Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Everyone listened to Old Mr. Rosewood attentively as he recounted the details of his daughter's mysterious death. The mood was somber and heavy, almost as if they were trapped in a room that made breathing difficult. Anthony glanced at Lilly and found her holding Old Mr. Rosewood’s hand in hers gently, listening to his story without fear nor judgment. Anthony was not sure if Lilly fully grasped the gruesomeness of the murder incident, or if she should even be allowed to hear these things in the first place.

Yet, he knew Lilly was not your average 4-year-old child.

“That means... Roxanne also only found out where Amelia was buried after she died and turned into a ghost,” Pablo observed.

What about the other 17 skeletons underneath the field?“Don’t be too upset, Grandpa Rosewood,” Lilly tried to comfort the old man. She brought herself closer to him and whispered some words in his ear. Old Mr. Rosewood expression turned from one of shock and surprise to joy before finally calming down.

“Great!” there was a vicious bite to his tone. “It is karma!” Lilly noticed that the incense candle above his head was about to burn out soon. “Grandpa Rosewood, is there anything else you need our help with?” she asked.

Old Mr. Rosewood shook his head tiredly. “No... There's nothing else you can do for me. | can be with my wife now. Before she died, she still reminded me to keep looking for our daughter...” His eyes were heavy, and he was desperately trying to keep them open. “Oh yes, if you could, could you help me look for someone?” “I can try,” Lilly nodded, but Old Mr. Rosewood remained silent. His eyes were already shut, and he had fallen into an eternal slumber. His face looked like he was at peace, with his lips curved up in a slight smile.

The room fell deathly silent. There was a complicated emotion playing in Valentine's eyes. When Mrs. Rosewood passed on, it was Mr. Rosewood who organized her affairs and arranged for her funeral, but now, there were no other Rosewoods alive.

Valentine hesitated for a moment, but finally sent out a text message instructing someone to arrange for Mr. Rosewood’s funeral and cremation.

“Let's go!” Anthony said as he grabbed hold of Lilly's hand gently.

“Hold on,” Lilly stopped him. A wandering soul had emerged from Old Mr. Rosewood’s dead body, staring at his surroundings blankly.

“I... What's going on...” The ghost of Old Mr. Rosewood wondered aloud.

“Grandpa Rosewood!” Lilly greeted him. “You haven't told us the favor you were going to ask of us!” The ghost of Old Mr. Rosewood was much more responsive and alert than his human form, perhaps because he was no longer carrying any human weight. It was like a burden had been lifted off him.

“When | was searching for Amelia’s body more than ten years ago, | met an old policeman along the way. He was an undercover spy at the time, and the criminals had discovered his real identity. They killed his entire family, save for his grandson. Before he died, he asked me to find and take care of the boy, but | never found him...” Old Mr. Rosewood said with a tinge of regret in his voice. “Back then, he said his grandson was about 7 years old, so he must be about 25 or 26 now. He was from South City and his last name was MacNeil. Oh yes, his name was Erick MacNeil...” the ghost recalled.

As for the grandson’s name, Erick did not reveal it to Mr. Rosewood before he died. Mr. Rosewood observed Lilly in a new light as he told this story, and he could not help but feel a kindred connection to the little girl, as if they had crossed paths in a time before.

Lilly mentally noted down the facts that Mr. Rosewood had given her. 256 years old... Last name MacNeil from South City...

Erick MacNeil... South City? That was her hometown too! Lilly thought.

“Got it!” Lilly nodded reassuringly.

Just then, Charlie entered the room once again. “Mr. Crawford, the police have already made their way to the crime scene.

They've started digging up the school field,” Charlie informed.

As she heard Charlie's voice, Lilly turned her head around only to find the old lady in the green dress still silently observing her.

The old lady smiled at her once again.

“I should go now... While there's still time, | should go and look for Amelia,” Old Mr. Rosewood said. As if there was an invisible string leading the way, Old Mr. Rosewood somehow knew which way to go. As he passed the old lady in the green dress, he even stopped to say hello. “Mrs. Taylor! Don’t go around scaring the young kids looking like that!” he chuckled.

Lilly's right hand held on to Anthony as she raised her left hand to wave at Old Mr. Rosewood. “Goodbye, Grandpa Rosewood! Uncle Anthony, let's go now. Grandpa Rosewood is gone!” As Lilly approached the door, Old Mrs. Taylor cleared her throat and followed closely behind Lilly. “Lilly... Lilly...” she howled. “I knew your father...” Lilly stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face the old lady. “Who was my father?” she demanded to know.

“MacNeil... MacNeil...” the old lady droned on.

“What's his first name?” Lilly asked, but the old lady only shook her head and continued chanting.

“MacNeil... MacNeil..." Lilly frowned in deep thought for a moment before speaking. “Master, why do they always repeat themselves?” she asked Pablo.

She was thinking about all the other ghosts she had encountered previously. Her stepmother used to repeat herself saying, “You caused me so much misery... so much misery!” When the vanity ghost turned angry, she repeatedly yelled out, “It's not fair.... It's not fair...!” Right now, the old lady in the green dress could not stop repeating the last name MacNeil.

Pablo referred to his little booklet and spoke while reading. “When a spirit lacks IQ, it will tend to repeat certain words over and over again. After all, the human being leaves its brain behind once it dies. Some of them may have unfocused eyes, and some might drool uncontrollably, but a common trait among them is that they will repeat the last thing they encountered right before their death...” Pablo’s brows were still furrowed as he flipped the booklet for more information. Sweet Pea’s father’s last name is MacNeil, but there was no MacNeil in South City related to her. He finally found Erick MacNeil’s name in the booklet, as well as Erick’s son, but there was no information when it came to Erick’s grandson. How strange! Pablo eyed Old Mrs. Taylor curiously as he tried to connect all the dots. The vanity ghost... Old Mrs. Taylor... Mr. Rosewood...

Mr. Rosewood was looking for a MacNeil, and the old lady just said that Lilly's father was a MacNeil. Did Old Mrs. Taylor say that because she knew that for a fact, or was she just repeating after Mr. Rosewood like a robot? Beside Lilly, Josh whispered to her while eyeing his surroundings cautiously. “Lils, have they left yet?” he asked, referring to both Mr. Rosewood as well as the spirit that Lilly saw on the way in.

“Nope, there’s one right next to you,” Lilly said as a matter-of-factly. Josh grimaced in fear as Anthony led both of them out of the house.

Once Valentine had passed down the instructions to handle Mr. Rosewood’s funeral, he turned toward Lilly only to frighten himself. He found the little girl seemingly talking to herself, but he knew that was probably not the case.

Almost as if Lilly could hear his thoughts, she turned around to face Valentine with a strange expression on her face. “Mr. Taylor, remember to bring an umbrella when you walk back to your house!” she informed him.

Valentine was confused at her request, but he figured there was no harm in obliging her request. It was just an umbrella after all.

A ghost was not going to pop out from the umbrella, was it? He found an unused umbrella and opened it just before he walked back to his own house, completely missing the floating spirit that tagged along to his umbrella and followed him home. “Ms. Lilly, thank you for all the help! My mother was unconscious ever since she slipped and fell one day. After emergency surgery in the ICU, the doctors managed to save her life, but she wouldn't wake up...” he explained.

Pablo wrinkled his nose while reading his booklet. “Old Mrs. Taylor should have rightfully passed away... How could she still be holding on to her last breath? She'd be cheating death if she woke up,” Pablo remarked in confusion.

As they spoke, Valentine led Lilly and her entourage into his home, a magnificent three-story bungalow with manicured front and back lawns. Valentine brought them upstairs toward his mother’s room. As he pushed the door wide open, Anthony and the rest of them were stunned in disbelief.