Chapter 20

The next morning, the sunlight woke Regan up, making her want to sleep more. Her eyes opened lazily, finding herself in her own room. She was confused again and pulled the covers away from her, due to the high temperature of the room. Regan remembered falling asleep in the couch but didn't remember going up her room.Why would she even go to sleep there when the room itself made her shiver? She looked around to find her phone no where of sight."Not again," she muttered.She got up from the bed and opened the door to walk downstairs. Looking down at her clothes, they were the ones from yesterday. That made her relieved because she didn't remember changing.The phone was on the coffee table and she took it. It was around 6 AM and she let out a breath, because at least there was time for homeworks to be done.After sloopy homework, she did the usual in the mornings. Even though she had no wish to go anywhere, she wasn't calm with staying in the house either.She dressed up in jeans and a tee shirt and then went to comb her hair. No matter how many ways Regan combed her hair, she couldn't hide the irregular red strands. Eventually the girl gave up and put her hair in a ponytail.Monica had left early for work just minutes ago. Putting cameras around, was something that Regan needed to do. At least in her room and the living room. But all this should be done when Monica wasn't around. If she went to school it would be little time to do that.However, she couldn't miss school. She decided she'd deal with it later. Grabbing her backpack and a bottle of water, she walked out of the house, locked it securely and walked to school by foot.The halls of the school were filled with students rushing and talking loudly. Regan walked through them trying to keep distance but it was nearly impossible. She hated having others near and it only served to raise her already unease.She made her way to the class and sat on the backseat. She fell lost in thought, confused about her thoughts. She couldn't make anything a fact. If the house was haunted, wasn't she supposed to be haunted only inside the house? Why she was haunted everywhere? Why she couldn't help but feel watched everywhere? It was infuriating.The more she thought about it, the more questions rose. What if it was more than just a ghost? What if it possessed her? She was terrified at the thought. She regretted moving out of her old flat. At least, there had never been any occurrences like that.The bell's ring interrupted her for a while. How much she wanted to run away from here...but even if she did, where would she go? She kept being haunted everywhere for no apparent reason.Just as she was lost in her own musings, her best friend, Vesper appeared beside her, breaking her reverie."Hi," Vesper greeted with a warm smile, her eyes gleaming with curiosity,

"So, yesterday you said about a plan in your house, what was it?" Sde asked leaning on her elbow.

Regan couldn't help but feel a surge of hope. Vesper hadn't forgotten about her plan, and it seemed like she was genuinely interested in knowing more."I'm going to install a security system. I purchased some cameras online," she answered, her voice hoarse from not drinking water.Vesper's expression turned thoughtful. "Do you need help?"Regan hesitated for a moment, feeling like Vesper didn't really mean what she said. She didn't know why she felt so, but she just did."No, I can do it myself."Vesper nodded understandingly, though a mischievous glint flickered in her eyes. "Okay, sure. But I have to admit, I've felt some strange energies around your house. Negative ones as you said."A renewed sense of hope over Regan. Her friend believed her, and that meant a lot to her. Little did she know, Vesper was playing a game of deception, but for now, Regan basked in the comfort of having someone by her side.The teacher was giving the results from the last week exam and Regan was worried. She knew she didn't do well. There had been times when she had scored high without studying, but she had paid attention to classes at least. Now, she didn't even pay attention to classes. She had only studied a bit at home that time.Regan waited for her paper, but Vesper's came first. Regan's eyes bulged out when she saw the score."71%?!" Regan almost yelled and noticed making herself embarrassed.Vesper shot her a glare. "Yeah whatever," she said uninterested and folded the paper harshly, leaving it on the side of the desk."Did you hit your head? Your scores were always high!" Regan said to her, not even believing why her scores were always high."Well, a problem happened last week and..." Vesper trailed off."Oh....okay," Regan said. She didn't have to pry anymore. Soon, her paper got on the desk and Regan gasped at the grade. She had gotten 95%. She couldn't believe her eyes.She expected much less than that. She glanced at Vesper, who was on her phone. She was thankful for the score she got but couldn't make it out why Vesper scored that low.She decided not to worry anymore about it and started reading her notes.Undeniably, there would always be something suspectful about Vesper but what it really was, it wasn't clear in her mind. Not now, at least.Her day passed on and the whole time she either tried to focus or just get lost in thoughts.She went to her locker to get her things and leave. Those few students that were around had left. Regan was meant to leave earlier but Vesper had told her to wait so they could leave together.Regan was busy with fixing her bag but from the corners of her eyes she got a glimpse of someone who caught her attention. And she really felt like this someone was staring at her.So that, she turned to her right side and she couldn't believe what she saw. She unconsciously dropped the book she was holding.There she saw him. She saw Sirius. He was just like in her dreams. He still had that handsome smirk on.Regan blinked fast a couple of times only to lose him from her vision. She ran to that direction and turned around to see no one in sight."If he was really there, he couldn't have disappeared like that," Regan thought."Oh, really? Like what you saw?"Regan felt her blood boil, her hands shaking both with anger and fear. What the hell was all that?She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She couldn't believe. Wasn't it enough of seeing him as a nightmare, now she saw him even in her reality?She had to make sure if her house was really haunted even though she wasn't in her house now. Maybe she was haunted."Why are you still here?" she heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Vesper with a confused face."To leave, why else?" Regan answered. She was still shocked to see Sirius but she wasn't going to tell Vesper that."You look like you've seen a ghost," Vesper teased by looking at her pale face. At the very moment she looked far behind Regan just like someone was there."What?" Regan asked turning around and following where her eyes were. She saw no one here. Of course she would see no one."Nothing, let's go." Vesper said and walked away.Regan looked once more around and realized she imagined who she saw. She walked back to her locker, picked up the book and stuffed it inside the bag. She zipped the bag, closed her lock and walked away. However, as she walked away, she couldn't help but feel watched."You don't have your car?" Vesper asked when she wasn't seeing Regan's car anywhere."I didn't drive today. We can go on foot, it's not that far anyway," Regan replied, unfazed."Oh, well...right. I forgot that I was going to go to Walmart," Vesper said, her gaze distant."Well, I can't come. I need to save time...you know.""Yeah, see you then.""See you."Vesper left on the other turn of the road, while Regan started to hurry to get home so she could get the security system done.While walking, her eyes went on the ground and she noticed some money. As Regan looked if there was anyone around, no one was really walking near. Only a few people were passing on the other side of the urban road. She grabbed the money and counted them, there were approximately 100 dollars. Then she assumed that someone who passed by must have lost them.But Regan didn't have what to do, no one seemed to really care. She couldn't give the money back to a random person and she couldn't search the person who had them lost.After a while thinking, she decided to donate nineteen to the charity and then the left ten dollars, to let for herself. Knowing that she couldn't do it after installing the cameras, Regan put the money on her bag and continued on her way.As soon as she got home, she hurriedly grabbed a ladder from the backyard and placed it near the wall of the living room. Climbing up the ladder, she started by carefully attaching the camera to the ceiling using mounting brackets.She ensured that it was securely fastened and positioned at the desired angle for optimal coverage. Once it was in place, she smiled at her successful doing. She did the same thing for the kitchen while carrying the ladder away.She was done with the kitchen and then went to finish it up with her room.The whole time, she felt being watched but she didn't had what to do, she couldn't end what she was doing. The eerie atmosphere of the house only heightened her unease, but the cameras provided a sense of security.After she mounted the last camera, she checked them all over in their place, and connected them to her laptop using wireless connection.She settled up the necessary software to view and monitor the camera feeds, allowing her to keep an eye on her home from the convenience of her laptop. After what felt like an eternity, she finished setting up, relieved that her aunt hadn't arrived yet.She grinned in triumph, proud of her achievement.However, Regan couldn't shake the worry that her aunt would inevitably notice. She pondered on what excuse to give, considering whether honesty would be the best approach. Regan longed for her aunt's understanding, hoping she wouldn't dismiss her concerns as mere paranoia.