A Monster Was Born ✔️

Your Shining Light (Part III)

While waiting for the sun to rise and awaken the day with its morning rays, the ghost girl floated around Suri's room, observing. Suri had told her not to make too much noise that would disturb her family, but she never told her not to sneak a peek here and there. Overall, it was a typical room for someone like Suri. Posters of her favorite artists and idols taped to the walls, stuffed plushies sitting on the windowsills, books written from authors such as Charlotte Bronte and Agatha Christie ordered by the alphabet on bookshelves. But there was one thing in the room that enchanted the girl like none other.

"What is this?" She asked, lifting the draped covers, astonished at the swirls of color like stardust, the expression of the dancer, the collected dreams foretold through lines and folds. She stared at the painting and it seemed to stare back at her, as though the artwork had a soul made of light as pure and knowledgeable as Suri's.

"Oh, that?" Suri replied, blushing a little. "It's something I made a few months ago. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's really beautiful..."

As the two girls talked within the safety of the room, they discovered their closeness with each other, and laughed and joked like they were friends. When the sun rose and the birds outside began to chirp with excitement, Suri led the way to the streets outside. She pointed out restaurants and post offices, dollar shops and apartment buildings, schools and supermarkets. She showed all this in hope that the ghost girl would be able to remember something, anything, from her previous life.

The ghost girl on the other hand, couldn't stop gasping with delight at everything she saw. She knew for sure that she has seen all this before, been to this part of this city, and taking in all the sights and sounds has made her nostalgic with memory. However, she still doesn't know the details: her name, her family, how she died in the sense that she hadn't been able to rest at peace. After Suri listened patiently, she told her not to worry, that her memories will resurface in time, that she would do all she could to help her regain them.

She led her to a school several blocks away.

"Do you remember going here?" Suri asked the ghost.

The ghost shook her head.

And so they kept going to various schools. Suri thought this would be the best way to revive potent memories that the ghost felt strong emotional connections to. The ghost may have visited supermarkets and post offices, but she doubted they would allow her to remember the reason she was still here. In contrast, finding the school she once went to might help revive memories of her friends or relationships, or even passions related to the major she studied.

Eventually they stepped on the grounds of a university. It was a good school, with a nice campus and exterior design. It wasn't particularly known for its academic excellence or rankings, but it had several areas of research opportunities and a financial aid office that attracted students. The ghost girl stared at the building in awe, her red eyes glowing, widening in amazement. She floated around, trying to peek through the different windows and when she was done, came back to meet Suri.

"I've found it! This was my school, and I can see the rooms to all my classes! I could...remember. All of my friends, my professors, even the janitor that was here once school ended."

"But," she looked down gloomingly. "I still can't seem to remember how I died."

Suri was about to reply when her phone rang and picked it up. It was Gabbi.

"Oh my god!" Gabbi cried, practically shouting into Suri's ear.

"What is it?"

"There's this really hot guy sitting at the table next to me. We're at Fred's Pizza Place right now and I just got a seat, but I can't believe he's looking right at me! Do you think I should go say hi or would that be really weird?"

"Gabbi---" Suri tried not to sound exasperated. She was glad Gabbi called her since she almost never did other than to ask her for homework answers and study guides. But even so, this was awfully bad timing. She needed to continue helping the ghost, but she wasn't sure she could convince Gabbi to hold it off.

"Hold on, let me send it to you. He's got this sort of spikey jacket thing on. He's even got this emo hairstyle, and it just fits so much with his style."

"Wait..is this Suri?"

"Umm, yes," Suri replied, confused.

"Oh wait, shit." There was a pause before Gabbi resumed talking. "I am so, so, sorry, Suri. That call was meant for Teresa, but I called you instead."

"Oh." Suri tried not to feel disappointed, but it was impossible not to. For all her life, she did whatever she could to help others. And yet, nobody seemed to want to confide with her, to trust her as a friend.

"Wait," the ghost said. "Can you ask your friend to send that picture? There's something I need to check."

Suri repeated the request to Gabbi and showed the ghost the picture. For a moment, she seemed frozen, but then Suri realized that she was trembling with rage.

"That's him," the ghost girl pointed with her single trembling finger. "That's the guy who murdered me."