The Girl’s Spirit

Petite nouvelle très courte que j’ai écrite, j’espère qu’elle vous plaira!

The girl’s spirit

“All I can really think of is : what can have happened ?”

“I know that, madam. We all wonder the same. And in order to find out, you’ve got to say, you’ve got to tell me, and us, all you know.

She took a deep breath and her hands off her face, and faced the policeman with a tearful face, her make-up slipping down her face, slowly reaching her cheeks.

“She’s been a bit weird for some days, but it was barely noticeable.  I thought there was a trouble with her boyfriend or something, so I thought that if she wanted to talk about it she would come to me, but she didn’t. I wasn’t worried. I didn’t think it would end that way.”

She began crying again, but kept her tears.

“If I had known- “

She stopped, her tears stopping her from speaking more. She kept her face in her hands and cried again. The policeman stood wordlessly. He knew she wouldn’t be able to say much more.

“We will talk about it later, okay?” He asked, reaching her face.

She nodded, and continued crying.

There were many policemen about in the front garden. They all seemed to be wandering, knowing exactly what they had to do.  Then a loud noise went cutting the calm evening. Some flashes of blue and red lights were reflected by the windows of the houses nearby. Then the police car could be seen. It stopped at the very front of the house, which was deserted, as though it bad been laid free for it. A fat man in police uniform went out, looking very severe. He stepped out of the car, stood there and took a deep breath. He eyed the house through his spectacles, and began stepping toward the house.

“Can anyone tell me what happened over here?” He asked out loud without staring at anyone in particular.
another police officer went hurrying by him.

“Yes sir. The person was a girl. A teenager of fifteen years. She apparently jumped from her room, on the second floor. Nobody saw it, but everyone came when she fell on the ground. The mother was busy cooking, and the father was watching TV. The younger brother was in his room.”

“Did you begin the investigation? Do we know why she jumped?” He asked, almost angryly. He looked very serious.

“Yes. The only reason that we found is that she had troubles with her boyfriend. But we don’t know any more.”

“Is that all you can tell me?”

“For now, yes.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Continue investigating!” He barked.

“Yes sir,” said the policeman, running toward the house.

The chief policeman walked slowly toward the house, too, and stopped before the body. He examined it intently and, taking a very deep breath, resumed his way inside the house.

“Where is her bedroom?” He asked around.

“Second floor, sir. There’s only one room,” a policeman told him.

The chief policeman climbed up the stairs and stopped at the top of the second floor. He stepped slowly toward the bedroom’s door. There he saw two policemen, one looking around and the other one taking notes. The chief policeman looked around. It was a teenager’s bedroom like you can’t find more ordinary. Posters, pictures everywhere, a computer … The widow was still wide open. The chief policeman got closer and looked outside, first in front of him, and then down on the ground where the girl was, a puddle of blood around her head. The man turned around and looked at every little item he could lay his eyes upon. He began searching, moved books, papers, cloths, and so on. He was up to give up hope of finding anything interesting when he moved the pillow on the bed. There he found a USB key.  A faint smile was noticeable on his face.

“Has anyone checked the computer?” He asked

‘Not yet, sir. We’ve been here for less than half an hour.”

The chief policeman walked to the computer and turned it on. There was a picture of a man. Possibly his boyfriend, thought the chief policeman. He plugged USB key to the computer and opened it. there were picture of boys and girls, some texts about school that were named things such as “biology homework” or “English synthesis”. And at the very end of the short list there was a text named “private”. The chief policeman opened it at once. It was a short document. It was not more than two pages. The policeman began reading it :

«I don’t know what’s happening to me. The thing hunts all my nights, and even my days. I have nightmares about it whenever I close my eyes.  It sometimes sends me pictures. Awful pictures.  And then sometimes I hear things. Voices. I hear my name. And then there are hisses. The lights dim all of a sudden, and then objects move on their own. But that doesn’t stop there. Last night I could swore that I saw a kind of face on the screen. She wants me to get crazy. But then why? If I could only talk to it, even if it would be awful; I just want to know what’s happening, and why me.”

The chief policeman stopped reading. He knew what was happening. He took a last look at the screen. There was a date just at the top of the page. It was the only date in the text. It was five days before.

That settles it, he thought. She hasn’t spared them either. The history repeats itself again.  She still wants everyone dead. Fortunately, the younger brother is still thirteen, but they’ll have to leave in no more than two years.