Catch-up from last night

Gali allowed everyone to take a few bites of food before turning sideways to face Anthony.
     “So.  What the hell happened out there?”  He stopped chewing for a moment, and then wiped the grease off his fingers on to the cheap recycled napkins.
     “Like I said before, I really don’t know what happened.  But I guess I can try to explain it.”  He shifted backwards, leaning against the back of the booth and folding his hands inside of the pocket of his sweatshirt.  “I was just walking, right?  I was with Samantha and Mr. Rhodes, and we had been talking and laughing.  And then I drifted off a little bit, seeing where you guys were, and then just looking at headstones.  I had my flashlight with me.  I could hear the wind – you guys could too, right?”  They nodded affirmatively.  “Yeah... So there was the wind howling, but then it stopped being so loud and it was like it was right next to me.  Like somebody was breathing into my ear – exhaling.  And it kept getting louder until I heard Sam and Mr. Rhodes yelling, but it sounded like they were really far away.”
     “We were only about ten feet away from you, Anthony,” said Mr. Rhodes.
     “Yeah, I know that now,” said Anthony, looking annoyed.  “But you sounded like you were barely making yourself heard.  Anyway, then the roaring stopped but the way you guys were walking got really, really loud – the leaves crunching and whatever.  And then I felt… I don’t even know how to begin to describe it.  It felt like anything happy I had ever felt was draining out of me.  I kind of thought that I was going to throw up, but I didn’t.”  He paused here for a moment.  There were other words to describe the way he felt when the blackness took hold of him, but he wasn’t sure how much detail he wanted to go into.  Everyone probably thought he was crazy enough as it was.  And yet, they weren’t going to be able to be honest with each other if he started lying the first time anything significant happened.  “It felt like there was something dark inside of me.  Pulling me down – that’s why I couldn’t stand up any more.  It pulled me down and then it was like it was seeping out through my face – through my eyes and through my mouth.  It felt like I was bleeding, only I wasn’t, obviously.”  Everybody, including Perry, had stopped eating by this point.  French fries were growing cold on the waxy paper that crappy hamburgers had been wrapped up inside of.  “So... I guess that’s about it.  Like I said – I don’t know what the hell happened.  I just know what it felt like.”
     “Well, maybe it was something with your sinuses or something,” said Perry.  “Sometimes when you get plugged up or something, you can hear weird noises like a dull roaring or something.  Maybe that’s what happened, and then you got a little dizzy.”
     “Yes,” said Mr. Rhodes, “It could be that.  Or were you really hungry?  Sometimes if you haven’t eaten in a long time, you can get really dizzy like that, and hallucinate a little bit.”
     “Well, considering that our meal plans are paid for with everything we pay to go to High Glen, food isn’t really a problem for me.  I ate 3 meals today, same as I always do.  In fact, I ate some Doritos and had some soda before I met up with you guys.  I have enough room to eat this stuff now,” he gestured at the food on the table in front of him, “But I definitely wasn’t that hungry.  And my sinuses have been fine,” he said, looking at Perry.  “I’m not plugged up at all.”
     “Well, is there anything else that’s been wrong?” asked Samantha.  “Like… have you been okay?”
     “Yes….” Said Anthony, almost acidly.  “I felt fine, we’ve been over---“
     “No, I don’t mean being hungry or anything.  I mean… like… you.  Have you been feeling bad about anything lately?  Something that might make you feel like, depressed?”
     “No,” he answered, not having to give it much thought.
     “Can depression even affect you physically?” asked Perry.
     “Yes,” said Gali, rather curtly.  “It can.  But what I want to know is….Did you see anything, Anthony?  Like, anything out the ordinary, obviously you saw headstones and whatever.  You didn’t see any outlines of people?  No weird shadows?  No strange lights?”
     “No,” he said, giving her a bit of a withering look.  “Don’t you think I would have mentioned something like that when I was telling you guys what had happened?”
     “Well, not if you didn’t think the rest of us would believe you…”
     “You know what, Gali?  I’m not sure if all of you believe me as it is!  Not that I give a shit whether you believe me or not.  I would have told you if there was anything like that going on.  I’m actually fairly certain that I want to know what the hell happened to me a lot more than you do.”
     “Okay, okay,” Mr. Rhodes cut in.  “Gali, do you know whether or not this is a typical reaction of somebody who encounters a ghost?”  Anthony opened his mouth, looking extremely perturbed, but before he could speak, Mr. Rhodes continued, “Not that I’m saying that you saw one – I think it’s fair to say that we’ve established that you didn’t see one.  But I’m interested – can you feel the presence of a ghost without actually seeing one?  And if you can, then why did Anthony feel it, and not the rest of us?”
     There was a pause of silence as everyone mulled his questions over.
     “Well, I already told you,” began Gali, “Not everyone is on the same frequency with the spiritual world.  It’s like how you relate to actual people – some people get along really well with everyone without even trying.  Some people just happen to click only with certain people.  Maybe Anthony is one of those who can get sense many presences.  Or maybe there was a ghost who felt drawn to Anthony, and could easily connect to him for some reason.”
     “But….” began Samantha, “How do we know that it was a ghost?  Why do you think that that’s what happened to Anthony?”
     “I guess that’s something you need to decide for yourself,” said Gali.  “When do you stop trying to think of excuses, and when do you start believing?”

Music to write this bit: System of a Down’s Toxicity album