Sherlock in Training

There have been rumors of the insane girl next door. Everyone has been talking about the time she called the police saying there were ghosts in her house last week. She claimed that the ghosts from the stories that were told when she went camping with her friends were real. Her name was Jesse. When I first moved in, she seemed fine. She'd sometimes be talking to herself, or possibly the "ghosts", she keeps saying. The more my neighbors kept talking about her, my curiosity increased. I watched her movements as I wrote down my observations in my notebook.

"Oliver, I know you like being a 'detective', but you look like a stalker." my sister, Emily scolded. "You don't want to be considered weirder than Jesse, do you?"

"But I have to solve this mystery. If I don't find out why she's like this, then who will?" I whined.

"Then try not making it so obvious. I don't wanna be called the weird stalker's sister." she crossed her arms in annoyance.

I continued my observations as Emily plopped down on the sofa and took out her phone. The window was foggy due to the warm temperatures lately. It was in the middle of autumn, yet it felt like it was still summertime. I looked down at my notebook. There wasn't much to write down. Jesse went outside to water her plants like she does every day. The only thing that was different was that she placed a bunch of chains around her house and her flower garden. Halloween was coming up in a few weeks, so it wasn't that strange. I decided to go outside to get a better look. But I needed an excuse if she found me. I picked up a packet of marigold seeds my sister wanted to plant in the backyard. I'm sure she won't mind, right?

Thankfully, with all these oak trees scattered everywhere, I should be able to make my observations without being caught easily. I walked over to a decent sized tree and jotted down what I saw. I didn't notice my high school classmate, Jacob, approach me.

"Heh. I didn't know you did stalking in your free time. Especially her." he smirked.

"AHHH!" I jumped back in surprise. "Don't scare me like that! And no, I'm not stalking Jesse. I'm merely observing her.

"Because you like her?"

"No. To find out why she's been acting so strangely."

Jacob glanced over at my notebook. He looked back at me. After learning that it would take forever to get this guy to leave when I met him in the cafeteria, I took out some money in my pocket. I shook my head as he walked away with the 20 dollar bill I used to get him to leave me alone. I'm just hoping he doesn't say anything at school about me. After getting enough research, I went to bed early so I can continue in the morning.

I slept for a few hours, but my annoying curiosity swarmed my mind with questions. It was 1:30 in the morning. I looked through my notes in my notebook. Perhaps I can make more observations by sneaking into her house. No, what am I saying? I could get arrested for that sort of thing. But based on her recent behavior, she might not call the police. That is IF I'm seen. I tossed my blanket to the side, facepalming when I realized I slept in my detective work clothes. I didn't even bother removing my shoes! Oof.

I made myself a cup of coffee and packed the night vision goggles my friend Lily stole from the science lab when we did our experiment last month. When I told her what I've been planning, she didn't hesitate to take part in solving this mystery. I carefully opened the front door, with Lily waiting patiently with a smile on her face. How long had she been standing there?

"Took you long enough. But better late than never!" Lily grinned.

"How did you know I was gonna leave for my research?" I asked.

"I didn't. I just didn't feel like sleeping."

"I don't think that's healthy."

"And I don't think stalking is healthy either."

I sighed as she smiled brightly at me. I slowly closed the door behind me. Lily held on to my arm as I used the night vision goggles to see in the pitch-black abyss. I lightly blushed at the sudden touch. We approached Jesse's house and we took turns with the goggles to find the best way to sneak in. The house looked a lot scarier at night. Lily decided that we should enter through the window if there were any open. I didn't think it was likely for that to happen. You only really see that in movies. But as we looked around the house, I found out that I was wrong. I guess Jesse isn't too worried about any burglars entering her house. I gave Lily a boost, and then she pulled me up. We didn't need the night vision goggles anymore with all these lit candles everywhere. As I walked across the room, I noticed there was salt all over the floor. Well, at least she won't have any problems with ants.

There was a sudden gust of wind that blew out all of the candles. I heard the window close behind me. Lily ran to the window and tried opening it. It was locked. It's too early to assume Jesse's house is haunted. We walked silently over to the next room, which was filled with mirrors. And I don't think it's because she likes looking at herself a lot. I looked at the furniture carefully while Lily gazed at one of the mirrors.

"U-Um, Oliver? I don't think Jesse has gone insane. Look!" she whispered.

I turned around and saw a ghostly figure in the doorway. But it wasn't just any ghost. It was Jesse. She had lost her normal caramel skin tone and was a pale white. Her hair was messy and filled with tangles.

"Have you come to finally get rid of these ghosts for me?" she asked, shaking in fear.

As she said this, we saw more ghosts appear behind her. They all had sad expressions on their faces. I could see one of them crying in the back.

"They won't leave me alone! Did you think I was crazy or something?" Jesse whimpered.

"How many times do we have to tell you, Jesse? We're your family. Why do you keep denying it?" One ghost sighed.

"Lies, I tell you! My family is on vacation in Mexico!" she yelled.

I watched as the scene unfolded in front of me. I looked over at Lily.

"Should we tell her?" I whispered to Lily.

"I think so."

If I told her she was a ghost, how would she react? And how does Jesse not realize she's dead? I hesitantly walked up to Jesse.

"Uh, Jesse? I don't know if you've noticed, but, you're a ghost." I exclaimed.

"What...? I don't remember dying.--- Wait. It's coming back to me."

It took a moment for Jesse to remember what happened to her. Perhaps the way she died caused her to forget.

"Oh yeah! Some idiot crashed into me with their car. I was walking across the street for my therapy with Mr. Adams after finding out my family....died in a plane crash..."

Jesse turned around with tears in her eyes. She ran up and hugged each of her family members. I guess getting up early really was worth it, after finally uncovering this mystery.

"I think we should be heading back now." I suggested to Lily.

"Yeah. You know, we gotta do this more often. This is so much fun!" Lily smiled.

Me and Lily walked back to our houses, wondering what mystery we'll uncover next. We really should do this more often. This is WAY better than watching a Sherlock Holmes movie.