The Stray Souls ["The Diary Keeper" Sequel; "The Dark Legacies" Series]

Chapter 5: Whispers from beyond

I couldn't sit still any longer. The rumors about those ghost photos haunted my thoughts, and I was itching to uncover the truth. The best way to get to the bottom of this mystery was to track down the kids who snapped those eerie shots. They must know something. They saw it with their own eyes.

With a little bit of detective work in social networks, I managed to find of the kids who had taken those spooky photos. It turned out to be Jay, a 10-year-old boy who lived next door to me in Ravenwood. I'd seen him countless times playing in his front yard, but I'd never imagined our paths would cross in such a mysterious way.

I grabbed my coat and headed out the door. As I strolled through the streets of Ravenwood, my mission felt like I was living in one of those thrilling detective novels. Little did I know that I was about to dive headfirst into the strange and inexplicable.

I approached him cautiously, not wanting to spook him like those ghostly apparitions in the photos. However, Jay was quite the mischievous and bold boy, I didn't think all these paranormal things would scare him. People who are afraid of ghosts would never take photos of them and then boast about their brave feat.

"Hey, Jay, mind if I ask you a few questions about those pictures you took the other night?" I asked, trying to sound friendly and reassuring.

Jay looked at me with wide eyes. "Anything unclear here?"

"Well, the thing is, those photos seem to show something resembling ghosts..."

Jay laughed as if I had said something utterly foolish. "Well, yes, ghosts. So what? Does it bother you?"

"Well, it's not like I'm taking this lightly."

Jay laughed even more. "I don't care. My friends say I'm cool. They've always said that."

"Jay, be honest, were those photos faked?"

"Faked? Ha-ha! I don't have time to mess with all those silly programs; I'm a future football star!" With these words, the boy instantly kicked a ball that flew... right through the window of his house.

My questioning ended there - now a serious conversation with his parents awaited him.

***
Well, I must admit, it's extremely challenging to work with kids, especially when it comes to the supernatural. They tend to perceive everything as just another adventure or a fairy tale.

I cautiously retrieved the magnifying glass from my bag, a small but remarkable item I had discovered in Mia's room. I looked at this thing. It was finely crafted, and a strange aura surrounded it.

I opened the old, worn diary of Hazel Fowler. Its pages emitted a faint scent of aged paper, and their color had turned a mellow shade of yellowish beige over the years, like an echo of the past.

When I peered through the magnifying glass, something peculiar happened. The words within Hazel's diary were no longer distorted, as if the magnifying glass possessed an otherworldly power, revealing the true message hidden beneath the surface.