never could.

Desire. There was only one thing Lia actually wanted to summon. Nobody. The only person who understood her. Her only actual friend.

…An idea popped into Lia’s head. If these two wanted to see a ghost so badly, she’d give them the one ghost they had no desire to see. She closed her eyes, placed her left hand on her heart, and then on the pages of the book. She began the incantation.

“Spirit of the Beyond

If thou shalt hear my prayer

Let thy presence be known

In the damned world living

And grave us with your presence

For once and forever more”

Lia opened her eyes. Sarria and Ellie still sat on either side of the circle, praying. Nothing happened. Figures. Of course Lia couldn’t summon, was was she expecting?

But then… Lia noticed that clouds began to roll in. In mere seconds the wind began to howl. Lia could here hushed whispers coming from who knows where, whispering secrets in languages not of this world.

The two other girls clearly picked up on the change in atmosphere, fidgeting a little, but still staying in place, as the ritual demanded.

“Is it working…?” Sarria whispered.

“Shh!” Ellie shot back, and the two returned to silence.

The howling of the wind and the whispering became louder and louder until… nothing. It stopped. The sky suddenly cleared up with not a cloud in sight.

Then, out from the center of the summoning circle, Nobody popped out! She was here! Looking just as graceful as the other night. Lia felt herself smile and began to say something but nobody looked her right in the eyes, finger over her lips with a wink and mischievous smile. Lia remained quiet.

Nobody’s presence was completely silent, so the two other girls weren’t aware of her appearance yet. The ghost looked to the two girls and frowned, likely remembering their disrespect from the other night. She stared at the praying Sarria for a particularly long time with a deep grimace. Then, she looked back at Lia again, and smiled. With teeth. Her teeth were so pristine. Her smile was dazzling. Alluring. So much so that it distracted Lia from the fact that Sarria was hovering about fifteen feet in the air now.

Now, Sarria finally woke up, realizing her situation. “Wait, what the fuck?” A look of panic on her face. Sarria’s comment made Ellie open her eyes, who immediately looked shocked at her friend floating so high up.

Before either Lia or Ellie could say anything, Nobody snapped her fingers. Then, Sarria’s body flew straight, hitting the pavement with an awful, horrifying crunch that cut through the air.

Silence and shock as the two girls stared at the body now in front of them. Nobody, meanwhile, laughed. Like she had just heard the best joke of her life. And then, she vanished.

Ellie got up and screeched Sarria’s name to the heavens, and ran to her friend's side. Lia, meanwhile, in a panic, dropped the book, and ran. Ran far away, as the crunch of bones and ringing of laughter played through her ears.

-

The atmosphere in the school therapist’s office was suffocating. The concerned, pitying look the therapist gave Lia through his glasses made her want to hide behind the chair.

“So, Lia… how have you been doing?”

“Ok, I guess..” What was she supposed to say? That she was doing absolutely swell? That she was horribly miserable? Neither seemed liked particularly smart things to say.

“That’s good, that’s good.” The therapist nodded, clearly not satisfied with the answer. “You know Lia, you can always come to my office you need anything. I know you and Sarria were very close.”

“Yeah… guess so…” They weren’t. Though from an outside perspective they probably did seem to be. Though Lia was always an unwilling party Sarria’s schemes, and she didn’t pay attention to nearly anything the girl said.

“You know, Lia, you can tell me whatever you need, that’s what I’m here for.”

What was there to say? What could she say? Sarria was someone who existed in her life and Lia knew her for a brief moment. Then she got her killed. What more was there to say?

Silence lingered in the office. The therapist sighed, accepting he had been outmaneuvered by Lia’s talent of doing absolutely nothing. “Well, if you’re sure you have nothing to say, then that’s fine. There’s another reason we called you in here” The therapist adjusted his glasses and pulled out a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. “I’m sure you noticed by now, but your friend Ellie hasn’t been coming to school lately.”

“Huh?” Oh… she hasn’t, now that Lia thought about it. “Oh, yeah, yeah. I’ve noticed.”

“Well, we’ve been having trouble getting in touch with her… we were wondering if you could pay her a visit. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”

Yeah, a good friend.

–

On her way to Ellie’s house, Lia took a shortcut through the woods. She passed once again through the clearing that she met Nobody in. Once again, nobody was there.

Of course. Nobody wanted to see her, and that included Nobody.

-

Ellie’s house was intimidatingly big, towering over Lia in a way that made her feel like a prey animal staring up at a lion. She almost ran away, wondering why she was even sticking her neck out in this part of the woods, but the guilt kept her feet locked in place, of course.

With a shaky hand, she reached forward and pressed the doorbell, it’s ring then echoing for what felt like forever. Then, a beat of silence. Then, the door slowly opened. It was a heavy set woman, looking to be in her fifties. Lia assumed that this was Ellie’s mother. She seemed to look like her, though Lia never had the details of Ellie’s face ingrained into her memory.

The crows feet of the woman’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at Lia. “Oh, you must be one of Elliot’s friends, yes?”

Ellie’s mother guided Lia upstairs to where Ellie’s room was, where “taking a break” as her mother put it. As they walked through the house, the what struck Lia the most was how many framed photographs dotted the walls. Scenic vistas, close ups of plants and animals, photos of what looked to be family (though not a single photo of Ellie.) Ellie treated her camera like it was a part of her body, so these were all probably taken by her. She could never really recall giving any of her photos a good look though. They were nice.

Ms. (or Mrs.?) Hammand knocked on the door to her daughter's home. “Elliot, a friend is here to see you!”

No response. Ms. Hammond gave Lia an awkward look, and began to slowly open the door with a creak anyway. “Well I’ll just… let you in I suppose… good luck in there!”

Lia nervously stepped into Ellie’s room, and was immediately blasted in the eyes by the color pink. Pink walls, pink furniture, pink bedsheets. Fitting for Ellie. In contrast, Ellie looked to have a grey cloud hovering over her head, she was sitting on the floor next to her bed, her head tucked into her knees. An uneaten plate of cookies next to her.

“H-hey, Ellie.” Lia waved, awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. Ellie looked up for a brief moment, her eyes bloodshot from likely hours of crying. Guilt gnawed at Lia as Ellie ignored her, hiding her face back into her legs.

Lia decided to sit down, opposite of Ellie. There was a corkboard above Ellie’s bed, and it was littered with photos, mostly of her and Sarria. There were even some of Lia, which surprised her.

“So…” Lia tried to initiate a conversation, but Ellie wasn’t taking the bait. Her eyes wandered to the plate of cookies next to Ellie. She was kind of hungry. If Ellie wasn’t eating them, then-

Ellie smacked Lia’s hand away.

“Oh, s-”

“Why didn’t you go to the funeral?” Ellie looked up finally, but with a glare more characteristic of Sarria, sending surges of fear through Lia’s blood.

“I- I- I-” Lia stuttered, wracking her brain for any kind of response.

“It was just me, my parents, and her mom… no one else came…” Ellie choked out hoarsely. She was on the verge of tears, but still maintained that angry look.

“Listen, Ellie-”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU GO?”

Ellie’s shout echoed through the room, shutting down any side stepping excuse Lia could conjure.

“I… thought I wouldn’t be wanted there.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I got her killed.”

“That’s stupid.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed. “It was the ghost’s fault, not yours. You should’ve come. You were her friend.”

“I was?” Lia asked without thinking, immediately shutting her mouth when she realized what she had just said.

“What do you mean…” Ellie’s voice was shaking with a flurry of emotion. “Did you… not think of us as your friends?”

Silence. Ellie just stared hawkishly at Lia. There was no getting out of this.

“No… I didn’t.” Lia held her head low. “Honestly, I thought you guys kind of hated me.”

“WHAT!?” Ellie shot straight up, towering over Lia. “HATED YOU? ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR MIND? WE ADORED YOU!”

Lia looked up at the girl, who claimed to be her friend, looming over her. “You could’ve fooled me.” Lia stood up and looked Ellie in the eye, bitterness acting as substitute for courage. “All you two ever did was make fun of me and push me around.”

“What?” Ellie balked. “When the hell did we ever do that?”

“Oh, right.” Lia rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Drag the girl who hates spooky stuff into doing all sorts of spooky stuff. Real funny.” She let out a huff. “You guys made a hobby out of dragging me into stupid shit.”

Ellie stared at Lia, silently. Blinked. “W- We… we’re trying to help you.”

“HELP me?”

“Yeah! Y’know… trying to help you come out of your shell and stuff. You always looked so lonely, sitting all alone at lunch like that. We figured that well, you could use a friend.”

“So, it was pity then.”

“Well, I mean like, maybe at first. But you know, we weren’t really the most popular girls if you hadn’t noticed. We were lonely too, and we wanted to hang out with someone. And we LIKED hanging out with you! You were kind of cute, honestly. And you always came when we invited you to do stuff, even if you kinda complained, so we thought that you, well, that you enjoyed it. Being our friend.” Ellie looked as though she would start crying again.

“Well.” Lia threw up her hands. “I didn’t. I was an awful friend and I hated being one. My problem I was too cowardly to admit, and look where it got us. You guys should’ve left me alone. Maybe then Sarria would still be here.”

“...Man, fuck you.” Lia was suddenly taken aback by Ellie’s sudden change in tone. Her mournful expression was turned into a scornful one. “I spill my fucking guts out to about how much she, how much I, how much WE loved you, and your best response is trodding the woe is me routine for the bajillionth time? Christ, you must have it so hard, having people love you and all!”

“Well, what if I don’t WANT to be loved!”

Ellie stared at Lia for an uncomfortably long time, mouth agape. She then lunged at Lia, knocking her to the ground.

“Hey! Get off me!” Lia tried to bat Ellie.

“WHY. ARE. YOU. BEING. SO. DIFFICULT. I’M. TRYING. TO. BE. NICE. TO. YOU!” Ellie spoke through gritted teeth, punctuating each word with another shaking of Lia by her shoulders.

“I don’t want help-”

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING MAKING ALL THAT RACKET!” Ellie’s mother barged, violently swinging the door open. Both girls immediately ceased what they were doing, and look toward the older woman. All she was Lia on the floor, and Ellie on top of her.

“...Nevermind. I didn’t see anything.” She slinked out of the room, and slowly closed the door with a creak on her way out.

The sudden interruption of Ellie’s mother cut any and all anger and tension lingering in the arm. The two girls dumbly blinked at one another, before Ellie slowly slinked herself off of Lia, tucking herself back into the corner she was found in. Lia pried her back off the pink carpet floor, to see Ellie once again burying her face in her knees. Silence lingered, and Lia couldn’t find it in herself to say anything at all, expecting Ellie to get angry again. Ellie slowly looked up at Lia again, eyes having started to cry again.

“I’m sorry.”

“...Why?”

“Because I shouted at you. And tackled you.”

“But, I des-”

“I don’t care. I don’t care what you think you deserve or what you think you did or whatever. You’re my friend. You’re my only friend, now that Sarry is gone. And I don’t wanna act like that to a friend.”

The emphasis on only stuck in Lia’s mind. Lia was now the only thing separating Ellie and total loneliness. Ellie was always so outgoing, so talkative, Lia never pictured her as being someone who was lonely. But thinking about it, her and Sarria were the only people she ever was she’d seen talking to. Ellie was always so cheery, a big smile plastered on her face, taking most things in stride. But here she was, crying her eyes out in front of Lia. Lia suddenly remembered other moments of brief worry from her, such as in the cafeteria or at the parking lot. And she certainly never though Ellie was capable of getting mad, usually letting that fall to Sarria, but Lia had just experienced her wrath in full force. Lia had an idea of who Ellie Hammand was, and it was not the person who was sitting in front her. She knew stray facts about Ellie, her love for photography, her favorite color being pink, but there was so much she didn’t know, she didn’t really know who Ellie Hammand was. Her mind briefly flashed back to the name Ms. Hammond had called her daughter, if she even saw her that way.

“You’re lost in thought again, aint’cha?” Lia was brought back to the present. Ellie was looking at her again, with eyes that had probably been wrung dry by all the crying she had done.

She was right. Ellie had totally clocked Lia’s tendency to space out. It was probably something she’d seen Lia do before. How much had she observed of Lia, how much did she know? In some ways, Ellie had Lia figured out, knowing her tendency to space out and to degrade herself. But she had gotten Lia’s feelings on their escapades almost entirely wrong. But that wasn’t any fault of Ellie’s. It was because Lia refused to let her feelings be known, let herself be seen. That was what led Ellie to completely misinterpret Lia’s feelings. But for some reason, despite all that pushing away, Ellie was still looking at her with those bloodshot, wounded eyes.

They were two nobodies in a room together, who didn’t really know each other. But Ellie was still trying to see Lia, to know Lia, even through the massive wall she put between them.

…Could Lia do the same?

Silently, wordlessly, Lia skooched over towards where Ellie was, and squeezed herself into the same corner, next to her. It was a bit of a tight fit, being squished between Ellie and the bed . Ellie didn’t say anything. She just rested her head on Lia’s shoulder.

They stayed like this for a while. Simply eating the plate of cookies sat in front of them, the only words uttered in that hour span of time was a comment Lia made about the cookies having too much salt on them. It earned a laugh from Ellie.

Eventually, the cookies disappeared from the plate, and the girls had nothing left to mindlessly occupy them.

“So… what do we do now…” Lia looked at Ellie.

“Dunno.” Ellie shrugged. “Guess now we just try to, deal with it, I guess. The fact that Sarry is dead and all.”

Lia let herself slide down, to the point where more of her back was on the floor than the wall. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.” Ellie threw her head up and stared at the ceiling. “Ughhhhh. I wish we never messed with that stupid book.”

“Yeah, I-” Lia stopped as she began to realize something. The book! The book the book the book!

“THE BOOK!” Lia shouted, causing Ellie to flinch back and hit her head against the wall.

“Ow, shit-” She massaged the back of her head. “What about the book?”

“The- the- the BOOK!” Lia got up and started pacing around the room, buzzing with an excitement she never knew she was capable of having. “The book, it’s uh, it’s a necromancy book. Right? So we just gotta use the book to bring her back!”

“Oh my GOSH you’re so so right!” Ellie was now standing up too, and she took Lia’s hands into her own. “If we use the book, we can bring her back to life!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Lia nodded so hard her glasses almost fell off her nose. “So, go grab it!”

“Uh, I don’t have it.”

“Then where is it?”

Ellie grimaced. “Well, uh…”

–

Another day, another house looming over Lia. She had always expected that Sarria lived in some like, rundown trailer or something. But no, another generic looking middle class home.

She rung the doorbell. And waited. No response. Lia rung it again. Still nothing.

…Well an attempt was made! Time to get going! Lia turned around to walk away, when she collided right into someone.

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

Lia staggered back to see a tall woman, dressed head to toe in black, casual wear gown, her brunette hair tied up neatly in a bun. This was… Sarria’s mother. She looked very pretty, and surprisingly young.

“Oh, uh uh, hi, uhm, hello!” Lia meekly waved at the woman.

“Hello…?” The woman raised an eyebrow, and slowly waved back. “Can I… help you?”

…Oh right, right! Lia had to introduce herself. She straightened her back and looked the woman right in her eyes. “Hell, Ms. Minera! It’s good to meet you, I’m uh, or was, one of Sarria’s friends.” Saying that she was friends with Sarria felt a little weird, but not in a bad way.

The woman stared at Lia with half lidded eyes, but when Sarria was mentioned by name, they suddenly went wide. “Oh! Of course, of course! Come right along inside dear!”

–

The interior of Sarria’s home was remarkably unremarkable. It was something straight out of a sitcom set. The only thing that really stood out were the photos of Sarria as a child. None as a teen though.

Lia awkwardly sat at the marble kitchen countertop as Ms.Minera made her some tea. “I insist!” She had said.

A porcelain teacup was placed in front of Lia. “Go on dear.” The woman said with a smile.

“Oh. Thank you.” Lia took a sip.

“It’s so very kind of you to come here.” Ms. Minera. “It’s good to know that my sweet little Sarria had such a nice girl taking care of her.”

Sweet and little, huh. “Of course. Sarria was a good friend.” Saying it out loud again felt more natural.

Ms. Minera nodded. “I’m sure she was. I raised her to be a good girl, and she was a very good girl, I’m sure of it.” A bit of an odd statement, that in some ways was weirdly true, and in some ways definitely wasn’t.

“Y-yeah.” Lia wasn’t quite sure what to make of said statement. “I, uhm, hope it’s not too much to ask, but I uhm, oh god this is going to sound really weird. But um, your daughter, um, Sarria, um, has, or, gosh oh I’m sorry-”

Ms. Minera laughed. “Go on dear, it’s quite okay.”

“Right, yeah, so uhm-” Lia gulped. “Your daughter… left a book, or uh, I LENT her a book, and I need it back, if thats okay? Butifyouwanttokeepitinhermemoryorsomethingthatsok!”

“Oh, of course dear! I’m happy to help! Oh it’s so nice that you lent her a book, she always LOVED reading as a child.” Lia flashed back to a time where she remembered Sarria talking about how much she hated reading. Hm.

“It’s uhm, a black book, really heavy. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Oh of course! I’ll be right back dear!” Ms. Minera got up and went upstairs, likely to Sarria’s room, leaving Lia alone with her thoughts.

She considered Ms. Minera. She was… not at all what Lia had expected. “She’s a psycho bitch.” Ellie’s words rung in her head. Ms. Minera seemed to be nice but… there was definitely something off about the woman. The way she spoke about her daughter… it definitely didn’t sound like the troublemaking Sarria that Lia knew. But then again, did Lia really know Sarria either?

“Oh, I found it!” Ms. Minera came down the stairs holding the book in both hands. “At least I think it is. It’s this right?” She showed the skull faced cover to Lia.

She nodded in return. “Yeah! That’s it, thank you!” Lia got up from her seat to collect the book, but Ms. Minera wasn’t handing it to her. Instead, she was just staring at the cover.

“This is quite the scary looking book… what’s it about?” Ms. Minera’s brows furrowed.

“It’s uhm, it’s about, ohgoshdon’topenit!” Lia futilely waved her hands in protest. But it was too late. Ms. Minera was already looking through the wretched details of the wretched book. Lia watched as her expression shifted, from curiosity to shock to horror to rage.

“Uhm, I can explain.”

“What the SHIT were you feeding my FUCKING daughter!?” Ms. Minera slammed the book down on the table. The porcelain tea cup went flying off the table and smashed onto the ground.

Lia stepped back, shaking. Was this what Sarria had to deal with at home? “I wasn’t- it was hers- don’t- not sure where she even got it from-”

“Don’t give me that HORSESHIT!” Ms. Minera stepped forward toward Lia, her heels clacking against the floor. “My Sarria was a good girl! She wasn’t- She wasn’t into whatever satanic nonsense this is! You- You’re probably in league with that, awful boy- girl- I don’t even know what they are! But I know you and, IT, were poisoning MY daughter, and were probably why she got killed!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW HER!” Lia shouted with a voice she barely recognized herself. “Sarria- she- she wasn’t a good girl, or at least, not in any traditional sense! She smoked cigarettes behind the gym and got into fights and chewed with her mouth open and loved aliens and demons and cryptids and ghosts and she was way too loud! But… she cared about me! Tried to include me! She was my friend!”

“Oh shut UP! Who the hell even are you!”

“I’m… I’m… My name is Lia Xue Liu! I’m sixteen years old, I like reading, listening to synthwave, I have 20/100 vision, my favorite subject at school is Home Ec, my least favorite is History, and for what it’s worth I have a 3.4 GPA!”

Lia panted in and out. She had never yelled so much in her entire life.

Ms. Minera blinked. Taken aback, but clearly not impressed with whatever Lia just spouted. She closed her eyes, and sighed, and presented Lia with the book.

“Just… get out of my house.”

–

“Toldja she’d freak out!”

“Fine, you were right…”

“Well why didn’t ya believe me in the first place?”

“Well… you kind of have a tendency to… exaggerate a lot.”

“Really? I never exaggerate, like, ever!”

“There it is! Right there!”

Ellie let out a giggle in response and threw her hands up in mock protest. “Fine, fine I guess you got me."

Lia crossed her arms in smug satisfaction. “Hehe…”

“You know…” Ellie swung her legs in large arcs as they walked. The two were en route to Sarria’s grave. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh before. Hell, I think this the first proper conversation we’ve had, maybe like, EVER, in the history of forever.”

Lia couldn’t help but smirk. “There you go, exaggerating again.”

The girls had made their way to Sarria’s grave. It was noon, the sun was starting to set. Dead trees framed the graveyard, encircling it as if it was an arena. The girls grabbed their shovels and got to work.

The two girls dragged their friend’s coffin out of it’s hole, and opened it up. Lia almost threw up at the smell. That was Sarria alright, looking rough as ever! The rotted bits of skin and flesh almost suited her messy appearance.

SNAP! Lia turned to her right to the sound. Ellie had just… taken a picture of Sarria’s corpse.

“Seriously?”

“What?” Ellie looked completely incredulous at Lia’s scrutiny. “When else am I gonna be able to snap a picture like this? Plus, Sarry would TOTALLY wanna see this.”

Lia sighed. “She totally would.”

The girls dragged out the corpse onto the dirt. Ellie had gotten to work drawing the magic circle, while Lia pulled her book out of her bag, and began to memorize the chant again.

“Spirit of the Beyond

If thou shalt hear my prayer”

“Oh, I hear you!”

That voice! Lia looked up, and as did Ellie. There she was, Nobody, floating above the two.

“Y-you!”

“Me!” Nobody smiled and floated circles around the two girls. “Haven’t seen you in a bit! What are doing out here? And what are you still doing with them?” Nobody grimaced and pointed to Ellie. She responded by sticking her tongue out and flipping off Nobody.

“She’s my friend. And we’re here to get our other friend back.” Lia pointed at Sarria’s corpse, placed upon the magic circle drawn in the dirt.

Nobody frowned and tilted her head, as she floated right up into Lia’s face. Lia stood her ground. “I thought I was your friend. And I thought you hated them.”

Lia clenched her free hand, the one not holding the tome. Ellie looked on in curiosity. “Maybe. Maybe I did. But things changed, and they’re my friends now. Maybe they always were. And it’s not like we were ever friends. We only talked once, and you avoided me afterwards. I can’t really be friends with you if you don’t show up.”

“Haaaah?” The ghost flew back a bit, face full of shock. “I told you! I don’t like people! I’m not gonna just show up whenever! I thought you understood that.”

“I did. Er, well, thought I did, but…” Lia thought back to the conversation she had with Ellie. The encounter she had with Ms. Minera. “I don’t think I want to be that kind of person anymore.”

Nobody shut her eyes. “...Fine. Fine! Turns out you’re just like every other person on this stupid land! You know what? You want your friend back soooo bad, huh? Well you can HAVE HER BACK!” Nobody dived into Sarria’s body and disappeared.

Then, Sarria’s body began to stir. Like a marionette hoisted by strings, Sarria’s boy rose up, shakily standing on two legs, arms swaying aimlessly. Sarria’s head slowly looked up at Lia.

“Heyyyyyyyyyyyy…” The voice coming from the body was a garbled mix of Sarria and Nobody’s voices.

“S-s-sarry?” Ellie looked absolutely frightened by the shambling corpse.

“El…” Lia looked at her friend with concern. “I don’t think that’s…”

“Are ya kidding?” The corpse wretched out, mechanically waving it’s rotted arm. “It’s me, Sarah! You remember me, right? I’m your best friend in the wild world. We’re practically married!” The corpse did a twirl, almost losing it’s balance.

“Stop! Stop it! Stop stop stop!” Ellie cried, viscerally upset by the display.

“Nobody, stop it right now!” She pointed at the corpse, now doing a humiliating little jig from god knows what era of dance.

“Oh, you wanna, see Siracha so bad, huh?” The corpse completely froze in place, like time stopped. “Well…” The corpse rotated it’s torso at a ninety degree angle, and grabbed a shovel off the ground. “How bout I take you to her!”

The corpse swung the shovel, and Lia closed her eyes, braced for impact. But, instead she heard a thud. She opened her eyes and saw that Ellie had tackled the zombie to the ground, center of the circle.

“Lia, now!”

“Right!” Lia pointed one hand at the corpse, and held the tome firm in the other. She remembered the chant by heart.

“Spirit of the Beyond.”

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“If thou shalt hear my prayer”

Lia had to believe. She had to believe in Sarria.

“Let thy presence be known”

“Stop! Stop! If you do that I’ll-”

“In the damned world living”

She had to believe that Sarria wanted to be found. By her. Even after everything.

“And grave us with your presence. “

“STOP! I WON’T GO BACK AGAIN, I WON’!T”

“For once and forever more.”

She would bring her friend back. She would.

Silence. Then a bright flash of light, and a loud crack. When the light dissipated, Lia and Ellie were still there. Ellie was still on top of Sarria, who now looked fresh as a vegetable, no rot. Had it worked?

“Sarry…?” Ellie caustiously asked.

“FFFFUUCCCKKKKKK!!!” Sarria stretched, gritting her teeth as she did. “Worst nap of my fucking LIFE!”

It worked! It worked! Sarria, her friend, was back! In the flesh, fully! Lia felt tears well up her eyes.

“Oh Sarry!” Ellie was also getting misty eyed. “Is it really you?”

“You fuckin’ bet it is, princess.” Sarria’s smile was soft.

“Yay!” Ellie cheered, before immediately pulling Sarria into a kiss, who gladly reciprocated. Lia was surprised, but in hindsight, it made sense that this was their relationship. Had they made out before, and Lia just hadn’t noticed? There was so much Lia ignored about them, so much she didn’t notice. She didn’t know that Sarria could smile like that, or that she could cry. But now that she was back, Lia had plenty of time to learn.

“Yo. Lia.” A hand placed on her shoulder. While Lia was spacing out, Sarria and Ellie had gotten up, and now the former was in front of her.

“Hey- OOF!” Sarria had delivered a swift punch to Lia’s gut.

“Sarry!”

“That’s for not coming to my funeral ya fuckin’ dick!”

“Yeah..” Lia. wheezed. “F-fair enough…”

“And this…” Sarria scooped up Lia into a hug, picking her up and twirling her around. “Is for bringing me back to life, you crazy sunofabitch!”

“Hehehehe…” Lia giggled. Being hugged like that felt nice. Lia thought she heard the snap of Ellie’s camera.

“Now, c’mon.” Sarria let go and motioned away from her own grave. “I wanna get out of this stupid place. I need a nap in a real bed.”

“Oh, oh, I know! Sleepover at my place!” Ellie raised her hand.

“Yeah, I like that.” Sarria looked at Lia and smiled. “Sound good to you, Li?”

Lia nodded. Sarria smiled back.

–

The three girls made their way out of the graveyard.

“Oh, B T W Sarry.” Ellie chirped. “I’ve got pics of you as a dead body. You wanna see?”

“Are ya kidding? Of course I do.”

Before they left the graveyard, Lia looked back at the graveyard. While casting the spell, Nobody made several protests, not wanting to go back wherever she would’ve been sent. She sounded scared. Despite all of her insistence on loneliness, maybe Nobody was afraid of it to some degree as well. She wondered if Nobody was really gone. Maybe someday, they could bring her back with the book. But, as the book said in far more complex terms, the “desire” of revival was a two way street. Lia could reach her hand out. But it would be on Nobody to take it.

“Yo, Li, watcha doing standing around! I don’t wanna leave you behind again!”

“Coming Sari!” Lia turned away, and walked back toward her friends.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About This Tome and It’s Author

This tome is the culmination of all the research I have done into the art of the occult. The dead, spirits, demons, beasts, spells, ghosts, and zombies. You may ask yourself, why would someone take it upon themselves to learn the ways of such terrible machinations? I ask you to withhold your judgment, and read my story, so that you may find my reasoning sound and just.

All of the knowledge I have acquired in the production of this tome is the result of the research and experiments I have done into the art of raising dead. Such art is a sin, one declared by my very own church. But I had a noble cause. I was attempting to revive a girl, unjustly taken from the world.

This girl was something of a pariah within the town. People hated her, and in turn, she had everyone else. Everyone except me. I was her only friend, or at least that was how I liked to think of us. We would spend the days chatting away. Every day with her was bliss. I loved her.

But death is cruel, and I sought to conquer its ways. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful, and my love remained beyond my reach forever. But I hope that one day, this research can amount to something, and bring back someone special to somebody.

My friend called herself a nobody. But to me, she was everything.