Conversation With A Ghost

Chapter - 3

It's been more than a century since I've been stuck in this stupid house. Betty must have passed long ago, and I only hope she's in peace somewhere. I hope she's not suffering like I am."

Douglas's face was hanging down and looked sombre.

"I am sorry that happened to you, Mr. Stevens. People see ghosts, and they run away. I almost did the same thing. But no one knows what that person has been through. What caused their deaths, and what caused their souls to wander around instead of finding peace? I am sorry I acted that way, Mr. Stevens." I said while looking at him.

"Not your fault, son." He said with a soft smile.

"Say, you call me a son, but you look so young. You met Betty when you were nineteen. So I guess you were twenty years old when you died."

Douglas laughed. "That's right, Joseph. I believe I am younger than you."

I side smiled and said, "Yeah, I am twenty-three."

We both laughed.

"I loved talking to you, Mr. Stevens. But I think I should take my leave. It's twelve at night already. Natalie must be worried." I said as I rose. He rose too.

"Sure, Joseph. I guess it was Natalie, wandering outside the gate a while ago." He said.

"What?" I creased my eyebrows in confusion. "How do you know?" I asked.

"What do you think I was looking at when I stood there at the window?" He smirked.

"Jesus! Why didn't you tell me?" I took my cell phone out of my bag to call her. But there was still no network.

"Sorry. You would have left if I told you she was here. Besides, she was the first woman I saw in a hundred years." Douglas was still smirking like a naughty kid.

I rolled my eyes. "Great. She's going to kill me now. Anyway, have a good night." I said as I stepped out of the room.

I stood outside Natalie's house and called her. She fought, she argued, and she hit me.

"I was so fuckin worried about you, Joseph. How could you do this to me?" She chided.

"I will tell you everything, Natalie. Just come with me; let's go for a drive."

"What the hell happened to your knee?" She asked while eyeing my shirt that was tied around the wound.

"I fell. Natalie, I just want to tell you that you were right. There is a ghost in that house. You win." I said.

Natalie seemed to be shaken when I told her everything. She took a lot of time to grasp that I just spoke to a ghost. She was the only person who would believe me. Although it took her two days to believe that I was having a conversation with a ghost.

There was still one thing I wanted to find out. Why Betty never came to meet Douglas? Natalie then told me that there were also rumours that his lover was murdered back in 1900s. Although, there were no solid proofs that the woman was related to the man at that house.

We decided to start looking for old news papers and articles just to be sure. I wasn't able to concentrate in work, and Natalie was annoyed with my obsession to find out why Betty never came, and whether the woman murdered was her.

Natalie and I started scanning the internet for answers. She took me to an old library, where we bribed the administrator for giving us the access to the newspapers from 1900-1901. After hours of scanning, Natalie found a newspaper that had an article on the second page.

A Washington woman, Betty Wilson, was found dead in a hotel room. Police suspect fiancé, Edward Rowels.

Natalie and I looked at each other with wide eyes. She hid the newspaper in her bag, and we left from there. After reaching my place, she opened the newspaper again, and we read the article. Betty was found dead in a hotel room on June 18, 1900. Police investigated and arrested her fiancé, Edward, under suspicion of her murder. Apparently, Edward had found out that Betty had an affair with a poor boy from Washington who'd followed her to New York. He had witnesses who tipped him off about Betty's daily meeting with that boy. Edward told the cops that he wanted to meet Betty to break off their engagement, but Betty was nowhere to be found. Since the police had no evidence against him, they set him free.