The Song of Belle

Chapter 8 - Hazy Hindsights of a Misty Morning (Part 1)

"What do you mean?" She asked in a weak voice.

"Some are scary...ish." I said. "They haunt and scare
people. Awoooo!" I acted my hands in a ghostly antics.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" She laughed looking at me. " You seriously are funny. Perhaps, you'd like to say something about me directly. I think... I am willing to talk to you." She said, as her weak feet starts moving and so I moved too.

"Well," I said, "I don't think you're an alien. But I have to confess that I am afraid of a ghost. I mean...ghosts. Not just one... uhm..." I looked at her from the side view and continued. "...particular ghost."

"Really...?" she said blankly as we continued walking along the corridor.

"Yeah. Ah...but not anymore." I said.

"Not anymore what?" She asked.

"I'm not afraid of ghosts anymore." I replied.

"Since when?" She asked cracking a smile.

"Ah...this morning." I scratched my head as i said it. "Yeah, just this morning." I said again.

She gave a fainted smiled and shook her head but it sparked of genuineness. Her hands then started raking for something inside her pink body bag which string hangs on her left shoulder.

I continued walking a little less than a meter behind on her right side. And she continued raking the inside of her bag, not speaking any words. We walked past Room 600B where I first saw her and she didn't throw a single look. I did again and noticed that the Room was starting to be filled with students for the afternoon waiting for their class.

She started to walk towards the first step of the stairs going down and I stopped. My idleness wondered her and she stopped on the fifth step holding a sandwhich on her hand. Devouring it like she hasn't eaten for days. I realized it was the thing she was searching inside her bag. "Ghosts get hungry", I talked inside my head.

"What now, mortal? Aren't you going down?" She asked me. I was stunned as I remember how I felt being sucked down by a strange force earlier. And, at another instance, how I went down from stairs to stairs only to come back in front of this ghostly girl facing me now.

"Ah... of course. I am just, resting." I said with a hint of humor. And I stepped carefully down, sensing my breath or anything strange that might happen.

Two steps, three, four, five careful steps beside the ghostly girl and I felt nothing strange. I took a deep sigh which didn't pass the scrutiny of her green cat-eyes. Dark circles sorrounding them were very evident on her delicate looking face.

"What is that for?" She asked referring to my breathing as she continue to feast on her wrinkled sandwich.

"What, what?" I pretended not to know.

"Your deep sigh." She said emotionless. Her focus was on her sandwich and her steps.

"Ah...I ah...ehrm, ehrm!" I cleared my thought before I continued. "I am asthmatic. I needed to take a rest because I am tired."

"So mortals have this "asthma" thing too?" She said, emphasizing the word mortals in her girlish tone and motioning a quote symbol with her two fingers in each of her hand as she held the sandwich in her left hand.

I nodded smiling and we continued to walk. She clearly doubt my excuse but she was kind enough not to delve more into it. I sensed that we will go along well together. In such a matter of minutes I felt comfortable being with her. I am familiar with this feeling of peace and acceptance and it made me happy inside.

"Want to have some?" She offered her sandwich as she was taking a bite. I am impressed with how famished she appeared to be like. I controlled myself from commenting further on how people like her can really go hungry. So I just smiled but she read my mind.

"Haughty!" She yelped at me shaking her head.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" I laughed my heart out and my laughter echoed in the corners of the fourth floor. God! I felt so free and comfortable with her.

As we walk down the stairs going down on the hallway of the fourth floor connecting to the third floor I noticed an old man on the corner of the stairs. His back turned away from us. The back of a man is familiar to me. Long gray hair. Black pants and suit. I looked at the ghostly girl beside me who started to appear uneasy but she just continued walking and so did I.

We passed by the man and continued walking down on the stairs from the third floor going down on the second. As we near the second floor I decided to look up and saw the man staying still on the space connecting the end of the fourth floor and the beginning of the third floor. His back turning away from us. I continued looking up to where he was as we walked the last step towards the second floor. He was just standing there. Motionless.

We continued walking on the steps down. And as we walk to the first step of the stairs of the second floor, I was stunned to see the man standing still on the space connecting the ground floor to the second floor. I cleared my eyes and validated what my eyes were seeing. His back was turned away from us in the same position and appearance as he was on a space of the corner in the third floor. Long gray hair up to his shoulders. Black pants and suits. Black shoes. Motionless.

I tried to notice the behavior of the ghostly girl beside me. Part of me tells that she sees what I see but she is just ignoring it. Unperturbed as she may seem, but I can see from the spark in her eyes the emotion of gripped fear wanting to scream out. But she maintained the courage to continue to stepped down. And so I didn't stop too.

As I was on the right side of the ghostly girl, the mysterious man will be beside me more than her. And the thought of what will happen as I pass by him for the second time in two different floors, scared my mind. I took the courage from the ghostly girl who maintained her frail posture and panicky calmness.

Three steps away from the man and he was still motionless. I was hoping he won't turn to see us. The horror of it is scaring me. Not that he looked scary but his apparition in two instances was quite disturbing.

Two steps left...and one.

One last step...and my right elbow is almost side by side the man. The girl with a pale skin not throwing a single look at her right side. And just continued walking up to the ground floor, until the afternoon sunshine embraced us to wake us up from our wanderings.

I am confused.

*****

UP NEXT: HAZY HINDSIGHTS OF A MISTY MORNING (PART 2)

Hello readers! How do you find this Chapter?

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Clue: Have you noticed how the conversations were written in this Chapter? Are they italicized like in most of the other chapters? A chapter or two has combination of ital and normal conversations. Did you happen to find out? That is the only clue I can give so far.

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The Parts are divided as the plot thickens.

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Kind regards,

LL.B, Thomas