It was another cold day in Lindsborg,Kansas. Dad was downstairs watching television as usual. Mom was cooking dinner for us. Dad didn’t like to be bothered unless we were in danger or if the food was ready. I was taking a walk in the woods when a familiar orphanage popped into my sight, it was abandoned with graffiti art all over the walls. I never had the courage to go in it until now for some reason I felt as if I had to go in. It closed down in 1996 nobody knows why and nobody ever will. Afterall the place was filled with secrets. I looked around and heard something or someone. The atmosphere was dull, everything was depressing. Soon I saw a dark shadow, it had a human figure. The figure came up into my view and my blood ran cold. I was face to face with a ghost. A young girl I might add, she was pale and looked as scared I was. I turned around and took off with the cool breeze brushing the brown locks out of my face. I was almost out of the door when I heard her say,

“Wait come back! I need you help!” The pain and agony in her voice made her sound sincere. I didn’t have control over my mind or body but all I knew was that I was getting myself into trouble.
I slowly turned around and replied.“ With what? And how can I trust you?”
The ghost replied,”If anything I should trust you. Who knows maybe you’ll tell ghost busters or something.”
I replied back with a ton of questions.”What's your name? How did you die?”
She laughed a little before she replied. “My name is Lillian Ellen. I was murdered here, but I can't remember who killed me. I need your help to catch my killer and help me find peace.”
Once again I asked,” How can I trust you?”
“Because your life might be in danger too.We have something in common but I can’t figure it out.”
I started to feel drowsy and dizzy. The next thing I saw was blackness.

The next morning I woke up in my bed. I didn’t remember much from last night, so I decided to go back. This time I will be brave and get to the bottom of this situation. I went into the orphanage and called her.
“Lillian! It’s me Noah! I came back to help you! I screamed.
The room got cold and goosebumps rose on my skin. I turned around and there she was. Lillian then spoke up,
“I can tell you have a ton of questions so ask away.” She said.
“So were you adopted? How is my life in danger?”I asked.
Lillian rolled her eyes and answered my questions.
“I was never adopted,” her face dropped with sadness, “I don't remember much anymore, not even my real parents. Sometimes I can still feel the touch of my mother, but it goes away after a while. The person wanted something from me and they took it. Noah I have a feeling that you are somehow connected to whatever my killer took.” She said.
“Lillian Ellen, you are a very clueless ghost,” I replied
She then pulled out a case of junk.
“This is all I have about what happened the night of my death” She said.
Inside the case there were newspapers and files. I picked one up and studied it. The newspaper had brown and black holes in it from burn marks.  Then I looked in the box. A lot of the stuff had holes from fire on it.
“Did somebody try to burn this stuff?” I asked.
“I believe so, but look a piece of the newspaper is missing.” She said.
The newspaper was missing different parts. It looked like a specific name was missing.
“My mom used to work here. Maybe I can ask what she knows?” I suggested.
“That’ll be great. What was your mom’s name?” Lillian asked.
“Lyla Harp.”I replied
“I’ve seen her before. We have the same hair and eye color, but that’s all I remember about her.” Lillian said.
I smiled and packed my stuff up.
“I’ll come back Tomorrow with all the information I get from my mom.” I said
Lillian nodded and waved goodbye. When I started walking in the cold, dark,
and gloomy woods, I started to think. What if I can’t help her? This town rarely
Has anything exciting going on. Who would want to kill a 16 year-old girl? My house soon came into my sight. I walked up to the porch and opened the door. My dad was rambling about something. He said something that made my blood drain.

“Lillian, Lillian, Lillian.” Dad whispered as he rocked back and forth. 
Deep down I knew I should’ve said something, but Dad by far way too timid. He always has his guard up and he’s always angry. Mom was opposite, her sweet and golden heart had nothing but love in it.Which reminded me, I have to talk to her about Lillian. The house was as quiet as a mouse but I could hear Mom typing. “Click! Clack! Clack!”
“Mom can I ask you a few questions about what happened at that orphanage?” I asked.
Mom turned around slowly and replied, “Sure, but why are you asking about the orphanage?”
I panicked and quickly made up a story.
“Well, I heard some people talking about it and I was just curious.” I said.
“I don’t know much, but I know the young girl was very sweet. What was her name again?” Mom said.
“Lillian Ellen.” I said.
Mom looked at me with a questioning look and said, “Yeah, well that’s all I know. But don’t worry about it the case is closed.” Mom said.
I nodded and sighed in defeat my mom was probably the best piece of information. Then it hit me, I could go ask Dad about the orphanage. I walked down the stairs and Dad was staring at a blank television screen.
“Dad, can I talk to you for a second?” I asked.
He blew out a breath. His breath reeked of smoke. He was wearing his dirty,coffee stained, ripped shirt.
“What's up now, Noah?” He asked.
“Well I heard you saying the name Lillian. Isn’t that the name of the girl who was killed at that orphanage?”I asked.
He clenched his jaw and stared hard at me.”I don’t know, and I really don’t care. That girl is gone now.” Dad said.
I could tell he was getting angry, his face was turning a blush red and he had a stern look on his face. So now I was stuck and had no reliable information. I felt like giving up, but I can’t. I have to help her and save my life. Tomorrow i'm going to gather as much information as possible. But I was pretty suspicious about my dad’s response.

The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs. I saw my mom but no sign of my dad.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked.
“He left to go run some errands,he was in a rush so i’m guessing it was important.” Mom said.
“Oh well i’m just gonna head out and get some fresh air.” I said.
I was actually going to the Library to look up information on her death. I felt bad about lying to my mom, but I didn't want to put her in out of the two of them I was closer to my mom after 30 minutes of sitting in thinking I want to sleep danger too. When I got to the library, I was the only person there besides the librarian. I immediately asked to use the computer. The librarian lead me to a computer and I sat down and started my research. The librarian walked away. I saw an article on the crime. All of a sudden I felt a cold air brush past me and I  felt a presence behind me. The librarian  sat down beside me.
“You’re researching that crime?” She asked.
“Yes. Do you know anything about it.” I asked
“Yeah I worked there. Every now and then somebody would go into Lillian’s room. Their face was covered and they dropped a pass, so whoever was visiting her worked there.” She said.
“Do you know anything else. Anybody I should be suspicious about?” I asked.
“I can’t say too much. But there are people that know things, they are just too scared to say anything. There is a website that has all the staff members. I’ll write down the website for you.” She said.
Her hand trembled as she scrambled down the website. She looked tired and pale . Her grey hair was falling in front of her face. She handed me the crumbled paper and looked at me with hope.

“Good luck, kid.” She said.
“Thank You.” I said.
Her face dropped, she had an intense look on her face and it was filled with fright.
“Hey, um don’t show anybody that website it stays between us.” She said.
The librarian kept looking around like she was searching for something or someone.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She jumped up and said, “Hm,me? Oh yes I'm alright. I just need to close the library up.”
I looked at my watch and gathered my things. I need to meet up with Lillian.
“Thank you for everything.” I said and with that I left.
As I was walking down the gloomy,dull, and faded sidewalk. I couldn’t help but wonder why that librarian was so tense. Was somebody out to get her too? I took some time to clear my head by looking at my surroundings. This town was nothing but woods and building. Everything here screams sadness the people, the buildings, and the scenery. I walked for an extra 5 minutes and I was met by the old,cracked, broken door leading to the abandoned orphanage. When I opened the door it was silent. The walls had the sun shining on it. It really brought out the chipped paint followed by the cracks in the wall. I walked to Lillian’s room step by step. When I arrived she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I waited 20 minutes to see if she would show. After 20 minutes of calling her name I just left. When I went
outside the sun was settin. The brownish-red leaves were blowing all over the place. When I saw the old hunchback tree, I knew I was close to my house. I walked for another seven minutes and my house came into my sight. I walked into my house and saw my mom washing her hands, but my dad still wasn’t home.
“Where is dad?” I asked.
“Um, I’m not sure. I just got home 10 minutes before you.” Mom said.
I nodded and turned on the tv. A bright red flashed on the tv with the words ‘BREAKING NEWS’. I turned up the volume on the television and the news anchor started talking.
“Reports just in. A 53 year old woman was just found in her home pronounced dead. This woman goes by the name, Mahogany Louis. She was a librarian at Olive’s Branch.” The anchor said.
A picture of the woman popped up on the screen and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the woman that gave me the website address. Whoever killed her must have had something to do with Lillian’s death.
Soon my dad came in. He smelled like the great outdoors, and he had brown chunks of mud on his shoes and pants. I’ve had my suspicions about him, but this whole picture in my mind made him look like a cold hearted, horrid, and mysterious serial killer. I went to my room and pulled out my laptop. I typed in the website that the librarian gave me and the staff members came up along with their contact information and address. I went to Mahogany Louis’s and wrote down her address. I will pay a visit to her house tomorrow no police or investigators will be there. They think she died of “natural causes” just like Lillian. I could hear my parents arguing downstairs. I could barely hear what they were saying, so I went down so I could see what was going on. When I got down there my mom had her head in her hands and was sitting on the couch while Dad was in their room with the door shut. I noticed Mom was wearing her pearl white earrings, the ones that were made specially for her. She sighed and got up to leave the room. This is how most of the nights were. Nobody really spoke to each other. Out of the two of them I was closer to my mom. After 30 minutes of sitting and thinking I went to sleep.

The next morning, I got up around 4 AM to go to Ms. Louis’s house. I got the papers I had her address on it and headed out. It was dark, cold, and silent. I carefully walk up to Ms.Louis’s house and looked for a entrance. I spotted a window open and a tree was right by it. I kind of the tree and into the window. The house was freezing cold and dark. I walked around a bit and discovered a picture of a woman and two girls.  I picked it up and saw three familiar faces Ms.Louis, Lillian, and my mom? Everything stopped as I received information piece by piece. Mom was related to Ms. Louis and Lillian. I drop the picture and noticed a earring from Mom’s collection. What was he doing here I saw it on her the night Ms.Louis was pronounced dead. I started having second thoughts about my mother,she's been lying to me this whole time. I was interrupted by the front door opening. I scrambled to find a hiding spot. I spotted a closet and dashed towards it. I silently open the closet and hid. I left a little bit of space so I could see. The soft footsteps we're getting closer. Soon a figure appeared their back was facing me. They looked around the room and did a 360 turn. Soon I saw the familiar face of my own mother. She went to the bed and pulled out a box under the bed. She took out an object from her pocket and put it in the box. After doing that she put the box back under the bed and took off. I waited until I heard the door close to leave the closet. Once the door closed, I stepped out of the closet and went to the bed to pull out the same box. I open the box and saw all the newspapers and photographs of Lillian's homicide case. It was also a journal entry explaining what happened that night. I put all the stuff back in the box and climbed out of the window. When I was down on the ground I saw my mother looking right at me. She took a step towards me. Her face was blank.

“You know don't you?” She asked.
“ Know what?” I asked playing dumb.
“ What I didn't. How I told my own sister and mother for my own needs. Don't play dumb I know you know.”She said.
“Why'd you do it?” I asked.
“ Well Lillian was always the good, pretty, nice, and smart sister. There was only so much I could take. Your father was in love with her, she loved him too. But they deserve what was coming, all I wanted was happiness and I couldn't get it. Your own grandmother love her more than me. And that night she told you about Lillian at the library,  I was there. She said too much and she had to go.” She said the. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. The metallic weapon was deadly.
“ Now you know to much and I can't let anybody ruin the best years of my life. Your dad finally loves me.” She said.
I shut my eyes tight and waited for everything to be over. I heard a click and a boom, but I felt nothing. I open my eyes to see my dad fighting the gun away from my mother.
“Run son! Go get help.” Dad shouted.
I ran to the nearest house and banged on the door. A young lady appeared.
“Call 911 hurry!” I yelled.
She ran to the phone and dialed 911. 5 minutes later I heard the sirens. I lead the police over to my parents, who were still fighting for the gun.

“It's the woman you want, it's her!” I screamed.

The police separated the two and put handcuffs on my mom. She started fighting the police and tried to get away.

“Review the tapes from the cameras to see what happened.” Said an officer to  another officer.
The police took us to a station for questioning. I was alone and I told them everything that I knew I even told him about the box. I stayed at the police station for a couple of hours. The police review the tapes and saw and heard everything, even my mother confessing to a crime she committed. They let go of my dad and I and we had to catch the bus back home. We both stayed quiet not a single word was spoken. Instead of going home I told my dad I would come back. I had something to take care of first. I walked up the stairs to the orphanage and walked in straight towards Lillian's room. I saw her staring out of the window

“ It's done. They caught the killer.” I said.
She turned around confused and said,” Who was it?”
“ Your own sister did it. She also killed your mom.” I said.
She stared at the floor puzzled and said, “My own sister? Why?”
I explained the story to her and everything became clear to her.

With tears in her eyes she told me her story.”Your mom, my sister  has always been jealous of me for no reason. She wanted everything in the world, but I had to be patient with her. I always thought she had an issue.” She explained.

“I can now have the peace I've always wanted. Thank you, Noah.” She said and gave me a hug.
I only felt a cold air hit me but then it turned warm and soothing until it was gone. She was gone.

Two months later my dad and I had been working on our relationship. He's showing more motions each day. They moved Mom to one of the most intense prisons in our area. She's been sending a whole bunch of mail to me. Mom wanted me to “finish what she started”. Along with the other 136 letters she sent me, I threw it away.