We Were There

Chapter 50: Mystery

I woke up to the scent of potpourri. I blinked my eyes a few times and saw Mac pouring himself some red tea. It must be potpourri tea. He noticed me awake and laid down the kettle on the bedside table. It was still dark. I didn't know what time it was. 

" Hey."

" Hey." I replied. 

I sat up and winced on the pain that radiated all over my body. There were bruises everywhere on my arms, my legs, and even on my neck. I just remembered what a brawling I'd just been through. The memory of it came back slowly. It was still fresh. Good.

" Careful." he said softly as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I laid back down. 

Instead of the usuals like ' What happened', I went directly straight to the point. " How did you find us?" I asked in a low whisper. My voice was hoarse and clearly, exhausted. 

He eyed me for a moment and let out a sigh. " When I received a call from you, I heard static from the other line. I got worried and drove my way to the place you guys said to be. I tried to open the door but it was locked. Since it was private property, I asked the neighborhood if anybody knew who got the keys. And they led me to an old caretaker located not far from the house."

I continued to stare at him. " So typical of you to go in without knowing if we were really there."

He rolled his eyes at me.

My expression became flat. " But how did you know about the... room?" 

He paused like I just hit jackpot. " The caretaker mentioned that there was a secret room behind a dresser and he told me to check it out. It took me a while to find which dresser he meant but luckily Yhan and Kim insisted it was the Master's bedroom's." 

I stared at the ceiling. Mac's words still hasn't sinked in. Caretaker? How did the caretaker know that I was in the study room? Coincidence, maybe? Another hole to the mystery. It would probably take time for us to know the truth. Then it all flashbacked to me.

" The newspaper clippings!" I gasped. Those were the only leads we had regarding Josephine Walter herself! We needed more answers. There must be a reason why she chose to haunt us. That, or I'm just too stupid to think that way.

" Don't worry. It's with Kim." He turned to the door. " In fact, I think they're probably searching into it now." He said as he faced me.

I smiled. " You know, if you weren't there... I would have-"

" Stop." Mac cut me off. He had this look I had never seen before. He matured so much.

I pursed my lips. " What I'm trying to say is thank you." I continued.

" What are you going to do without me?" he smirked.

I was so tempted to throw a pillow at him but I didn't have enough strength to even carry one.

As I stared back at the ceiling, I thought of the mysterious caretaker.