The door of the room Lucas went into is open wide. With a careful move, I walk towards it and stop right before the door.
"Lex, please. Just—" I glance at John with clear determination in my eyes, my left hand gesturing him to stop his useless effort. Shaking his head, he lets out a heavy sigh, finally claiming his defeat.
"Just be careful," he says, concern in his voice.
Lucas is standing in front of the large oak cupboard inside the dimly lit room, busy searching the insides of it for what I presume as a flashlight. It doesn't take long before he finds what he's looking for. He turns around with an accomplished look on his face and a black flashlight on his right hand.
"Got it." He twirls the flashlight. Walking past me, he says, "Let's go!"
But, I stay in the shadows instead. I slide my right hand into my bag and search for the weapon I prepared earlier. I keep it hidden in my bag, clutching it tightly as I open my mouth, ready to confront him.
"Jamie?" June's voice is heard.
I stop myself from saying anything and knit my brows together instead.
"Jamie's back?" Jude chimes with great excitement. "Let me see! Let me see!"
My eyes roam the vast room, searching for the origin of the voices and the mystery Jamie they're talking about. I step forward as I squint my eyes to get a closer look. The two little kids are running up the stairs with excitement on their faces, it's as if they're meeting someone they used to know so well; childhood friends, perhaps, or maybe even family.
"Jamie?" I mumble to myself with a frown on my face. Don't tell me there's another ghost in here.
"What did you say?" Lucas suddenly stops. He turns around and looks at me as if I just said an odd thing.
Crap. Did I just say it out loud?
In a short moment, it becomes clear who they are talking about. There aren't any other ghosts but the kids. Their eyes are fixated on the one—living—person walking in front of me.
"Wow! Jamie's getting really tall!" Jude says, tipping on his toes to try to reach Lucas' height, although he barely reaches Lucas' shoulders.
"Of course he is, silly!" June slaps her brother's shoulder. "He's not five anymore, remember?"
What? Lucas Wright is Jamie? But how?
Come to think of it, it makes sense how he knows this place inside out, he must've visited this place often before. After all, even after twenty years have passed, the kids can still recognize him without any difficulties. With that in mind, I conclude one thing for sure: Lucas Wright is not the boogeyman they fear.
The sight of his huge, judging, brown eyes in front of mine makes me flinch. I take a step back as he takes a step closer to me.
"What? What did I say?" I try to act dumb.
He furrows his brows, looking as if he just seen—or rather heard—a ghost. My heart begins to race as I can feel his breath closer and closer to my face. He finally stops merely a few inches away from me and squints his eyes, trying to guess if I'm telling the truth or just acting dumb.
To my relief, he sighs. "Nah, it's impossible," he mumbles to himself, shaking his head lightly. For a split second, I can see clear sorrow in his eyes. Shielding it away from me, he turns around and starts to walk at a fast pace down the stairs. "Come on! What are you waiting for?"
I snap back to reality and quickly follow him.
"Hmph. He's always in a hurry," Jude mumbles. I glance at the kids who are now sitting on the floor with their feet dangling through the railings, their gazes fixated on the man who's already reaching the first floor.
"Jamie's a superhero now, Jude. He has lives to save," June replies, concluding it with a heavy sigh.
Ask them about it, Alexis. Ask them!
I shake my head quickly, wiping all traces of curiosity. Those kids sure have a lot to tell me; but for now, I have a dead body to find.
***
"Blood," he mutters to himself.
"Come again?" I say.
"Blood! Here!" The light from his flashlight shines on the red flowers. "Isn't that how you know a murder took place here?"
Wow.
"Yeah." I nod.
"So? Where do we go from here?" He flashes his flashlight to the woods.
"Let me lead, will ya?" I say with a proud smirk on. I open my hand, asking for the flashlight. His unwillingness when he hands it to me makes my smile grows bigger.
I shiver a little as I step into the woods. The dark atmosphere, the lack of lighting and the sound of crow cawing up in the air make a walk in the woods too creepy even for me.
"So, what were you doing out here searching for dead bodies? You have a death wish or something?" the man walking beside me says.
Shit. What am I supposed to say?
Just make something up!
"I was sightseeing," I blurt.
"Sightseeing?" he raises his voice with disbelief.
"What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junkie," I say, not entirely lying.
He sighs. On my peripheral vision, I can see him shaking his head.
"Who were you with?"
Oh shit. He couldn't possibly overhear me talking to John earlier, could he?
"Wh- wh- what do you mean?" I stutter, hiding my face to prevent him from seeing my anxiety.
"The muddy footprints back at the house," he continues, his voice calm.
Oh. That.
"Obviously, there were two footsteps overlapping. One is a size 10," he explains. I turn slightly and see him glancing at my shoes. "And I doubt a tiny girl like you is a size 10," he concludes with his usual aggravating smirk.
Unsure if it's a compliment or an insult, I frown a little.
"So, who was it?" he repeats his question.
"It was just a crazy kid. The missing girl's boyfriend, I think."
"Let me guess. Head too small for an overly huge body, super paranoid, about this tall?" He raises his hand to just below his ear.
"Yeah! That's the guy!"
"Stephen Stephens," he says, clearly annoyed. "I told him to stay away from trouble, but he ignored me, of course."
I snort out a laugh. "The boy has two first names?"
"Yeah." He chuckles. "He got bullied a lot because of that too. I guess that's one of the reasons why he bulked up like that."
"Well now that you put it like that, I feel kinda bad for him."
"So what happened?" He points at my bruised neck. It's strange how I can hear the concern in his voice.
I hold my neck, still feeling the pain now that he mentions it. "He kept rambling on and on about how I killed his girlfriend, then he tried to choke me. So I scared him away. And boy, he's a scaredy-cat, alright!" I giggle at the thought of the brawny kid peeing his pants earlier.
"Wait, back up. Why would he think you killed her?" he asks curiously.
"Oh." I take out the phone in my pocket. "Here. I think it may be hers." I hand the phone to the detective.
Once he takes it, he begins observing it and push the button a couple of time before letting out a sigh. "It's broken, I've tried," I say, stating the obvious.
"Yeah, I can see that," he replies, annoyed. "So, are we still far from the grave?"
I walk faster and approach the ghost walking in front of us. "Psst. Are we?"
The truth is, I have absolutely no sense of direction. John's the one who's been leading the way for us.
"We're almost there," John replies calmly.
"Almost there!" I echo his reply to the oblivious man.
"So how did you find the grave?" he asks, his voice filled with curiosity.
"Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?" I reply, trying to avert the subject.
He chuckles. With a somewhat playful tone, he says, "I'm not, I'm just asking. I promise you, you don't want me interrogating—"
Suddenly, John stops. He stretches one hand right in front of me, making me stop abruptly. Then, for a split second, I can feel Lucas' stone-hard abs on my back before he pulls away.
"Hey!" he protests. "What's the hold-up?"
"Shh..." John says, dragging one hand over his lips.
I gasp as I see something has beaten us to the grave we are looking for. A gray wolf is standing under the large elm tree a few feet away from me with one paw in the air, ready to continue digging the ground. The sound I made—or the detective's loud voice—must've alerted the wolf as it's now looking at me with threatening eyes. Slowly, I turn off the flashlight, trying not to distract it even more.
"Oh shit..." the detective whispers, finally understanding what's going on.
My whole body begins to tremble as it starts to growl. It looks like it can swallow me whole!
Calm down, Alexis. Calm down.
How the heck am I supposed to calm down? There's a freaking wolf in front of us!
Suddenly, I feel a gentle hand pushing me backward. "Stay behind me," Lucas says, his voice deep and determined. "Just stay calm, it won't attack us as long as we keep quiet."
In a slow but careful move, he slides one hand into his jacket. His hand rests on the gun strapped on his hips, ready to fire in case the wolf attacks us.
From behind him, I cock my head forward and peek a little. John is kneeling on the ground. He is trying his best to take the big rock near him but his hands keep passing through it.
"Damn!" he curses, his voice soft. He scans the area rapidly, looking for a way out. Then all of a sudden, he starts running away from us.
What is he doing? Is he leaving us?
I squint my eyes, curious as to what he's about to do. Not long after, he whistles; a whistle only I—and apparently, the wolf—can hear. Still growling, it turns its gaze at John, seemingly interested. Now getting its attention, John keeps on whistling while running in circles. Now I know what he's doing: he's imitating a prey to divert the wolf. It doesn't take long before the wolf runs towards him.
"Come and get me!" he shouts to the wolf before continuing to run away from us.
As soon as the wolf is out of our sight, Lucas and I let out a long relieved sigh at the same time. I slouch and put both hands on my knees, trying to catch a breath and calm my heart down.
Thank God animals can see—or in this case, hear—ghosts.
"I'm guessing that's the grave?" Lucas points to the ground where the wolf was standing.
I nod quickly.
Lucas takes the flashlight from me without a word and turns it back on. He approaches the tree and rests the shovel next to him as he gets down on his knees and begins to observe the land. Oblivious to what he's doing, I stand like a statue behind him, my feet tapping the rhythm of a ticking clock.
What is he hoping to find? Just dig the damn grave already!
Patience, Alexis. Patience.
To be honest, I'm not sure if there really are any dead bodies buried here. Had it not been for Annie and John, I don't think anyone would ever suspect anything.
In a sudden move, Lucas stands up straight, making me jolt back. Then, he starts circling the ground and stomps his feet on it. Not long after, without a single glance at me, he stretches his right hand—the one holding the flashlight—as if expecting me to hold the flashlight for him. I frown a little, but I take the flashlight anyway.
Before I know it, he starts taking off his jacket. More annoyingly, just like before, he hands it to me. Who am I? His personal assistant? I almost lose my balance as I take his jacket, because boy, it is heavy!
The frown on my face becomes clearer. "So? Do you believe me?" I ask, trying my best to hide my hesitation.
"Well, the soil isn't as dense as the others, so someone clearly dug it. The sparse vegetation shows an organic remain was buried here recently. Plus, the wolf was digging here, so..." He bends over to grab the shovel.
Wow. I'm impressed.
"I'm not saying it's human remains, but..." He glances at me with reassuring eyes. "What the hell, right?" He shrugs, a playful smirk decorates his face.
At that very moment, a small smile finds its way to my face. For once, someone actually believes me. I begin to think that maybe, just maybe, he's not that bad.
***
"Oh my God," we say in unison. Lucas and I stand in front of the hole in the ground with our dropping jaw.
"I mean, I thought yeah, sure there's something buried here. A dead rabbit, or a deer, or some animals! Just dig the grave to prove the crazy lady wrong, right? But I really, really, didn't expect this!" he says at a very quick pace.
I roll my eyes. Just when I thought I was wrong about him.
"So, now you believe me?" I mock.
"What choice do I have? It's her. It's Jill St. John."
***
About twenty minutes later, the sound of police sirens echoes throughout the entire woods. More than fifteen cops are busy covering the area; some are circling the woods with police dogs for evidence or perhaps more bodies, some are busy fending off the reporters and some curious residents, and some others are handling the remains of the seventeen-year-old girl.
The body of Jill St. John was found lifeless under the ground in a fetal position. Curling right next to her is a small Shih-Tzu who has no trace of life either. I can't help but feel terrible for them.
I let out a long sigh. When I started this crazy trip, it never crossed my mind that I would find any dead body, let alone the body of a murdered girl. All I wanted was to find John's identity.
Speaking of John, it's been more than an hour since I last saw him. Normally, I would be worried when a guy makes a stupid decision of being bait for a wolf. Then again, he's a ghost, so I'm pretty sure he'll be fine. But I can't help but wonder, where is he?
My eyes scan the premises for the ghost. I smile, relieved to find him standing among the police officers. As I walk closer towards him, I begin to notice something strange. I squint my eyes to get a better look at his expression. His eyes are fixated on the dead girl lying on the ground. He seems tense and confused, but at the same time, he looks sad.
Is it just pity? Or is there something else?
I stop right next to him. Looking up, I can see clear sorrow mixed with—I can't believe I'm seeing this—guilt in his eyes. Then, slowly his eyes turn red. Tears begin to well in his eyes, but he manages to stop them.
Why do I have the feeling it's more than just pity?
"John..." I whisper, trying not to let anyone else hear me.
Yet, he doesn't answer. A glimpse of anger and regret is shown in his eyes as he grits his teeth.
"John, what's going on? Are you okay?" I continue to whisper.
He gulps and hides his face away from me. "No." He shakes his head. "I just, I need some time alone."
With those words, he leaves a baffled me alone among the busy crowd.
Author's Note:
Hey guys! So, the body of Jill St. John is finally found. Do you think John has anything to do with her death? Or is there another explanation? Let me know what you think! xD
As always, if you like the chapter, please tap that little star button and make my day. Remember, your vote and comments encourage me to keep writing. Thanks a lot for reading! :)