Perhaps you don’t know that ghosts of fictional characters exist, who can torment the living just like the ghosts of real people?
Such a ghost killed my boyfriend.
I loved Will so much. He was such a delightful soul, so full of whimsy. Life was so much fun with him.
He was especially nerdy over the Sherlock Holmes stories. He cosplayed as the detective, dressed up in period clothes, and he looked so hot- hotter than Benedict Cucumber and Jeremy Brett combined.
For his birthday and the first birthday we were together, I booked a trip for us to Switzerland, with a visit to the famed Reichenbach Falls, the scene of Holmes’s fight to the death with the criminal mastermind, Moriarty. It was going to be incredible. Will was beyond excited.
Everything went well at first. We checked into a charming inn, and had the most exquisite supper. Our night together was one for the gods to wonder at.
The next morning, Will dressed and immersed into the spirit of Holmes. He was so excited he could barely talk, while I could only marvel at how the elegant clothes of the era suited him, the tall hat framing his long bony face, the gleaming silk of his cravat reflecting the glow of his grey eyes, and he gripped his cane powerfully. His attention to detail was incredible, with every item on his person sourced from period materials.
“Sweetheart you look amazing!” the words broke from me despite knowing that it might break his immersion.
He turned to me dramatically, but his tone was soft. “My dear friend, this will prove a fateful walk, and I wish you to stay here and rest yourself after the travels of yesterday.”
I shook my head. I knew he was only getting into the part, but I wanted to see the look on his face as we reached the famous waterfall.
Half-way there, as we clambered the damp green and grey rocks, the air already wet from the spray, a boy approached me. “Sir, you are wanted back at the inn- there’s an urgent telegraph for you.”
I smiled- I hadn’t arranged for this, so Will must have, and I was impressed. Will hugged me fondly as I pretended to go back with the boy, but I slipped away, following the signs to the fall. I had a series of photos for social media waiting to be made.
But as I drew closer I realised there was no way I could take photos. The roar of the falling water and the perpetual mist tricked the senses and obscured the vision. I glimpsed other figures through the mist dressed similarly- other cosplayers? but none of them looked quite right- certainly not as right as my darling Will.
“Will!” I shouted uneasily, I wanted to go back. The narrow trails were slippery.
And then suddenly, the mists parted and I came clearly face to face with a man with a devilish look, his eyes burning with hatred. He was dressed in the same period clothes that Will was. I cried out in fear.
He seemed as startled to see me, but then I realised he wasn’t even looking at me- or didn’t seem to be able to see me. He was staring behind me. I turned around, and thought I saw Will in the mist. The man ran towards him, passing me by.
Will shouted something dulled by the roar of the waterfall.
I watched in horror as the two figures collided and wrestled on the narrow trail right over the waterfall. It happened so quickly. The mist moved, and I saw them both clearly fall, their dark clothes flapping in the white spray.
Only Will’s body was retrieved. There was no report of a second man missing.
The police suspected me, thinking I had made the second man up, but they couldn’t prove anything, and after a while they had to let me go.
Poor Will. Such a great cosplayer that even the ghost of his fictional adversary was tricked.