Investigation Starts.

10 PM.

Ben and I lie side by side on the carpet. Apparently, the truck had driven to the wrong address so it’ll arrive tomorrow. We both couldn’t care less; none of us wanted our rooms to be near room 4 anyway. Not now though.

“I think they’re asleep,” Ben whispers to me, nudging me in the chest. I get up on my knees quietly and ask, “How can you be sure?”

As if on cue, dad snores his most horrendous snore and Ben flashes me a grin. I roll my eyes and try not to laugh. We both get on our feet quietly and creep over to the empty hallway and the face the empty space that room 4 was last night. My hair stands on end as I feel my goose bumps creep all over my arm.

Ben and I are standing right in front of the empty wall when suddenly the scariest thing happens.

We. Hear. A. KNOCK.

“Holy-!” Ben almost screams. I jump back and Ben and I stare at each other, blanching. We look at each other and back to the empty wall.

“Hello?” I whisper, half expecting an answer. Another knock can be heard and I can feel all the blood pouring out of me. I look at Ben and whisper, “It can answer.”

Ben looks very pale right now and I’m expecting him to faint any minute now but he doesn’t. Instead, he says: “I’ll be asking you questions, alright? Two knocks for yes, one knock for no. Alright?”

Two knocks.

“Right,” Ben glances at me and clears his throat. He looks back the empty wall and crouches down, facing it. I do the same.

“Were you murdered?” Ben asks. It takes a while until it knocks twice.

“Do you know why you were murdered?”

One knock.

“Do you forgive the person that murdered you?”

One knock.

“Damn, this spirit is angry,” Ben whispers into my ear.

“Are you the murderer’s daughter or wife? One knock for daughter, two knocks for wife.”

No knock comes out for quite a while. Ben and I begin to feel scared.

“Were you a friend of the murderer?”

One knock.

“Did you know him?”

Two knocks.

“How many of you are there?”

Suddenly, there a loads of things banging on the wall. It isn’t a knock anymore by now. The door to room 4 appears gradually and I run back to the living room. Ben stays in front of the wall as the door begins to show.

“Ben! Get back here!” I whisper-shout. The door opens and out comes a hand, reaching out for Ben. Ben doesn’t take it though.

“W-were you ever f-found?” He asks, beginning to stammer.  

“No,” says a grim voice.

“Just help us, please,” wails another voice.

“We will,” Ben looks back at me as he says this. I felt very reluctant but I feared that something was to happen if I protested. So I acquiesced in with a nod.

The voices fade and the hand is pulled back into the door. The door fades gradually and a pool of blood suddenly appears on the floor. Ben backs away and walks back to me, shuddering. I hug him and he hugs me back.

“We’ve got to interview Mr and Mrs Jones tomorrow morning,” he tells me as he pulls away. I nod.

…

Ben knocks on Mr and Mrs Jones’s door the next morning. Yet again, mom and dad went out for breakfast and we’re now definitely sure that they’ll be back late. In my hand I bring a notebook and a pen. I feel like a detective with Ben knocking on their door.

Finally, a woman answers the door. She’s most probably in her 40s, judging by her looks. She smiles at us and says, “You two must be the new neighbours.”

“Yeah, we’re the children of Mr and Mrs Knightley,” Ben says, glancing back at me. “Hi, I’m Ben Knightley, 18, and this is my younger sister, Grace Knightley, 15.”

“Mrs Jones, we’re here to discuss a very important matter with you,” I say seriously. The smile on Mrs Jones’s face drops and I’m worried that she might tell us to go away but, she doesn’t.

“Come in then,” she steps aside and makes way for us to come in. I trial behind Ben.

“Please sit,” she says once we’re inside. I sit next to Ben on a violet couch as Mrs Jones sits opposite us in an arm chair.

“Is Mr Jones here? We might need him too,” Ben asks. Mrs Jones shakes her head and says, “He left for work this morning.” Ben nods at this piece of information.

“What business do you two have here?” Mrs Jones asks, leaning forward with clasped hands. Ben does the same and I get ready with my notebook and pen. Mrs Jones glances at me and looks back at Ben.

“What were the names of the people that used to live in our apartment?” Ben asks. Mrs Jones’s face goes grim and my blood runs cold.

“Their family name was Town. Mr and Mrs Town,” Mrs Jones tells us. I write that down, The Towns.

“Did they seem like a happy family?” Ben asks, squinting his eyes. Mrs Jones frowns and says, “Well, yes. Yes they did.”

“Did anything happen to them?” Ben asks. Mrs Jones leans back into the arm chair and folds her arms. Ben doesn’t move from his current position.

“So you’ve heard,” She says, grimly. “Of the murder.”

Ben looks at me to Mrs Jones and nods, “Yes that would be right,” he says in a small voice. “Look, Mrs Jones. My sister and I have been experiencing some funny stuff since the first day we moved in.”

“In which was only 2 days ago.” Mrs Jones says.

“Exactly.”

“You saw the aftermath of the murder, did you not, Mrs Jones?” I ask this time, squinting my eyes. It takes a while for her to nod slowly and say rather in a whisper, “Yes.”

“Did you know the Towns well, Mrs Jones?” Ben asks. Mrs Jones nod.

“How was Mr Town like?”

“Cheating. He was cheating on his wife,” Mrs Jones says in a whisper. I raise my eyebrows and glance at Ben who somehow doesn’t look surprised at this piece of information.

“He always brought back foreign ladies in the middle of the night. I’d peek through the peep hole in the door,” Mrs Jones goes on. “But one thing for sure is that, I’ve never seen any of them come out after that.”

Ben and I look at each other with raised eyebrows. I write this piece of information down and look at Mrs Jones whose gaze is downcast.

“The Towns held a feast one day. It was Christmas, I believe,” Mrs Jones says, looking as if she’s recalling a vivid memory. “They invited my family over to their apartment. I have to say their apartment smelled… odd. Funny, I’d say.” She pauses for a minute as I write that down.

“We were eating at the table when I noticed that, something was pouring from beneath the wall. I walked over to the wall and saw that it was,” She pauses for a minute. “Blood.”

“Which wall was that, Mrs Jones?” I ask.

“The one between all the rooms in the mini hallway.”

I can feel Ben shuddering as he blanches. His hands are trembling but he goes on. “Did you do anything about it, Mrs Jones?”

“I informed Mrs Town,” Mrs Jones said. “And she told her husband and soon, my family was asked to leave their apartment. I never got to see what happened but, what I do know is that a few months after, Mr Town killed everyone in the apartment. The police never found the bodies so it’s been one heck of a mystery.”

“We know where they are,” Ben says in a whisper. He looks up at Mrs Jones and her face goes white. She looks at me as if looking for assurance so I nod.

“Free them then,” She whispers, taking Ben’s and my hand in hers.

“We can’t do it alone,” I whisper, putting my notebook and pen away with my free hand.

“Who says you’d be doing it alone?” She asks. “We’ll wait for my husband to come back. But first, you both obviously haven’t told your parents.”

Ben and I glance at each other and back to her. She nods understandingly.

“We start tonight. Make sure to tell them by then.”

To be continued in: Lost Bodies.