Dancing with the Dead ✔

Chapter Thirty-Six - Memories

"Our parents told us not to let any bad strangers into our house," Jude explains. "That lady wasn't a bad person."

Ah, loopholes. Sneaky little kids.

"She only came here to read, mostly," June adds.

Mostly?

"Plus, we get to play with Annie!" Jude continues before the two of them starts giggling.

"So," I continue, "what did she usually do here? Apart from reading?"

"Hmm..." The twins put a finger on their chins and tilt their head to their right at the same time. I have to say, they're honestly starting to creep me out.

"Did she write? Like a diary, maybe?"

Then, as if remembering something, they straighten themselves. "She used to write a lot, but that was a long time ago. Lately, she spent most of her time organizing and decorating her photo album," June says.

Photo album?

"Yeah! She always had her pink camera with her too," Jude explains.

That's when I remember the Polaroid photo I saw in Will's memory. The camera these kids are talking about must be the same Polaroid camera used to take that picture! If that's the case, then hopefully she has a picture of her secret lover in that photo book of hers too.

"The photo album, do you know where she put it?" I ask.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" June's words leave me baffled.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask.

Then, Jude points behind me. "She's right there."

With a loud gasp, I stand up straight and turn around in an instant. My eyes widen as I see the ghost of a recently murdered teenage girl standing before me. Her pale lips are making a straight line while she looks at me with a seemingly blank stare in her green eyes. Her expression may seem flat and rather calm, but her eyes are slowly filled with anger. Unlike me, Jill seems to be the person who goes all quiet when she's angry but she can rip you in half the very next second, and you know what? The quiet ones are always the scariest.

To my horror, she begins to float in the air. Her feet are now about a foot high from the ground.

"First, you went into my parents' house." She moves forward in a movement that is slow but sure, causing me to take a step back. "Then, you disturbed my friends."

Disturbed? I merely talked to them!

"Wait, Jill. Listen—"

That's when I notice the once dry wind around me starts to blow. It was slow at first, but it gradually becomes more and more ferocious. The chandelier hanging in the middle of the room starts swaying back and forth. The strong wind causes some specks of dust to blow right into my face. Before I know it, the dust and sand have clouded my vision, eventually resulting in my allergies to strike again. Unlike last time, I've taken the precaution to take some Antihistamines for my allergies. It usually works, unless I'm standing in the middle of a dust storm like now.

In an attempt to block the dust, I drag my hands to cover my nose and mouth. But it seems like I'm too little too late. With some sneezing in between, I cough harshly to clear my itching throat and close my eyes to prevent the dust from entering them.

When another strong wind blows past me, I can suddenly feel her anger and disappointment. Then, struggling to open my eyes, I peek a little and look around to search for the two little ghosts that may be able to help me. But, they're nowhere to be found.