Page 29 of A Ballad of Phantoms and Hope
Charlie’s features fall, turning cold and pale. “Yeah, along with my friends.” Yelina and Poppie frown beside him and let their hands rest on his shoulders.
Ophelia slowly rises from my lap and stands before Charlie. The top of her head only reaches his neck. She asks softly, “Why are you still here, Charlie? Do you know how to pass on? Where are the others?”
His lips flatten with thought. Then he nods his head to the chairs and sofa. “Let’s all sit down and I’ll catch you up.”
Ophelia returns to her spot beside me while Yelina and Poppie take the two lounging chairs across from us. Charlie sits on the floor to finish the small circle we’ve inevitably created.
Folding his hands together in his lap, Charlie says, “The others left after the murders were solved. Anger and rage are what held us here. So, after the bodies were found and Crosby was killed, we were able to pass on. But I can’t leave until I find my picture of Lucie. Crosby hid my satchel with everything I cherished. He liked to play cruel tricks on us.” His tone fills with grief.
Picture of Lucie? He’s stayed all this time for a photo?
“Can’t you just go see her?” I ask.
Charlie shakes his head and looks longingly out the windows. “I don’t know where she is out in the big world… We were going to get married once I got better. But then I was declared missing for a decade. She probably thinks I ran away and left her and everything behind.” He pauses and seems lost in thought. “I just want to see her one last time before I go.”
Ophelia’s eyes flicker over to me. They’re filled with sympathy and I already know she wants to help him. I love that she carries her heart on her sleeve, even if she thinks she doesn’t.
“Where have you looked? Where’s left?” Ophelia asks, leaning forward and taking Charlie’s hand in an effort to comfort him.
“You’d help me?” He looks at the four of us and we all nod.
I can’t help but think how sad it is that his ghost has been reluctant to leave over a simple photo. Can our reasons to linger truly be so small? It must be more than that.
Yelina adds, “Of course, we’ll help. It’s everyone’s goal to pass on, after all.”
He smiles and relief relaxes his face. “I’ve searched Harlow thoroughly so I doubt it’s here. I have a feeling he hid it somewhere in Bakersville, but I never knew the places he frequented.”
My veins chill like frost slowly freezing a river. I know one spot we can look.
“The lookout,” I mumble.
Poppie looks at me. “The what?”
“I know where we can look in town.” I stand, eager to get there and help Charlie find the peace he’s been deprived of. This may be the answer we’ve been searching for. If finding it allows him to pass, we will finally have something to work toward.
If the photo works for him, maybe the bucket list will work for me. I hesitantly let my eyes lift to her—she who is so damaged and broken like me. Maybe we can find our peace together.
Ophelia notices my enthusiasm to find the photo. Her expression softens on me and she stands as she says, “Let’s go look.”
Ophelia borrows a loose-fitting, cream-colored shirt from Poppie and high-waisted denim jeans from Yelina. The front of her shirt is tucked and she ties her hair back with a cream and pink floral hair tie.
I stare at her as she walks over to me with two paper cups in hand, admiring her tattoos and wondering if I am the moth or the butterfly.
We parked on the main street and decided to indulge while we were here. I’ve been waiting on the bench I tend to frequent when I feel like people-watching. Five years. It’s still so much the same as it was when I was alive. The slow life of a small town, the stress-free grins of the townsfolk who enjoy this quiet place. I envy them and their ignorance of the ghosts that observe their day-to-day lives.
“Here you are, no cream like you so insanely requested.” Ophelia hands me the drink, and I grin at her.
“It’s an acquired taste,” I say like a dignified asshole. She glowers and rolls her eyes before I nudge her with my shoulder. “This is a cute town, isn’t it?”
She sips her hot drink and nods as she sweeps the shops with her eyes. “It’s a shame all those bad things that happenedhere tainted its name. I heard that tourism went down and some shops suffered because of it. But the Fall Festival is still a hit.”
“You hear a lot of talk around the city, don’t you? I’m starting to think I’ve been roomed with a bar fly.” I wink when she glares at me and her expression lightens again.
“I usually hang out in cafés actually. It’s nice to see friends getting together after a long time apart or sisters catching a quick lunch between shifts.” She smiles, her lips still pressed to the lid of her coffee cup. “It’s a good way to get caught up with the latest buzz too, you know?” She looks at me and I nod.
We’re so similar, yet so different. I like to sit here on this bench that no one ever visits and wallow in silence, while she spends her time in busy coffee shops just to enjoy the frequency people give off when they’re chatting and laughing together.
She’s the light. I am darkness.
