Waking up to the smell of breakfast sizzling on the stove was a shock. It reminded me quite painfully of my mother getting up early to make pancakes on the weekend. She always added extra chocolate chips to the batter just for me. For a brief moment, I felt alive again. That I could run downstairs and my parents would be there waiting for me. Reality was quick to consume me and smother any reminiscence of my previous life as Faith made a startled exclamation. I couldn't make out what she'd said, but she seemed startled. Frightened even.
Outside an engine roared to life as tires scraped against the gravel driveway. A cloud of dust was carried on the wind in its wake. Moving to the window, I tried to catch a glimpse of the truck. It certainly wasn't Faith's. Hers was still at Uncle Pete's, she was downstairs, and the front bumper of the car was too low to be a truck. All I could make of the vehicle was a set of tail lights before those vanished as well.
Heart hammering, I traversed the cabin's stairs until I shot out onto the bottom floor. The front door was wide open, a cloud of dirt still clinging to the air outside. Faith stood on the porch clutching a set of tongs in white knuckled hands. Her dark eyes were wide in fear, mouth slightly agape. She'd been startled alright.
"Are you okay?" I asked, approaching with caution, eyes still settled on the driveway. I almost expected the car to reappear but it didn't.
"There was a man. He was watching me," Faith muttered, her hold on the tongs loosening.
"What did he look like?" If she could give me a decent enough description I could identify the person if they were local.
"I'm not sure, it was hard to tell," Faith sighed, shaking her head. "I think he had short hair and a mustache, but that could be anyone."
"DId the mustache curl at the end?" If it did, there was only one person I could think of who had a curly mustache.
"Y-yeah, I think so," Faith nodded, arms dropping to her sides.
"That was Mayor Price. I wonder what he was doing here. He doesn't make house calls." To say it was suspicious was an understatement. Mayor Price often kept to himself. He rarely ventured outside of his house unless it was a holiday. He didn't even bother campaigning door to door anymore. Frankly, he was weird and mysterious, but overall harmless from my understanding. "You must be pretty important if he bothered to show up here."
"I don't think I like that very much," Faith admitted. She continued to stare at the empty driveway, brow furrowed in thought. It wasn't until an earsplitting beep echoed from the kitchen that she snapped out of her daze. "Breakfast!"
Racing back inside, Faith made a straight shot to the kitchen where a cloud of smoke hung in the air. It was thick and white in color, suffocating but smelling of bacon. If I had it my way, I wouldn't have bothered to open the kitchen windows. I'd have wallowed in the scent. Then again, I couldn't die of smoke inhalation. Faith very much could.
She ran around flapping a dishtowel to try and funnel the smoke outside. It took a while until it was bearable for her, and even then, her eyes watered. It was difficult not to laugh at mortal problems, but I bit my tongue for her sake.
"Do you want to go to the Grey Goose?" I asked, trying to seem nonchalant, but in all honesty there was no way she'd be able to save the charred bacon strips on the stove.
"Yeah. Let's do that," Faith breathed, running a hand through her dark hair. She scrounged up her belongings, and together we set out down the road. The walk wasn't too far, maybe a mile or so from the edge of town to the Grey Goose. 'So, the Mayor, what's he like?"
"Mayor Price is kind of weird," I admitted, offering up a shrug. "I'm not too sure how to describe him other than an older man with really bad social queues. From what I can recall, he wasn't as weird when I was younger. He was a lot friendlier back then. He liked to eat out, visit the fire station, hand out stickers, and do lots of community work. My mom took me to the town library once and he was reading to us kids."
"Do you think he just got weird because of your case?" Faith wondered. "I'd be pretty messed up if I were a town Mayor and one of the town kids disappeared."
"Probably. I don't really blame him though. It killed a lot of the tourist business. We used to get twice as many folks during the summer and winter months. Now it's just the usual people who stop by.," I explained. "He also got beat up by the media a lot. When I made it back into town after dying, it was about three weeks later and he was still all over local headlines."
"It took you three weeks to get back into town? Did you not wake up next to your body and find your way back?" Faith frowned, her bottom lip pouting ever so slightly.
"It really shouldn't be as complicated as it is, but when I woke up I was somewhere deep in the woods," I began, a chill settling in. "I didn't realize I was dead for a while. I felt like I'd just passed out and woke back up. I was lost, that much I knew, so I was motivated to find my way home. The problem is, when you're in the woods like that everything looks the same. I spent a couple of days just wandering around without much of a plan. When I realized I wasn't feeling hungry or thirsty, things started to make sense."
'That had to be terrifying," Faith sympathized, her gaze softening. She drew closer to me as we walked, almost like she wanted to hold me but refrained. It'd look pretty weird trying to hug a person no one else could see.
"It was. Once I realized I was dead, I tried to find my body. I never figured out where it was. After about a week of looking, I tried finding Beakersville again." For a moment I recalled how lonely that time had been for me. Talking to yourself in the woods for days on end was traumatizing whether you were dead or not.
"Well, you found your way back, so what happened after that?" Faith asked, tucking her hands in her pockets. We were nearing the main roadway now, and I got the impression she was trying to look as normal as possible.
"It'd been about three weeks since I disappeared when I got back into town. Once back, I realized that most people had already stopped looking for me. I found out my mother killed herself to be with me, and that my dad was dying in the hospital from health issues. He ended up dying of grief, but you can't put that in a death report can you?" I laughed. The sound caught Faith off guard. She tried her best not to stare at me in shock, but she wasn't good at hiding her inside thoughts on the outside. To her, it must have seemed weird to laugh about such a thing, but after 10 years I'd given up on crying. It didn't change anything no matter how I felt about it. My parents had moved on and I was still in Beakersville.
"About my grandfather, how long did he work your case?" Faith tried to seem nonchalant, but I could tell she was particularly curious. She seemed to forget about walking and paused to face me.
"Six weeks. My dad was in the hospital for a week or so. Once he passed, Ollie kept trying to work before his boss pulled him out of town." Losing Ollie, in my opinion, was more of a crime than my actual murder.
"I guess he bought the cabin thinking he'd be here long enough to solve your case," Faith sighed, shaking her head. "It's a shame, really. I just don't understand why he was never able to see you. Why can I?"
"I wish I knew. If I had to guess, he didn't need to see me. He didn't need that kind of motivation. Ollie wanted to find me so bad that nothing else mattered. He wouldn't have seen me even if he wanted to." In truth, I wasn't sure why Faith could see me, but my gut said it had to do with Ollie.
Faith nodded, falling silent as she resumed her pace. Neither of us spoke another word until the Grey Goose came into view. Though small in size, the diner had a lot of personality. It had all sorts of antiques littering the inside walls, both signs and license plates. There were old vintage bottles lining the windowsills, some of which had flowers planted in them. The outside was relatively unassuming save a few wood carvings of bears and local wildlife. A coat of light blue paint covered the exterior though it was beginning to chip away.
Hesitant, Faith approached the building and eased the door open. As soon as the door cracked, a plethora of smells hit me. There was coffee, bacon, syrup, jam, and more. Breakfast was in full swing. The sound of silverware clattering on plates filled the small space along with the hum of light conversation. With a small smile, Faith stepped inside, intrigued by the interior of the building. Distracted, she walked about for a moment before a soft and familiar voice called out to her.
"Can I help you?" Mimi stood behind the counter, apron in hand as she wiped her hands clean. She was relatively small, curvy, with short graying hair and rosy cheeks. She was the epitome of the town's grandma. Everyone loved her and anyone who didn't was ostracized without question.
"Oh, yeah, I'm looking to get some breakfast," Faith explained, eyes settling on me for a moment. "For two...one. For one."
"Perfect, there's a seat open at the counter top," Mimi smiled, gesturing to an empty stool that butted up against the counter. Nervous, Faith took a seat, grabbing a menu as quickly as she could and burying her face in it.
"Pretend like I'm not even here," I insisted, standing behind her.
"That's easier said than done," Faith grumbled, trying to remain unassuming. It wasn't until someone tapped on the top of her menu that she looked up to see a familiar face. Mayor Price was sitting beside her, a large hat atop his head, a collared shirt hiding the lower half of his face. He was easy to miss if you weren't paying attention. Sitting hunched over, he managed to blend in with the other patrons of Grey Goose.
"Miss, are you okay?" He asked, curled mustache twitching at the ends. Faith visibly paled, her hands trembling as she set the menu aside.
"Yes, sir, I am," Faith assured, gaze settling on me once more.
"Play it cool. Ask him about this morning," I encouraged. "You're a journalist, right? You're used to talking to people. This shouldn't be any different."
Faith gave a small nod, before taking a deep breath and properly facing the mayor. "Why were you at my house this morning?"
Mayor Price huffed, leaning back in his seat to adjust his hat. 'Frankly miss, I don't know what you're talking about."
"You do. You were at my property this morning. I can tell by your mustache," Faith insisted, tone firm. "I'd like to know why you were there."
"If you want my honest answer, I was hoping to see an old friend," Mayor Price sighed, tapping his fingers on the counter top. "Instead, I found someone new who looks just like him. If I had to guess, you're Ollie's granddaughter."
"I am," Faith nodded, seeming weary.
"Did he send you here to finish what he couldn't?" Mayor Price asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. "The Harper case always troubled him. He never got the chance to figure it out."
"I'm not sure what the Harper case is," Faith lied, foot tapping anxiously on the floor.
"My apologies," Mayor Price worried. "I thought you would have known. My advice? Don't get roped into it. It'll never leave you alone once you start. Some cases are meant to die."
"That seems kind of harsh," Faith scoffed, mild offense masking her nervousness.
"Maybe, but Ollie would have lived longer if he hadn't taken it to his grave. Just a word of advice, miss. That's all," he assured, taking a long sip from his mug. Faith bristled, a muscle in her jaw twitching as she regarded the mayor.
"Since we're offering unsolicited advice, next time you want to visit my grandfather's house announce yourself ahead of time." Faith remarked, brown eyes fierce and determined. "It doesn't belong to my grandfather anymore. He may have tolerated unannounced arrivals, but I don't. And I certainly don't enjoy old men watching me from their cars."
"Understood, miss." Mayor Price nodded, biting at the inside of his cheek. He seemed irritated and disinterested now. "Have a good day."
Without another word, he stood and left his plate unfinished. Faith let out a heavy sigh, relaxing in his absence.
"I thought you said he didn't leave his house," Faith hissed, recollecting her menu as she struggled to calm herself.
"He doesn't," I promised, suspicion settling in. "He shouldn't have been here or at your house. He hasn't been out and about in the last year. Something made him pop back out. I want to know what it was."
"We can worry about that later-" Faith began.
"Oh no, you stay here. I'm going to follow him."
"What?" Faith exclaimed, worry creeping into her voice. "You can't do that alone!"
"I'm dead, he's not going to see me," I argued, stepping back towards the door. "Eat your breakfast. I'll be back."
Before she could protest, I abandoned Faith in the Grey Goose. Just down the road, Mayor Price was walking with his boots shuffling along the roadway. He seemed out of sorts. Disturbed. I had never felt strange around him before, but now, something didn't feel right. I couldn't explain what it was, only that it wasn't good.
Setting off down the road, I stuck to his trail no matter where it took me. Normally I respected people's privacy, but this wasn't one of those times. I had an investigation to start back up, and it was starting with Mayor Price.