Ghost In Red

---    

"Why are you laughing?" OJ asked while pouting her lips and crossing her arms on her chest, and I tried to compose myself from cackling at her silly question.    

"Didn't you hear what I said just a while ago? It's not even two minutes passed yet. So...? Did you? Didn't you?" I asked her as my answer to her question, and she made an adorable thinking face, trying to recall what I told her back at the stairs. I damn confessed my love to her, but she seemed to be not listening at all. Ugh!    

"Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, right. I... I did hear it. I was just... trying to... you know... confirm it. Yep." She stuttered and laughed sheepishly, and I just mocked her, making her look away from my face and letting out a small, shy smile.    

Looking at her so happy right now and all good makes me want to cry badly. I may look strong and okay all these moments I spent with her, but I am heavily breaking inside. I don't want to show her how weak I am, how miserable I could be, and how lonely my life would be without her. If I could just give my life for her, I would do it without a second thought. I hope it will never be too late for us. It's so quick. Everything has happened so fast that I don't even remember that time I hated her for being such a damn annoying ghost.    

I only wish there would be a miracle. I hope something magical will happen that will make us both suffer less. No one needs to be sad for a long time. Don't I deserve to be happy with her? What did I do in my life so wrong to earn this pain? Wasn't I lonely enough after my parents left me? Life is not really fair, isn't it? I can't lose her, too, just like that. It's going to be too much torture for me, both mentally and emotionally.    

"Thanks, by the way, Syd. That is so sweet of you. You never really fail in making my heart flutter." She continued and gently held both my hands, and then she brought it to her lips and kissed them.    

"Anything for you, OJ. If we ever meet a hundred times or more after this lifetime, I will still love you the same." I answered with all my truth, and she stared deep into my eyes, and I could see how her hazel orbs painted the feelings she had in her. It's okay if she won't say them. At least I already know the meaning of that look in her eyes.    

"I'm indeed so lucky to have you as my soulmate, Syd. I feel so grateful that I have met you in this lifetime, and I have spent such remarkable moments with you. And I wouldn't wish for anyone else but you and you only." She replied and smiled at me, and I blinked my eyes many times as something had just popped in my mind about what she said.    

"What's the matter?" OJ worriedly asked me, and I tried to organize my thoughts.    

"Wait... Uh, yeah, right. Soulmate. We are soulmates. Wow! Why did this idea just come into my head?" I let out in joy, and my girlfriend looked at me in confusion.    

"Okay. Yeah, that's what we are, right? Do you believe it, don't you?" She asked and was startled when I held both her shoulders, and I looked her in the eyes while my hopes were high that it was not too late for her, for us.    

"Yeah! We are! And... Who told us that we are soulmates?" I agreed and asked her, hoping she could think what I was thinking of.    

"Umm... The woman at the... Pawnshop. The madam fortune teller. And...? What's with her? Oh... You mean...?" She answered and gestured her hands like how the woman read my palm before.    

"Yes! That's her! She talked to you. She can hear ghosts. And that simply means she can hear me, too. She can help us!" I explained and felt relief with this new idea I have, and OJ nodded her head in response.    

"Yeah! You have a brilliant idea, Syd. And what are we going to do?" She remarked and asked, and I grinned.    

"We are going home! She's easier to find than the taxi guy here in Chicago. Oh, I know. Again, I am being so pathetic about my optimism about your life, but I don't f*cking care. We are going to try. If we can communicate with Marcella Hills, she will be the one to tell our friends about whatever we need. I don't know. Maybe if we can't find your mother on time, she could use her powers to convince your dad not to let you die so soon. What do you think? We have no time to waste because I am sure that it will be worth it. I can't give up without trying every possible solution there is. So...? How was it?" I explained and looked at her, and I saw how her lips formed into a bright smile.    

"It sounds like a great plan to me. What are we waiting for? Let's go?" She agreed and began walking out of this hotel, in which we just followed those mean teenagers who were being rude to a particular valet outside this establishment.    

"Alright! I guess we can catch a night flight to LA. I think it's still about 7:30 PM now." I answered, and we went looking for a taxi that could take us to the nearest airport here.    

This is it. I'm not losing hope. I even have too much to make up with this girl in this lifetime, and she's going to leave so soon? That's not quite reasonable.    

---    

Our flight back home went out so fun when OJ and I stayed in the cockpit most of the time. We saw how it is actually to fly a plane, and I didn't know that my girlfriend certainly had flown their family jet before and a damn chopper with her father. Wow, it's just so wow.    

It's been my dream to ride a helicopter, and she promised me that she'd give me a lift in the sky once we accomplish this somewhat possible mission of ours. I mean, it's not too late yet. She's still here with me, and we have about 28 hours left. I hope it's going to be enough.    

"Hey, Syd! Do you think their shop is still open? Do you think they live in their shop?" OJ anxiously asked when we stepped out of the airport to find a cab that could drive past our destination.    

"Yeah, I think so. I've read before that they close at nine PM. And it's still... What could be the time here now in LA? We traveled back... two hours in time." I replied and asked my smartass girl, but she just looked at me with a clueless face and shrugged her shoulders.    

"I'm not that good at mathematics, Syd, especially mental solving, especially when we talk about time. You know that. You can do it. I believe in you." She admitted and cheered on me, and I let out a sigh while trying to think properly.    

"We left 8 PM in Chicago, and it's two hours ahead here. Six plus four-thirty of flight time is… F*ck!" I mumbled and cursed when I realized the time we were right now.    

"Yeah, it's f*ck o'clock, indeed." OJ agreed, and I sharply looked at her. Is she mocking me?    

"You're not helping. You know that?" I chuckled, and she just laughed.    

"I know. It's about ten o'clock now. We are one hour late. But we have to try. Maybe they reside there. I bet they aren't leaving all their precious stones and jewelry at their shop alone and unguarded." She replied, and she got the point.    

Then we both went inside a cab where the passenger who got in was going to the village where my cousin, Kevin, resides. It could pass by the pawnshop that Marcella Hills and his son, Maxwell, own.    

---    

"Closed! Oh, no! It's closed, Sydney. As expected." OJ cried when we saw the pawnshop, and she grabbed my hand as we stepped down the cab while it was still running on the highway. Then I luckily caught her waist when she was about to stumble on the curb by the pavement.    

"Ooh, that was smooth! Thank goodness you are quick! That's a plus point." She praised and winked at me, making me softly chuckle, and I shook my head lightly while following behind her.    

"Close, close, close. Let's see what's inside, Syd. Stay close." She chanted and gestured to me to come with her, passing through the closed shop's overhead door.    

"Aye, aye, Captain!" I muttered and heard her giggle, and she turned to look at me for a moment with an amused smile.    

"Take whatever you can, and we'll leave on my signal. It's a good thing the place is not guarded. Vamos! Don't leave anything behind." She briefed me like a damn expert hooligan, and we laughed at our foolishness.    

"Wow! Look at all these precious things, Syd. Aren't they amazing? Necklaces, bracelets, and damn these crystals. Is there any diamond here? I bet there is." My girlfriend gasped in awe when we arrived in a room with many shiny rocks and jewels inside the glass boxes. And I noticed that most of them are crystals but in different colors.    

"I wonder where they keep your Jade pendant. We still have to redeem it back soon." OJ mumbled while looking through the things around us.    

We looked around but found no signs of where my pendant could be. Then we continued roaming inside this three-room establishment, yet there seemed to be no one here. There is a bedroom, but no one is around. And we have no idea where the Hills live.    

I guess we have to wait for them to open this establishment.    

"What time do they open tomorrow?" OJ asked, and I looked around the walls to find that information I'd read before about their opening and closing hours.    

"Ah, there! It's... 8 AM, Oj. I think we have to wait then." I sighed and looked at her, and she made a thinking face.    

"Yeah, I agree. But... What about... we go to your room, in the meantime while waiting? Home, I mean. Your house. I... Uh, I want to see your... Kitty. I missed that bitch." She asked and suggested something nice, and she grinned. I nodded in response as I missed my dog, too. But I know this girl doesn't just want to see Kitty.    

"Mhmm, is that all you want to do to me in my room?" I asked her while we headed out of the pawnshop, and she snapped her head to look at me with her wide eyes in surprise. What could she be thinking now?    

"What?" She obliviously asked me, and I laughed.    

"Nothing. Come on. Let's go." I answered and held her right hand with my left one, and she happily pranced on the sidewalk with me.    

It will be about a thirty-minute walk from here before we get to my house.    

---    

As we were about to cross the part of the highway that I dreaded the most, something caught my eyes at the opposite side of the pedestrian crossing. It's a black Poodle barking at us. I remember what OJ told me that most animals could sense us, just like how Kitty made friends with her.    

And what is more interesting… is the woman who walked with the black dog. She looks very familiar.    

"Oh, Syd! Look! Isn't that the lady we are looking for? We are damn lucky! Hey, Madam! Can you hear us? Do you remember me?" OJ yelled at the woman as she ran near her, and I stopped in the middle of the road when the cars around me continued driving after the traffic light turned green.    

I took a deep breath, trying not to be scared as these vehicles couldn't hurt me.    

I walked to where OJ and Madam Marcella were. And I was pretty surprised when I saw another person with the woman. And I know that he isn't physically here. He's a ghost, too.    

My girlfriend held my right hand, and we stood in front of the woman with her leashed calm dog on her side.    

"I can sense a familiar aura with you, dear, just as who I expect to meet again. It's Sydney, am I right?" Marcella asked, and I nodded my head. And I remembered that she could only hear voices and could not see ghosts.    

"Yes, it's me, Ma'am. It's nice to meet you again. You did know this would happen, didn't you?" I answered and asked her, and she chuckled. Of course, she knew. She's still a fortune teller all along. But, the heck, she didn't warn us about this mess. Well, it's my fault, too, because I told her that I didn't want to know about my future.    

"Mhmm. Right at that moment when I touched your hand. And what you are about to ask me, I can't help you with it. Same as this gentleman, who's been following me for almost the whole day now. I'm so sorry, all of you." She said and smiled sadly, and I looked at OJ as she got the same reaction as I had.    

What? Why? We haven't asked anything from her yet.