2024

"I'm coming home," Judith stated down the phone to her best friend.

"Good, you need to get out of there, babe," Rose's voice sounded down the receiver. "Did your dad agree to take you in?"

"Yes, on the condition I don't linger to long. His girlfriend's parents are staying soon so they can take care of them. I like Carol and her parents are ageing so I'm not complaining about it."

"That's fair enough," replied Rose. "You know you could have stayed with us if you wanted."

"You already got my old job back. You've done plenty for me despite what I put you through."

"Small details, babe. I'm just glad it's all over and you have somewhere to stay. Everyone is excited to have you back at the office."

"Can't wait," Judith replied. Twenty minutes later after various small talk she was able to hang up the phone and continue packing away her things. She decided to leave behind various items of furniture including, reluctantly, her still new bed. There was just nowhere to store it while at her dad's house.

Ollie the owl was the last piece to be packed and the next day the van Judith had hired arrived and took her and her things home.

***

Judith returned to Loughborough two months later out of what she would call curiosity after receiving a cryptic text message from Sheridan. The older woman seemed convinced that the spirit was still well and living in the house despite what Judith did to it and the proceeding week without activity.

She drove past the house several times before finally setting off into town to the library where Sheridan would be waiting for her. The little house looked as cold and empty as the day she left and she saw no sign that the spirit was still lingering behind.

"Good afternoon, Miss Ainbridge," Sheridan greeted.

"I think we're past formalities, Sheridan," Judith replied as she approached the main desk. "However, good afternoon."

"Judith," Sheridan smiled. "I believe Mary has not crossed over. My rod did not work. Did you use it correctly?"

"I gave you the full account the very next day. I used it as you taught me and Jersey was sent to the next realm." Judith felt a lump in her throat as she recalled the conversation.

"Well, we must come up with something new, before she hurts anyone else."

"Sheridan, I appreciate you assisting me and helping me escape but I'm living a different life now. I tried to help Jersey, you're saying it did not work. I just wanna move on from it all."

"You loved her didn't you?" Sheridan replied.

Judith paused before answering, "I don't know what I loved, I would have accepted the truth but I never learnt it."

"I can help you to help her. She is a very strong spirit. She will move on but she needs help."

"How would you do that? Your device was supposed to work," Judith did not mind if her voice possessed annoyance.

"I have a friend coming from London in a few weeks. He's interested in your case and I would love it if you could meet him."

"Pfft, one of the Neville's?" Judith said with a hint of sarcasm.

Sheridan's smile turned into a full grin. "Yes, exactly. Flynn Neville learnt of the active spirit that evaded the rod and now he wants to investigate."

Judith's jaw dropped. "Now they take an interest?"

"I do hope you'll meet him, he is ready to help Jersey move onto a much better place."

"Fine," Judith replied dryly. "Where and when?"

***

Sheridan had cleared the rear office  ready for Flynn's arrival and had already given him her full account of the events before Judith arrived to see him later that morning.

"You're younger than I expected," were Judith's first words upon seeing the young man in a tailored suit sat at the desk before her.

"Dr Flynn Neville, miss. Thank you, I may only be twenty-five but I can assure you I am more than qualified." He handed her a photo from his suitcase. He acknowledged the puzzled look on Judith's face. "My first family ghost hunt. I was six in that photo right before we caught a demon haunting King's Cross Station."

Judith handed the photograph back to him. "Your parents took you to hunt a demon when you were six?"

"Yes, we are trained young and devote our entire lives to the craft. Now tell me about Jersey, the aspects of the haunting and how you tried to stop them."

Flynn listened to entire account that Judith gave. She told him everything from the day she moved in to the day she left. Although she skipped out the intimate details. Her story finished at meeting Sheridan once more in the library a couple of weeks prior.

Flynn repeatedly said, "Interesting," as Judith paused between sentences. He wrote down everything she had told him word for word.

"It seems like you have done everything correctly, Judith but Sheridan tells me the spirit is still active. What is your take on that?"

"Unfinished business," Judith replied after thinking. The response felt almost too cliché.

Flynn smiled again, "Exactly that, and the ghost seems to have a very strong connection to this world from what you and Sheridan have told me."

"So where do we go from here?"

"That's an easy task." Judith thought Flynn spoke with some smugness. He continued, "Based on what you have told me these are the things you need to achieve."

"You need to identify who the spirit was in their previous life, this is very important. Find out the manner of their death and fulfill their connection to our world. Go through the old reports and newspapers, they will be stored in the library archives. Even if not glaringly obvious the pieces will be there to be put together."

"You make it sound easy," Judith remarked.

"It's an open-shut case from our position, Judith. You have a class two entity with a strong tie to this world. It is not life threatening or a danger to others. I believe Jersey would benefit if it were you who helped them crossover."

"Thank you, Dr Neville," Judith said after some time although she felt like she did not mean it.

"Good day, Miss Ainbridge. I will be sure to check by the house before I return to London. Good luck." Flynn packed away his notes and left before Judith.

"I will be back soon, Sheridan. It seems we have been given homework to do." Judith said with a disheartened tone.

***

It would be another three months before Judith returned to the library in Loughborough. With her she brought a bottoe of red wine as Sheridan had agreed to stay on after close to show Judith all the boxes they could go through to discover the truth.

"I have made a start, Judith. These are murders and unexplained deaths that happened in Leicestershire during the fifties and sixties. I've tried to narrow it down to Loughborough but some locations are undisclosed." Sheridan pointed to the different piles of boxes. "These are newspaper clippings and also unpublished articles and letters."

Judith poured two glasses of wine, "We had better get started then."

***

A/N- No need to bore you with a montage of two women sifting through boxes as you already know the details that Judith is trying to discover from the chapters titled '1967'

She did however find an interesting unpublished letter to the local gazette by Mr Lyle Watkins that connected a lot of the dots. More on that later...

***

Word count- 43382

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