I’ll skip the rest of the weekend until the end of classes. I hope you know that I will never leave out important details.

I stood outside our department’s faculty room, my anxious heart feeling nervous, as usual. I brought out the small, black pouch from my bag and gripped it tight. I remembered how peculiar the stone inside looked like. It was quite large but I can still wrap my fingers around it. The inside looked fogged up but there was something clearly encased inside. Whatever it was, it is similar to how a star would look like in the night sky. I started to wonder if it was a natural crystal or it was man-made.

I breathed deep, knocked at the door, and opened it. I greeted the other professors a good afternoon and headed straight to Miss Sirius’ table. She was typing something on her laptop, probably fixing up another presentation for one of her classes.

“Excuse me, Miss Sirius?” I said, once I was standing in front of her table.

She looked up. Her usual intimidating expression was replaced with what I can only describe as irritation… maybe mild dislike? She tied her shoulder-length brunette hair into a ponytail and quickly fanned herself with her hand fan. She closed her laptop and pushed it aside. I could tell from her eyes that she didn’t want me to be there but she just forced a half-hearted smile.

“Miss Sinclair,” she uttered my name as if it left a really bitter taste in her mouth, “What brought you here?”

“E-Ester wanted me to show you this,” I slid the black pouch across the table, “She told me to show this to you. She said you’ll know what to do.”

She was surprised when she saw the pouch. Her eyes glanced up at me, then to the small, black bag on her table. Reluctantly, she grabbed the pouch and opened it, bringing out the stone inside. Her hand started shaking and she scowled. She glared at me; her eyes so full of hatred, making me take a step back upon instinct. I glanced at the crystal she was gripping so tightly in her hand and saw it crack from the inside out. Only when the crystal shattered to pieces in her hand did her expression change. She opened her hand and saw crystal bits piercing her palm, drawing out small drops of blood.

“M-Miss Sirius, are you okay?” I muttered, panicking, instinctively diving forward to check her hand.

“I’m fine,” she said immediately, pulling her hand back, “Please leave.”

I could only nod and follow what she told me. I smiled half-heartedly, spun on my heel then darted to the door. I saw the people near Miss Sirius’ table gathered around her before I closed the door. I stood outside for a long while, wondering what Miss Sirius could have possibly seen with that crystal that made her so mad. She may have gotten mad at us during class but that level of mad I saw in there was different.

Remembering I needed to update Kaiden on what happened; I brought out my phone from my pocket and opened my messages.

'I just showed the stone to Miss Sirius and she flipped out! She didn’t tell me anything, though. Sorry.'

I stuffed my phone in my pocket and decided to go home. I crossed the empty hallway and walked down the stairs. Once I reached the ground floor, I was shocked to see so many students gathered at the sides. I did what an introvert would usually do in these situations; I hunched over a bit and kept my head down, my eyes focused on the ground as I walked past. Once I got out the door of the building, I stood upright and looked back. Good, they didn’t look at me. I heaved a sigh and resumed walking. Before I got far from the exit, I heard someone call for me.

“Miss Sinclair!” he called out.

It was Professor Owens. He approached me and I noticed something off with him. His usually slick back grey hair was now a little unkempt, and his T-shirt and jeans were all wrinkly. He looked like he didn’t get much sleep either. The really faint indentations on his face made me think he just woke up. Curiously, I didn’t see Ester with him.

“I-I need to ask you something,” he whispered. “But I need you to keep a very open mind.”

“O-Of course,” I answered, leaning a little closer to him to hear whatever he was going to say.

“When you went to my office, I noticed you acknowledged another presence before you left,” he hesitated for a moment but spoke anyway. “Well, aside from me… did you see anyone else in the room with me back then?”

I hesitated for a second, but nodded eventually. “I thought she was your assistant since she was always with you whenever I see you.”

I realized his hands were trembling when I saw the papers he was holding shake. He looked like he had something to get off his chest.

“What did she look like?” he asked me.

“She was wearing a black pencil skirt, a red blouse, and black flats,” I muttered, trying to recall as accurately as possible, “Her black hair was tied to a neat bun. That’s really all I can remember.”

He exhaled a long and heavy sigh, then he nodded. “I never had an assistant,” he told me, his voice now in a normal volume. “When I saw her, at first, I thought she was a living person but then no one can see or hear her. I thought I was hallucinating, possibly going mad! But you did see her, correct?”

I nodded. “I spoke to her once I got out of the faculty room as well. She told me her name was Ester.”

“Ester, yes, that’s her name” he said, nodding. “But she’s gone now. This Saturday, she just disappeared. I thought I probably was imagining her or something, but-” he brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat that was accumulating on his forehead, “Now that you’ve also seen her, I guess I can rule out that possibility.”

He breathed deep and sighed one last time before he bid goodbye. I just bowed and went on my way as well. While I walked, I could only think of what transpired between me and Professor Owens. I guess that proves what Kaiden told me. How long did Ester haunt Professor Owens? I shook my head, knowing that wasn’t the most important question; why did she haunt Professor Owens specifically? Was it a coincidence that she stopped haunting him on the day she gave me the black pouch? Perhaps she told the truth about us meeting for the last time that day.