The Lady In Black

It was another cold, gloomy morning when John woke up early on a Monday to work at his nine-to-five job. He hated every single bit of working at this energy-consuming job but, he needed the money. His life was an ongoing cycle of waking up, going to work, and going back to sleep at night. His biggest wish is to get a large sum of money one day and buy whatever he wants. Despite this burden, he remains nonchalant.

After working for an exhausting eight hours, he starts to head back home where he could rest. He looks at his living room couch and instantly feels at ease. As John sits on his couch, he starts thinking about living with his parents again and his life before he moved out to an apartment.

"Life was so easy back then. I had everything given to me as well. Free-rent and much more," he sighed.

John then decided to get up and grab a little black leather-covered book that he had taken with him when he moved. It was smooth and he loved the feeling of it. Inside of it was old pictures of him and his family pasted on each page. He flips through each page of the book reminiscing about the good old days. In the middle of flipping pages, he suddenly noticed something odd about each picture. It seems he was the first to notice this since no one in the family ever mentioned it.

He asked himself, "Who in the world is this?"

In the background of every single picture of him and his family, there would be a lady who was always dressed in all-black. She wore a black dress with black boots in every picture. She would be somewhere in the background standing still looking somewhat eerie. Regarding her looks, John could only infer that she kept a straight face because she wore a black hat that covered half of it. The only thing that could be seen was her lips.

"Who is this and why does she appear in every single photo? I have never seen this woman before," he whispered.

As he flips through, he constantly sees the same woman as if there is no escape. She was always blended in perfectly with the background so he had to try if he wanted to see her. It only got creepier and creepier as he continued to look.

"I cannot take this anymore," he uttered.

John decided that it was time to take this seriously and find out who this lady was because he couldn't deal with this mystery. His curiosity needed to be taken care of. He immediately shut the book and put it in his handbag that he would take to the police station the next day.

The next morning, John wakes up and heads to the police station immediately after getting ready. He didn't care about his job calling him, he just wanted to figure out this family photo mystery. On his way to the station, the day felt so gray. Every thought he had of that lady in those pictures gave him the creeps.

"The one time something interesting happens in my life, it's something weird," he said to himself.

He finally arrived at the police station and made his way inside. There was a bald, chubby-looking police officer sitting at the front desk with a nameplate on it that read Nicholas K. He walked up to the desk.

"Hello, my name is John Owens. I'm just here today because I have discovered something very odd and I wanted to know if you fellow policemen could help me out."

He handed him the black book and the police officer stared it down.

"So what seems to be the problem here today?" asked the police officer.

"Open it up and look at every single picture. There is a creepy-looking woman dressed in all black standing somewhere in the background of all of them. It has taken me years to really see this because she blends in with each background so well and I don't really look into this book often. I have to know who this is officer."

"Oh, my days. This is some really sketchy stuff you've got here my friend. Can I please see some identification?"

John handed him his driver's license and officer Nicholas K proceeded to jot down some notes on a piece of paper. As he was writing he was also looking at the family photos. Suddenly, he became shocked. His face held a flabbergasted expression for a few seconds. He gave John his driver's license back.

"You've just unlocked a memory of mine. This lady was reported missing years ago by an old family. This is an unsolved case. Her family doesn't know what happened to her or where she is. We police just call her The Lady in Black because she's known for only wearing black. Are you sure you don't know her?" The officer asked in a serious tone.

"Yes! That's exactly why I'm here, I genuinely don't know who she is yet she appears in every single picture!" John yelled.

They both stared at each other seriously.

"Come back tomorrow, we will have to do some further investigation on this matter. I'll be keeping this book with me," the officer said.

John agreed and slowly walked out of the front door. He hopes that he could find out who she really is and finally be done with the whole situation. He drove home and decided to not go back to work even though there was still time. He didn't care.

The next day he woke up yearning for something. He wanted to rid his mind of the lady but she was stuck in his head causing more curiosity. John kept thinking and thinking. He couldn't figure out who she was.

"Forget this, it's time to get down to business," he frustratingly said.

He got in his car in a hurry and drove all the way to the police station. As he walked inside he found the same person. Officer Nicholas K.

"I've been expecting you. It's a good thing that you're on time but I'm afraid I have some bad news for you," the officer said.

"Alright officer, spill the beans, I want to get to the bottom of this."

"Mr. Owens, it seems as if there is actually nothing that can be done with these pictures. We all know that she went missing but these pictures won't help us find her. Obviously, this was years ago. So, therefore, we can't really do anything with old pictures."

"You're kidding me, right?" John asked as he began to worry.

There was a moment of silence.

"Come on, you're a police officer. At least do something. I've been having bad nights wondering who the hell this woman is. I just have to know why she's in every single picture!"

"I already told you that there is no information that I can provide to you when it comes to these pictures. But, I wouldn't like to see you leave here empty-handed. I forgot to mention that I did some research and I found out that when this lady went missing, her family actually set a prize for anyone who had any pictures of her. Of course, you love your family so I won't take the whole book. You can just rip out one page," the officer said.

"Well, that does sound okay but it depends on how good the reward is," he said.

"The reward is 20,000 dollars! The price is so high because the family was wealthy and they were very eager to see her once again. I guess today is your lucky day my friend."

John gasped, "Wait, your joking right?"

Officer Nicholas K. stood up.

"This is definitely not a joke. Follow me, Mr. Owens."

John and the police officer walk into a room at the back of the police station. The room was big and only consisted of metal drawers. Officer Nicholas K walked inside and opened a drawer in the right corner of the room. He then walked out with a black suitcase and spoke to John.

"Take this, and I'll deliver your photo to the house of the family. I'm glad you brought this to my attention. The last time I remember, this lady's family was devastated."

"Oh my god, this is unbelievable! It's like my wish came true. I've always wanted a lot of money like this!" He exclaimed.

The officer laughed, "doesn't everybody want money?"

John was having a bittersweet moment. Even though he had all of this money, his curiosity was not cured.

"If that's all, it's time for you to go now buddy," the officer said.

"Thank you for your time," John said politely.

John finally hopped in his car and started driving home. As he was driving, he still felt as if something was missing. Deep down inside, he still wanted to know who The Lady in Black was.

Finally, John arrived at his apartment sitting on his living room couch once again. He opened the black suitcase and set it on the table in front of him. A glass of wine that he had poured for himself sits in his hand as he takes slow sips. He thinks about everything that had just happened and how crazy it was.

"I wonder what I'm going to do with this cash now that I have it. Maybe I'll go on a vacation," he said to himself.

John was getting tired. He decided to pick up his little black family photo book once again just to see the lady.

He giggled, "Let us see the person that put twenty thousand dollars in my pocket."

There was a moment of silence.

She was nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures anymore. Meanwhile, she only remained visible in the picture that the officer had.

It was as if she only appeared in order to fulfill John's biggest wish.