CHAPTER SIX
1222 Words
A PAINLESS BREADTH
Complete darkness swallowed everything.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The entire house seemed frozen in place.
Then the scream came again.
Louder.
Closer.
Farida grabbed Tania's arm immediately.
"What was that?"
Tania's heart hammered violently against her ribs.
"I don't know."
But she did know.
Or at least she thought she knew.
The scream had come from Ellen's room.
And something inside her told her this was connected to the figure beneath the oak tree.
The man watching the house.
The man who seemed interested in only one person.
Ellen.
Another crash of thunder shook the walls.
Farida jumped.
"Tania, say something."
"I think it came from downstairs."
"You think?"
Before either could speak again, another sound echoed through the darkness.
Footsteps.
Running.
Fast.
Someone was moving through the house.
A door slammed somewhere below.
Then silence.
The kind of silence that felt unnatural.
Dangerous.
Farida slowly reached for her phone.
The flashlight flickered to life.
The small beam illuminated their terrified faces.
Neither girl looked brave anymore.
"Tania..."
"What?"
"I suddenly don't think your ghost jokes are funny."
Normally that would have made Tania laugh.
Tonight, it didn't.
The feeling in the house had changed.
Everything felt wrong.
The air felt heavier.
Colder.
As though something unseen had entered the building.
"We need to go downstairs."
Farida stared at her.
"Absolutely not."
"We have to."
"No."
"What if Mom is hurt?"
Farida immediately fell silent.
That possibility changed everything.
Reluctantly, she nodded.
Together they stepped into the hallway.
The beam from Farida's phone barely penetrated the darkness.
Every shadow appeared alive.
Every corner seemed occupied.
The old house groaned around them.
Wind rattled the windows.
Thunder rolled endlessly across the sky.
Slowly they approached the staircase.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
Halfway down, they froze.
A figure stood below.
Motionless.
Watching.
Farida nearly screamed.
Tania's pulse exploded.
Then lightning flashed through the window.
The figure became visible.
Their mother.
Standing at the foot of the stairs.
Shaking.
Breathing heavily.
"Mom!"
The relief lasted only a second.
Because something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Their mother looked terrified.
More terrified than either of them had ever seen.
"Where's Ellen?"
The question left her lips before Tania could ask anything else.
The girls exchanged glances.
Neither answered.
Their mother looked toward the corridor leading to Ellen's room.
Fear filled her eyes.
Then she whispered,
"She's gone."
The words hit like ice water.
"What do you mean gone?"
"She's not in her room."
Farida frowned.
"Maybe she's downstairs."
"I checked."
"Outside?"
"I checked."
The fear in her voice made Tania's stomach twist.
Because Ellen wasn't the type of person who disappeared.
She never left without informing someone.
Never.
Another loud crash echoed through the house.
Everyone jumped.
This time the sound came from the study.
The room where the lawyers had met earlier.
The room containing Augustus's documents.
Without thinking, Tania moved first.
"Wait!"
Her mother grabbed her arm.
But it was too late.
Curiosity had already taken control.
Together they rushed toward the study.
The door stood open.
Papers covered the floor.
Drawers hung open.
Books had been pulled from shelves.
The room looked as though someone had searched it.
Violently.
Desperately.
"What happened here?" Farida whispered.
Nobody answered.
Tania stepped forward carefully.
Her gaze swept across the mess.
Then something caught her attention.
A single folder lying near the desk.
Unlike everything else, it appeared untouched.
Almost deliberately placed.
Waiting.
Tania bent down.
The folder carried one name.
ELLEN BANKY SHAFFA.
Her breath caught.
Their mother immediately noticed.
"No."
"What?"
"Don't open it."
The warning came too late.
Tania had already lifted the cover.
Inside were legal documents.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Newspaper clippings.
And one sealed envelope.
Farida peered over her shoulder.
"What is all this?"
Tania didn't answer.
Her attention remained fixed on one particular document.
A death certificate.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Hotter.
Harder to breathe.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She read the name.
ELLEN BANKY SHAFFA.
Her hands began shaking.
"No."
Farida frowned.
"What?"
"No."
Their mother closed her eyes.
Pain flashed across her face.
The kind of pain carried for years.
Not months.
Years.
"Tania..."
The girl looked up.
Her entire world tilted sideways.
The death certificate remained in her trembling hands.
The words blurred.
Yet one sentence remained painfully clear.
DATE OF DEATH: SIX MONTHS AGO.
"No."
The word escaped again.
Barely audible.
Impossible.
Completely impossible.
Because Ellen had been sitting at breakfast this morning.
She had spoken to her.
Walked beside her.
Looked at her.
Argued with her.
Dead people couldn't do that.
Dead people didn't run companies.
Dead people didn't attend board meetings.
Dead people didn't exist.
And yet...
The certificate remained real.
Official.
Stamped.
Signed.
Farida slowly stepped backward.
"What is this?"
Nobody answered.
"What is this?" she repeated.
Their mother's eyes filled with tears.
Finally.
After months of silence.
After months of secrets.
The truth began breaking apart.
"Ellen died six months ago."
The room fell silent.
The storm outside seemed distant.
Unimportant.
Because nothing could compete with those words.
Tania laughed suddenly.
A short.
Broken laugh.
"No."
"Tania—"
"No."
Her voice rose sharply.
"No."
The certificate slipped from her fingers.
Falling to the floor.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then explain it."
Her mother looked devastated.
Completely destroyed.
"Because I don't understand it either."
The answer stunned everyone.
"What?"
The older woman lowered herself into a chair.
Slowly.
As though carrying the weight of the world.
"The day Ellen disappeared..."
Her voice cracked.
"...we found her car near the river."
Tania's heart stopped.
The river.
Immediately she remembered the journal.
The dreams.
The warnings.
Everything.
"The police searched for days."
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then her mother whispered the words that changed everything.
"They found her body."
Thunder exploded outside.
Farida gasped.
Tania stared.
Unable to process what she was hearing.
Unable to accept it.
Because if Ellen's body had been found...
Then who was living in this house?
Who was attending meetings?
Who was sitting at their table every night?
Who had spoken to her only hours earlier?
The question haunted every corner of the room.
Then another voice answered from the doorway.
Soft.
Calm.
Heartbreakingly familiar.
"I am."
Everyone turned.
Ellen stood there.
Rainwater dripped from her black coat.
Her pale face glowed in the darkness.
And for the first time since this nightmare began...
She wasn't hiding.
She wasn't pretending.
She wasn't running.
She simply stood there.
Looking directly at them.
Looking directly at Tania.
With sadness in her eyes.
And acceptance in her voice.
"I've been trying to tell you."
The lights suddenly flickered back to life.
Every bulb in the house illuminated at once.
The room glowed brightly.
Yet somehow Ellen looked less real than ever.
Almost transparent.
Almost fading.
Their mother burst into tears.
Farida stood frozen.
Tania couldn't move.
Couldn't speak.
Couldn't think.
Because deep down she already knew the truth.
The nickname.
The silence.
The strange disappearances.
The cold air.
The missing shadow.
The warnings.
Every piece finally fit together.
Ghost.
She had called her Ghost as a joke.
Never realizing how close to the truth she really was.
And now the ghost was standing before her.
Not as a monster.
Not as a threat.
But as her sister.
Dead for six months.
And somehow still here.
- Writer
