Brenda

Chapter Three: The Banyan Serial Killer

One-Man Hide and Seek? What da hell was One-Man Hide and Seek?

On the way home from Brenda's house, I scrolled through Dad's YouTube Channel, Cooper Ghost. The iPad's white light shone like a torch on my face, and my finger hovered over one video's play button. I wasn't interested in ghosts, especially not after that encounter in the house. Yet, I felt something pull my gut—like I had to learn more and return.

"Whatcha doing over there?" Dad asked, pulling into our house's driveway, only ten minutes away from Brenda's.

"Nothing," I lied, shutting off the iPad and placing it on the dashboard. "I'm just ready to get out of this bloody car."

"Fiery as ever," Dad giggled, but then he cleared his throat. "Son, the Number One rule of ghost hunting is that you want to be gentle with the spirit. That's how they open up. We won't learn anything if you mouth off like that again."

"I'm not going back," I argued. "I'll leave ghost hunting to the big boys."

"But aren't you curious about your mother?"

"I am, but—!"

"That settles it!" Dad parked and shut off the car. "We will return on Thursday."

"Thursday? But I have summer classes to attend."

"Not at nighttime." Dad patted my back. "There is just as much good in the world as evil, son."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we're not Brenda's enemy."

"She's a ghost!" I argued. "That means she's evil."

"That's a demon, son."

"Shut up, Dad!" I was the one who was supposed to know everything.

I started to climb out of the car, but then Dad picked up his tablet and unlocked it. "One-Man Hide and Seek?" He gave me a knowing look. "What are you doing looking up One-Man Hide and Seek? I thought you weren't interested in this crap."

Stop taunting me, Dad.

"I'm not," I stated, blushing.

"One-Man Hide and Seek is a voodoo ritual," Dad explained, ignoring my embarrassment and seeing right through me. He tucked the iPad under his arm. "You take a stuffed animal and cut it open. You then replace all the stuffing with rice, sewing the animal back up afterward. Then, pour water on it and say, 'One-Man Hide and Seek' three times. It supposedly traps the ghost in the toy."

"Have you ever done it?" I found myself wondering aloud.

"Not yet. I just recently learned about it, too. I'd love to try it, though. Maybe One-Man Hide and Seek is our chance to free Brenda."

"I already told you that I'm not going back."

"Suit yourself, but I'll leave the tablet in the living room if you want to learn more. For now, it's late, and we must go to bed."

"I hate you, Dad," I silently mumbled, hoping he didn't hear that. I slammed my car door shut and slipped my sweaty hands into my jeans pockets, kicking a stone in the driveway.

Unlike Brenda's, our house was a two-story farmhouse on the outskirts of Downtown Banyan. While we didn't have as many banyan trees as Brenda, we did have cornfields and an apple tree in the front yard. Dad said Mom used to sit under that apple tree like George Washington when she was pregnant because she always craved apples.

I went inside our house to my sports-themed bedroom and thought about Brenda. Why? I had no idea. I attempted to forget her, but my mind always returned to her.