Ghost Trail

”Tonight at 3:30am the body of Mrs. Josephine Sauveterre was found in Sawtooth national forest in Idaho. She was found mutilated in a cabin deep into the woods that looked to have been abandoned for years. ” The news reporter droned on with the usual fake concerned look on her face. Thats at least what they all looked like to Joel Sauveterre. It took the police a whole year to finally find where he had stashed his sister away. He expected it to be a little longer but he wasn complaining. 365 days was a long time to keep a body hidden in his mind.

He stood in the doorway of the little kitchen that led to his living room, sipping coffee from an old chipped whiskey tumbler. It would be a waste of money to purchase specific types of cups like mugs just for coffee. Joel crossed the living room and sat on his old spring mattress that was only covered with a singular thin blanket and an old pillow. While he watched the news on the small tv screen a small smile broke out on his face.

”Any fingerprints on her would be long rotted off her right?.. ” he chuckled sleepily, sipping his coffee. He remembered wearing gloves anyway so his fingerprints wouldn be on anything anyway. Joel smiled more as he realized that there was no way that any evidence could be directed at him. His parents were long dead as well, their bodies found. They had died of natural causes is what the news had said. That was what the public believed.

He watched the interview of the teenagers that had found the old cabin in the first place. ”Probably ran off to ** around in peace.. ” Joel mumbled to himself, his eyes never leaving the screen. It was a group of four teens, three guys and one girl. As he watched his smile faded when the girl of the group was being interviewed.

She had shoulder length brown hair, defined jawline, tight lips and puffy red eyes from crying. She wore a heavy blue coat with the furry hood over her head. When the interviewer asked what her name was her response damn near made Joel drop his cup.

”Josephine Maes. ” She sniffled, a Belgian accent traced her cracking voice. A simple coincidence is what he told himself it was but he quickly set his glass down on the carpeted floor and got up. He rushed to the tiny closet and yanked out an old cardboard box full of pictures and dumped them onto the floor. He searched for a specific one of a girl with a shoulder length brown hair, small lips, olive colored skin, and a define jawline with big brown eyes. She wore a blue puffy coat in the picture and had a large smile, showing big teeth. He rushed back to the TV and held up the picture next to the girl being interviewed.

”What the… ” he mumbled noticing the resemblance of the girl on the tv and the one in the picture. The only difference seemed to be the girl on the TV had a smaller nose and eyes and a big green puffy jacket. ”Thats just a coincidence. ” Joel reassured himself while he tore up the picture of his sister, letting the pieces flutter to the ground. He grumbled when he saw that a few pieces fell into his coffee and Joseph picked the glass up once more and went back to the little kitchen that seemed to be barely holding itself together. He dumped his ruined coffee in the sink and began making a new batch.

”There you are Joel! ” A girl giggled in the living room but could not be heard by the living. ”Ugh you live in such a rats nest. What is the mattress?! ” The girl gagged while scoping the area. Her picture was ripped up on the floor and she got on her knees to see the picture.

”Im glad you tore this one up, I look terrible. ” She rolled her eyes. Her thick French accent rang through the rundown apartment but she was the only one who could hear herself. She moved the pieces back together to form the picture again and noticed she was missing a few.

The girl, Josephine Sauveterre strolled to the kitchen and saw her younger brother making coffee.

”There you are. ” She snapped, smacking the glass of the counter and it shattered to the floor. She watched him scream and jump away from the glass shattering on the floor. His eyes darted everywhere but saw nobody. Young Joseph looked right through her (literally) and stepped over the mess to avoid getting shards in his bare feet.

Joel scoured the house for anybody but no one was there. He has lived alone for years now so he didn expect anybody there but he couldn figure out how to cover up the glass flying off the counter. He had stepped away from it so how would it have fallen when it was so far back? An uneasy feeling came over him as he grabbed the broom and dustpan.

”Yeah clean it up damn it. While your at it clean the rest of this crack house. ” Josephine Sauvaterre snapped while she watched her brother clean up the glass she had shattered. An idea dawned on her. An evil grin spread across her thin lips as she sat on the low counter and plotted more.