Sincerely, Lydia

Part 2 - Waving Through a Window

l.d

There was a ghost in our house. I was sure of it. I mean, after reading a book about how to "survive" in the afterlife, it's pretty obvious actually to know if there's a ghost in your house.

My dad nor Delia believed me or listened to me while I tried to tell them. They thought I was lying or just acted like I was talking about the weather or something. Their response was always,"That's nice, Lydia," and moved on with their day. Dad went back to marketing and Delia went back to gutting the house.

I hated how Delia was destroying everything but she never listened to me anyway. I wondered how the ghost felt about it. I bet they didn't like it one bit. I bet if Deli knew there was a ghost, she wouldn't care about what they had to say about the mess she was making. She'd say they had their chance and now they were dead. Talk about empathy, right?

Today, I decided to investigate and catch the ghost myself to see if my theories were right. I knew it'd be difficult but I figured if I found a colder-than-normal room and could see my breath, that would be a good clue. I knew the ghost would try to confuse me but I secretly hoped that it would try and scare me. If only it knew that I wasn't easily scared.

I started in my bedroom obviously, hearing it was the ghost's room before it passed made me wonder if it visited often. A quick inspection told me otherwise. I then made my way around the hallways while gripping my Polaroid camera, finding what used to be a bedroom and was now a gigantic hole next to the attic stairs. I rolled my eyes at the sight and continued to look around. I went to the kitchen, living room, and parlor. I decided to try Dad's office.

If we were honest, I liked Dad's office. It was dark and cozy, there were, unfortunately, no spiders or creepy crawlies anywhere but I guess that's what my room was for and why I chose it. I entered the room and noticed it was empty, I stalked the room and around the corners. I held my camera up just in case when I heard a bump behind me, I whipped around and snapped a photo.
"AHHH, LYDIA!" It was Dad. I sighed in aggravation and brought my camera away from my face.
"What are you doing?!" He rubbed his eyes.
"Ghost hunting," I said blandly.
"Well, can you not take random photos and blow everyone's eyes out, sweetheart?"

I walked out of the room without another word or promise. If I saw Delia while doing this, I'd "accidentally" blow her eyes out too. I knew Dad didn't know I liked Delia. He tried multiple times to get me to call her "Mom" but I think I disappointed him when I told him I would never do that. Like I'd give a bitch who has no remorse for a house that recently lost one of its inhabitants. I wondered how many times people have called her a "bitch" without telling me...because I would love to be their friend.

As I was passing the stairs to the attic for the fifth time, I stopped in my tracks when I felt a rush of cold. I looked up the stairs and placed a foot in the first one and leaned as I let out a breath, noticing a cloud indicating how cold it was. I furrowed my eyebrows as I made my way up the stairs, shivering and rubbing my arms to try and warm them up as it got colder the higher I went. I made it to the top and put my ear up to the door, placing my hand on the doorknob and hearing a loud bang. I almost fell back and down the stairs at the loud noise but I opened the door as quickly as I could.

I found a wide and massive space of woodwork and baseball equipment. A giant table had what looked like a war diorama placed atop of it, baseball bats and balls were scattered everywhere, a beige couch was in the corner. I entered closely, holding my camera up,
"Hello?"
Nothing.
"I know that you're here..."
Still nothing.
"Oh, come on, you little prick, I know you're here so show yourself before I force you out myself."

A baseball bat fell over behind me and I whipped around, my mouth wide in surprise and I noticed the door slowly closing and then slamming shut.
"Where are you, bastard?"
I turned in circles, holding my camera up to my eye as I scanned the room for the ghost,
"It's only a matter of time."
Baseballs began to float everywhere and I dodged them as they flew at me,
"Low blow, tacky. Anything better before you show yourself, prick?"

More baseballs came flying at me and then mini soldiers came zooming off the war diorama table, a mini bayonet stuck into my leg and I winced at the needlelike pain. Another one hit my arm but only grazed it, causing a small stream of blood to go down my arm.
"Oh, dammit, just forget it, ghost! I'm not leaving until I get what I want!"

That's when everything stopped. Baseballs fell with a thump and bounced away, bayonets made a metallic sound, and mini soldiers cracked and their extremities fell off. My head began spinning and I looked around,
"Well? Where are you?"
I finally just mumbled in frustration as I sat on the couch with my arms crossed,
"I'm not leaving until you come out."
"Ugh, fine."

My eyes widened and I almost fell off the couch as I look at the closet that was in the corner of the attic and I scoffed at my idiocy, the door started swinging open. I was surprised to see a late teenaged boy with shoulder-long brown hair wearing a black hoodie and black jean jacket over it, his black jeans had rips all over them and he had fingerless gloves on his pale fingers. He in himself was very pale and had small yet sparkling brown eyes, funny for someone who just died. He looked surprisingly normal..and I would gladly admit that I was kinda disappointed.

He looked kinda tired and embarrassed,
"How long have you know about me?"
"A couple days."
He nods and walks towards me, his arms crossed and a hand up to his face. He pinches his nose before he says with anger,
"So, what was up with all the names earlier? 'Prick'? 'Bastard'?"
I felt myself cringe as he sounded angrier with every word,
"You know it's not good to anger a ghost, right?"
"You don't seem to be a threat to us if you haven't done anything yet so..I should be concerned...why?"
"Oh.." he kinda laughs out,
"When I figure it out, you and your family will be wishing you never stepped your asses in my house."
I cocked an eyebrow,
"Didn't you read the handbook?"
His eyes widen,
"You're the one who took it?! I thought I lost the damn thing! Where is it?!"

He suddenly teleports in front of me, almost as if begging. I look at the satchel sitting in my lap and I reached inside, feeling the hard cover of the book that held so many secrets for him. I smirked,
"Tell me your name first."
"That's my book, you bitch, give it!"
"Oh, this book?" I pulled it out of the bag and waved it around. He tried to grab it but I stood up and sat on it, crossing my legs. He huffs in agony,
"It's MINE!"
"Not until you tell me your name and I put your name in the cover," I pulled a ballpoint pen out of the bag. I tapped it on my leg as he gave me the evil eye,
"I don't have all day, sir."

He grinds his teeth and rolls his eyes,
"Fine."
He sits down next to me, plopping down so hard that I could feel the seat move next to me.
"It's..."
I suddenly feel myself floating and I gasp when he's in front of me, holding the book in my face with a filthy smirk on his lips,
"Not your business."
I felt myself become teleported to the attic door and I hear a quiet,
"Have a good day, Lydia.."