Chapter 13 (1/2)
They arrived at Fara's aunt's house at 9 p.m. It was a bungalow that was quite isolated at the town's edge. Buying a cheap land, then build a huge house. That night, for some reason, Gibbs felt like sleeping there.
The story was that the gentlemanly and gracious Gibbs had sent Fara right in front of the gate. Mothers would usually have a good feeling when seeing Gibbs' face, so when Fara's aunt welcomed her from the gate, she felt that she should be compa.s.sionate - and thus Gibbs got his wish of staying the night. Oh yeah, what happened to Fara's sick cousin? They were admitted into the ward. So tonight, there won't be anybody disturbing. Ngehehe…
10 o'clock, after dinner, Fara's aunt said that she had prepared a room for Gibbs. ”It's upstairs, 1st door on your left.”
Before Gibbs was able to thank her in a perfect manner, Fara interrupted, ”Seriously?!”
Fara's uncle smiled. Her aunt gave a sidelong glance.
”What? What's up?” Gibbs asked.
Fara smiled mischievously. ”That room…”
”Fara…!” her aunt let out a warning.
Fara closed her mouth, but the impish smile was still there, and Gibbs was enjoying the smile that rarely appeared on the lips of the girl that he had gone crazy for. Who would've though that he would sleep under the same roof as he tonight?
Just sleeping? Hmm…
Normally, Gibbs found it hard to sleep in a new environment. His body just won't stay still - his eyes can't close. He felt like peeing and his throat became dry. When Gibbs went downstairs to the kitchen, he saw Fara in the living room. She sat with her back facing Gibbs. The TV was switched on, but Fara seemed like she was talking with someone.
Who was she talking to? There's no one beside her.
Hish, this kid!
”Hey,” Gibbs greeted while sitting on her right side. It wasn't close. There's a slight distance between them. That's fine. If it was up to him, he'd just jump at her.
”Oh, hi. Couldn't sleep?” Fara replied.
Gibbs shook his head.
”Huh, that's weird,” Fara commented.
”Nah, it's normal for me to be unable tp sleep in a different place.”
”Oh. I thought… because… never mind.”
”You thought what?”
”Nothing, it's weird if you can't sleep since…”
”Since, what?”
”Since… Jat is here,” Fara explained, while pointing to her left. Empty. There's no one.
”Let me guess. He was the previous owner of the room?” Gibbs guessed.
Fara nodded.
”He… didn't suicide, right?”
”His.h.!.+ My family wouldn't have stayed here if someone did,” replied Fara.
”Who knows.”
Fara shook her head. ”He had leukaemia and didn't want to do the final treatment at the hospital. He wanted to go home, staying there until he died.”
”So what's his unfinished business then?”
”Nothing. It's just that he didn't want to leave this place. There's too many precious memories,” replied Fara.
”That's troublesome. How can he move on then?”
”Sometimes, if during our lifetime we're too attached to a certain place, or a certain person… it's hard for us to leave it,” said Fara.
Gibbs nodded. Suddenly, he voiced out his thought, ”We… talking about him, won't he feel anything?” It's not that I believed her fully, but I need to take a precaution.
Fara shook her head. ”What I understand about them… is that they see what they want to see. Hear what they want to hear. For some, there are unfinished businesses. Those are the type that knows they are dead. But for others, like… I don't know. There are even those in denial,” Fara explained.
”Then, if it's like Jat… you can talk to him, right? It can't be that he don't know who you are? He's not curious why you're in this house?”
”He didn't call me Fara though. He cal me… Syasya.”
”Oh G.o.d. Now, who's this Syasya?”
Fara lightly laughed hearing Gibbs' complaint. Why is it… that every time she laughs like that, I feel like biting her. It's so frustrating.
”Syaya is his little sister. I know because that girl came her once, she left something. So every time Jat chats with me, it's not me that he sees, it's his little sister,” Fara explained.
”That's quite complicated,” Gibbs said. ”So then if there's any paranormal activity like people usually say… it's just the souls that don't limit their boundaries, right? That's why there are items that move by themselves, hearing voices, right? Something like that?”
”Yeah, something like that. It depends on what kind of person they were when they were alive. If it's a short-tempered person, they'd throw things. If it's a happy-go-lucky kind of person, they might just whistle from time to time.”
”Throwing things and whistling, no matter which of the two, they're just as scary. You say that the ghost is happy-go-lucky but when I start hearing things but can't see where it comes from, I'd definitely be frightened,” Gibbs replied.
Fara let out a laugh again. Gibbs stared at her. Her laughter then slowly receded. Gibbs was still staring. Fara tucked her hair behind her ear - a cla.s.sical move of an anxious person.
”So… you're not afraid of ghosts, right? Because you can see them. You've removed the fear of the unknown element,” Gibbs surmised.
”Hm… yeah. I guess you can put it like that.”
”Interesting,” Gibbs exclaimed.
It was Fara's turn to stare at Gibbs. Gibbs pretended to see something from afar, while there was only one thing in his mind - You're really interesting, Fara. And you're pretty too. Beautiful, interesting, attractive… you're da'bomb!