Invisible

Chapter Five: Suspect

"You should have dressed warmer," Aria snapped, gaze settled on Noah, "You knew it was going to be cold, You uncultured swine!"

The white soft frozen flakes fell from the light grey sky, covering any sign of green that was on the ground. A gust of wind blew, making it feel colder than it actually was. The white powder covered everything, it was a winter wonderland. A depressed version of it, at least. Marshalltown, the greatest attraction of Iowa. Miles thought rather bitterly, posture straight as he followed the group of teenagers. The streets were deserted, apart from a few stray vehicles that were parked by the sidewalk. His gaze shifted onto the larger building in the area, the one that they were headed to; the library. Ryder only lived a few blocks from the library, so the group of friends decided to walk instead of trying to get a ride.

"I have a question," Scarlett piped up, rubbing her gloved hands together, "How are we going to do our research on this dead guy, if we don't even know his name? I mean his real name."

He casted a glance at Ryder upon hearing the question, sticking close to his side as usual. She made a good point, how do they plan on finding more about me? He pondered the question, the tendrils attached to his back whipping and lashing with impatience. The faster they got to the library, the faster they could start researching.

"Stupid, we search up murders that were committed in the town," Aria scoffed, "We go through pictures to see if Ryder can match up a face, and bam. Case solved. Use your brain more often."

Miles shook his head at the name-calling, and the bickering. It was funny at first, but, now it was just immensely annoying. I'm getting tired of hearing their voices. Forget not having a mouth, I don't want any ears.

"Ladies, ladies!" Ryder sighed loudly, "You're both beautiful, okay? Okay. Now that we got that straightened out, can we focus on actually getting along, and solving this thing?"

"Not to be that guy, but," Noah started, voice soft and slightly quiet, "There could be the possibility of Miles' death not being recorded on documents, and such. If that's the situation, then we have nothing to go by."

As much as he didn't want to think about that possibility, he knew that Noah had a point. The further his death went back in the years, the less likely they were to find any trace of him. I'm guessing so, anyways. They could have written me off as a suicide victim.

"There's also the chance that they said I could have killed myself," The Entity hummed lowly, pausing as they finally made it to the library, "Or, as Noah said, not put anything on the papers."

Miles watched the front door swing open, and elderly man holding the door open for the small group. The Sheriff, maybe I knew him. The feeling of familiarity was drawing him in when studying his smiling, wrinkled, features while he started small talk as Noah helped Ryder through the door. His suit was a light beige color, and he had a badge on the left side of his chest. Snapping out of his daze, he followed his host quickly inside.

"You kids shouldn't be walking in this kind of weather," The elder hummed, walking beside Aria, "Especially with Ryder, you kiddos know the sidewalks are ice, right? One slip-up can make the poor boy pop a wheelie."

He had relaxed at hearing the kids laugh at what was said, even making a few jokes. The atmosphere was warm, and welcoming. Miles allowed his posture to slump with tranquility, eyes closing halfway as he followed the conversating five. Martinez, the name popped into his head as he stared at the older male. I did know him, I just don't remember how. Did I get in trouble when I was alive? He blinked a few times. If I know him, I mustn't have died too long ago.

"That would be a sight to see," Scarlett laughed softly, patting his host on the head.

"So, what are you youngins' doin' here?" The Officer questioned, sparing them all a glance.

"School project," Noah blurted out with a small chuckle, starting to steer Ryder away, "

Miles followed after the two, peeking over his shoulder to catch the girls giving quick goodbyes to the older man. That was rude, his gaze slipped onto Noah's back through narrowed eyes. He watched him help Ryder up to a computer, turning his attention towards the approaching females. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but it looked like they were actually talking. That has to be a first.

"—have a bad feeling," He was able to catch Aria's words once she got closer, "I don't know, man. I have a sharp sense of judgment, and he was making my alarms go off."

Are they talking about Martinez? The Entity tilted his head to the side with a soft hum, turning his attention onto Ryder. He stepped closer, invading his personal space to peer over his shoulder at the computer screen. Murdered boys in Marshalltown, Iowa. Not much there, this ghost down doesn't get any excitement. All of them are men, too old to be me. So, my death wasn't recorded. His hand lifted, index finger pointing at the glowing screen. Maybe I ran away?

"If there aren't murdered boys, try missing boys," Miles hummed to his host, earning a slight nod, "If that doesn't help, maybe I died in another county."

He watched Ryder work, ignoring the other three behind them. His black eyes remained on the screen as they went through multiple websites, his hands shoving back into the pockets of his hoodie. After a few more clicks and typing, his entire form froze when he spotted a picture. It was a picture of himself.

"Guys," Ryder said in a hushed tone, "Guys, I found him."

Missing: Marshalltown Area. Jacob Jay Price. Born on March 13, 1971. Height is 5'9. Weighs 118lbs. Has black hair, and blue eyes. Last seen wearing a dark red sweater, and black pants at River Valley High-School at 3:45p.m., December 28, 1986. If you have any information, please contact: Marshall Police, 484-1218. 

Miles stared blankly at the screen, at the picture of himself. Just as he was described, he had jet-black hair that stuck up in all sorts of directions, vibrant blue eyes that were filled with light, and the widest of smiles. The boy in the picture looked as happy as can be, and it was himself. Jacob.. Jacob Jay Price. Yes, he remembered the name now. He remembered hearing his mother call it a thousand times, he remembered her voice.

"Holy crap, he's real," Aria broke the silence with a soft whisper, "What do we do now?"

Miles backed away from the small group that was crowded around the computer, hand lifting to grab the fabric that covered his chest. If his heart was beating, it would have been racing. That's me.. That's me. I'm real. It was a bizarre thing to think, but, now that there was evidence to go off of, it made it more real for him. 

"We need to write down these numbers from the friends and family, and try reaching them," Noah said, pulling a notepad and a pencil from his back pocket to start scribble down information.

"Reaching out to the parents would be the first priority, right?" Scarlett questioned, glancing at Ryder, "If you tell them that—"

"—I can't tell them," Ryder immediately interrupted, giving a shake of his head, "Only you three can know, no one else. Plus, I don't think reaching out to the parents would be the smartest thing, we can get in huge trouble for doing something like this."

His parents, he had a fuzzy image of what they looked like. It wasn't clear, but, it was decent enough to give him an idea.

"The first one that I think we should reach out to, is his English teacher," Aria hummed out, pressing her finger to the computer screen to point something out, "It says here, that he went on every search party that was sent out."

"Mr. Whitlock, I hope you can give us some answers."