Chapter 23.

The only explanation I could come up with was that she was a ghost; yet, regardless of how I tried to believe it, there really was no way I could believe all of this was real. I was far more inclined to think someone had to be messing with me the entire time. Maybe it was all just a sick and twisted elaborate prank to get me to freak out and record my reaction.

I didn’t want to think about it any further and I simply wanted to finish up my work on the device as soon as possible. Since I’d discovered the source of the problem, I removed all the hair and cleaned up the contacts as best I could before I reassembled the camcorder.

I reconnected the original hard drive and verified that the LCD turned on properly now. I tried recording a video and changed the camcorder into the play mode. When the video thumbnails loaded up I found the video I’d just recorded.

Yes, I found the video I just recorded… it was just that... it was now the only video on the hard drive.

Ignoring the fact that the videos were now missing, I still played the video I recorded to confirm it was functioning properly. Even if spooky crap happened, a job was a job no matter what. Maybe I screwed up and the files were just unreadable now. At the end of the day, making sure the job was completed properly, no matter the circumstances, was the code of ethics and creed I abided by. As long as it was functional… screw the previous creepy videos.

When I hit the play button on the video, the ceiling appeared with my face in frame. All was good and well for the five seconds of footage I’d recorded. However, just as the recording hit the fifth second, it was for only an instant, but a face lacking a nose and mouth appeared behind me; with white rolled-back eyes, along with long black hair hanging from above draping down towards me, it’s head had morphed and become one with the ceiling.

With shivers running down my back, my hair standing on end, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; I played back the footage and paused it on the fifth second right as the head emerged to verify I wasn’t seeing things. It was without a doubt still there.

While the footage was paused a mouth grew on the picture and let out a creepy grin. Without thinking I tossed the camera into a box and taped it up tightly. I knew it was irrational to think that would do anything, but spooky camcorders were definitely spooky. I checked the ceiling just to be sure, but there was nothing there.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I’m definitely just having a mental breakdown right now. That’s right, it’s just a mental breakdown. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Why won’t you just leave me alone? I didn’t even watch the damn VHS tape.”

Of course, no answer was returned in response to my loaded question. What was I really expecting? For a ghost to really be there and answer me?

I will refuse to believe in ghosts until the day I die. Shit, that’s not some foreshadowing, okay? Never mind, I take back my words; I just refuse to believe in ghosts regardless of whether I’m alive or not.

It’s really about time that I see a psychiatrist. Recently there have been far too many discrepancies with what I view to be reality and fictitious events.

When I checked the time, it was already 4:00 AM. I’d really spent way too much time working on that stupid camcorder and looking through the videos on it. Since I’d finally fixed it I tried to calm down by loafing about a bit. I pulled out my smartphone and surfed the web for a while since I still wasn’t sleepy. I paid a visit to the message board I’d frequented recently. After looking through a few threads I came across one titled, “Is Rick Dead?”

When I opened it up, it was just a bunch of trolls discussing conspiracy theories about the rumored ghost girlfriend. There were some trolls who claimed to be Rick. Some of them acted like they were presently dating the ghost girl and pretended they were having a merry time together. Others acted like their lives were presently endangered and they were either on the run or seeking asylum with the cops.

There were all sorts of false claims being thrown about, but surprisingly there wasn’t anybody who believed Rick was already dead.

Since that was the case, I figured I’d be the god to shed my wisdom with the blind peasants fumbling about with their incoherent stories.

“FormerLurker: Rick is dead. He died yesterday.”

“Troll1: ^proof?”

“FormerLurker: I’d rather not for my personal safety as it may reveal my identity.”

“Troll3: ^fake news.”

“FormerLurker: All I can say is he was a coworker who was a junior electronics repair technician.”

After I posted that to the thread, I closed the page out and left it at that. I wasn’t really in the mood to discuss it any further as it reminded me of the creepy dream I had the night he died.

Since there weren’t any other threads that piqued my interest and instead only cancerous brony and trap threads at the moment, I listened to Vocaloid songs on YouTube to pass the time. I eventually stumbled upon one I found somewhat catchy, Lucky Orb, and I listened to it on repeat until I eventually fell asleep on top of my desk.

I definitely didn’t want to fall asleep with some creepy eerie music playing in the background and end up with another nightmare, so I settled with the happy go lucky song that could do no wrong, Lucky Orb. I really needed some luck, so even the title of the song gave me some peace of mind.

…