Truly Madly Ghostly

Chapter Twenty-eight: The Fever

For an unknown amount of time, Charlotte remained on her knees—slumped and shivering at the lakeside. From the moment the necklace had been gulped by the lake water with a desolate, foreboding 'plop' noise, there had been a noticeable change in the atmosphere.

Charlotte knew Alex was here. She could feel him—in the temperature, in the soft noises on the grass and dried leaves around her, in the tingling feeling of someone's eyes on her. Yet when she looked around, he was nowhere to be seen.

With bated breath, she waited. With desperation, her eyes sought.

And those eyes continued to seek days later without any positive outcome.

It was as if the necklace hadn't been thrown away at all.

However, Charlotte could very well notice all the signs that always accompanied Alex. It was like he was lurking around somewhere, watching her, listening to her—yet he could not be seen anywhere at all.

Something clicked inside her mind all of a sudden. It was the probability of a particular ghost being angry.

What if he was purposefully not coming in front of her?

It was a given that she had upset him by bringing Rebecca and doing the ritual. She would be upset too if someone did something that audacious in her domain—without her permission.

What all she did—or tried to do was directly connected to Alex's status in his afterlife. In a way, she tried to take a choice away from him. And it had upset him. She understood it all. Yet, she hadn't expected him to remain away from her searching eyes like this.

This was perhaps her punishment. And this punishment was way too severe and painful for her.

Professor Ian told her one of these days, outside class, "You seem to have trouble concentrating in class, Charlotte. You haven't even come to any other session at my cabin."

Charlotte put a hand on her mouth and coughed nervously. Then she thought—being the psychiatrist Ian was, he would possibly understand the unspoken from even this small action of hers. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm just busy preparing for the exams."

He stared at her skeptically. "Look, Charlotte. I don't mean to be nosy about your matters. It's just that—" he paused for a second. "I care about you."

Damn! Was it what she thought it was?

Or maybe she was reading too much into his words.

A mannerless group of rowdy students ran past them and shoved Ian on the shoulder in the process. The books and newspaper he was holding fell as he tried to steady himself.

Not pausing and not even turning around, the group threw a flying "sorry" before storming out of their sight.

"What idiots!" Charlotte shook her head in disappointment and knelt on the floor to help the professor pick up his stuff.

Ian Flinn just smiled.

She appreciated his patience in silence.

Her eyes fell on the newspaper among his books. It was folded with one of its inside pages at the front. Clearly, he had been reading it. And she, too, couldn't just not read the bold title of the article at the middle of the page.

'Terror Spread by the Nude Man' - the title said.

"So, Ned hasn't been caught yet?" She brought the newspaper closer and asked, "Ah, do you mind?"

Ian Flinn shook his head, his smile falling from his face. "No, not at all. Go ahead."

She flipped the paper open to read more. "A CCTV footage caught him beating a man to near death! It says he's often seen near Nelmurst Street. That's where you live, right?"