(O.O)
Before I move further with my story, allow me to go off script for a little bit so I can give a little more information on my client, Buffy Summers.
When I first met the bird, I thought she was beautiful; petite, blonde, and a good head on her shoulders.
She was a self-defense instructor at a local gym downtown. She recently moved into a new flat with her sister Dawn and best friend Willow. When her mum passed from cancer she decided to sell her childhood home and start fresh.
It was sad really, losing her mum to such an illness. But the young woman was dealing with the loss better than most people would. She was the responsible sort, who focused more on taking care of her kid sis rather than letting her grief get the best of her.
I admired that about her.
Anyway, a couple of months after Buffy and her family moved into the apartment, they started to notice weird things happening.
Things like objects moving on their own, lights flickering on and off, strange noises resounding in the walls. Typical poltergeist activities that signified that a ghost was haunting her and her family.
Despite all of this, it took the silly bint six months and the ghost escalating to harming them before she finally reached out for help.
Like many people, she didn't believe in ghosts or the supernatural. For months she rationalized every strange occurrence as best she could. That was until strange bruises started to appear on everyone's body. She finally gave in.
She had already called a couple of other ghost experts and even a priest to bless the place before she found me. Nothing had helped.
I was certain the "ghost experts" were frauds. And although the priest blessed their home, nothing was changed and the entity was still haunting them.
It would've been better if the birds simply packed and left the place but money was tight for Buffy and her family, so they're forced to endure the hauntings and simply hope that the ghost would get bored with them and leave them alone.
No such luck.
It was Willow, her roommate, who told my friend, Harris about what was happening. The two were childhood friends and met up a few days ago before he came to my office and talked to me about the haunting at their apartment.
Xander knew I had a genuine gift in this business and that I could help by actually seeing ghosts. This was the reason he recommended me to his friend.
So, here I am.
Alright, that's enough backstory for now, let's go back to my own tale.
As I mentioned, we arrived at my client's apartment and Harris introduced me to Willow and Buffy, who looked suspicious of me at the time.
This was understandable.
As I said, she already met up with a couple of would-be experts who lied to her about resolving her ghost problems and forced her to pay for service that never happened.
I felt sorry for her and wanted to reassure the young woman that I was the real deal.
So I gave her my most charming smile and promised her that I will do everything in my power to help them with this ghost.
Fortunately, this worked and the smile she sent back to me made me forget the horrifying experience I had when I arrived earlier.
She really was a pretty lady.
After our introductions, Buffy and Willow led us to the living room area of their apartment and offered us some drinks. Once we were all settled, Harris let me take the reins and ask the two women a couple of questions about their resident ghost.
I started asking the occupants of the apartment questions about the hauntings. Like when it first started, what was the first incident they could remember that happened, where it happened, and if there was a particular way the spirits haunted them, those types of questions.
While some of the answers to some of these had been provided by Harris already, I wanted to be thorough. I needed information on this ghost or at least an idea of who it was. Take note that at this point, I wasn't certain if the spirit haunting Buffy and her family might be the same demon ghost I saw earlier.
Knowing a ghost's identity or what they want would be helpful to me when talking to them. It's easier to ask spirits to leave a certain place or to stop haunting a certain family when you have that information.
After our interview, I asked them if I could get a tour around the apartment.
"Why?" Willow asked, looking curious.
"I want to try and find this ghost. It's easier for me to get them to leave if I can see them or at least talk to them."
"You talk to ghosts?" Buffy asked, looking surprised.
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I thought you lot already knew that. I see ghosts and can speak to them."
"So you don't exterminate them or something?"
"Nah. I normally just talk them into leaving."
"And that helps? Talking to them? They just leave once you do that?" She sounded skeptical.
"Well, not all the time. Sometimes I try to fulfill the ghost's desires or last wish."
"Last wish?" Willow asked, joining the conversation.
"Contrary to popular belief, ghosts don't like haunting people. They merely do that because they need something from the living. You help them out and they move on to the next life."
"And what does this ghost want? I mean, it has been hurting everyone here. I've got the bruises to prove it."
"Don't know yet. That's why I need to look around and try to find it. What I do know is that this spirit has been haunting you for months before things escalated. That means it's getting angry and annoyed that you've been ignoring it, or-" I trailed off to look at one of the rooms behind the roommates.
I was getting a weird feeling inside that room.
"Or what?"
"Or what's keeping it here is slowly diminishing and it's starting to disappear back into the ether, hence why it's resorting to violence."
"That can happen to ghosts?" Buffy asked.
But I didn't answer her though, my attention solely focused on the room behind her. I was sensing something inside that room. Something horrible.
I didn't have to be a genius for me to surmise that the ghost could be in that room.
"I'm sorry, pet. But can you tell me what's behind that door?" I suddenly asked.
All three of them gave me weird looks but answered my question nonetheless.
"That's Dawn's room."
"Your sister?"
She nodded. "She's at school, so the room's locked."
"You don't happen to have a spare key, do you?"
"We do," Willow answered. "But why do you want to go into Dawn's room?"
"I think your ghost is in there," was all I said.
Moments later, Buffy and I were standing inside her sister's room. I looked around and tried to locate the ghost.
So far, it hadn't shown itself to me yet. But I was 100% certain it was in this room, or at least it spent a lot of its time inside this particular room.
"So how does this work?" Buffy asked, "Do you use some sort of psychic connection thingy, and bam you find the ghost?"
I chuckled. "Not quite like that, pet." I turned to face her before I continued, "I see ghosts, but I can also sense when they are around as well. You know that feeling when you are walking alone at night and you feel that someone is following you? Or that feeling when someone is watching you in a crowded street?"
"Yeah. I get that feeling a lot."
"Well, ghosts give me similar feelings. I can sense them and know that they are there, even though I can't see them at the moment, I feel their presence."
"And do you feel this ghost's presence in this room right now?" she asked me.
I nodded and turned to look at the door in the corner. I walked towards it and opened it. It was an ordinary closet. It had some clothes and a couple of boxes dumped inside. However, it wasn't the mess that got my attention, it was the silhouetted figure standing inside the closet.
It was a woman, probably in her early forties wearing a hospital gown. She had light brown hair and a sickly appearance. Her eyes were glassy and her entire body was barely visible. It was my indication that this ghost was barely hanging on in her stay here in the land of the living.
"Buffy, can you leave me alone with this one for a moment?" I asked the young woman behind me.
"Sure?" she sounded uncertain but still did as she was told and left me alone with the ghost.
"Just you and me now, pet. Mind telling me why you're haunting this family?"
"Not safe…" she said, barely audible from the whisper.
"Not safe? Who's not safe?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she lifted her ghostly finger and pointed towards the dresser behind me. I walked towards it and picked up a lone framed photo on top.
It was a picture of a younger Buffy and two women. One was a child younger than Buffy and the other was the ghost, or more accurately, the person who the ghost used to be before she died.
"You're their mum," I said, turning towards the spirit.
"Ssssscared," she rasped.
"You're haunting them cause you're scared for your girls?"
She didn't answer again. "Ne-ne-need to pro-protect."
It was because of this that I finally understood why this spirit was here.
I approached it again with a sad smile.
"Oh, Luv, you're worried for your kids. That's pretty amazing. But you have to understand, they are doing alright. Buffy's taking good care of her kid sis and from what I can see, aside from the ghost problem, they've been doing okay so far. You don't have to keep holding on. You're only causing yourself more pain."
She shook her head, translucent tears falling down her face. "Dawn," she whispered.
It was the name of Buffy's sister. The poor woman must be worried about her youngest.
"Like I said, your eldest is doing her best. They're going to be fine, pet. You can rest easy now."
Again, she shook her head vigorously and tried to say something else. But no words left her mouth. It was then, I noticed that her lower half was slowly disappearing.
This ghost didn't have long.
"I assure you, pet, you girls will be okay. You're a good mum, better than most. Hell, you're better than mine actually. Mine left me alone when I was a boy. You hanging on to make sure they're safe is really amazing. But you raised your eldest well. She'll take care of her sis for you. Go on, pet, rest."
She disappeared after I said that.
Though I knew she wasn't gone for good since I could still sense her presence in the room, I was confident that this case was now resolved. Their mother was haunting them because she was worried for her girls. All the residents had to do was to reassure the poor woman that they were going to be okay.
I told Buffy and the others about this and the look of relief and sadness was evident on their faces. I felt bad that I was the reason that the beautiful blonde woman was crying, but at the same time, I was happy that I got to help her and her family.
I advised Buffy to try and visit her mum's grave with her sister, so they could show their mother that they are in fact doing alright. I also gave her my card so she could call me if they needed more help or if something else would happen that she was alright to give me a ring and I'll come and visit her.
She gave me a grateful smile and asked me how much she owed me. I smiled back and told her that I was doing a favor for a friend and that she didn't need to pay me at all. After that, I left with Harris feeling really good about myself that I helped another person.
Of course, I had no idea at the time how wrong I was for thinking as such.
TBC
(O.O)