They Know Me

DETERMINED

I awoke the next morning still perturbed at the French guy. He'd seemed to judge me for being at the bridge, as if he had the moral right and I had committed a sin. But what irked me more was how he clearly thought I'd bend so easily to his 'suggestion' to not enter. Maybe he was used to dealing with stupid girls, the kind that would take his interference as interest, and who he could use his accent and good looks against as a weapon. I wasn't that dense, but I wasn't immune, either. I had noticed. But his being cute wasn't enough of a reason to let him stand in my way. I didn't need his permission. He didn't own that bridge, and he didn't own me! I'd gone there looking for the unexplained, not a false admirer with a thinly veiled threat.

I looked at my watch – nine o'clock. Ghostley Electronics would be open and I wanted to get there early. I got up and dressed and then headed downstairs, but just as I reached the bottom landing, the phone rang. Debating if I should leave anyway and let it ring, I knew that if it was my aunt, 'twenty questions' would be my punishment for not answering it the next time she called, I walked over and picked it up."Hello?"

"Hi. Listen, I have something that ... you need to come over," Rhys said.

"Why? Don't you have your 'Meeting of the minds' breakfast this morning?"

"I do – but that can wait. Remember those pictures I took of your room?"

"Yeah."

"Come over – now."

He hung up. Curious to know what had him so bothered, I left for his house. I walked up the porch steps, but before I could ring the doorbell, the door opened. "What took so long?"

"I just walked over."

"You need to see this. Those pictures I took have more than just you in an empty bedroom."

I followed him up the stairs to his bedroom. "Why didn't you just come over with your phone ... or, are you planning to use me as the scapegoat for abandoning your plans for the study group?"

He went directly to his desk where his computer was. "When I first transferred the photos from my phone, I didn't bother looking at them. But this morning, I accidentally clicked onto my saved photos folder and this is what popped up." With his finger on the mouse, he stared at me while I watched the slideshow of the pictures he took of my bedroom. When he got to the last one, my eyes widened.

He nodded. "Yeah."

Inside the open doorframe of my bedroom, and looking directly into the camera ... was a girl I'd never seen before with dull blonde hair and a sad expression.

I did my best to ignore the chills going up and down my spine. Ghosts ... in Mannix ... I wasn't a lunatic after all – I had proof they existed! With my hope renewed that I'd someday get to speak with my parents again, I said, "Tell me this is some sort of double image."

"I would love to but it's not. It was taken with my phone," he murmured.

There was no more doubt. I was more anxious than ever to get to Ghostley's Electronics. "I've got to go!"

Clearly upset, he asked, "You're leaving me alone with this picture?"

"It's only a picture. Besides, it was taken in my room, not yours." I reached past him and clicked out of the screen. "Ghosts, Rhys. Now do you believe me?"

He didn't answer right away, but his look of incredulity said it all – he finally knew I'd been right all along. After a long pause, he said, "I don't know how I'm going to be able to concentrate after ..."

"Then, come with me."

"Where?"

"Ghostley Electronics. I want to see if there's anything in there to help me look for ghosts."