Chapter: 15 - A Harbinger of Death

Juwan was stunned in surprise by the figure above their head. It was beautiful women poorly decorated. Her skin was milk-white like death itself. Juwan's heart rate fastened. His thoughts were racing to come up with a reason to make sense of the situation as millions of questions popped in head. 'What is it? Is it another ghost haunting this house? Will it attack? Can Mary see it?' Juwan slowly turned his head towards Mary. Fortunately she was barely aware of the change in their surround and had no clue of the sinister presence looming above them.

"Come on, it will be fun. We can do some investigation. I am bored of doing nothing." Mary's words brought Juwan back from his thoughts.

"Ok." Without giving it another thought Juwan accepted and thought of a way to keep Mary out of the women's aspect.

"Mary, could you tell me the address? Let me check whether I know anyone nearby." Juwan said. He understood that the lover the inspector told her about was none other than Roger's dead younger son. Clearly, the inspector had no idea that he had died. If Juwan visits Jenny's house again he would be needed to give a lot of explanations. Unfortunately, he could think of none right then.

"Mm Let me check. I left it in my purse." Mary left the balcony to get the address. When she was a bit far Juwan turned towards the pale figure and a weirds force took over his rights eyes as he disturbingly felt a slithering enlargement. His right eyes had widened and his enlarged pupils gleamed in black and gold. The white=woman was barely visible since it had not yet dawned. Juwan was shaking nervously not knowing what to do next.

The women suddenly looked down at Juwan. Her face was plain as a paper. Her White hair was waving in the early breeze. Her eyes slowly turned crimson and her white dress started staining. Within seconds the women's dress was adorned with black and crimson.

"Hello?" Juwan asked and then regretted ever opening hid mouth.

"Juwan?"

"You know me? Who are you? Well, what are you? Are you a spirit?" Juwan shot her with questions nervously when she uttered his name. The women creepily smiled and slowly the smile tired into scary grin.

"So many questions." The women said when she stopped laughing. "I am a tenant" Juwan turned pale.

"Tenant? What kind of a tenant?"

"A banshee. Harbinger of death. Sometimes mistaken for the weeping women. That kind of a tenant."

"A harbinger of death?" Juwan murmured. During his childhood, Juwan had had his fair share of reading mythologies. As a teenager, he had developed quite a liking for myths and mysteries and had a fair idea of what a banshee is typically known for. "Is anyone going to die here?"

"No." The banshee said

"Then why are you here?"

"As I said. I am a tenant here." She said and once again Juwan's heart skipped a beat. 'Why would Ms Susan let a banshee live near her house? Was she even aware of it?' Juwan thought as goosebumps covered his hands sending a creepy chill through his spine.

'Did Ms Susan know that you lived here.?"

"Yes. She let me stay here in return for a special payment But now that she is dead, I don't think that payment will be necessary" The banshee said and grinned again.

"I can't...Now I am the.." Juwan wanted to say that he was in charge then and he didn't want her to meddle with anyone's lives. But he didn't have the courage.

"What boy? Where you about to say something?" The banshee came close, held Juwan's chin and looked him in the eye.

"No...Nothing." Juwan blurted and pushed her hand from his chin, "Just wondering what kind of payment you had to pay Ms. Susan."

"Wouldn't you like to know. Mr. New-Owner." Saying so the banshee glided off away from the house into the dark woods. Juwan cursed himself and banged his hand on the parapet.

"Wow? What did that do to you?" It was Mar

"Nothing," Juwan said quickly and faced Mary. "Did you get the address?"

"Here, " Mary handed him a piece of paper. " He lives in a town an hour away from Goliath. We can go in my car." Mary continued while Juwan glanced at the address. There was no doubt in it. Mary was indeed talking about Roger's dead son. Juwan knew that their investigation would lead them nowhere and would just bring about a huge headache.

"But first I want to talk to the inspector." Juwan suddenly came up with a plan to avoid his current situation. But he was not certain where his deviation would lead them to. However, without thinking much Mary agreed.

Mr Karthick was the inspector in charge of the northern part of Goliath city. He had been in the post for over ten years. As an ex-serviceman, he has had his fair share of gloom and doom during the war. That's where he met Ms. Susan. When Juwan saw Mr Karthick a sudden breach in his memory occurred.

"I have seen him before. He came to the house the day Ms Susan died. He was the head of the procedures then. I don't personally like his look." Juwan whispered to as Mary they sat on a divan in Karthick's hall. The inspector was making coffee for his guest while Juwan told Mary about his first impression of Karthick.

"I think he quite nice." Mary giggled and then grinned.

"You think what? He looks scary!" Hearing Juwan's remark Mary giggled again. Karthick even in his forties had a well-built body and young-looking enthusiastic temperament. Surprisingly he had no white hair on neither his head not beard.

Meanwhile, far away, in the male residential block situated in the eastern corner of the Goliath State University, Jana was suffering alone in room 306. His stomach churned making growling sounds as he moved uncomfortably in the bed. His throat was sore and his head was hurting as if it was on fire.

With a painful jerk, he woke up drenching wet with sweat. The pain raised from his stomach to his throat. He could feel something solid rising from his stomach. It was feeling weirdly nauseated and was trying to figure out the disturbing urge to vomit.

He rushed to the lavatory and vomited a lot of blood. Burning his sore throat and giving a sensation of relief combined with pain, the thick dark blood filled the water-closet. Fear overtook his endurance as he wondered why he was in such a circumstance. 'Did I eat something bad? I just had a pie at the diner last night. Riya didn't let me drink too. What could it be?' Jana tried to remember if he had eaten anything weird yet nothing came to his mind. As he was thinking hard, a huge figure dressed in white appeared behind him. It was a pale women, a harbinger of death.