Ghosts of the Past

Chapter 25

I'm back! Sorry for such a long wait!

Melinda could remember Hide's words.

Find him.

That's what she'd do, if she had to.

Everything that she thought she knew wasn't right. The puzzle was broken, the missing pieces crumbled, somehow.

Melinda pulled the coat tighter around her frame in the cold wind of the night. She idly wondered if the white haired boy was surviving okay in this type of weather.

The ghost seer sighed, her breath visible, and pulled her phone from the coat pocket. The bright light illuminated her face in the dark atmosphere.

2:06 AM

Melinda was vaguely frustrated. Another unsuccessful search.

It was time to head home.

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Melinda set her coat across the wooden chair in the kitchen, the TV still on.

What was on it was what surprised her.

'Investigators have received word on the case involving Ned Banks, college student, who admitted to murder. A video was sent in moments ago, and the information on it is shocking!'

Melinda stared with bloodshot, tired eyes as she watched the video play. The person in the video was no one other than Kaneki, but the mask he'd worn in his picture from the file was now on him. His eyes were set into what seemed to be a permanent glare.

'"I'm sure you're all aware by now that the one known as Ned Banks has admitted to the crime of murder. What it would shock you to know is that I used him as my bait and decoy. Really, you're all stupid enough to believe that kid could actually kill a fly, let alone another human being. I guess I have to thank you, though. Locking him away allowed me to escape. I'm telling you all of this now because there's really no point in hiding it and I think the boy has suffered enough. I'll be long gone by the time any of you see this."'

To a person who's never met Kaneki before, the boy would have sounded cold, heartless, and maybe even amused in a sick kind of way.

To Melinda, he sounded hurt, scared, guilty, and just pure isolated. Though, there was a bit of relief, too, as if he welcomed the chance to clear Ned's name. The pain in his visible eye was overwhelming.

Melinda sucked in a breath when she realized something.

The mask Kaneki wore revealed the eye that his eyepatch usually covered. The eye that usually hid behind the white material was exposed, undamaged.

So, why did he wear it?

She didn't have enough time to dwell on the question.

"Melinda?" Jim's voice was tired and concerned. "You're back late again. Where have you been going all this time?"

Melinda didn't reply, but tears sprang to her eyes as she stared at the TV. Jim followed her gaze.

"What?" Jim wondered why Kaneki's face was on screen.

"He gave himself up." She shook. "Kaneki cleared Ned's name. He's given up, Jim. Everyone seems to want him dead, and Kaneki knows that. He's given up everything."

Jim could do nothing, but hold his weeping wife.

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Ned's hand shook as the remote clattered to the floor from his hand.