Ghosts Of The Past

"So according to what Miss Juliana told me this must be the old man's house," Jeff spoke.

Marcus, Jeff, Michelle and Luis stood in front of what was assumed to be William's House. It was a bungalow, which symbolised simplicity and comfort. It's brick walls were painted white, preferably to prevent the summer heat from making its way into the house. There was a small garden outside, with fleshy plants grown in it. The path leading to the house was made of outdoor tiles, with a line of beautiful flowers on either side of the path. Just outside the house was the rickety Volkswagen Beetle, well beyond its years. The house had Wisteria plants hanging from its walls, similar to those at Luis' ranch. The kids hesitated at first, then began proceeding slowly towards the house. Visiting their Principal's house was surely not among their bucket list.

They reached the front porch, no sound other than the chirping of birds around them. Jeff rapped at the door and they silently waited like sinners who were preparing to meet their doom in hell.

William was astonished to find four of his students standing just outside his door, gaping at him as if he was a stranger. He looked at them, his eyes rolling on seeing the school's two reigning troublemakers, Marcus and Jefferson, among the squad. He glared at Michelle and Luis.

"Young girl and Spanish boy, puberty's making you roll with the wrong group I see," he commented, clearly pissed that someone—students—had decided to ruin his peaceful day.

"I assure you, there's nothing more wrong than seeing you in shorts sir," Jeff teased him, shocked by William's poor dress code. He was wearing a pair of shorts with his work shirt; the top buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, revealing a forest of grey hair on his chest. His legs were no less, as the hair clung on to his bony calves like feathers on a chicken.

"I can make your life miserable in school young man, you do know that, right?" William threatened, sending chills to Jeff's spine.

"Sorry sir," Jeff apologised, but he couldn't let William win that one.

"You didn't have to be grumpy and salty," he added, and immediately noticed the effect it had on William after he squinted his eyes at him.

"That's a whole month of detention for you, and cleaning the changing rooms after gym classes," he ordered and closed the door immediately, not even giving Jeff the chance to react. Jeff noticed the glares from his peers and shrugged at them. After all, the man was indeed grumpy and salty.

"There goes our chance of having a decent conversation with him," Michelle sighed. However, Marcus was never one to give up so easily.

"We know about you and Macarena!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to get William's attention. Nothing happened for a while, and Marcus decided to add on to his statement.

"We know that she was the daughter of the Expiravit of Middlewood," he spoke. The speed at which William opened that door was comparable to the time a calculator takes to calculate a sum. He looked outside and scanned the surroundings, the four teens left out of his vision. Once he was satisfied, he dragged the four inside and locked the door after him.

"So who sent you? How did you know about all that?" He asked, his tone dangerous. The teens scrambled back and huddled themselves into a corner, suddenly regretting why they came.

"¡Nadie señor!" Luis hurriedly spoke.

"Luis, your Spanish is not helping," Jeff whispered to his boyfriend, his hands shaking.

"Sorry, the Spanish in me tends to come out whenever I feel nervous," he explained.

"No one sent us Mr. William. We came by ourselves," Michelle explained. William calmed down a bit, but the fiery look remained in his hazel eyes.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" he questioned them.

"Do you really think I would waste my time looking for where you live as if I don't have anything else to do?" Jeff blurted out, and his hands went to his mouth as soon as he realised his mistake.

"That's another month of detention for you, although your answer is quite logical," William spoke, earning a sour face from Jeff.

"We wanted to ask you what you knew about the Dragon Pearl necklace," Marcus said as William went to seat on a chair at his dining table. The living room was reasonably small, with only enough furniture to comfortably support a single man with no family.

"What do you mean the Dragon Pearl necklace?" William asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

"We think that it may have had something to do with Sheila's death," Michelle answered, the four moving around the table.

"What!" William exclaimed, finding himself immediately on his feet. Jeff stepped forward.

"We suspect that she was killed by someone who was trying to find the necklace. We know the connection it has to our school, or rather, the Castle of Gaffernon," he told him. William looked away, the shock in his eyes evident as he tried to process all that he was being told.

"Who told you all of this?" he asked them.

"Do you live in a cocoon? That information is literally in the museum and library. I can't believe you'd never tell us that we are schooling in an ancient castle!" Jeff responded.

"I meant who had told you about my connection with Macarena?" he demanded.

"My grandmother. Who apparently knew you and for some reason doesn't want to tell us what had happened," Luis answered him.

"She was right not to tell you. This is no story for little kids," he remarked. The four stared at him in utter shock.

"First of all, we are not little kids, and secondly, that story you refuse to tell us may be the key to finding who really killed Sheila," Marcus could feel his anger rising.

"So you come here to my house demanding an explanation to a topic which you have no knowledge of and you expect me to open up thinking it will solve your friend's murder? Who do you think you are? Sherlock Holmes? The Famous Five?" William went off on them.

"Please sir, we are not asking you to tell us your life story. We only want to know whether she or you knew about the whereabouts of that necklace," Michelle was almost in tears.

"And what will you do if you find the necklace?" asked William.

Up until then, the four teens had thought of nothing past finding the necklace. Now that they had been asked, they realised that they had no plan on what to do with the necklace if they found it. They were sure that it had something to do with Sheila's death, but now they weren't sure whether it would lead them to their killer.

"We know that whoever killed her is also searching for the necklace too," Marcus thought quickly. "And if we find the necklace first we are going to use it as leverage to find out the truth."

"You should leave that stuff to the police, it's quite dangerous for you kids," William said.

"You think that killer is the only one searching for it? Rogue police officers are in it too! Why do you think Sheila's investigation was halted all of a sudden?" Michelle spoke.

"So everyone in Middlewood has suddenly gathered enough courage to start looking for that necklace? Let me tell you something kids, if that necklace has remained hidden for a century, there's a good reason as to why it doesn't want to be found. Stop looking for something that is of no good to you. I'm sorry but I can't help you," he told them, facing away as his mind wandered. Michelle couldn't bear it any longer and she started sobbing quietly, holding on to Marcus for support.

"Let's go guys," Marcus said coldly. "It isn't a surprise that William doesn't give a shit about his students even out of school."

The four slowly started making their way to the door. They were mostly heartbroken; William had just refused to give them information. They were just about to open the door and leave when William spoke.

"You forgot to add another name to the necklace. The Cursed Dragon Pearl Necklace."

The four stopped in their tracks and turned back to look at William. William pointed his head to his seats at the dining table, and the kids hurriedly made their way to them, surrounding him.

"There is a good reason why that necklace has been kept hidden. That is because it's cursed," William spoke.

"Cursed how?" Jeff asked.

"I don't exactly know, but bad things tend to usually happen to anyone who touches it," William answered.

"Bad things? What bad things?" Marcus inquired. William sighed and faced him.

"That story that you all hear about the Expiravit of Middlewood has not always been true. I should know; I was the one who invented it."

"What?! You mean that whole story has been a lie!" Luis exclaimed.

"Yes, it has been. But I have to say that I was not alone. Luis, your grandmother helped me," William said.

"You mean you and my grandmother cooked up some silly story to mislead the whole town, but why?" Luis asked.

"To protect you all from the sad truth."

"Which sad truth?" Marcus asked. William adjusted his seat.

"There was no such thing that the necklace was originally from Alba. It was found by accident by one of the chief's maids lying on a riverbank where she had gone to wash her clothes. It was also by chance that she had been having an affair with the king at that time. She took it in, and in her joy shared her little secret with the King, but she made a terrible mistake because the queen was listening to them at that point, and she heard them as they planned to run away to wherever they wanted. That night she stole the necklace from the maid's chambers and hid it in hers, but the maid instantly suspected her and on the following night, she sneaked into the king's chambers to steal it back. However, she faltered and dropped a flower vase that was on the dressing table, waking the king and the queen to the sight of her trying to take back her necklace. Things escalated quickly and they began to fight, and the king tried to stop them, but he was a little bit too late as the maid brought out a kitchen knife and stabbed the queen. It was then that they realised that there was no turning back and they ran away to your grandmother's boarding house; safe and secluded."

"So what happened to the necklace?" Michelle asked.

"They went with it of course, and they lived a happy life up until the birth of their daughter, Macarena, or as she was known, Arabella," William replied. His face recognising the surprised faces of the four teens in front of him.

"Wait, you mean the school we have been studying in was named after the maid's daughter?!" Jeff exclaimed.

"Yes," William answered. "I was the one who named it. Marcus' father here had given me that privilege, saying that he was bad at names."

"So what happened after Macarena, I mean, Arabella was born?" asked Marcus.

"It wasn't long after Arabella's ninth birthday, her parents had gone fishing at the nearby River Boswell. It was soon evening but they hadn't returned, casting worry upon everyone at the boarding house. A search party was soon formed and they looked for them," William paused.

"What happened?" Jeff asked, his tone impatient.

"Their bodies were found on the river, dead," William answered. Everyone let out a deep breath.

"Were they killed?" asked Michelle.

"It was said that their boat capsized, drowning them," William answered. "But that wasn't the interesting part. The maid's body was found with the Dragon Pearl around her."

"So how does that make the necklace cursed?" Marcus couldn't help but ask.

"It was what happened twelve years later that confirmed it," William responded. The four moved their heads forward, hooked in on the story.

"Arabella was pregnant," William began, but paused to let out a big sigh.

"Oh my God! She was pregnant with your child," Michelle interjected. William lifted his head and slowly nodded.

"We were in love, and our reckless actions caused her to get pregnant at such a young age. It was by chance that I was away when the time came for her to give birth. But when I came back...."

He hesitated and brought out his handkerchief to wipe away the tears that were threatening to come out. The four kids already knew what he was about to tell them.

"She died while giving birth," he said, his eyes red.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry," Jeff consoled him, suddenly feeling guilty that he constantly teased the poor man.

"What happened to the child?" Luis questioned.

"I honestly don't know. Some said that he died too, others said that he disappeared. I didn't even know who to believe," William replied, still wiping away his tears.

"Did you ever check with the orphanage to see if he or she was dropped there?" Michelle asked.

William shook his head.

"No, I didn't. I was mad at myself for leaving her. I blamed myself for her death, and even failed to look for my own child because of my grieving. I realised my mistake too late, and now I wonder whether my child is going to accept me for leaving him for all these years, that is if he is still alive," he answered.

"Faith sir," Marcus urged him. "You can't always be sure of how he'll react. Look at me. My father came back after a long time, and I'm finally happy that I've got my family whole again. Maybe that's what your child is longing for—for his parents to finally come back so that he can have the family he wished for."

Marcus looked at his friends, and suddenly an idea came to him.

"I know what we can do. We can start with the orphanage where my mother was raised. I know the nuns there. They can help me find who was brought in at that time," he suggested.

Silence reigned in the room, each one in his own thoughts. It took William a massive amount of courage to say the words that came next.

"If you can help me, then I'm in. I want to meet my child. Perhaps that will give me the peace I have been longing for," he agreed.

The four kids smiled at him, proud of his decision. Jeff was even about to clap.

"Wow! I never thought I'd help my school principal," Jeff admitted.

"And never in my wildest dreams was I expecting you lot to redeem me," William confessed, wearing a happy smile; one that had never been in his face for a very long time.

"We can visit the orphanage right now if you want," Marcus said. William hastily agreed and stood up, taking his Beetle keys.

"Ummm...sir. We'd prefer an Uber," Jeff said. He wasn't ready to be seen in town in a car old enough to be termed a fossil.

"Right," William agreed and placed down the keys, fishing out his smartphone and opening the Uber app.

"I'm sorry guys but I can't come with you. Remember, we promised the other guys that I would buy for them their supplies," Michelle excused herself, referring to Calvin and Maxwell.

"Oh, yeah," Marcus remembered and then turned to William. "We could talk with the driver and get him to drop her at the Target just outside Old Bob's New Garage."

William nodded as he picked up his shoes. It did not take long for the driver to arrive. The five then prepared to go outside. Marcus turned to his principal.

"Ready to face your past?"