10 Haunted (2/2)

”Professor,” I began to protest, but he cut me off.

”I was told that you are in Town X at the moment and free, please Miss Lewis he is staying there himself at the moment and really needs the help.” I was taken aback by the information, but not surprised that he had found out.

”Could you give me his contact details? I will speak to him personally to get more information about the task.” He seemed amicable with the idea and sent over the details.

Sebastian Butler. Associate Professor of Criminal Psychology.

I quickly called the number but it rang through. When I came back to check my cell phone there was a message lighting up the screen.

'Identify yourself, it said.'

'Dr. Singh asked me to contact you.'

The phone chirped again. This time he had sent me an address and the time at which I was supposed to head over. He also mentioned that he would interview me.

Reasonable.

It was indeed an urgent matter because the time he had asked me to go over was in a couple of hours. With nothing much to do anyway, I headed out and searched for the place. Funnily enough, it was the only place in town which was deemed haunted apart from my aunt's. It was a villa located at the outskirts of town, hidden in the forest. It was Victorianesque in style and obviously renovated to accommodate its owner.

It was quite a hike from the main road to the villa, but the path was substantially groomed and looked ridiculously beautiful. Despite the looks I had received when asked for directions, it seemed that the house looked nothing like the dilapidated death trap the man at the pharmacy depicted.

I rang the bell and waited for the door to open. I checked my watch and I was a little ahead of time, but when two minutes passed without anyone opening the door, I was tempted to ring the bell again.

Suddenly, I remembered how Dr. Butler had ignored my call and texted me instead. Realizing that it was a quirk of his, I quickly pulled out my phone and sent him a message saying that I had arrived. Within moments I heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. After the clicking sound, the door opened and revealed a man with very happy features, somewhat unlike I had imagined Mr. Butler to appear. Knowing better than to judge him by his appearance, I politely smiled at him.