2|| Whispers in the Wind

10|| ah believe ah can fly

Kalyani

Kalyani watched her sister rummage in the closets, she herself lost in a spiral of thought. The two had reached a silent but mutual agreement not to talk about their fights until the time was right. For now, they were picking out their outfits to go to Evelyn's house. Or- er- Aria was picking out outfits. Kalyani was just being an obstacle, vetoing most of the things Aria chose for her.

But that wasn't what was on her mind. The problem was that Jacob Stone from that ghost hunting website suggested she collect more information and proof. Today, she'd messaged him again, and he'd explained... things.

Like how he had experienced similar issues and how he lived very close to the graveyard Roxanne was buried in, but her ghost never bothered to approach. He said his theory was that it only bothered itself to houses where all the residents could sense or see things that weren't human.

And the weirdest part was that he suggested Kalyani's whole family had a talent like that. She could sorta believe it about herself, but the rest of them? Almost impossible. Maybe the theory needed more work. More research on Roxanne. They still had a few hours till Evelyn.

"Aria, just pick out the most simple thing possible for me. I need to do something," she said over her shoulder as she walked away.

"Um- 'kay!" Aria replied, her voice muffled from inside the closet.

Kalyani decided to try in a room downstairs. The book was waiting in her room just where she left it, and careful not to disturb her parents or Aria, she used the back door ladder to get to the living room.

She flipped to the last page she had read.

Early Childhood.

Roxanne was a seemingly lively child. Originally, her mother and father were very loving and kind. There is no human reason why they could've changed. Roxanne was the youngest of six, and often her siblings acted as a parent to her. We have some pictures and spoken records by neighbors, who insist that they sometimes heard the little girl screaming at night, sometimes just for her own reasons, other times they say they saw a figure stooping over the bed. But this happened when she was five years old. Before this, she was a bubbly and demanding-

A sharp scratch snapped Kalyani out of her immersive reading. This book wasn't like any other biography she'd read. For one, it was lacking detail and leaving out important dates, which were only mentioned once or twice. And a "tall figure stooping over the bed"? She'd read a few pages before this, and they all indicated that the parents were pretty short. Maybe someone would break in at night?

Or maybe...

Something tapped her on the shoulder- just like last time. Kalyani expected it to be the chubby five year old, but it wasn't. A long shadow, filling up almost the whole wall, kind of melted into the wallpaper. Kalyani felt a shiver run up her spine. A slight noise could be heard coming from the farthest room.

"Help me! Please no!"

And even though she knew better, Kalyani wanted to be near the owner of the voice, comfort it. Shadow or screaming kid? She chose the kid.  The farthest room to the back downstairs was the one room they'd been forbidden to use because it led to a different house, apparently. But Kalyani wrenched the door handle open, and inside was a perfectly normal room. She couldn't think why the previous owners had lied.