A Dead Lover's Lingering Shadow

Phelp

ir, then turned his attention back to Bilal, who was still hunched over his computer, scrolling through screen

sked, his voice roug

atching her general description from the last two weeks. Nothing. No one has report

ts. My friends. But why? Had Arthur somehow told them I was "taking a break"? Or ha

around here, or... no one cares enough to report her missing." He paused, a different kind of frust

e release her description to the media. Facial reconstru

or his phone. "Good idea. The so

fire, a macabre puzzle for the city to solve. My ethereal form watched, a strange mix of dread and hope swirling within me. Dr

k. He snatched it up, his expression hardenin

rough my spectral body. My dad. He

e, blasted through the speaker. "The news report? The description... it sounds like Erykah. L

ed like he'd been punched. "Mr. Phelps?" he stammered, his voice suddenly uncertain. "W

We thought... we thought she was with you! After that fight we had, she said she needed space

all due respect, I'm a homicide detective. I can't just drop everything because Eryk

ge. "My daughter doesn't pull stunts! She was going

thur, the description of the victim from the ME matches Eryk

eing... Erykah." His denial was thin, crumbling around the edges. He was c

do you, Arthur?" My father's voice

arp, were clouded with confusion. "That's not fai

n tell me, Detective Holmes, where is your girlfriend? Because the des

expression solemn. "Arthur, we need to

mumbled something unintelligible into the phone, a sound of profound shock. He was still fighting it, clinging to the comforting lie tha

tion. "I'll go. I'll go check. But I promise you, Mr. Phelps, Erykah is ju

a game. Even now, with my father's anguished voice ringing in his ears, he would only seek to pr