The streets were frantic and hot, with steam rising with every step pounded on the pavement. People were so close, yet making no connections at all. The rain earlier hadn't stopped them one bit. They didn't care how slippery the sidewalks could get, how utterly messy and complicated the shrinking puddles of murky water were. Mostly because they were messy, complicated, and murky. It baffled the mind how the world seemed to evolve in communication, yet devolve in actually communicating. If he were human, he wouldn't be able to breathe. The anxiety would creep slowly inside his body and take over, crippling him into isolation or shyness. My how some things didn't seem to change. He always hated groups of people, but he learned to cope. He had no choice in the matter, though it was easier being a ghost. He could float away if it was too much.
Tonight he didn't feel like floating. He felt like stomping. He had answers and he needed to get them. Why was he given The Girl to look after? Why was he so drawn to her? Was it all a fucking game? Maybe she didn't exist. Maybe she did and she was his punishment. To search for a soulmate all through his human life, to give up, and commit murder, just to die and finally decades later find her. His halcyon girl. But she wasn't even anything he wanted when he was alive. She wasn't shy, for one. She would have probably laughed at him or worse, overlooked him. By all means, on the surface, she was just a girl. He frowned, staring at a mud puddle. She was just a girl, till she wasn't. Somewhere between all the pain he saw her go through and all the life she lived, he grew more and more..... accustomed to her. She felt like home.
"Oh come the fuck on," he heard a voice say.
"What the fuck?" He replied. Why the hell did his friend feel the need to sneak up on him like that.
"You fell in love," he laughed, "And you cant even see it." He stared at him. "This is your punishment. You can't have her. Ever." He began to stomp away. "When she dies, where do you think she's going?" He stopped. His friend was right. She was going to rest; he had to work, probably forever. And he was learning forever was a long time. But he had to protect her, he had to-
A wave of intense pain washed over him. He tried to shake it off. Every step felt heavier and grew harder. He knew he had to go back. A wave of loneliness drowned him. She needed him. He looked up at the sky and laughed bitterly as he knew exactly where he was going. He could not stay away.
To be continued