a cold summer

Chapter Nine ~ Interesting Discussions

"And then the power came back on," I said. "So I went out the front door and she was gone."
Xara looked mortified. She glanced at Stella, who merely frowned.
"They just left?" Stella asked, looking confused.
"Yeah, and the power came back on," I confirmed.
Stella looked at Barry. "It's highly unusual for ghosts to just leave after making it clear that they were about to kill someone."

Did Barry look guilty? There was something in his expression that I couldn't quite make out.

"All ghosts are different," he said. "Sometimes they act in predictable ways, but we can't pretend to know everything about them."
Geoff nodded. "This case is just so bizarre. It's certainly a first for us."
"But we're definitely up for the challenge," Stella announced, smiling.

"You should get to your room," Xara said to me. "It seems you're no longer safe in your house."
I nodded. "I'll be on my way then."

I waved at the others, who waved back, and I made my way down to the Welcome Inn.

***

The room was small, but comfortable. It was tucked away in the corner at the end of a long, dark corridor. Room number 6. I opened the door to find a small hallway with two doors on each side. On the left was a walk-in closet with a safe and on the right was a bathroom. Polished white tiles gleamed in the light and revealed a toilet and bath inside. The rest of the room was square shaped with a double bed in the middle and a TV opposite it. A desk sat in the corner next to the fridge and minibar which was located next to a rather squashy looking armchair. Enormous curtains hid a massive window which looked out upon the rest of the village and in the distance I could make out the faint outline of my uni campus. I thought about the time before this had all happened. Sure, this year had been stressful. Lots of work. But it was work I was passionate about. I liked my life. And now this murder had ruined everything. I couldn't believe I was thinking it, but I actually couldn't wait to get back to school and for this nightmare of a summer to finally be over. For everything to just go back to normal.

I jumped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. I considered continuing my Detective Brown story, but wasn't really in a creative mood. I figured I might as well start unpacking.

I unpacked my toiletries and hung my clothes up in the closet. In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to pack enough clothes to last me longe than 2 days. Who knows when I'll get to return home? Or if I'll even return home.

I didn't bring much so it didn't actually take very long to unpack everything. The last personal thing I took out of my bag was a photograph of me, Jesse and Isa on the first day of summer. I put that on the desk and smiled.

I then dropped my bag onto the floor and heard a quiet crunch of paper. Realising I had forgotten to unpack my school stuff, I picked my bag up off the floor and unloaded various folders and books onto the bed. A loose sheet of paper also fluttered out of my bag. It was my Detective Brown story. I had completely forgotten about that. I made a mental note to finish it later.

I walked back into the bathroom to freshen myself up. The shower was amazing. It sprayed out so much water that it felt like I was underwater. I just stood there for several minutes, relishing in the perfectly warm temperature. I didn't want to leave the shower, but I forced myself to when I saw the time and realised I had been in there for forty five minutes.

After getting dressed into some fresh clothes, I realised that I hadn't packed my perfume. I suddenly remembered that Jesse never gave me back my perfume. Last week I lent her my perfume for a party and I never got it back. She couldn't exactly give it back to me so that meant I would need to get it back myself.

Xara only said it wasn't safe in my own house; that didn't mean I couldn't go to other places. I needed some air anyway and I had a valid reason to leave. With that, I left my room and walked down to their house.