haunted.” The third is a site full of people who claim to be victims of possession. The rest are listings for popular television shows and movies. Pictures of famous ghosts. The Brown Lady. The Headless Nun. Fun stories to scare your kids.
She moves her cursor across the results, reading each one, her inner voice laughing at her, calling her crazy for even trying this.
On the second page, she finds something. A forum set up to discuss current and past hauntings. She finds something under “American Hauntings—Share Your Stories.”
GorgeousGus wrote: My friend saw a ghost in Washington State. He lives east of Seattle and often drives down this back road to get home. One night, he picked up a hitchhiker (yeah, I know, how freaking original). But he said that this girl, she called herself Molly, rode with him for about five miles. A total throwback from the sixties, massive hippie type. Totally outdated. Everything was fine until she started talking. She told him that his mother was going to die and that he should get her to show him where the will was. Then she disappeared right out of his passenger seat. He laughed the whole thing off, thinking he probably dozed off behind the wheel for a minute—until his mother keeled over of a stroke a month later. I kid you not! And he never found the will. They have no idea what happened to it, and now all the kids are fighting over the money. He should have listened! I’ve known this guy for years. He’s not the type to make up these things. It took him three years before he even told me!
DumbEatingDonuts wrote: That ain’t no ghost. Just those kids getting stoned on the medicinal marijuana.
MixMasterMic wrote: Oh man, I’ve heard this story. I grew up in that area. A young girl was murdered out there back in the late sixties I think. I remember my neighbor saying he picked her up one night. Almost gave him a heart attack. He’s never driven down that road since. Goes miles out of his way just to avoid it. Why hasn’t this been documented? This could be the real thing.
Oh. My. God.
That’s her. That has to be her.
Instant relief flushes over her body. If other people have seen Molly, that means she’s not a figment of Tatum’s imagination. She’s not some sort of weird illusion designed by Tatum’s brain because she’s having a meltdown at school.
Molly is real.
And that means Tatum just saw a ghost.
A surprised yelp escapes her lips. No, this can’t be real. She checks the dates on the forums, and the discussion occurred about two years ago. Tatum knows these things can be faked. It could still be some sort of joke being played on her. But why? She can’t imagine what Claudette would hope to gain by making Tatum believe in ghost stories. They’ve known each other since they were in kindergarten. Claudette knows that she doesn’t scare easily. If there’s a logical reason behind this, Tatum can’t think of it.
She needs to find out more. The Seattle library should have all the newspapers on the computer. But it could take a long time to go through them. Tatum only has a first name. She doesn’t even have a date. The guy on the forum mentioned the murder happening in the late sixties. How many local murders could there be from that time period? Of course, it can’t be that simple.
She wants to start looking tonight, but she can hear her parents coming up the stairs. If she gets going now, Tatum knows she’ll be up all night. Yawning, Tatum decides that all the information will still be there tomorrow. After school, she’ll head over to Bellevue and find a coffee shop to work at.
Turning off her laptop, Tatum can’t help but grin. This is exactly what she needed. A mystery to keep her occupied. Something to make her forget that every other moment in her life is hell.
If what happened tonight is real, and she did see a ghost, this is something good that she can do. Molly’s body must be out there somewhere along Frog Road. ’Cause everyone knows
She moves her cursor across the results, reading each one, her inner voice laughing at her, calling her crazy for even trying this.
On the second page, she finds something. A forum set up to discuss current and past hauntings. She finds something under “American Hauntings—Share Your Stories.”
GorgeousGus wrote: My friend saw a ghost in Washington State. He lives east of Seattle and often drives down this back road to get home. One night, he picked up a hitchhiker (yeah, I know, how freaking original). But he said that this girl, she called herself Molly, rode with him for about five miles. A total throwback from the sixties, massive hippie type. Totally outdated. Everything was fine until she started talking. She told him that his mother was going to die and that he should get her to show him where the will was. Then she disappeared right out of his passenger seat. He laughed the whole thing off, thinking he probably dozed off behind the wheel for a minute—until his mother keeled over of a stroke a month later. I kid you not! And he never found the will. They have no idea what happened to it, and now all the kids are fighting over the money. He should have listened! I’ve known this guy for years. He’s not the type to make up these things. It took him three years before he even told me!
DumbEatingDonuts wrote: That ain’t no ghost. Just those kids getting stoned on the medicinal marijuana.
MixMasterMic wrote: Oh man, I’ve heard this story. I grew up in that area. A young girl was murdered out there back in the late sixties I think. I remember my neighbor saying he picked her up one night. Almost gave him a heart attack. He’s never driven down that road since. Goes miles out of his way just to avoid it. Why hasn’t this been documented? This could be the real thing.
Oh. My. God.
That’s her. That has to be her.
Instant relief flushes over her body. If other people have seen Molly, that means she’s not a figment of Tatum’s imagination. She’s not some sort of weird illusion designed by Tatum’s brain because she’s having a meltdown at school.
Molly is real.
And that means Tatum just saw a ghost.
A surprised yelp escapes her lips. No, this can’t be real. She checks the dates on the forums, and the discussion occurred about two years ago. Tatum knows these things can be faked. It could still be some sort of joke being played on her. But why? She can’t imagine what Claudette would hope to gain by making Tatum believe in ghost stories. They’ve known each other since they were in kindergarten. Claudette knows that she doesn’t scare easily. If there’s a logical reason behind this, Tatum can’t think of it.
She needs to find out more. The Seattle library should have all the newspapers on the computer. But it could take a long time to go through them. Tatum only has a first name. She doesn’t even have a date. The guy on the forum mentioned the murder happening in the late sixties. How many local murders could there be from that time period? Of course, it can’t be that simple.
She wants to start looking tonight, but she can hear her parents coming up the stairs. If she gets going now, Tatum knows she’ll be up all night. Yawning, Tatum decides that all the information will still be there tomorrow. After school, she’ll head over to Bellevue and find a coffee shop to work at.
Turning off her laptop, Tatum can’t help but grin. This is exactly what she needed. A mystery to keep her occupied. Something to make her forget that every other moment in her life is hell.
If what happened tonight is real, and she did see a ghost, this is something good that she can do. Molly’s body must be out there somewhere along Frog Road. ’Cause everyone knows
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