TUNES

NINTEEN: A GHOST?

At school that night, Raymond was trying to clean up his office, putting everything where it was supposed to be before going home.

He should’ve felt relieved now that Charles was alive and the authorities wouldn't hold anything against him, but he sensed that something was coming, something big.

Finally, he was done with the cleanup. He organized Charles’ results, which were scattered all over his desk, and put them back in his file with the other documents.

He arranged his case files and set out to leave, but then he heard a call from a faint, ghostly voice.

"Raymond."

He paused and looked around. He saw nothing, no one. He turned to continue what he was doing.

But when he turned back, he saw a ghostly figure sitting in his chair behind the desk. He jerked back, rubbing his eyes.

When he looked again, no one was there. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

He finished packing and moved toward the door. He turned off the lights and saw a figure by the window. He immediately turned the light back on.

There was nothing by the window. The windows were wide open, so he cautiously moved toward them to shut them. He then went back to the door. This time, he opened the door before turning off the lights. The figure was still there by the window, but he didn’t care. He just shut the door and left.

Out in the hallway, as he walked down, he kept hearing a call from an unknown source, a faint, eerie voice.

"Raymond!"

It sounded more aggressive than before. He turned back to look down the long hallway. He saw a womanly figure at the other end, just standing there, as the lights began to go off one after another.

Without waiting to see what would happen next, he ran out of the hallway to the parking lot.

After a few moments spent searching for his car keys, he opened his car, hopped in, and drove off.

...

The next day at school seemed a little brighter than usual, especially after the games.

I walked down the hallway with my bag against my back. The students seemed to be cheering up a bit.

As I walked toward the locker room, I met up with Pink, Eska, and Summer, who happened to be going my way.

"Hey, guys!" I ran up to them.

"Terra, how are you?"

"Good. Noticed anything different today?"

"It’s a bit brighter than usual," Pink replied. "And I’ve got some fun things we could do this weekend: shopping, clubbing, game night, anything to get us out of all this drama, just for the weekend."

"I do like the idea, but isn’t there supposed to be a curfew at night? You know, the vampire stuff." Summer said kind of shaken.

"A curfew?" We all asked, surprised, staring at Summer.

"Yeah," she smiled awkwardly.

"They never imposed a curfew," Eska rolled her eyes

"But still, I don’t think my parents would want me wandering late at night with all this going on."

"Fine then, how about a girls' outing and a sleepover at Summer’s place?" Pink suggested, and we all agreed.

...

During recess, Rejoice went over to the clinic. She opened the door and saw Raymond trying to organize his office.

"Hey, Mr. Ray."

He turned and smiled at her.

"Hello, Joy. What can I do for you?"

She sat down on a small stool in one corner. 
"Nothing much. Just came to check how you’re doing after the whole 'Charles showing up alive' thing."

"Well, it’s working to my advantage, anyway. I won’t be blamed for his death anymore, but something about this whole thing seems off, and I can’t help but worry. Why do I sense danger?"

"Come on, Mr. Ray, should you be bothered by that stuff? The important thing is that you're clean. None of that other stuff matters."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he smiled, then sat down at his desk. "So why are you here, anyway?"

"Just came to check up on you." She stood and headed toward the door.

"Has this become a usual thing?"

"Ha ha, very funny. See you later," she said and left.

...

After school, Pink wanted to check up on Jesse, and Summer escorted her while Eska was busy filling out her credit test.

I didn’t want to see Jesse, so I came up with an excuse and went on my way.

On the way, I saw Jennie sitting in the school park, doing nothing. Sofie wasn’t anywhere near. She wasn’t causing mischief like she usually did; she was just quiet, watching.

Her behavior was strange, but I chose to believe she was realizing herself and correcting her ways before it was too late.

...

Later that evening, when Raymond was clearing up to go home, he heard some eerie noises, a faint, ghostly whisper coming from a corner near the window.

He turned but saw no one. The atmosphere grew tense, and he felt a rising fear within him as his bones began to shake. He hurried up, eager to leave.

Then, suddenly, the window slammed shut. Footsteps echoed, causing his heart to skip a beat. He paused.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

But there were no replies. The sounds stopped, and everything grew still. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the curtains fell, taking the shape of a woman standing by the window.

"Who are you?!"

He placed his hands slowly and quietly on his back, ready to draw his wand, but a cold hand stopped him.

Feeling the chill of the hand, he quickly jerked back and spun around to see who it was.

His eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he saw. He was frozen in place.

Surprised, he called out the name in fright, unable to believe his words.

"Resa?"

The ghostly figure raised a finger to her lips and made a sound so terrifying to hear.

"Shh!"

Then she placed her hands on his desk and smiled widely, her expression cold and unreadable.

Trying not to scream, Raymond looked back. There was another womanly figure near the window, but he couldn’t make out who it was because her face wasn’t clear enough.

She also placed a finger to her lips, repeating what Resa had done.

A bit shaken, Raymond found his courage and asked, 
"What do you want?"

Resa opened her mouth to speak, but no words were heard. She glanced at the other figure by the window, then back at Raymond. Her expression changed—anger and sadness mixed together.

The shadowy figure behind him began to move, unnoticed by him. As she reached out toward him, the door to the clinic swung open, and Rejoice walked in holding a lunch bag.

The sound of the door almost gave Raymond a heart attack.

"Mr. Ray, it’s time. You ready?"

He sighed swiftly when he noticed it was only Rejoice and the ghosts were gone.

"I must be insane," he muttered to himself.

Seeing how scared and shocked he looked, she asked, 
"You okay, Mr. Ray?"

He nodded repeatedly. 
"Yeah, I’m right behind you."