A Melody in the Twilight Sky

11 Someone Familiar

"Ahhhhh!" It was finally my turn to scream.

A ghost... I'd seen another ghost, in the flesh. Oh no. I thought I was used to seeing Tony's pranks. Why was I so unprepared when I saw ghosts other than that kid?

"Hey, what's wrong?" Poon's startled voice came from nearby.

Click!

As soon as the lights came on, I saw where Poon was and immediately ran to hide behind him.

The female ghost walked back to the middle of the room where a plump, middle-aged male ghost was already standing. His face was sullen, and those familiar bulging eyes looked towards us.

Not just one ghost, but two.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" The male ghost shouted, pointing at us accusingly. When he made eye contact with me, his eyes widened. "You..."

Why did he look so angry at me? Poon and I came in together, but he acted as if he only saw me.

Then I realized why the male ghost looked familiar. He was the drunk guy who peed on the shrine! There was no bandage on his head now, so I didn't recognize him at first. That's why he ignored Poon and focused his resentment on me.

He... he died and became a ghost? Was it because of the head injury? And how did he end up in Poon's grandma's house?

"Hello, sir. We..." Poon quickly put his hands together in a respectful gesture and bowed deeply, showing impeccable manners that contradicted everything I'd ever seen from him. More importantly, he was now speaking in a local dialect.

Hmph. He pretended he couldn't speak the local dialect for so long. Now, when he needed to save himself, he could do anything.

Wait, this wasn't the time to be sarcastic.

"You see ghosts too?" I moved closer to him and whispered... in central Thai, as always when I spoke to him.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" He raised his head slightly from his still clasped hands and replied in the same central Thai, his eyebrows furrowed in a serious expression.

"Why are you here? Tell me, or else!" The same male ghost threatened.

Poon flinched at the harsh voice and turned back to speak in the local dialect again. "I thought no one was living in my grandma's house anymore, so I broke in."

Huh? Wasn't he scared, even though he was usually terrified of ghosts? He was the type who would definitely abandon me and run away alone. Or...

Was I wrong? Looking closely, the woman didn't have dark circles under her eyes or pale lips like I thought I saw earlier. It must have been because of the near-total darkness. More importantly, their angry, ghost-like expressions were probably because two teenagers had broken into their house in the middle of the night.

Phew. They weren't ghosts. He hadn't died because of me.

"Yes, that's right. I didn't come here to cause trouble. You already cleared things up with my father." I quickly explained in a shaky voice. "I just thought this was really his grandma's house."

"Whose grandma? My wife and I live here. We've been here for a long time!" He snapped. "I was kind enough to let you off the hook the other day!"

"The grandma really lived here. She lived here before she moved to..." I tried to explain, giving a hundred reasons as if I were the real owner's granddaughter. Then I realized why the man in front of me was strangely silent.

"..."

"Aren't you going to help me explain? You know more than that..."

Poon turned to me, his deadpan words sending shivers down my spine. "Or maybe I really came to the wrong house."