Disclaimer: Don't own Ghost Whisperer or Alpha and Omega Series
Whispers of the Past
Melinda Gordon smiled as she took a breath of the chill spring Montana air it was just warm enough that the snow had melted away and the flowers and trees were beginning to bloom. Missoula was beautiful this time of year and she was glad she had let her friends talk her into taking this trip. Her husband Jim stood beside her as they began to look into the store windows when they noticed a teenager looking around for something or someone; she seemed to be in a state of panic.
"Hey... hey sweetie; is something wrong?" she asked gently.
"I walking with my mom and her friend when I noticed a guitar on display so I went to get a closer look and… and I turned around and they were gone." The girl sounded just seconds away from a full blown panic attack.
"It's okay sweetie, we will find them." Melinda replied trying to soothe the teenager. "What's your name?"
"SeoHyun… I was adopted… my mom's name is Anna and her friend is named Sage."
"Okay, SeoHyun, my name is Melinda and this is my husband Jim, let's look around certainly your mom couldn't have gotten too far." Melinda said. "Which way were you going when you saw the guitar?"
"That way…" SeoHyun pointed.
"Okay, let's see what we find."
They started walking in the direction SeoHyun indicated and soon Melinda noticed a change in SeoHyun then she heard a woman call SeoHyun's name.
"Mom…!" SeoHyun called out and the woman came running to them. SeoHyun met her with an embrace.
"SeoHyun what happened?" the woman she presumed was Anna asked pushing the girl so she could look her in the eyes.
"I noticed this gorgeous guitar and…" SeoHyun explained trailing off when she realized she wasn't getting herself anywhere.
"Mom, I'm sorry I… I shouldn't have gotten distracted like that, or I should have let you know I wanted to look…"
"Don't worry about it now." Anna replied hugging SeoHyun close "You're safe, that's all that matters."
Anna let SeoHyun go then turned to the woman that had been with SeoHyun.
"Hi, I'm Melinda Gordon, I'm glad you and your daughter were reunited." The woman said her smile warm.
"Me too, I'm Anna Cornick, this is my friend Sage Carhardt."
"It's good to meet you both, kind of wish it hadn't been under such frantic circumstances, but at least everyone is okay."
Jim introduced himself to the two women.
"Would you like to join us for lunch?" Anna offered, "It's the least we can do after you helped my daughter."
"We couldn't' intrude." Melinda replied
"No intrusion, we insist," Sage added.
Melinda looked at Jim who nodded.
"Okay, let's go, thank you." Melinda caved.
They went to a local café and order simple lunches for everyone.
"So do you live around here?" Anna asked.
"No, we're here on vacation, what about yourselves?" Melinda replied.
"We live in a small town not far from here." Anna replied. "This is a beautiful place for a vacation, but why here instead of one of the resort towns?"
"We wanted some place quiet away from the tourist traps that exist in places like that." Melinda replied.
"That makes sense, those places are always far too expensive for what you get." Sage agreed.
After lunch Jim and Melinda started away when Melinda looked at SeoHyun and an odd look crossed her face.
"What's wrong, Melinda?"
"I hate to say this but one of them has a ghost… by the look of it I'd say it's the kid, SeoHyun." Melinda sighed quietly
She then noticed the words 'San Diego' in the dirt on the ground.
"Something about San Diego," Melinda sighed.
Later that evening: Melinda got to her hotel room and used her computer to search SeoHyun with a cross reference to San Diego, California and instantly got results.
"Oh no…"
"What is it?" Jim asked.
"According to this Lee SeoHyun, the girl we met today, was the victim of an attack by feral dogs; her parents were with her but didn't survive." Melinda read aloud. "She was adopted by a San Diego business man who died under unknown circumstances, then adopted again by a Charles and Anna Cornick who live in a small town called Aspen Creek, it's not too far from here. Apparently he works at an accounting firm and she's a housewife and stay at home mom." She continued.
Suddenly the word wrong flashed on the screen.
"I think she's trying to give us a message."
"She…" Jim echoed.
"The ghost," Melinda replied "She's trying to say the report is wrong."
"I'd say so, the girl we saw doesn't look like she was ever mauled by dogs, not to the point that people died." Jim replied "I've seen victims of that too many times."
"We need to find out where they're living now and see if we can't get this ghost into the light where she belongs." Melinda sighed.
The next day they began to ask around about directions to Aspen Creek and soon got an answer. Though the person that they found told them not to expect much there, apparently there weren't even any restaurants out there.
Anna had decided it wasn't necessary to tell Charles about their little adventure in the missing children department. Luckily he didn't ask about their shopping trip when they got home.
SeoHyun sighed as they got into the car to go home.
"SeoHyun, you need to be more careful,"" Anna said as she got behind the wheel.
"I know, mom." SeoHyun replied.
Charles and SeoHyun started to practice their guitars as Anna fixed dinner for everyone. She had noticed some odd things happening lately but didn't pay much heed to any of it her definition of normal had been stretched so far that almost nothing surprised her.
After dinner Anna got her Cello out and they played together for a while before all going to bed.
Melinda thought it was a very beautiful town; it was untouched by corporate America. A smile crossed her face as she walked through the town, enjoying the fresh air that she didn't experience even back home. Her eyes soon rested on a man and SeoHyun. The man was tall and clearly Native American, she wondered who he was until she heard SeoHyun call him, 'Da' and she realized that had to be Charles Cornick. She then noticed the ghost again.
"What were they wrong about?" she wondered quietly as the ghost approached her.
"He hurt her!" the ghost woman said.
"Who… Charles…"
"No… before him…"
"The dead man…"
"Yes… they also lie about how we died"
The ghost vanished and Melinda sighed.
"What does she mean?"
"I think it's our job to find out." Jim replied.
To Be Continued…