My bed seemed softer than usual today, but as much as my body begged for even the smallest bit of sleep, my mind was set on other things.
I twirled a pen in my fingers, staring up at the white ceiling. Questions were swarming my mind, clouding everything around. The possibilities of who Sinu was talking about is wide, it could be anyone with the same characteristics as this girl.
Camila was sitting on a chair in the corner of my room, her knees were to her chest, she rested her forehead on them. I didn't think she would be here still, she usually disappears after the smallest bit of confrontation.
"I don't know." I said softly, breaking the silence between us. "It would be almost impossible to find her, we don't have a name or a face. We can't just go around town asking for her, she might not even be in the same country as us for all I know." I was rambling on, but trailed off when I realized Camila wasn't taking in any of what I was saying. "Mila?" I set the pen down and pushed myself up against the bed until I was sitting up with my legs crossed.
She didn't move.
"Camila?" I asked again, I uncrossed my legs and put them at the edge of the bed, scooting myself until my feet touched the ground. When I got myself up, I walked over to her, but didn't touch her. I just observed her.
She was solid like a statue, it was kind of freaky. But everything about her is kind of weird, so I wasn't very surprised.
I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me, her eyes were sad and tired, it looked like she aged. She usually looked like this youthful spirit, but right now she looked almost dead again.
"You okay?" Her lip quivered and her eyes welled up with tears. "I do not understand." She whispered.
"I thought after you died, you couldn't feel any pain anymore. Why? Why does it hurt so bad?" I frowned at her statement. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her, she was so cold. Colder than normal.
"I know it hurts," She sobbed. We sat there for a few minutes while she cried into my shirt, though, I never felt it. I didn't understand the laws of a spiritual being, I wasn't even sure why I was okay with this.
My mind couldn't wrap itself around any of this, and I often wondered if I was insane, but if I wasn't, it was better to try than to not.
"I missed you." She said, muffled in my clothing. "I missed you so much." I squeezed her. "I missed you, too, Camila." I pulled back when she stopped shaking.
"I think... I think I know who my mom was talking about."
-
"Are you sure?" I asked, looking up at the trailer in the middle of no where. "I don't know." I looked over at her, but she just smiled. I smiled back.
I walked up to the trailer, kicking the dirt with my feet causing dust to fly up. I lifted my arm up, hesitantly, I knocked on the metal door.
I waited for a few moment, I heard movement from inside the trailer. Then I saw someone pull back a curtain from a window on the side. When I looked over, they quickly closed it. I looked back at Camila, trying to find some type of reassurance that this was right, but she wasn't there.
I felt my heart beat pick up, okay, I was alone in the middle of no where. Don't freak out, don't freak out...
The door opened, a girl in pajama's and a tank top stared at me. She didn't fit my description. She had long black hair, she didn't seem very short. But I guess I wouldn't know what her voice sounds like until I hear it.
She squinted her green eyes at me, "Do you need something?" Her voice was super raspy, but nothing that seemed 'not from here'. "Uh, I need to ask a few questions." She sighed and nodded for me to come in. I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and took a deep breath.
I stepped up into the trailer, trailing behind the girl. I immediately got hit with an overwhelming smell, weed. I scrunched up my nose, trying to get used to the sudden suffocating air.
"What do you want?" She asked. She sat down and grabbed a blue bong. I followed her and sat down next to her on the couch across from a table and booth like seats. She didn't look any older than me or Camila, I wondered what she was doing here. But I guess, she wasn't who I was looking for. I also wondered why she would let a complete stranger into her house.
"Uh, do you live with anyone?" I looked around, it was dirty. There was clothes scattered everywhere and a few dishes here and there. I wondered how she lived like this.
"Nope, not since Ally left." She lit up the bong.
"Ally?" I waited until she was done taking a hit. She nodded and scrunched up her face, she let out some smoke and coughed. "Fuck, this is so nasty." She looked up at me, a smile curved her lips. "You smoke?" I shook my head. She put her lighter and bong down on the table in front of her. "Good thing, it's expensive." She leaned back on the couch.
"Yeah, so, who's Ally?" I really hoped she could tell me something, but knowing stoners, they are really bad at paying attention.
She stared off for a few seconds. "Who?" She looked up at me, her eyes were pink where the white was supposed to be.
"Ally?" Her mouth formed an 'o' when she realized. She nodded, a crooked smile formed. "Yeah, Ally was the owner of this trailer before she skipped town," She must be who I need to talk to.
"Do you know where she is?" The girl shook her head. She then stopped and inspected me. "You look familiar, what's your name?"
"Y/n." She shrugged. "Eh, never mind, you don't seem as familiar as I thought. I'm Lauren."
"So, what can you tell me about this situation." She suddenly stood up and walked over to the fridge only a few feet away. She opened it, poked her head in, then grabbed something out of it. It was an energy drink.
"I don't know why you want to know, if you're a cop..." She froze, her eyes widened. "Fuck, you can't take me in, okay? That's not why you're here." I shook my head. "I'm not here for you, and I'm not a cop." She visibly relaxed. "Anyway, it's not really my business to tell."
I hummed, I reached back into my pocket and pulled out some wrinkled bills. It was twenty dollars, but that was better than nothing. I handed it to her. She looked at it suspiciously but quickly snatched it away before shoving it into her pocket.
"Look," She drank out of her bottle. "I'm really high so don't take everything as factual, but, Ally told me she was scared that something was going to happen to her." My eyebrows knitted together. "Why?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. She wouldn't tell me anything, but I do know the night before she started acting super weird, she was hanging out with her other friend, Normani." I was relieved she was telling me this.
"Where is Normani?" I could only assume she was talking about the Normani I know, but there are others with the same name. I never really talked to Normani, especially ever since the whole thing with Camila began happening. The last time I saw her was at her birthday, maybe she had some idea, she was the one who suggested that Camila was a ghost after all, perhaps she could help. I didn't know where she lived or where she was, though. We just had some mutual friends, and it was weird that she knows Ally but I've never seen her with Ally.
Lauren paused in thought. "I'll tell you if you tell me why you want to know." I bit my tongue. I didn't have an excuse. "If I tell you, would you tell anyone?" She laughed and looked around, with her arms out. "Who is there to tell?"
Good point.
"I'm trying to find out a case that was closed by the police awhile ago."
Her eyes suddenly got big, her mouth dropped. Out of no where, she dropped her drink causing it to go everywhere and sprinted for the door. She hurriedly opened it and stumbled out, when she regained her balance she was running, even though she had no shoes on.
"Fuck," I said under my breath.
I followed her outside of the trailer and began briskly running towards her. When I caught up to her, she looked behind her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. She put her arms up to block her face when she landed on the dirt and rocks. When I got to her, I forcefully pushed her over on her back and sat on her.
"Get the fuck off me!" She screamed. She began clawing at me, so I grabbed her wrists and pinned them down into the ground.
"What are you hiding?" I asked. "I'm not telling you anything." She hissed back. I gripped her wrists harder causing her to wince. "Stop, you're hurting me."
"Tell me what's going on." She shook her head.
"I told you too much, fuck, I'm gonna get killed, you don't get it-" She paused when her eyes focused on something behind me. She blinked. "Fuck, fuck fuck." She began squirming more, when I lost grip on her and balled up her fist and threw it at me, punching me in the face, causing me to fall back. She began running again.
I groaned in pain as my face throbbed. I looked up at what Lauren was looking at, and there she was,
Ally.