Haunted

The Ghost Girl

Hester wasn't exactly sure what was up with this rat, but she didn't necessarily mind. She stood up from her crouch on the floor to examine the house. It was dark and very cold. The thing that made the hair on the back of Hester's neck stand up was how in tact everything was. It was like one of those roped off historical sights with all the original furniture. The decoration, which was mostly elegant wood furniture and the like, made it clear that the owners of the place had had money.

As she looked around, the only thought running through her mind was someone's been taking care of this house. It was unsettling, and the whole place felt quite haunted.

The room to her left was likely a sitting room of sorts, and to her left was a library filled with shelf after shelf of dusty books. Hester looked back at the staircase in front of her. It was made of dark wood, and was narrow and steep, leading up into darkness. But something caught her eye at the top. Someone.

Here's the thing; the part of the story that had intrigued Hester most was the missing daughter. Her name was Anadil, Hester remembered, and she was what made Hester want to come here. So when Hester saw a ghostly pale form duck behind the wall at the top of the stair, she had an inkling of who she might be looking at. The whole thing felt so impossible, really, but Hester was used to that.

And because she is Hester, she discarded any caution or planning and said "I know you're there."

It was quiet for a minute, before the form stepped out from behind the wall.

It was a girl, who looked to be roughly Hester's age. She was short, and ghostly pale. Hester squinted her eyes slightly, trying to see through the darkness in the house. She realized, with some terror, that the girl was translucent. She could make out the shapes of whatever was behind her.

The girl had white hair that ran down to her knees (and Hester had thought hers was too long). She was wearing what looked to be a sort of nightgown, which had sleeves that were far too long for her. The only thing about the girl that wasn't white was her eyes. Ruby red, and glinting through the shadows. Hester felt her heart beating fast, and tendrils of fear rising in her stomach.

There were two rats standing at the girls feet which (the feet), Hester realized, were hovering slightly off the ground. Hester had an idea, as she often did. She took a steadying breath, reached to pull the rat off her shoulder and into her hand, and met the girl's gaze. "Is he yours?" She asked, trying to keep her voice relatively friendly. Unfortunately, Hester was terrible at anything within the realm of friendly.

The girl blinked at her for a few moments, before nodding. Her movements were stiff, and Hester could tell that she was suspicious. Hester held out the rat, saying "Here." The girl narrowed her eyes, never breaking contact with Hester's. Hester was wary of acting too kind, because she hates it when people try to earn trust by acting sickly sweet.

Hester was acutely aware of the closed door behind her, and of how difficult it may be to escape if necessary. Hester Woods doesn't get cold feet. She thought to herself.

She started to lower her hand when the rat jumped to the ground and skittered up the stairs to the girl, standing by her feet with the other two rats. The girl looked down at him, and Hester saw traces of fondness in her scarlet eyes. It was only there for a moment, and disappeared when she looked back at Hester, who continued their strange little staring contest.

"Why are you here?" The girl asked. Hester blinked. She talks. The girl's voice was raspy, but soft. It felt like the echo of something that was said a long time ago.

Hester sighed, unable to hold up a passive face anymore. She hoped her RBF wasn't too strong. She turned her eyes away from the ghostly girl at the top of the stairs, fixing her gaze on a chair in the library instead. Hester was many things, but she wasn't a liar.

"I came to talk to you." She said, willing herself to look back at the girl, who was staring at her, even more suspicious than before. She squinted down at Hester, head tilted ever so slightly. The rats squeaked something, and she turned to look at them as though she knew what they were saying. It was sort of charming, Hester thought.

"You are Anadil, right?" Hester asked, tone remaining serious. The girl's eyes widened for a moment, before she went stony-faced once more.

"I am. I don't want to talk, and I probably won't let you leave the house remembering this." Anadil responded, her quiet voice almost lost in the shadows. Hester looked at her for a long moment.

"I'm not sure that's the truth. Well, you very well may attack me, but I think you do want to talk." Hester responded, Hester was fairly sure that Anadil was terribly lonely. She died in the sixteen hundreds, for God's sake.

And Hester knew a thing or two about loneliness.

Hester really did want to talk to this ghost girl, although she had snaked her hand into her jacket pocket to close around the knife. She wasn't sure she even could attack Anadil, but she had to be wary.

"And why is that?" Anadil asked.

"You're lonely." Hester responded, before she had time to think it over.