Lug was in an unexpected situation.

He was drinking tea with a woman he didn't know, who looked sad and lonely.

And at the same time there was a naked ghost standing on the chair that was put there for Hannah, with her tea getting cold in front of it.

The ghost chuckled as he looked at Lug, the ceiling was not very high and this ghost was particularly tall, so it seemed like his head was cut off, you could only see his neck.

Lug tried to understand who this ghost was, so he asked Aunt Marie if she had always lived alone.

"Yes, I moved in 12 years ago. It used to be a school here, they divided it into three and made apartments out of it."

That still didn't explain where this ghost came from.

Lug decided to change the subject.

"And so Linette was your grandmother?"

Aunt Marie froze when she heard that name.

"Yes... She was my grandmother, sorry I'll go see if Hannah can find what she's looking for."

She stood up and hurried to the other room.

Lug had a strange feeling that something was wrong.

He turned to his tea cup and bumped into the ghost's bald head.

He had probably come closer to surprise Lug without knowing that he could touch ghosts.

"Ouch... You... Huh? Can you touch me? No, that's cheating, no one can touch me, I'm a ghost aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The ghost rubbed his head and started to scream.

Lug began to whisper :

"Shut up! You're annoying me, what the hell do you want?"

The ghost suddenly calmed down, he was on the floor because of the blow to his head, he stood up at once and faced Lug.

"I want you to play with me."

This adult with a slightly wrinkled forehead was really acting like a child.

This annoyed Lug.

"I'll play with you if you tell me where you're from and everything you know about Aunt Marie's grandmother, Linette Parnac."

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Oooooh, you're a smart one... Okay, but first we play and then I'll talk!"

Lug didn't like this idea at all, he didn't know if this ghost was reliable.

"No, you start by telling me everything."

The ghost began to fidget.

"Noooooooo."

Lug realized that this was not the time to be stubborn.

"Alright, alright. What do you want to play?"

"Hide and seek." The ghost said with a smile, it was a disturbing one, it was so long it distorted his face.

"Ok, you go hide and if I find you you tell me everything."

The ghost immediately spun towards the ceiling.

"What have I gotten myself into again..." thought Lug.

He got up and hurried to the stairs that were just outside the kitchen he was in.

He went up, opened the door that was upstairs and found himself in the attic.

Lug wanted to get there as quickly as possible, he felt bad about exploring the apartment.

He had no time to waste, he began to think about everything he knew about ghosts.

"There must be something that can help me find this guy quickly..."

Lug was under pressure, he closed his eyes and began to repeat in his head :

"I see him, I see him, I see him..."

Suddenly he felt exactly where the ghost was.

He didn't know why or how, but he felt a presence in the wall at the back of the attic.

He walked quickly towards him and began to knock against the wall.

"I know you're in there, come out."

The ghost's head appeared, looking sad.

"No, you cheated. How did you find me so fast?"

"None of your business, tell me what you know, quick!"

Lug was sweating, Hannah's aunt could go back into the kitchen at any moment.

"Pfff, I don't know much. One day I died and just happened to be here."

The ghost could read the anger in Lug's eyes, he had played this little game for nothing.

"I should have known that you didn't know anything..."

Lug hurried back down, but before that the ghost, perhaps feeling guilty, said :

"Look in that box there, Mary hid a frame she had in the kitchen when she knew her niece was coming."

Lug hurried to look in the box, a small painting was lying there.

He took it in his hands, it represented a lake, there was nothing that looked abnormal.

He turned it over but there was nothing written behind it.

Then he saw that the little clips that opened the frame were almost all removed.

This meant that the frame had been opened and closed in a hurry.

He quickly opened it and saw that a lot of things were written on the back of the painting.

He quickly took a picture of the back and front, closed it as it was and went back downstairs without even looking at the ghost.

When he returned to the kitchen, Aunt Marie was sitting in her chair waiting for him.

Lug panicked and said to her :

"Sorry, I had to go to the bathroom."

It was a crude lie, but it is often those that are the easiest to believe, for some strange reason.

Mary looked at him with her tired eyes and raised fingers holding a cigarette, a cup of coffee had replaced the tea.

It was as if a mask she had worn from the beginning had fallen off.

She was no longer smiling, her features that had been pulled by the smile were showing their true nature.

Her face was falling, as if her skin had been stretched from the inside, as if she had carried the weight of a heavy secret for years.

Skin is a reflection of our inner world, and in Mary's case, something heavy to bear had taken up the whole space and left an indelible mark.

Now, her face almost looked like a bulldog's.

"What happened while I was in the attic?" wondered Lug.

"Hannah's waiting for you in the car." said Mary as she went to take Lug's cup of tea to put it in the sink.

He turned his head and saw the ghost sitting in the corner of the kitchen smiling with a shrug.

Lug felt bad, but he also felt relieved to finally leave this place.

He said goodbye politely, thanked Mary for the tea and hurried out.