Incorporeal Witness

Olivia did what she always did during the last hours of the day. She floated from room to room, going through walls and doors, looking in on the guests, and making sure the empty rooms were empty. Then she floated into Harley's room, smiled at the girl pretending to be doing homework, but reading her latest teen magazine instead. She knew Harley could sense her, she always looked up when Olivia was in her room, or hovering close by in other rooms. She drifted down the stairs to the first floor of Winter House and looked in on Logan as she packed lunch for Harley for school. Logan was smiling and humming to herself, an unfamiliar tune, Oliva didn't recognize. She found herself humming the same tune as she floated to the lounge where Miss Devina sat with their newest guest, Alex, and drank a cup of her favorite vanilla tea. She liked Alex, her smile came easy and she spoke to Miss Devina like a normal person, not like most of the townies who treated her like a freak. Alex also spent time with Harley and Harley always seemed happier after their walks down by the pond. Miss Devina shared her plate of cookies with Alex, who grinned at her.  As she always did after her rounds, she floated to the piano and pressed down on one of the keys. Sometimes when she was lucky, and really concentrated she could actually touch it and the sound would fill the entryway, the sound bouncing off the walls. Those times, she'd laugh with Miss Devina and Logan as Harley would jokingly say that it was the ghost of Winter House. Miss Devina would then always look her way and give Olivia a wink, before tickling Harley. Tonight was one of her lucky nights. She pressed down and laughed giddily as the sound echoed around her. Alex jumped in her seat, and Miss Devina put a hand on her knee, patting lightly, assuring her that it was just the old piano settling. She smiled at Olivia when Alex nodded and bent her head to pick up a cookie.  Miss Devina and Logan could see her and sometimes talk to her when her mood was right. Harley was still too young, when she turned sixteen, she would come into her witch powers and see her too. She knew Logan was worried about that day, knowing how hard it was for her to navigate through those first few years.  Olivia made her way outside, unlike most of her ghost buddies, she was not confined to Winter House alone, but could roam the grounds freely. She couldn't leave the grounds and had limits to where she could go, but she didn't mind, she loved Winter House and its occupants, even the guests. Olivia started her guest cottage rounds as usual. First Maple cottage, it was the smallest of the cottages, with just 1 bedroom, and 1 bathroom, with the kitchen and sitting area, combined. It was empty tonight, the guest had checked out that morning. She floated through it, making sure everything was okay, before drifting out and to the next cottage. She loved how each cottage had a little carved symbol on their doors that matched their names. Maple cottage had a maple leaf, and her second stop, Crescent Moon cottage, a bright crescent moon. She drifted through the cottage, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a spacious sitting area, and a smaller kitchen. The guests were all sprawled in front of the fire burning in the fireplace. Mom, dad, and two kids. She stayed a little longer than usual, watching them joke and tease each other. She was still humming when she got to the third cottage, but she decided to come back to that one when she heard loud screaming coming from inside. She didn't feel like witnessing that right at that moment. So she made her way to the last cottage on the grounds, Crystal cottage. She drifted inside, taking her time, it was also empty, with most of their guests choosing to stay in Winter House anyway, the cottages hardly ever had occupants in their off-season. Satisfied that the cottage was secure, she sighed heavily and still humming, but dreading what she was heading into, made her way to the third cottage. The Summer cottage was the closest to the pond and had a great view of Winter House gardens. Usually the most peaceful place on the grounds. She stopped where the pebbled walkway started and listened, she didn't hear the shouting anymore, maybe it was safe to inspect now. Olivia almost decided to skip the cottage when she drew closer and the bad energy from the cottage hit her. But a crash from inside had her worried that the occupants were destroying property, and if so she needed to get Logan or Miss Devina. But she had to make sure it was safe for them first. Floating inside as quickly as she could, she froze at the sight before her.  A man was lying on the floor, blood pooling around his head. She could see his spirit floating beside his body, unsure of what it was seeing, a person was standing over the body, their gloved hands dripping blood onto the floor. For some crazy reason, she wanted to shout at the person for making such a big mess. They had a baseball bat in their left hand, and with their right hand pulled out a gun. She wanted to shout, that the person was already dead, but they would never hear her. She watched as they fired at the body then kick the poor man in the side. She couldn't see a face or gender, the person had covered their face with a solid white mask, and wore bulky clothes. It could be a man or a woman. She followed the person into the bedroom and watched as they rummaged through the bags and drawers, they were clearly looking for something. Suddenly the person spun around and looked at her, she could swear they looked right at her, but they rushed past her back into the living room. She drifted after them, in her rush she knocked into the vase standing on the corner table and it crashed to the floor. The person spun around and pointed the gun in her direction. She laughed, a little hysterical to her own ears. The person suddenly grabbed a bag on the couch, rushed to the door, and disappeared into the night.  Olivia ignored the spirit reaching out for her and rushed after the person. She caught a glimpse of the murderer running toward the back of the grounds, there was nothing there but woods. They had nowhere to hide there. Nowhere to go. They'd be trapped. She flew through the air, hating that she couldn't go faster or orb her way to them. She pushed through the last bushes that obscured her view of the backyard and stopped. They were gone. She didn't see or hear a thing. Even the animals of the night were quiet. She shivered. It was too quiet. She drifted to the wall and stuck her head through it to look beyond the wall. Darkness. Nothing moved or stirred. It was like he disappeared into thin air. Olivia pulled her head back and put her hands on her hips. She'd let the murderer slip away.