Lifeless: A (Very) Short Ghost Story

         Late in the night, I heard a lifeless, banshee scream. It was a terrible sound, a shriek, but with no feeling in it.
         I had heard this sound before, once: the night my parents died in a car crash, leaving me to be raised by my maternal grandparents. I’d been a young child, then, and as I aged, I assumed that it had been a dream, or a childish fancy…or a screech owl.
         This time I was not a child, and I knew it wasn’t a dream. I was awake this time, reading in my library, whereas last time I’d been wakened by the sound. And this time, I was in the middle of the city. No screech owls here.
         Once I recovered from the initial shock, I began to catalogue everyone one I knew who could have died. Who was the creature keening for this time? I shifted in my seat. I heard the sound again, closer this time. It shook my bones as well as those of the house--truly bloodcurdling. I pulled in my feet and curled back into my chair, praying to myself. The thought ran through my head that this was useless--I couldn’t get away, so I may as well fight.
         “Where are you?” I demanded, more breathlessly than I intended. Then, gaining courage, “Where are you?? Why are you here?” I paused. No answer. “Haven’t you taken enough from me already?” I yelled.
         The scream again. In this room. So loud it was painful. I opened my mouth and put my hands to my head.
         “…my head. Stop screaming!” I pleaded. The scream came yet again. It hurt like hell.
         “Who is dead? Just tell me and leave me alone! Why are you torturing me like this?”
         The scream again. Words this time. Raspy. I could barely make them out. “….YOU…YOU…ARE….DEAD.”
         “W-what?” I stammered, “I’m not dead!”
         “YOU ARE DEAD.”
         “No!” I shouted. “NO!”
         I turned to run and stopped short. I should have guessed.
         There, in my chair, sat...I, curled up with a book, the most peaceful look on my face.
         “When did that happen?” I wondered, as I lost consciousness.