Ghost Me

Detective Ortega

A week or two went by and Dain was finding the Ghost's company quite lovely. Yes, he was still the popular guy at school who had many friends... But he always felt lonely. 
Dain was just popular because of the way his jaw was squared perfectly, the way his eyes were a perfect sapphire blue, the way his smile was so dashing- To all the girls and boys, Dain was flawless. And now and again he wishes he didn't have the perfect genes, for he longed for people to see who he truly was behind his faultless sculpture.
He wanted people to see that he was just human.

Dain was staring out his window as the rain fell softly against the roof of his home. 
Pitter
Patter
Pitter 
Patter

The sound was quite mesmerizing. Dain felt his eyelids starting to get heavier, his breathing started to become more paced-

"Ouch!" said a small voice. 
Dain startled awake.
"Good evening, Dain!" said Finis. "Sorry I left you for quite a bit... I was just looking for, um, something." 

Dain was still in a bit of a haze. "Um... yes. Of course."

Finis stared at Dain. "Let me wear the hat so you know where I am," he said while grabbing the black bowler hat.

Slowly coming back to his senses, Dain asked, "Where did you go and what did you get?"

"Finally you asked!" Finis stated excitedly. "I went to my families house... I saw my younger sister and my older brother- Well, my brother isn't that much older than me! He's just a year older," Finis paused as if he was reminiscing over the past. 
Dain stared at the floating bowler hat. "Go on," he pushed.

"Right, sorry!" Finis cleared his throat, "I also saw my mother! I think my father was at work. I did not saying anything to them though... But that's not the point. The point is, I got something for you." 
Dain only realized now that there was a piece of paper hovering in midair. Finis handed it to him.

"What's this?" Dain asked curiously.

"A family portrait from two years ago... So I look a bit different, but it was the only thing I could find that would be able to show you what I look like," Finis replied. 

Dain unfolded the paper and saw a black and white family portrait. "Who's who?" he asked.

Finis pointed to a mousy haired, short woman. "That's my mother. She was so kind and caring all the time... But sometimes she'd get extremely angry with the newspaper boy for some reason!" Finis managed a laugh.
He then pointed at a tall man with a small mustache and dark hair. "That's my father. He worked most of the time in order to  provide for the family, so I never spoke to him much... But I remember he was surprisingly good at baking!" 
Finis then pointed to a slender girl with light hair and big doe eyes. "That's my sister. She was 14 in this photo. She and I got along quite well! I always played dolls with her when she was bored and I often helped her with assignments."

Dain was quite touched by how loving Finis' family sounded.
Finis then pointed to a tall, muscled boy. "And this is my older brother. He wasn't the brightest person in the family, but we still loved him," he said, giggling.

Dain's eyes directed to the last person in the photo. 
"And of course this is me!" said Finis.

Dain looked at a tall, skinny boy with unkempt dark hair and big eyes. 
'Finis was actually quite... handsome.' he thought. Dain turned from the picture, a red rash forming on his neck and cheeks. 

"So, that's my family..." Finis ended off.

"I like it," Dain said, handing back the photo to where the bowler hat was hovering.

"Let me go return this to my home," Finis said. He put the bowler hat on the coat hanger, and slammed the door shut.

All of a sudden, an idea struck Dain.
'What if Finis' parents knew how he died!'
He shot up.
"Mother!" he called down. "Do you know where the McRay's live!?"

"Number 4 Charyn Drive... I think! Why do you need to know, darling?" said Dain's mother from downstairs.

"No reason!" Dain ran down the wooden steps, making a loud thumping noise as he did so.

The least Dain could do for his new friend is find out how Finis died. Even though he knew Finis had said he didn't want to know, Dain thought otherwise.

Dain thought that deep down, Finis wanted to know how he died.

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