The cigarette smoldered between Franz's fingers, a single point of fading light in the oppressive dimness of the apartment. He looked to his left, at the familiar figure sitting in the shadows beside him.
"…Why are you back, Leo?"
The ghost of his friend smiled, a sad, gentle curve of the lips that was far more haunting than any ghoulish snarl. "What do you mean, 'back'?" he replied, his voice a quiet echo in the silent room. "I was here the whole time, my dear friend. Don't you remember what I said? I will haunt you forever."
The words dug like nails into Franz's chest. A sharp, excruciating pain pressed into his heart, as if something old and rotting inside him had just been woken. He dragged another pull from his cigarette, smoke burning down his lungs before spilling out in a steady exhale.
"I didn't think I'd start hallucinating again," he muttered, voice flat. "Even after dying… even in another world. My dead friend still follows me.".
