Ghost In Red

---    

“Syd, are you sure that it’s the right address?” OJ asked me while we stood at the front door of the said house in the address that we followed.    

“Yeah. This is what that person from the university registrar gave me. I’m certain that we are on the right street, block, and house number.” I replied and looked at the piece of paper in my right hand one more time to check if we were in the right house.    

“Okay. Time to knock. No, doorbell.” She suggested, and I reached for the doorbell button near my right.    

I looked at OJ when she let out a deep breath, and I would bet that she was feeling nervous. Well, me, too, as I actually don’t know how I would explain to her mom that her daughter is here with me but not that visible. Also, I am pretty worried about her reaction, knowing that her daughter is nowhere near in good condition right now.    

“Wish me luck, Oj,” I mumbled after I pushed the button, and we waited for a moment for anyone who would open the door.    

When no one had opened up after about three times of us ringing the doorbell and a couple of minutes had passed, I sighed and tried to look around the street to find anyone around here in the suburb, but there seemed to be no one walking around. Even the houses near here appeared to be no one home.    

I almost forgot that it’s Monday today. The people living here must have gone to their jobs or school.    

“Do you think I should check inside, Syd?” OJ asked, and I guess that’s the best thing we could do now. No one else would know that she broke in.    

“Yeah. That’s a great plan. I’ll wait right here.” I agreed and stepped back and waited by the porch while the ghost went inside the household.    

---    

A few minutes had passed, and OJ finally stepped out of the house through the closed door.    

"How was it? Is there anyone home? What did you find?" I asked her a series of questions, and she shook her head.    

"There's no one, and… uh, I don't think Mom resides here." She answered, looking unsure, and I wondered what made her say such.    

"Why? What's in there?" I asked her when she walked away from the porch, and I followed her.    

"I saw pictures in frames in every room, and none of them is Mom. I don't know them all. It's a family of five." She replied and sighed, and I thought for a while.    

"Maybe… they are your… relatives? Your mom's siblings or whatever? Isn't this your grandparents' property?" I uttered and looked at her when she halted walking.    

"I really have no idea, Syd. Mom is the only child. That's what I remembered. And… maybe they are her cousin… or I am not sure. I never heard of anything from her family's side ever since Mom and Dad divorced. Or even since I was a child. Or maybe I just can't remember. I don't have any idea if we have gone here or not before." She sadly explained and looked back at the house.    

"Okay. Well, why don't we wait for whoever lives in that house, and then we will ask them if they ever know your mom? Chances are… they are your relatives, or they could have been the ones who had purchased this house from your relatives. There's one way to know. What do you say?" I suggested and received quick approval from my girl, and we both went to the nearest bench on the sidewalk from the house as it's still two in the afternoon. We must wait for quite a couple of hours till someone arrives, whom we could ask.    

---    

"Look, Syd! Someone pulled over." OJ alerted me, and I quickly looked at the blue car that went to park in the driveway of the house.    

We both went near the car when someone stepped out and headed to the front door. He's a man about in his fifties, and he stopped on his tracks when he saw me approaching.    

"Excuse me, sir! Good day! I'm Sydney. And uh... May I ask you a few questions?" I greeted him and asked, and he took out some keys from his pants' left pocket.    

"Hello! Nice to meet you, Sydney. I am Howard. What can I do for you?" He replied and told me to go on, and this was our chance.    

"Uh, do you happen to know who Veronica Dawson is? Here is her picture." I asked him, and he made a confused face while looking at the picture in my hold, and he answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I don't know her. Is she… your teacher?"    

"No. She's a… the mother of my friend. And we have been looking for her. She used to live in this house. Maybe a couple of years ago. Do you have any idea who owned this house before?" I replied and asked, and I saw OJ looked hopeful that we could find any information about her mother from this man.    

Howard looked around, maybe looking for whoever I was with, and he turned his gaze back on me.    

"Oh, right. Well, unfortunately, we bought this property about eight years ago. And the name isn't Dawson. It was… uh, Crawly. Edward Crawly. He's a soldier. Why don't you come in? It's cold out here." He answered and inserted a key in the doorknob, and he opened the door wide and looked at me.    

"No, we're fine here, sir. We are actually in a hurry. And… uh, do you know where does Mister Crawly live right now?" I said and hopefully asked if he knew who formerly owned this property.    

The man chuckled, and both OJ and I just waited for him to answer my question.    

"Of course, no. Why would I know? Why would I want to know? It's been almost a decade." He laughed and did not give us an answer we wanted to hear.    

"Alright. Thank you so much for your time, sir. We… I have to go now. Bye." I told him, and I walked along the sidewalk after he bid me goodbye.    

We sat again on the bench where we had stayed earlier for over three hours, and I felt OJ rest a hand on my right shoulder.    

I looked at her and saw she was wearing a small smile.    

"Hey, don't worry, Oj. We will keep looking for her. I got an idea. Come with me." I assured my sad girl, and I stood up to go to the neighboring houses, hoping they knew the woman we were looking for.    

And after we asked three residents living near the house in the address, we sat on the swing at their park.    

I let out a small sigh and gently pushed myself to swing.    

We heard from the last person we asked that Veronica hasn't been here since she moved to LA about fifteen years ago. And we got the news that both OJ's grandparents had died about a decade ago, and the bank sold that house to Edward Crawly. And no one knows where the man was residing now.    

Yes, we are clueless, but not hopeless.    

"Syd, do you think the… post office here knows anything about where my mother lives? Or… should we ask the police? Or whoever?" OJ asked, and that is what I currently have in mind, too.    

"Yeah, we better keep going. We are going to go to the nearest police department here first thing in the morning tomorrow." I asserted and stood up from the swing to head back to the motel room where we were staying.    

---    

While I was staring at the ceiling and waiting for my sleepiness to strike, my mind had been wondering about a lot of things, making me awake as heck, and it's almost eleven in the evening now.    

"Hey, are you okay, Syd? Why are you still awake? Trouble sleeping?" OJ asked when I sat up on the bed, and I turned my head to her, who's been lying on her stomach beside me while cuddling with Sylvia, the stuffed panda.    

"Yep, I'm fine. I just got a lot in my head. Don't mind me." I replied and stood up from the bed, turned on the light, and I went to get my bag on the couch.    

I just need to do something until I feel sleepy, and I would love to finish my sketch of OJ when we are back on the plane.    

"Do you want me to sing you to sleep?" The girl asked and sat upon the bed, and I smiled, hearing her words.    

"That would be awesome. I will quickly finish this sketch, and I'll be going back to sleep. Just a few minutes, alright?" I told her, and I sat again on the bed, leaning on the headboard, and she excitedly sat near me to watch what I was going to do.    

"Cool! Can you draw Sylvia next, Syd? Or us with her? Then us with her. Draw us three! That would be so adorable. Please?" She asked and happily requested, and I couldn't say no. That's actually a great thought.    

"Of course! I'll do it next." I agreed and chuckled when she rejoiced while jumping on the bed.    

"Woah! Shut it, Syd! You have colored pencils with you, too? Damn! You are a mad girl scout, Roswell." OJ remarked when I took out a pack of colored pencils, my notebook, and a pencil from my bag, and I let out a laugh and shrugged my shoulders.    

"What? I always have these coloring things in my bag, even at the academy. You would never know when you'll get bored listening to the teachers' lectures." I retorted and began coloring the red dress on my sketch, and the ghost had been staring at me in amazement.    

A couple of minutes had passed since I had been sketching and coloring in my notebook while my girl kept on telling me funny things about anything. And we didn't notice that it was already twenty minutes past twelve until I took a look at the time on my phone.    

"You need to sleep now, Syd. Come on, and I'll sing a lullaby for you." OJ told me as she tried to cover with her hands the page I was working on to stop me. And I don't want to argue since I am so excited to sleep while she sings for me. Like, come on, I never thought she'd be doing such a sweet thing for me. She's the most charming person on earth, indeed.    

---    

"Good night kiss?" My adorable girlfriend asked me with a wide bright smile when I had tucked myself in beside her, and I wasn't sure what to reply.    

"Uh… yeah, uh-huh. Tha...that would be lovely." I stammered and heard her giggle, and thank goodness that I had already killed the light and only left the lamp on the nightstand so she couldn't see my flushed cheeks.    

"Hoo-what are you doing?" I flinched when she suddenly hovered over me, and I looked at her with my wide eyes in surprise.    

"Giving you a good night kiss. Don't be so shy, Syd. I know you want it, like it, love it, too, just like last night. Come here. I missed your warmth." She teased me while slowly leaning down, and I am currently under a panic attack. But I need to play cool. Yeah, I love to kiss her, too. But damn, I am not sure if I can hold my breath longer this time. I might die so damn happy right now.    

I closed my eyes when her face was so close to me, and I waited for the familiar sensation of her lips on mine… but there was none.    

I opened my left eye, and I saw how she was just staring intently at me with our faces just a few inches apart.    

A smile crept on my face when she kissed my forehead and told me, "Good night, Syd."    

"Good night, Oj," I replied and laid on my left, facing her, and she giggled while laying on her right to face me, too. Then I was quite stunned when she hastily scooted closer to me and pecked my lips. And she just grinned while I was out of words to say to this sneaky girl.    

"Do you want to request any song?" She asked me, and I lightly shook my head in response.    

"No, you can sing me anything you like," I answered, and I closed my eyes when she began to hum.    

Finally, I didn't notice that I had fallen asleep while listening to her mesmerizing voice.