Chapter 4 Eric Part 4

"Eric." There was a sound from the door and a middle-aged woman entered the room. Eric so that's the name of this ghost.

"Your father called you."

"Is he going to scold me again, Mom?" There was a sad look on the woman's face that I just found out was Eric's mother.

"I don't know, I hope not. Meet your father."

"Yes, mom." Eric got up from his seat and walked to follow his mother. Of course, I walked with them.

Arriving in front of a room, a middle-aged man was seen sitting on the sofa arrogantly.

"Dad called me?" asked Eric with a hint of fear in his voice.

"What about your grades? I hope it doesn't disappoint. You have to remember Eric, you're the only boy. You have to get a perfect score. Don't lose to your sisters. Don't make me regret that I paid your high school fees. You understand, right? I will never forgive a failure."

"I-I understand, Father."

"Go on, continue your studies." The man, who was none other than Eric's father, got up from his seat and left Eric just like that. Eric still stood frozen with his gaze downcast. Even though he was looking down, I could see his eyes filled with tears which indicated he was holding back tears.

My surroundings suddenly spun, I knew this was a sign I was about to see another memory. My guess was right when I was now in a room. But I know very well this is not Eric's room that I saw earlier. Could it be that I'm in Eric's dorm room? I guess I was right when I saw that there were three beds in here.

Once again I saw someone sitting on the bed, I knew it was Eric. I approached him, I was shocked when I saw his face was filled with tears that never stopped flowing from his eyes. He was crying while staring at a piece of paper he was holding. I dared to stare at the paper. If you look at the scribbles on the paper, I think that's the test score. I think I also know why Eric was crying, Eric did not get good grades in his exams and obviously, that would make his father very angry with him.

Eric crumpled the paper and walked towards his study table. Then... he took out a book and a pen. He also seemed to start writing something on the paper. He wrote long enough until finally, he tore up the paper that was filled with his handwriting and put it in an envelope. He tucked the envelope into his pillowcase. I wonder what he will do after this. My answer was answered when I saw him walking over to his bag lying on the table. He pulled out something that made my eyes widen.

That thing is nothing but a rope. Now I know what he will do. Using the chair as a platform to stand on, he tied the rope through the ventilation slot in the door and made a loop at the end of the rope that was the size of his head. He stuck his head into the rope and kicked the chair with his foot. I closed my eyes as tight as possible because I couldn't bear to witness the seconds when Eric breathed his last.

My surroundings were spinning again, I opened my eyes slowly and now it was the darkness that filled my vision. Even though it's dark here, I can still see the floating figure right in front of me. Yes, it's the ghost figure of Eric. It's like I've returned to the real world and I'm in Eric's dorm room like before I went to Eric's memory world.

My eyes, which are getting used to the darkness, can see Eric's ghost hand pointing somewhere. The place his hand was pointing at, I'm sure was a bed. I also realized what it meant.

"You want me to give the letter to your parents?" I asked the ghost of Eric and he answered with a nod.

"Okay, I'll help you give the letter to your family. Please open the door."

Cklek!

Suddenly I heard the sound of the door opening, then I heard the footsteps of several people entering the room and approaching me.

"Leslie, are you all right?" The owner of the voice asked frantically. Of course, I knew the owner of that voice was Sean.

"I'm fine, Sean. Please turn on the light."

"The lights in this room are dead," answered someone who seemed to be the caretaker of this dormitory.

"Sean, where's your flashlight?" Sean handed me his flashlight. After that, with the light of the flashlight, I walked toward the bed that Eric's ghost had pointed to. I opened a pillowcase lying on the bed. I felt an immeasurable relief when an envelope fell from inside the pillowcase.

This letter ... yes, this is why Eric's ghost has not been able to return to his realm. He had not felt at ease before this letter was given to his family. Now it's my job to give this letter to Eric's family.

***

I told Sean and the dormitory guards everything. The dorm guard didn't seem to believe what I was saying but when he saw the letter in my hand, he had no other choice but to believe me.

"We have to deliver the letter," Sean said and of course, I agreed with him. But the problem is how can we find the address of Eric's family.

"You can go to the library and look for student profile books from each year. There are written biodata of all students who have studied at this campus." These words came from the dorm guard. Thanks to him, Sean and I were able to find a way to find Eric's family address. Without wasting any more time, Sean and I went to the library.

Luckily on our campus even though it's Sunday, the library is still open. Sean and I headed to the shelf where the student profile files were kept.

After touring our campus library which is quite large, we finally found it. Along the shelves are files of student profiles from each batch.

"Sean, Eric killed himself three or four years ago, right?" I asked Sean who was standing beside me.

"Yeah, I heard the rumors that way." I quickly took the file which had the year number on the cover written about 3 and 4 years ago.

First, I opened the student files of the class 3 years ago. I open sheet after sheet carefully, I pay close attention to the names of students and their photos. However, I was a little disappointed when I couldn't find it even though I had opened it to the last sheet.

Now I switch to opening student files batch 4 years ago. Like before, I opened sheet by sheet carefully. I read carefully the student's name on each sheet and I noticed the student's photo. My hand movement stopped and my eyes widened perfectly when I finally found Eric's profile. Yes, I'm sure this is a profile about Eric if I see the names and student photos on the paper.

"I found it," I said cheerfully. Sean quickly typed Eric's family's home address on his cell phone.

"Come on, let's go there now," said Sean which I responded with a nod.

Riding Sean's motorbike, Sean and I went to Eric's address, which was quite far from campus. It was already noon and I was worried that we would be late back to the dormitory. However, I ignored that thought because the most important thing right now was helping Eric's ghost return to his realm as soon as possible.