Gabriela strode slowly towards the school's motorbike parking area, checking one by one the vehicles parked there. Her eyes were sharp, searching for the distinctive feature mentioned by the police: a Kawasaki Ninja motorbike. However, after a few minutes of wandering around, she didn't find what she was looking for.
"Does this mean the perpetrator is not from this school? ' Gabriela muttered to herself, frustration creeping in. She sighed, trying to re-strategise.
Just then, her parietal eye began to throb softly, a sign that Catherine's spirit was nearby. Gabriela looked towards the large tree in the corner of the schoolyard. It was there that Catherine was seen, but her form was getting fainter and fainter, like smoke about to be dispersed by the wind. Catherine's usually curious eyes now looked restless and unfocussed.
'Catherine...' Gabriela walked over, her voice low but firm. "You need to calm down. I will keep trying to find who did this to you."
However, Catherine shook her head softly, her face fading. "I don't know how much longer I can stay here, ' her voice sounded weak, almost like a whisper. 'I'm afraid... if I disappear, everything will be forgotten.'
Gabriela knelt down, trying to look as calm as possible despite the anxiety in her heart. "Listen, Catherine, ' she said firmly. "Even if you disappear, I promise I'll keep looking for the culprit. I won't stop until justice is done."
Catherine was silent for a moment, looking at Gabriela with eyes that were beginning to lose their light. "I trust you, ' she said finally, before her body slowly faded into a thin mist and disappeared.
Gabriela looked down, realising that her time to talk to Catherine might not be long. She had to move quickly.
"I have to look for other clues, ' Gabriela thought as she clutched the locket that had been found.
'If the perpetrator is not from this school,' Gabriela murmured with a heavy heart,
'how can I find him? The world is so big, there are too many possibilities.'
Gabriela sat limply on a chair in the school garden, her head bowed deeply. The midday sun shone on her exhausted face, highlighting the deepening lines of frustration. After all she had done gathering clues, talking to people, even facing direct threats from the perpetrator she was still at a dead end. There were no new clues. There was no direction to go. All his efforts seemed futile.
'Who can help?' thought Gabriela with a heavy sigh.
However, no names came to mind. Everyone around her teachers, friends, even the police did not understand her situation. No one knew that Gabriela could see spirits. Even if they knew, who would believe them? Instead of getting help, she might be deemed insane.
Gabriela looked up, looking at the blue sky that seemed so peaceful, contrary to the chaos in her heart. 'If only Catherine could show herself to others,' Gabriela thought. 'That would make things easier.'
However, Gabriela realised that Catherine was a spirit who had just left this world. Her energy was still too weak to do such a thing. To reveal herself to others required a great deal of strength which Catherine did not yet possess.
'Why do I feel like this is all so unfair?' muttered Gabriela, her eyes beginning to tear up. 'Catherine died for no good reason, without justice. And I... I'm just an ordinary girl who happens to have abilities I didn't even ask for.'
Suddenly, a cold wind blew slowly, sending chills down Gabriela's spine. She turned her head to the side and saw Catherine standing there. Her appearance seemed more blurry than before, as if her spirit was slowly fading away. Catherine's empty eyes looked at Gabriela with a mixture of emotions of sadness, despair, and something that looked like pleading.
Gabriela swallowed. 'Catherine, I really want to help you. But I don't know where to start. I need a clue, something... anything!'
Catherine didn't answer, just shook her head slowly. Her voice was barely audible when she finally said, 'I want to help you too, Gabriela. But I don't even know how. I'm not strong enough.'
Gabriela felt her heart grow heavy at those words. 'Then what can we do? I can't do it alone. The world is too big, Catherine. If your culprit isn't in this school, I don't know where else to go.'
Catherine looked down, then whispered, 'I'm scared, Gabriela. If I really disappear before the perpetrator is found, I'll never be able to rest easy.'
Gabriela was silent at that. There was something in Catherine's voice that stirred her heart. As desperate as she was, she knew she couldn't just give up. Catherine depended on her, the only one who could see her and hear her story.
After a while, Gabriela took a deep breath and stood up. She wiped away her tears that were about to fall. 'We can't stop now. If you can't reveal yourself to others, then I'll have to get smarter. I'll find help, somehow.'
Catherine looked at Gabriela with a hopeful gaze, though her form was fading. 'You... you'll still help me?'
Gabriela nodded. 'I promise, Catherine. Even if I have to search to the ends of the earth, I will find your culprit. I won't let you go without getting justice.'
Gabriela didn't know how she was going to do it, but one thing was certain: she wouldn't give up. If Catherine could not appear to others, Gabriela had to be Catherine's eyes, ears, and voice in this world. Although the road ahead was still full of fog, Gabriela knew she had to move forward.
Gabriela looked frantically around her. The already quiet school was eerie, with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees in the courtyard. The lights along the road to the school gate flickered, adding to the eerie atmosphere. She stopped walking and held her bag close to her body, trying to calm herself down.
'Who's following me, Catherine?' whispered Gabriela, her voice trembling. However, there was no answer. Catherine was nowhere to be seen, only a voice that sounded in her ears like a whisper on the wind.
Gabriela stepped back, her eyes continuing to sweep the surroundings. However, as far as her eyes could see, there was no one there. The path to the gate looked empty, but the uneasy feeling grew stronger as if there was a pair of eyes lurking in the shadows.
'Am I just being paranoid?' Gabriela muttered to herself, trying to shake off her fear.
However, soft footsteps sounded from behind, making Gabriela's body freeze. She turned her head slowly, but again there was no one there. The sound stopped instantly, leaving only silence. Gabriela began to pace faster, almost running towards the gate.
This time Catherine's voice sounded louder than before.
'Gabriela, behind you...!!!'