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The front door was heard shut, only then did they realize there wasn't any other person at home when they had arrived from their meeting with Detective Maloney earlier. Mr. Parker led the way out of the room followed behind by the two friends. There was definitely someone in the room as there seemed to be the sound of movements being heard from down the stairs.
Alex kicked off the other shoe out of her leg forcefully; it smacked the wall with a thud before landing on the lush carpet floor. Mr. Parker's wife came through the door just as Alex took off her coat to hang.
"Where'd you ladies go off to?" Professor Parker asked, more to Alex than Lara as he got off the last step. Considering the sullen look on their faces, his best guess was that the two ladies most likely must've gotten into an argument on their way back from where ever it was they had been off to.
"The hospital," Lara said, walking off in the direction of the kitchen, purse in one hand. At the mention of the word, Henry's heart sunk into his stomach as a flash of a dreadful possibility crossed his mind.
"What hospital? Who's sick?"
"Dead, you mean." Alex flung her bag on the sofa as she dragged her self towards the stair way with weary steps.
"Dead?" Professor Parker's voice held so much surprise as the words escaped his lips.
"Rodger's dead," Alex said, halting at the end of the stair where Henry remained still, his heart already starting to pick up pace. "The best part is the Vets couldn't find anything as to what caused his death, but I'm sure Henry would know what I'm talking about."
Her eyes bore deep into Henry's with a glint of both exasperating rage and agony. Without another word, she barged up the stair and the next thing that was heard was a reverberating slam of her bedroom's door.
"What's she talking about man?" Chris asked with his eyes steady on his friend.
"The apparition, I think it was here last night." Henry swallowed as he glanced at both Chris and Professor Parker. He narrated the entire event that had happened to both of them, all the while, a question lingered in his head. "It had its chance, why didn't it take us?"
"I don't know, but I don't believe we'll be spared the next time," Professor Parker replied.
"What do we do now?" Chris asked as he started to run breathless just thinking of another encounter with Mr. Jones-or his apparition as it seemed.
"There's only one guy I can think of."
"Marcello." Henry's lips hardly parted as he breathed the name.
The kitchen door slung open, much to their surprise, they'd forgotten about Lara and there she stood, in front of a red-eyed Lara who had traces of tears lining her eyes and that was enough proof to know that she'd heard all they'd said.
"So this is what it's about," she started in a shaky voice as she tried not to let the tears break loose.
"Lara, it's not...look, there's an explanation to all of this," Professor Parker said subtly.
"You could start with why Rodger's dead."
A sigh escaped Professor Parker's lips as he took off his glasses and wiped his forehead with the back of his palm.
"Or why you brought an apparition to our home Parker," she continued.
"But we're not apparitions," Chris blurted, his heart paused for a moment when Lara's eye fell on him.
"Excuse us," Professor Parker said gesturing to the two friends to leave.
"There's nothing to say to me Parker," Lara said before her husband could think of what to say. "You promised you'd forget about all of this, leave Marcello for good," she scoffed, "I should've known better. You'd never drop your beliefs."
"Lara, can you please let me talk?" Parker said.
"Yes, sure you can talk." She wiped off a tear which broke loose from her eye. "You have your chance to think of new lies to tell to me for keeping late nights and fire outbreaks and all that jazz," she said, stomping all the way to her room.
Professor Parker could feel the whole world crashing down on him as he followed his wife into the room, all the while, trying to calm her down and have her listen to his side of the story. His pleas and explanations all fell on deaf ears and after many attempts, he had his mind made up. It was one thing having an apparition take lives at its own will all in the name of revenge, it was another thing having to bear the guilt of breaking your own home over circumstances which you've had to make tough choices about.
Without another word, he grabbed the car keys and flung a coat over his shoulder, leaving behind Lara in her heart broken state. Her heart ached watching him leave the room, and it ached even more wondering what stupid move Parker was going to make next. As much as she hated him at this point in her life, she couldn't ignore how important he was to her, even when he doesn't see it.
It took some minutes getting to the hospital where Marcello was still receiving treatment. Through the entire drive, a barrage of thoughts and questions stomped his subconscious and his senses were all bent on finding answers which hopefully, Marcello would have- he couldn't possibly think of another source.
Marcello laid still on the bed with one of his eyes shut, the other covered in bandage his fingers and his hands, interlocked into each other by the time Parker and the boys reached his ward. Chris' heart paused for a moment at the sight of the priest who remained quite lifeless on the bed where he was, Mr. Parker on the other hand wasn't surprised in the slightest seeing his friend in that state since at some point or the other, he had come across Marcello in his meditating state of mind.
"You should be out there, trying to send off a wandering apparition," Marcello blurted, hardly moving a muscle.
Chris's eyebrows creased in surprise at Marcello's voice, he put away the thought of a 'dead Marcello' which had formed in his mind seeing him like that at first.
"Not if it got to us first," Professor Parker answered, walking over to his friend's bed side. "Marcello, the apparition was at the house and-"
"The house's safe Parker, you worry too much."
"Safe. What do you mean by safe?" Henry asked with skepticism, suspecting that Marcello probably didn't hear what Mr. Parker had said.
"The house isn't what it's after," Marcello said, opening his eyes, "it's you."
"Right." Chris ran his hand over hair, "guess we'll just have to wait our own turn now."
"Look Marcello, we pulled some things together. Remember that link you talked about?" Marcello nodded gently. "I think we got it," Parker said and then briefed Marcello on all what they'd come across with their findings.
"Something still doesn't sound right with all of that." Marcello pulled himself up on the bed gently, "there's something missing somehow."
"What now?" Chris said, walking over to Marcello's bed side, wondering what more bad news he had to hear now.
"You made mention of the witness, the students and the editor, all of them, dead," Marcello paused for a moment, "If we're judging by the M2 murder files and everyone who's had knowledge of it there's still-"
"Professor Wells," Parker muttered out loud before Marcello could finish what he had to say. The words came out with trembling and fear, knowing what was in store for the V.C.
~
Professor Wells grumbled when he heard his phone ring as he was yet to leave the bath tub. He listened again, hoping that the phone had stopped ringing but no, there was his ring tone again for the second time.
"It's your phone, honey," his wife said from the bedroom, loud enough for him to hear.
"I'd be there in a moment," he answered, sinking more into the bath tub and resting his head so he was facing the finely designed ceiling.
His hands slipped as he tried getting out of the water which was now getting somewhat cold-weird. He cursed getting old under his breath as he pulled himself up again but his hand slipped once more, this time he smacked his jaw on the railing of the tub. The clanking sound of his tooth as it dropped into the water caught his attention; he glared as blood dropped from his numb mouth into the water which was now tuning crimson. His lips shivered, the voice of his wife calling out to him faded out slowly as his body went into a sort of convulsion.
Without much pressure, his body slipped into the once warm bathing water which was now freezing cold with one hand hanging outside the bathtub. His eye lids flickered frailly and just before they finally shut, he saw the masculine shadow-like image.
**Okay, after the next few parts, things could get all gh-a-stly so brace yourselves guys XXD And hey, what do you think of Mr. Jones so far? How do you see the whole story ending? :)**
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