章節 18: Chapter 16: Unsolved Case: Cathlia (part 2)
"5.7 kilometers and will be there" Louie said as he looked at the map on his phone. "Can you hand me the page about Cathlia?"
"Okay." I said as I grabbed my bag with my other hand in the backseat, eyes on the road. "Here"
Louie scanned the contents of my bag. "So, this is Cathlia?" he asked as he read the page. The cold blue sky and the empty road along with the tall trees make me think of those cliché horror movies where the main character along with his friends goes to a long trip and will be killed.
"We are almost there" Louie said as he glanced at the map. "Hey, it's kind of boring, maybe we can hear some music" I said as I turned the radio on. The radio was static, trying to channel every radio station. Between the statics, Louie and I heard a voice from the radio.
"He-."
"Hel-"
"Tr-"
My brows furrowed. I stopped tuning channels as I found a radio channel that was already playing music. A sudden static was heard again...
"He...Hell-"
"I-I'll—"
A voice was heard between the music. "What the fuck is wrong with this, radio?!"
"Lily! Watch out!"
The tires screech and a loud crash was heard as we hit on a thick large tree trunk. Smoke gushed out of the front car. "Y-You okay?" I asked Louie as he groans. "Y-Yeah"
I grabbed my bags from the backseat and stepped out of the car, Louie did the same thing. What was that voice in the radio.? The headlights of the car is broken, I looked at Louie who is staring at the car, terrified.
"Oh come on, Louie! Don't be scared, the owner won't find us so chill" Louie looked at me and fervently nods as he walked towards me. "So, how many minutes from here?" I asked Louie, and he grabbed the map from his pockets.
"45 minutes from here" He said as he started walking, shoving his phone in his pockets, grabbed his flashlight and turned it on. I took my flashlight out of my bag and turned it on and followed Louie. As we walked, I'm still thinking who was on that radio. About Cathlia. Maybe, it's Cathlia on the radio. It was getting dark and the empty highway almost feel like someone was watching at you behind the tall trees. Louie told me that we are already on KirkView Hillside. Louie looked at the dark forest beside the road, I smirked and looked at Louie and motioned that we should go.
Louie hugged his jacket as we walked through the cold and dark forest. The hissing sound of the trees as its gently blew by the wind. Enormous root trees was on our way as the crisp sound of dead leaves was heard as we walked. I looked at the tall trees around us, it has the eerily feeling but I'm not scared. Just awed since I never went to dark places. I hugged myself tighter on my body as I felt the cold breeze.
"H-Hey, lily" I turned around and looked at Louie. "Maybe, we should sit here and sleep and continue to walk in the morning?"
Judging Louie's face, he is terrified from the unsettling silence of the dark cold forest. I sighed and nodded.
"I'm also kind of tired" I lied. Louie put his bag down and set up his tent. I did the same thing and made a small bonfire between us to heat us up from the cold dark night. We finished setting up our tent and I cooked mulligan stew for dinner.
"Really?"
"Yeah" Louie said, laughing.
"Glad some people didn't notice your fart being spread to the room" I said as I poured the mulligan stew in our camping wooden bowl. "Here"
"Thanks", Louie said as he took the bowl. "Mmmm, delicioso"
I looked at Louie as he ate the mulligan stew that I made, "thanks and... was that Spanish?" Louie nodded. "Okay, I want to tell something funny too"
"I used to pull pranks and I pulled a prank on my mother. I stand up on my bed and put a shoe on a metal bar and stretch it out as if it's my feet and made me appear like I'm floating. I called out my Mom and I try to look as if I'm being possessed. As Mom opened the door, she screamed and I tried my best not to laugh but I failed. She slammed me in the head and telling me what a crazy daughter I am, I just laughed"
Louie laughed and almost choked by the stew, "R-really? That's funny" And our laughter turned into silence. Louie finished eating his stew.
"I want to share some spooky stuff" I said as I put my bowl above his bowl.
Louie's eyes widen. "S-Sorry, lily… I just don't really like to hear some stuff like that—"
I put all my hair in front of my face and impersonate Kayako Saeki from Jo-un: The Grudge and widened my eyes and grabbed the flashlight and put it under my face to give a scary lighting.
"You... should... have... listen...to... your friend's...sto-" I slowly said trying to sound scary and Louie's face was terrified. I was cut off when Louie screamed and shut his eyes.
"Okay! Please don't kill me"
I laughed as I tossed the flashlight inside my tent. Louie looked at me, "You are good at scaring people"
I shrug and grin. "Lily, i-im scared to that kind of stuff especially." He looked around as if someone was listening. "In this dark forest"
I sighed in defeat. "Okay, Louie. You should sleep now, I guess"
Lilith and Louie were sleeping on their own tents. It was eerily quiet when Lilith groaned as she was disturbed by the sound. A sound of someone sobbing. She sits up and took her phone out from the bag, it was around 2:45 in the morning. Lilith grabbed her flashlight and went out of her tent. Louie was sleeping on his tent, Lilith walked and followed the sobbing of a person.
A bit sleepy, Lilith gave herself a slap to wake her up. The whistles of the wind rustling through the trees, the hoots of an owl can be heard. Lilith hovered her flashlight on where she heard someone sobbing as if it was being dragged.
"Please… I'm sorry. Please don't kill me…"
A cry from a young girl can be heard, Lilith hovered her flashlight but no one was there but the cries were near. The wind harshly blew as Lilith heard the cries and screams.
Lilith don't know where was it from, but she followed where was the sound that came from. She walks through the cold and dark forest.
"...I'll find your sister... She is the next victim."
Lilith covered her ears and shut her eyes as she heard the sudden scream that falls into a distance. She opened her eyes and found herself a 5-meter distance to the edge of the cliff. Lilith took the page out from her jeans and looked at it, it was the cliff in the newspaper.
"Who was that person screaming?" Lilith asked in her thought.
She stood up and shoved the page back on her jeans. She walks slowly and glanced below in the edge of the cliff. A black tall figure was behind Lilith and the sudden cold hands grabbed her. "Louie"
"H-Hey, Lilith. I- I was looking for you since I didn't see you in your tent. I-I was terrified that maybe some ghost took you away and I'll go home alone."
Lilith shook her head and glanced back at the edge of the cliff. "I woke up from a sobbing of a person and now, I ended up here."
"I-I think we should go back, L-lily", Louie said, quivering and looked at the surroundings. Lilith nodded and went back to their tents.
Along the way, Lilith saw a damaged structure. She halted her tracks, squinted her eyes and hovered the flashlight on the structure. It's a wooden damaged log cabin, she didn't notice when she went her way to the cliff. Lilith called out Louie to check the log cabin. Louie nodded and went to the log cabin. The logs were rotten, Lilith and Louie went inside. It has little lights but it didn't give enough much light and cobwebs were seen as if no one was taking care of the place, but the furnitures were perfectly placed.
"Hey!"
A voice of an old white bearded brawn man that matches his hair color appeared with a shotgun on his hand. Louie shriek and run towards Lilith. "What are you doing in my log cabin!?"
"Sorry, sir for intruding... we... we're just curious" Lilith explained. The old man's brows furrowed and sighed. He slings his shotgun on the side of the door.
"Sit down!" he said with authority tone of his voice.
Louie and Lilith sits on the wooden chairs as the old white haired man went to the kitchen. "So, how did you find this place?" the old man asked as he poured coffee on three mugs.
"We're just trying to find some answers to an unsolved case"
"Unsolved case of whom?" The old man asked as he offered the mugs to Lilith and Louie and sit across from them. They gladly took it, "It's from two girls. Felicia and Cathlia. Can I ask, mister…?"
"Mr. McKinley"
"Have you ever had a neighbor near this log cabin, Mr. McKinley? I just read a newspaper that someone is living here in KirkView Hillside but I seem to notice your log cabin is the only near here…"
"I don't have neighbors near here since I moved in this log cabin. This place was wacked and no one seems to live in this log cabin and I choose to live here since I am away from my town. "
"Wait.. this is not your log cabin in the first place?"
"Yes"
"Have you read a newspaper about a woman who turned herself into something she likes but she have to sell her soul?" Mr. McKinley laughed at Lilith's question. "Kids these days really believe in something that is not true. Since I moved here, I remember that there are rumors about that but I don't believe in that shit. "
"From the previous owner of this log cabin, are there any books or newspaper that you've read?"
" Some papers and books being burnt in the backyard"
"What do you think of why they burnt the books and papers?"
"I don't have any idea"
"Mr. McKinley, have you seen a photograph of a light blonde young woman around her early thirties since you moved in this log cabin?" Mr. McKinley put his mug on the table between them.
"I'm not quite sure but I saw a photograph of a woman. Wait here" Mr. McKinley said and went to a room and returned with a photograph in his hands. "Here"
Lilith glanced and her eyes widened. A smiling Lucia was on the picture.
"This... this is her!"
Mr. McKinley was confused of Lilith's remarked and asked what she meant of her. Lilith replied that Lucia was the mother of Cathlia.
"This woman lived in this log cabin and... you said that you don't have any neighbors near you, Mr. McKinley"
A log cabin alone in this forest and doesn't have near neighbors. Cathlia being thrown on the cliff she saw earlier and the investigators doesn't much have evidence who is the suspect. The books and papers were burnt... but why?
Lilith looked at Louie, "I... I think Lucia is the one who killed Cathlia", Louie was confused, "Why? We don't have much evidence yet, lily"
Lilith took the ripped page out of her pocket jeans, "Investigators don't have much evidence of who killed Cathlia and the only person who lived near the cliff where Cathlia was thrown is here. Mr. McKinley said there are no neighborhood near this log cabin so possibly—"
"Lucia killed Cathlia?" Louie's eyebrows raised.
"Yes"
"But we don't have much evidence, Lily"
Lilith looked at Mr. McKinley and stood up, "Thank you, Mr. McKinley of your hospitality. I'm sorry to cut this short, but we need to get going. If you don't mind, is it okay if I'll keep this photograph?" as she lifts Lucia's photograph.
Mr. McKinley nodded and led them out of the door, "Your welcome and good luck in finding answers", Lilith and Louie smiled at the old man, Mr. McKinley's, remarked and went out of the log cabin.
The morning sun was about to rise up, it's already 4:50 in the morning. Louie and Lilith walk back to their tents. Louie told Lilith that they don't have much evidence but Lilith ignored his remark. Lilith told Louie that they should go back and find more clues.
-- 收到的禮物 
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票