6.
Sometimes in death something remains. What stays behind is not always the same as what went away. Anger and hatred may hold a spirit or an essence of a spirit to this world, to the exact place it transitioned, though in some ways it may still resemble whom it had belonged to prior to passing. What stays may have nothing at all else in common to what once had been.
If you were ever to come across such an anger and recognize its owner then just hope and pray that something else of its owner also remains, something with which you could appeal to, for such hatred has just one goal, to seek revenge. This revenge may not pick and choose. It may very well go all out and take out whatever comes its way, and as well as that it may also have restrictions working against it.
***
Late in the evening on Monday the 22nd of June, the day after that storm that was, and Gordon was more than surprised that Lydia had not shown up for work. She had never missed a day of work in the whole time she had worked at Abe's Diner, and she hadn't rung in ill either. From having talked to her before she left the evening before, there had been no indication whatsoever that Lydia would miss her next shift. There had been no word from her at all that she would not be in, which was something which most definitely was not in keeping with Lydia's personality. Sophie had been around and available, so she covered Lydia's shift.
Gordon knew where Lydia lived so after closing the diner, he thought he would drop by to see if all was well. Not having shown up to work and not having notified anyone, Gordon had no problem letting that go. Thing was too, she did head home during a storm and quite a storm at that. Making sure all was well and good would be what he was looking for even if it was just to put his own mind at ease.
The weather was more of the same as the night before but only nowhere near as severe. Rain was falling not quite as hard as it had been. Thunder and lightning had returned but not as loudly or as frequently as the previous night, winds had eased. He really should have made sure she took his offer of a ride home.
The house porch provided Gordon with some shelter from the rain as he knocked at the door and waited without response. The lack of light and sound apart from that of the rain, thunder and lightning added to Gordon's worry. From the outside there was no sign that either Lydia or her father were home. Gordon did not know enough about Lydia's personal life to hazard a guess as to where she may be.
He stood at the front door, knocked once more and hopefully awaited an answer, one which was not to come. With thunder sounding followed closely by a flash of lightning Gordon felt uneasy though it was not the thunder and lightning that created the uneasy feeling. This feeling was heightened when Gordon was sure that he could see something move quickly through the rain behind him and to one side from out of the corner of his eye.
There was nothing more that Gordon could do but return to his car and make his way home. Unbeknown to him, Gordon was watched as he pulled away. The dark and grey figure of a young lady stood just inside the living room window. Gordon did look back towards the house but with it being so dark inside there was no way for him to notice that figure looking back at him. His gut feeling told him that something very much indeed was not right.
The following day Sophie came to Abe's Diner. She had also been worrying about Lydia. The visit to the diner from an older gentleman prior to Lydia's return had Sophie doing more than her own fair share of thinking. Sophie knows as well as anyone else that lack of contact from Lydia was strange.
'Do you think we should inform someone?' Gordon asked Sophie.
'I think we should. Neither of us may be related to Lydia but we both know that something is not right.'
