Page 25 of Ghost Girl

I turned to the remaining duo, anxiety thrumming through my veins. ‘You’ll have to excuse me. A woman was wandering the woods, and she stumbled upon my house. She seemed pretty lost and confused, so I need to call the cops.’

‘Oh, god, I hope she’s okay,’ the woman said, genuine concern drawing her features into a frown.

‘A woman? What did she look like?’ asked the man, and it struck me as a bit of an odd question to ask. Unless…

‘Do you know someone who’s gone missing?’

He shook his head, something indecipherable flashing behind his eyes before he quickly masked it. He cleared his throat and looked away, like he was suddenly sad. But there was something about the action that seemed a little too practised to me, like he was putting on an act.

‘No. I just thought if we had her description, we could keep an eye out for her,’ he explained, and I couldn’t fault his logic, even if there was something I felt like he was withholding.

‘Oh, sure. She was tall, maybe about five-eight, five-nine. Platinum blonde hair that she wore long and loose. And she had these big blue eyes, super pretty, but also kind of haunted like she’d been through some shit.’

The man’s face paled at the description, but his wife didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she gave me a knowing smirk. ‘Of course. And what was she wearing? Just so we can keep a lookout for you.’

I didn’t correct her assumption. If I were being honest with myself, then I could admit that Kali had captivated me, but this wasn’t about searching for a woman for any other reason thanlegitimate concern for her safety, so I gave a quick description of what I remembered of her clothes.

‘She was wearing black leggings and a pink tank top. Beyond that, I don’t remember much. She was gone before I could see too much of her, and she was mostly shadowed by the trees.’

‘Well, if we see here, we’ll let you know,’ she winked, but her husband was already walking off, lost in thought. She shot me an apologetic look before he gaze travelled back to her husband, expression dropping into something sad. ‘Please excuse him. He knew someone who went missing a long time ago.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ That was probably what I was sensing from him before, and now I felt bad. ‘I didn’t mean to drag up bad memories.’

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she bid me goodnight, then jogged to catch up with her husband.

I climbed back inside Bessie and called the police.

∞∞∞

I left the police station the next day more frustrated than not. They weren’t going to send out an officer or begin a search party when it could have been just a trespasser who was more than likely long gone, though they had logged the incident as such, but they were at least going to search through the missing persons database with her first name and description in mind.

I supposed that was all they could really do, anyway. I’d played my part, now it was time for them to step up.

Was it bad of me to hope she came back, not just for her safety and wellbeing, but because I wanted to see her again?

All I could see whenever I closed my eyes was her haunted, icy blue ones, gazing at me with open surprise like she couldn’t quite believe I was noticing her. But I didn’t understand howanyone could overlook someone so gorgeous. Her features were unique, everything about her shining with a light that gave off the impression she was pure. Except for those damn shadows in her eyes. I hated them. I wanted to know who put them there, because a woman like her deserved so much better.

A woman like her… what was I thinking? I didn’t even know her, let alone well enough to make that conclusion. For all I knew, she could’ve been a serial killer. I doubted it, though. She had the perfect opportunity to kill me, and she hadn’t. Fuck… I hoped she hadn’t escaped from one.

Now that the thought had come to me, it settled in with a chilling permanence. I had more questions than answers, and my mind was running scenario after scenario about what had happened to her, why she had shown up on my property. None of them were good.

I decided to head back to my house before making my way to the campsite, just for one more look to see if she would show up again. Maybe she’d never even left? I knew that was wishful thinking, but something was calling me to her. She had found her way tomyhouse, and I did not believe in coincidences. Especially when she’d seemed as shocked as me to be there.

However, to get to my house, I had to drive through the campsite, and I was flagged down by none other than the paranormal investigators. Thankfully, the other group were nowhere to be seen, so I pulled Bessie to a stop in front of them. I didn’t get out, though, instead choosing to roll the window down to save time. Hopefully, whatever they needed wouldn’t take too long, or I could handle it when I got back.

‘Rhodes,’ the surly guy, Chance, greeted, still sullen. Perhaps even more than yesterday.

I had a bad feeling about this…

‘Hey, do you folks need something?’

‘We were just wondering if we could chat with you about something? When you have a minute to spare, of course,’ Ashe asked, shooting a nervous glance towards her thin-lipped wife. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get involved in whatever their dispute was, and I hoped they weren’t trying to rope me into it.

‘Uh, what about?’

‘Just what you said yesterday. To my brother. About the woman,’ he answered.

‘He told you about that, huh?’

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