Dead Flowers - Chapter Eleven

Robert's missing. At first Leena think he's just stepped out (though this would be an oddity in itself) until night falls and he still hasn't returned. With no note or any clue as to where the ghost has gone, Leena sets out to search the town only to run into Luke who seems to remember a little more than he let on.

There seemed to be a chill in the air when I awoke the next morning. The usual warmth Robert gave me was gone but that was a usually, especially when he wanted a head start on his garden.

I decided, because it was so cold, that I’d take a long morning bath. An hour seemed to drift by as I hummed and splashed in the tiny tub but it was only until my stomach growled that I decided to get out.

Changed and ready for the day, I headed to the kitchen.

Through the house seemed eerily quiet, I only suspected it was from Robert’s absence and I was sure once he returned from plucking weeds, I’d be smothered with the warmth that seemed to abandon me last night.

So I baked pancakes, mixing the batter with a skill I hoped would one day mimic my grandmother’s and ate silently by myself.

But when I stepped back into the sunroom, the old little breakfast nook I had brightened with a near blinding yellow, I couldn’t see that fiery spectre tending to his prize possessions.

In fact, Robert was nowhere in the backyard. He wasn’t at the pool and he wasn’t at his parent’s memorials below the dining room window.

That chill seemed to seep into my bones.

“Robert?” I called, wondering out of the yellow room with an odd feeling, “Rob? Where are you?”

I didn’t receive the little chuckle I suspect I would get. All I was given was the vast silence as my feet hurried across the no longer creaking floor.

“Rob?” My voice drifted up the stairs, “Are you up here?”

Upstairs, finished except for the old nursery, guest room and said Ghost’s old bedroom, I hurried towards the beautiful grand piano I had ordered for Robert.

He told me his father taught him to play and I had hoped he would’ve been sitting there just waiting to press his translucent fingers against the white keys.

He wasn’t.

So I knocked on his bedroom door, nervously waiting in front. Maybe he was mad at me, maybe I did something last night...

I scoffed to myself.

That couldn’t be the reason. Robert had been MORE than attentive to me last night, I mean, we made out until at least 1 in the morning...

When there wasn’t a reply I gently voiced his name, “Robert? Are you there?”

Nothing.

I pushed the door open and wandered in.

His room had never changed. I didn't dare tread inside without permission because as dark as this place was, it was his sanctuary and it was the last place that hadn't been tampered with.

He hid himself here when I brought up personal subjects that he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to me about. He’d sit in this dark room for hours debating with himself and usually, in the end, Robert would end up consoling in me.

I wandered towards the bathroom and peeked inside. He wasn’t there. I looked out his window wondering if he had just been at the side of the house, but I couldn’t see him.

My build collapsed upon the edge of his bed.

Where was Robert? He would have never left the house during daylight. He had enough trouble going out in the front unless it was for some desperate reason.

I dropped my head into my hand.

He didn’t leave, did he?

Where would he have gone even if he did?

Why would have had gone? This was his house, the last bits of memories he held dear revolved around this place. He wouldn't leave it, would he?

Quickly I shook my head, I trusted Robert.

He probably just went out. There were plenty of trails and forest paths in Riverview that he could wander if need be. No one took them. The thin bike trail to the ruins was barely touched and I had even heard a few townsfolk muttering about dropping the stupid road from the town’s taxes.

For the rest of the day, I quietly kept to myself. I painted in the bright living room that Robert said was far too feminine for him.

Apparently even ghost’s cared about how manly their appearance was.

And then I practiced piano in hopes one day I could one day show Robert how much I had improved from just hitting random notes. It was the least I could do after he spent all day showing me how to read music and which keys made what sound.

When dusk came I wandered towards his garden, frowning when I realized the plants were dry and those pesky weeds had grown in again.

Robert would’ve never left his garden to wilt...

I felt another chill pass over my build. Maybe he really was gone.

Finally, when night fell and there were no signs of the glowing phantom coming up our walkway, I took it upon myself to go look for him.

The first place I checked was the tiny garden we had confessed our attraction to each other.

The stone bench was empty.

The park was empty.

So I moved onto the central areas of town. It was stupid to think he’d be there. I mean, they were the most populated area and if Robert was to be seen ANYWHERE, it’d be here.

Unfortunately and fortunately, he was nowhere to be found. Plenty of townsfolk but no Robert.

So I wandered all of Riverview until the wee hours of the morning.

He wasn’t at the old town ruins.

He wasn’t near Top Hat.

With nothing but dread in my chest, I wandered into the last place I could fathom Robert would linger in.

The Old Town Cemetery. It was the only suitable place. 

No matter what I felt for him, he was still a ghost.

It was an eerie place that held that same chill I had felt inside the house. The moon shone down upon all the quiet graves and I wondered if there were any ghosts here that were stuck in the living world like him.

None seemed to appear.

“Rob?” I called but it fell into an anxious whisper, so quiet I wasn’t even sure I had said anything at all, “Robert? Are you here?”

“Leena?”

My body whipped around.

“What are you doing here?”

That excitement I felt died. Robert wasn’t standing before me.

Luke was.

“Oh... hi, Luke.”

“Oh, hi, Luke? That’s the type of greeting I get?” Luke wasn’t impressed.

I sighed, “Well, maybe I could give you a little more if you hadn’t been avoiding me so much.”

He laughed, “Avoiding you? I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“No? Because walking away every time I wave or call your name and not answering your texts is not avoiding...”

Lucas beamed, “I’m not avoiding  you, Leena.”

“Fine, than what are you avoiding?”

“I think you know.”

And that was when I realized he was talking about Robert. He was avoiding me because he felt Robert was always near.

I kept the straightest face I could, “I don’t think I do. Now what the heck are you doing here? It’s late and you don’t seem like the type to be a graverobber.”

“I should ask you the same thing.”

“I... can’t sleep. It’s... lonely in that big house so I thought maybe a long walk would be nice. I ended up here... Now you.”

Luke didn’t looked convinced but he humoured me anyway, “Dan wanted to pull a stupid prank on Cassandra. They should be here in a bit. I’m supposed to set up the place.”

“Ah.”

A silence crept over and Luke, Luke didn’t seem like he was willing to let it settle.

“So where’s that friend of yours?”

“Friend? What are you talking about?”

He smirked, “You know, that red ghost that interrupted us.”

“Luke?” and I tried my best to look concern and hide the nerves I felt, “Are you feeling alright? There’s no -”

“Oh cut the crap, Leena. I’m not stupid. I might’ve been drunk but I know what I saw.”

I wished Robert was here.  I wished he could’ve crept up behind Luke and scared the kid away again.

I continued to ramble that Luke was on some form of drug, that he must’ve been hallucinating but he wouldn’t accept it.

“Luke, there’s no ghost,” I cried, releasing a frustrated sigh.

“Than why exactly are you in a graveyard?”

“I told you!” My body shivered under the night air.

“Prove it than. Take me back to your house. Show me there’s no ghost,” he wasn’t pleased.

And I, I wasn't sure what to do. With the hopes I held, Robert would be home and I knew how much he disliked Lucas. He wouldn't take the kid’s presence well, that was, if he was there again.

With a gentle nod from my head, I agreed against all my insides screaming, “NO!”

Luke was pleased and he followed beside my sullen form. I wanted Robert to be home but yet, at this very moment, I begged he wouldn't be.

To be continued...