Advocate For The Dead (Complete Novel)

Chapter 4: In Summer's Room

Summer was sitting on the floor in the corner, her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up as I came into the room. Her eyes were so sad; I knew she was having a hard time just being in such a personal place. It's often this way for the dead. They walk into a room that once held pleasant memories and they lose it. Summer hadn't lost it just yet, but I imagined at any minute she would either explode in anger or wail in anguish. I had to get her out of there.

"It may not be a good thing for you to be here like this," I said to her. "Why don't you go wait outside?"

She didn't argue. The features on her face were frozen as if she didn't know what to feel. She got up, straightened her dress, and walked through the wall.

I waited a moment, and then proceeded to go around the room, trying to get a feel for who this girl had been. She wasn't your typical college student it seemed. There were no school colors on display, no pendants from the university emblazoned with the team name. Even if she had lived on campus and hadn't lived at home since she was a teenager, there was still no evidence of her being typical in that sense either. There were no posters of fave celebrities on her wall, no manga style doodles or photographs of her or her friends, no mementoes from school or vacation spots she may have visited in her short life. There was always a chance her parents had already gotten rid of such things, but something told me Summer wasn't your average girl. Something was troubling me. It was as if this room had no personality at all.

I began to open up her dresser drawers. The clothes seemed to be stacked in there too neatly. They looked brand new, as if they had never been worn. I looked under the articles of clothing, trying to find anything she may have hidden there. A diary, a photo, anything to tell me she resembled a real live girl at one time. But there was nothing.

"We cleaned up a little," Mrs. Dennings said from behind me.

"So soon?" I questioned with a raise of the eyebrow.

A sad look came over her face. "Our Summer hasn't lived here in some time."

"She hasn't?"

"No, she dropped out of college. After three years just up and quit. Came home as if it was just spring break. Then she ran off about three months ago. Later we found out she was living with Jeff."

"Her brother Jeff?"

"Yes. We tried to get her to come home but she wouldn't. She turned twenty two last week, so what can a parent do? She's an adult now." She frowned. "Or at least she was."

I nodded. "Do you have Jeff's address? I think I'd like to talk to him."

"Yes, sure. I'll go get it for you." She walked out without another word. She almost looked like a woman defeated by her own inner demons.

I walked to a desk in one corner of the room. Mounted on top of it was a huge vanity mirror. I ran my fingers around the back edges and they brushed something taped there. I pulled it free. It was a photo, marked with the remnants of cellophane tape, as if it had once hung on a wall or two, and then taken down repeatedly. A young brunette in tight jeans and a My Chemical Romance t-shirt smiled at the camera. Her dark eyes held a mischievous knowing look. It wasn't Summer.

When Mrs. Dennings came back with her son's address, I asked her about it. "Who is this?"

She nearly jumped away from me as if I held a dagger ready to stab her in the heart. "Where did you get that?" she cried.

"It was behind the mirror. Care to tell me why she would have it hidden there?"

"That's Carla," she nearly spat, taking the picture from me. She tore it neatly in half and tossed it in the trash.