Pieces [ONC 2020 LONGLIST]

If I should ever come back

"Her name is KASEY!" I shouted over the steering wheel as I sped down the highway. Although I didn't realize I was suffocating before, it felt like I was finally able to breathe again. This was the bust I needed for my case. The house I bought appeared several times during my...episode. Well, the neighborhood anyway. I'd been on that street before, but only in the daytime.

My phone dinged. Another voicemail from another friend wishing me another happy birthday. I know it's selfish, but as my birthday gift to me I'm taking the day to go ghost hunting.

Gossamer Road rose into view as I turned into the cul de sac. Sure enough, kids chased each other on skateboards, and my golden ghost walked with Kasey's up and down this street. I pulled into the driveway of my house and watched. In some instances our ghosts held hands. In others they kissed. Yet for every ghostly sighting I found, none of them came to my yard. Did Kasey know about the house?

Stepping out of the car I looked around. Most of the ghosts seemed to gather at a house near the end. A red Volkswagen Beetle sat on the street in front of the old, stucco home. One of Kasey's ghosts pulled one of mine through the front door. I walked behind a pair of ghosts headed towards the house.

Standing on the porch, I listened. The TV was on some sports channel, the whistle blew constantly. A guy grumbled "Come on!" and a woman laughed. Taking a deep breath, I knocked loudly on the door. A chair creaked back into place as someone pulled the footrest in.

"You expecting company, dear?"

"Nuh-uh," the man grumbled.

Before I could turn back the door opened to a woman, must've been in her 50's, with long, straight, brown hair.

"Hello?" She asked and smiled.

"HI!" I said too loudly. "Sorry. I...Do you know who I am?"

"Susan, who's at the door?" The guy shouted.

"I don't know, dear. And neither does he." She said with a glint in her eye.

"HE?" The man said. Footsteps marched across the floor until a balding man with a gray beard peered over Susan's head.

"What are you selling?" He got straight to the point.

"I'm not. I'm..." My palms were sweaty. "I knew your daughter."

"Abigail?" The man asked.

"No, Kasey." I answered.

They glanced at each other then turned back to me. The man raised an eyebrow and Susan looked at me like I was a lost puppy.

I cleared my throat and tried again. "She's a writer. Dirty blonde hair. Honey-brown eyes. Kasey Gold."

They flinched at the mention of her last name. Susan covered her mouth and walked away.

"I don't know what game you're playing," The man said with agitation and enunciated every syllable. "We've only got one daughter. She's about to graduate med school, top of her class, and I doubt she'd waste time on a pretty boy like you."

He slammed the door.

I stared at my shoes for several breaths. This is Kasey's home. But...I should've known they wouldn't remember her.

---

"Honey..." Susan pulled a red card from a drawer in the kitchen. "Do you think—"

"No," Gary shouted. "Don't even worry about it. That guy's just a nut from the city." He said and slumped back in his chair and yanked the footrest up. Susan sat on the couch and stared unblinking at the TV screen.