The year was 1895, and Suzanne had just settled into the nursing home nestled right in the middle of the city. She had been having trouble living on her own since John, her husband of 52 years, had passed last October. It was May now, but despite the spring temperatures that were beginning to show more prominently, she still wore an extra layer of skirts.
Suzanne had been blessed in life. She grew up in the high society of New York City where she met John in her early teen years and was immediately smitten with the man. He had charmed her with the promise of a better future and a dazzling smile. They were wed six months after their first encounter. John was in the business of grain trading, and the two had relocated to Wichita, Kansas just a few weeks after their marriage. In this city, they built a life together. John’s business had blossomed, and the town grew steadily over time. They were blessed with three children; two strapping boys who followed in their father’s footsteps and a blue-eyed baby girl who was studying back in New York. Suzanne was proud of the life she lived, but recently, she had been growing lonely.
She had been on the phone (the latest model might she add) with her daughter a few months back when the idea of Suzanne moving into a nursing home had first been brought up.
“Mother, what if you went and stayed in one of those old folk’s places?” Her daughter, Rebecca, had asked.
Taken aback, the mother had said: “Now, why would I do that, Becky? I am fine by myself.”
“Mom, this is the third time you’ve called me this week, and you still send me letters. And don’t say that you’re not pestering Johnny and Michael because they have both called me to discuss your bothering.”
The older woman was a bit stunned. Had she really been doing that? Suzanne prided herself on being a more progressive mother. She tried not to meddle in her kids’s lives too much, and she got along well with all of their spouses. Of course, Rebecca wasn’t being courted by anyone at the moment. The girl always ridiculed her mother saying she was too busy with her studies to care about finding a life partner. However, the girl always had a plethora of stories to tell about her best friend Carynn, but Suzanne could stress about that later.
“Just think about it. Okay, Momma?” Rebecca sighed.
“Alright.” She had responded.
And that’s what brought her to now. She stared out the window of her new home. Across the street was the small, but bustling, Garfield University. She knew many people who worked here at the home attended that same University, and she rather enjoyed their company. They reminded her of Rebecca. With a sigh, she settled into her new bed for a short rest before dinner.
Maybe life here wouldn’t be terrible.
~
Life at the old folk’s home, as her daughter had called it, was rather pleasant. Suzanne had made good friends and had a rather contented time. She passed away two years after moving in.
~
Fast forward 129 years and the town of Wichita had boomed. Aviation was the town’s biggest product, and it now housed three major universities. Garfield University has been transformed into the beautiful, Quaker college known as Friends University. The school was packed with students from all over the States and the globe, creating a diverse atmosphere of people and experiences. One experience, however, seemed to be universal for most college kids.
The blaring BAHH, BAHH, BAHH of a phone’s alarm was ringing rather loudly for the third time that morning. Surprisingly, it was not the alarm that woke Cami up, but a pillow being thrown at her head.
“Cameran, if you do not turn off that alarm, I am going to throw it out the window.” A voice threatened. Cami knew that voice well, and she also knew that threat was more of a promise. Fumbling around, Cami silenced the phone and drug herself from bed. The alarm going off usually meant she had one hour until class started, but a glance at the time said she had five minutes. Tor was going to kill her.
~
Walking into class six minutes late, Cami was greeted with Tor’s wicked smile. “Glad you could join us this morning, Miss Cameran.” He said, no malice behind his words. Cami smiled back at him.
“Hey, now. Let’s all be glad I’m actually here.” She retorted to the older man.
Cami made her way to the seat in the middle of the classroom, against the wall right beside one of her closest friends, Judy. As soon as she sat down, Judy whispered in her ear, “Bro, did you see the group chat?”
It was already shaping up to be a long day.
~
Long day it was. Cami had been busy all day, and she was so excited to settle into bed for the evening. It was late October and the chill that her window provided was perfect. Living in Village had been an experience. The windows never closed all the way, the air conditioners never worked, and the rooms were entirely too small for two people to share, but she liked the vibe of the place. Besides, her roommate, and best friend since middle school, was usually at her boyfriends anyway. So, Cami settled into the silence softly as she scrolled TikTok and responded to text messages. Slowly, she passed out.
It was a little after 3 AM when Cami awoke to a loud clattering coming from the kitchen. Choosing to ignore it (it was probably one of her roommates), she closed her eyes once more, but another loud bang interrupted her sleep. Getting up from her bed with an annoyed huff, she made her way to the kitchen and found. . . nothing?
A puzzling look made its way to her face. She could have sworn she heard something. Maybe it was a trick of her mind. Cami turned back to her room, prepared to sleep off whatever this strange feeling was, but another BANG was heard behind her. Cami whipped back around. Nothing. Maybe she was going crazy.
~
Turns out, Cami was going crazy. For the next three days after that, she heard the same bang around the same time every night, but her roommates only gave her strange looks when she brought it up. However, a conversation at work sparked an idea.
“You know, that building used to be a nursing home.” One of her co-workers had pointed out. “Maybe it’s haunted.”
Cami probably shouldn’t have taken that to heart, but she did anyway. Luckily for her, all of her roommates were out for the evening, and she had a plan. Confront the ghost, simple enough. So, as 3 AM rolled around, and like clockwork, the first BANG was heard and Cami emerged from her room to the kitchen. She took a deep breath before speaking.
“Hey, can you stop?” she asked. A red flush covered Cami’s face. This felt entirely wrong. She was talking to thin air. “I- I’m Cami. I heard this place used to be an old folk’s home, and umm, now it’s not. Well, obviously it’s not. It’s a college. If you’ve been here for that long then you probably know that it’s no longer a nursing home. Sorry, am I rambling?” Cami was greeted with silence. “This is insane. I’m talking to nothing all because stupid An-”
BANG, BANG!
That had never happened before. Cami froze. “Can you do that again if you understand me?” she asked, hopeful. BANG, BANG. “Wow, you are a ghost. Okay, this is pretty cool. So, did you live here?” Two more bangs sounded out. Cami took a seat on the ground. She had a feeling she would be here for a while.
By the end of the night, Cami had learned that the ghost was a woman who lived in the building before Friends University existed. Her name was Suzanne (that had been rather easy to figure out, Cami credited her people skills), and the ghost was in the building because she was looking for information. Cami had decided to do some research more on this woman.
The only thing she found out was a brief history of the woman’s husband. He had been big in the grain trade, and as aircraft took over Wichita in the early 1900s, the company had relocated to Oklahoma. In fact, not too far from Cami’s own hometown. Unfortunately, the company was sold during the Depression, and it was integrated into a larger grain trading company in Oklahoma since then. Cami hadn’t found out much, but she hoped that the ghost would be satisfied anyway.
Again, the loud initial bang woke up Cami, and she ventured out to tell Suzanne the news. She quickly explained everything to the ghost lady. “Will that help you find who you’re looking for?” Cami asked. BANG. A frown made its way to Cami’s face. “I’m sorry.” She was met with nothing. It seemed Suzanne was done talking for the night. Cami retreated to bed, now determined to do whatever it took to help her friend.
~
It was a week later that Cami got the answer she needed. She had been on the phone with her mother. The two had been gossiping about a girl from Cami’s high school who was pregnant again when Cami brought up her ghost friend. Cami’s mom had laughed so loudly that Cami had to remove her phone from her ear in order to not go deaf.
“I’m serious, Mother,” Cami stated. “I have a ghost, and she needs help. I think it has to do with her daughter who wasn’t married before she died.”
“Cameran, I think you need to see a shrink.” Her mother cackled. “You’ve officially lost all your marbles.”
“Would you lock in for a second?” Cami pleaded. “I don’t know what to do for Suzanne, my ghosty friend has been trapped in this dumb dorm room for years. She can’t leave until she gets the answers she needs.”
“You know,” Cami’s mom began. “You used to have a great, great, great, so on and on, grandma named Suzanne who died in Wichita years ago. The family relocated shortly after that.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I took that DNA test thing with your dad last Christmas. It was rather interesting, Cameran.”
Now, that was interesting. “Do you think you could send me those results?”
~
Two days later, Cami found herself on the kitchen floor. “Hey, Suzanne. I think I figured it out!” Silence. “Okay, your daughter’s name was Rebecca, right?” Two bangs. Cami smiled. “So, she did actually end up getting married. She met a man named Daniel in New York just a few months after you passed apparently. They got married and moved to Oklahoma to be closer to her brothers. They had six kids, and they lived a good life from the looks of it. They didn’t suffer too much during the Depression, but the Dust Bowl put an end to the family business. However, all six of her kids ended up getting married and wed. And from there, things only got better. Some of them settled permanently in Oklahoma and a few others moved around. One family in particular stuck out to me.” Cami paused. Two bangs rang out, signaling her to continue. “They lived for years, and are still there. They are direct descendants of Rebecca and Daniel. They have a daughter now, who would be the same age as Rebecca was when you passed. Her name is Cameran, or Cami for short.” Again, Cami paused. “Do you understand?”
Two bangs sounded. Cami smiled gently. “I guess, it was me you were looking for. Isn’t that weird?” Two more bangs. “Do you feel better now?” Bang, bang. “Good.” Silence filled the air for a moment. It was odd learning that the ghost haunting Cami’s dorm room was actually her grandmother from years ago.
“Suzanne, do you think you can go to wherever ghosts go now?” Two gentle knocks against the counter. Cami smiled again. “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”
Cami was met with nothing. She felt a small tug at her heart. Making her way back to her room, Cami slipped into the covers and closed her eyes. That night she dreamt of a woman and her kids, three of them. Two boys and a blue-eyed baby girl. The woman looked a little like herself in another life.
~
No more noises woke up Cami in the night.
The Mews 
Leave a comment