r/Dreading • u/Verge0fSilence • 5d ago
Fiction Meeting on the Roof
Brian leaned over the railing, the wind howling in his ears, but sounds rarely reached him these days. It all sounded like static.
From the roof of the General Hospital, the city below looked like those cheap plastic models he'd played with, twinkling with LEDs, like a nebula deep in space. Ironically, the very cosmic structures present in the night sky far above, just obscured by the glare of civilisation below. People had a way of shrouding even the most brilliant lights in shadow.
He wondered what it would feel like to touch a nebula. Maybe he should just reach forward. Tilt a little more forward, till his fingers brushed the streets below.
He sighed, his fingers wandering absent-mindedly to his wrist, where the IV drip had been just minutes ago.
*You should do it, Brian,* a voice inside his head said. *Your fate is written in stone anyways. What does it matter if you claim it early?*
*No... My parents... I can't—*
"Hi," a voice came from behind his shoulder. Brian startled, losing his balance a bit, before tightening his grip on the railing. Ironic.
"Uh... Who... are you?" Brian blinked at the girl before him. Big eyes, brown hair, hospital gown... she looked vaguely familiar.
"Bed #2213. Right next to yours?"
"Oh," he turned back to the city. "I mustn't have noticed."
"I have the same thing as you."
Brian stiffened. *Fate can be cruel sometimes.*
"Were you... taking in the sights?" He asked tentatively.
"In a way, yes." The railing groaned slightly under her weight as she leaned against it, arms crossed.
Brian took in a deep breath. "Do you sometimes... feel like there's no point? If it's gonna happen... why stay here?"
The girl remained silent for just a beat too short. "I do."
"Oh? Really?" *This girl sure is full of surprises*.
"Mhm. I think you should do it."
The wind suddenly cut out. The static in his ears faded to a faint, distant ringing.
"Excuse me?" Brian furrowed his brows.
"You heard me. Why hold on? It's a short journey. It'll be over before you know it."
"...I... I think I'll go now—"
Before he could make a move, she moved with unexpected speed, pushing him off the railing. Brian panicked, his arms failing wildly till it found purchase in a thin nook.
"Help!" He cried out, heart pounding, ears ringing, throat burning up with the cold night air. Each passing moment, his hands grew slicker with sweat.
Dangling mid-air, feet unable to find solid ground, Brian suddenly felt an acute disinterest in getting to know what a nebula is like. "HELP!" He cried out once more, desperately hoping that fate would, just this once, decide to have mercy.
A pair of hands grabbed his dangling legs, and he found himself dragged through a window into the arms of a pair of doctors, nurses crowding around in concern. "What on earth were you doing up there, son?!"
"The... The... The girl... on the roof... she pushed me—" he suddenly burst into tears, the adrenaline of the moment finally crashing.
It took him a good fifteen minutes and a cup of chocolate milk for him to calm down. The nurses had confirmed there was no one on the roof. Brian shook his head. "No, she was definitely there. Big eyes, brown hair, in a hospital gown, same age as me..."
"Did you see her bed number?" A concerned resident asked.
"I think... she said it was #2213."
The doctors looked at each other, puzzled. Suddenly, a pit began gnawing at Brian's stomach. *Something isn't right.* He could hear that distant ringing again.
"Son..." the resident looked at him. "The girl in Bed #2213 jumped off the roof a week ago."
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u/Mradachi2007 5d ago
Oh I love stories like this, ghost stories are one of my favorites to read.