Counting Shadows [complete]

Chapter 11

Jonathan looked at me. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. He looked surprised, clearly he expected it will take more to persuade me to join his little quest. Of course, I wasn't still sure this was the best thing to do, but at this moment I didn't have any alternative. The blood was the only thing that I could have thought of to provide me with immunity, using evil to ward off evil.

"Well, clearly you have a little problem with a ghost." I sounded like I didn't believe it. "Which means there must be some dark secret why is she haunting you. So spill the beans."

Two could play this game. Maybe I wasn't professional ghost hunter, but I knew there were pieces missing. And I knew it would be me who would be risking a life. And the part about mirroring sounded simply way too cheesy even to me.

I looked straight into his eyes. He was staring back at me blankly. I sighed, it would have been more interesting to stare at a wall. For a moment I thought not only Jonathan and Jake are like siamese twins, but they probably shared a brain too. Could a vampire be a bit - well, not exactly the sharpest?

"I guess this will take some time. No matter how exciting is to stand in the middle of the street, let's hit McDonald's," I said and not waiting for their response I started to cross the street.

"You must be kidding," Jake said and I realised he had been quiet for quite a long time. Actually, since he said I was glowing.

"Well, you two geniuses, where else should we now go? At least we can sit down and I can have a coffee. I wouldn't mind an ice cream. I think I deserve it after all. Feel free to simply stare at me," I simply kept walking towards the side entrance. To be fair, there wasn't any other place open where we could sit down to talk. And I could do with an ice cream and a coffee. I was not lying about that.

I was standing in front of the counter contemplating whether it would be appropriate to have a pie when discussing exorcism in addition to the coffee and ice cream. Then I corrected myself. Jonathan had a problem with a ghost, not a demon. I certainly needed the coffee. Was it possible the problem was actually a demon? I couldn't really believe a vampire could have a problem with a ghost. On the other hand, not sure why he should have a problem with a demon either. The situation asked for ice cream.

"What should I get you?" Jake asked me. I didn't even realised he joined me. He was standing so close behind me I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. I remembered how soft and warm he felt just a couple of minutes ago and the memories gave me shivers down the spine. The feeling was not completely unpleasant, I found it more distracting than anything.

"Apple pie, McFlurry with Smarties and a cappuccino," I responded without even looking at him. I turned around and walked back towards Jonathan who sat down in a corner. He looked a bit out of place there. No matter how he tried to look like anyone else you could feel he was from different times. I decided to sit down across the table from him. Now it was all about business.

"Just for the record, I am not dim," he greeted me. He looked me into eyes and for the first time I realised he had grey eyes. Not blue, but grey. As if nature couldn't decide what colour to go with. I was not sure if he was joking or he was serious. I nodded to be on the safe side. I was waiting for him to start.

"Her name was Annie." Jonathan was clearly feeling uncomfortable sharing any details. "She was someone I used to know when I was younger." I assumed younger was an euphemism for alive.

"You know I need to know the whole story. How do you expect me to help?" I asked, looking around for Jake. I wanted my ice cream. This could take some time. At least Jake was coming with my food and to my surprise a Big Mac menu as well. I looked at him.

"It's not like we had a dinner." He shrugged. He sat down and started to eat his burger as if this was a normal family outing. I was really surprised. It was not the reaction I was hoping for. Less than half an hour ago we were kissing passionately in the plain sight of my boyfriend, or someone I wanted to consider one, and now he was mostly interested in Big Mac. I focused again on Jonathan and my ice cream. I left the ice cream melt on my tongue slowly and I could feel my thoughts slowing down. Now wasn't good time to be emotional about the whole business. I took another spoon of the ice cream.

"OK. We got a bit involved. There was no chance we could make it last, but I was foolish and naive. I quite liked her." I believed Jonathan for about a second. Involved, no chance, liked not loved. His own words. I didn't object, I just nodded.

"Well, she thought I should really pursue my career and disappeared from my life," he continued. I wondered if it was so easy, would she haunt him? I doubted it.

"I didn't agree with my family, so I went to America for some time. Back then it was really the place where you could make something out of your life," he said. Again I tried to figure when that could have been. Jonathan was not giving away any clue. I let him continue.

"I came back, but it was too late. Annie's mother told me she died. I stayed around for a bit and then returned back to America."

It sounded believable but I was not buying it. People were not usually haunted by their exes, no matter how painful the breakup was and who caused it for the matter. Plus if he just "liked" her, why coming back for her? Did she send him away hoping he would build a life for them? I decided to focus on the details that could explain how dangerous the whole thing would be. I had the feeling I really didn't get much of the story.

"Let's say I believe you. Why me?" I asked. If there were a detail I needed to understand, it was why me and not someone else.

"I thought Jake explained." Jonathan looked at Jake as if it were something he was supposed to explain.

"He said something, but I want to hear it from you."

"Why?" Jonathan asked. It was a valid question.

I wanted to respond that because I didn't trust him, because it didn't make a sense or because he was not saying everything there were. Instead, I said: "Why not?" with an innocent smile that would melt an iceberg.

"Well, I talked to a medium. Back in the USA. Once I realised I had a problem with a ghost, I tried to find someone to sort it. And it didn't work, obviously."

"Obviously," I nodded.

"The medium told me that it will be easier to sort it out here where it all started. I needed someone similar to Annie." Here was where his version looked similar to Jake's. I looked his way just to check if he knew it. It seemed it was new to him. I felt better, maybe they weren't completely Siamese twins.

"The crystal lead me to you." Crystal? What crystal? As if to answer my question, he showed a small crystal he had on a string around his neck. It was calling me. I could feel it whispering my name. I shivered. I am no expert on ghosts and crystals, but it seemed odd. I focused on it, but couldn't get more information about it. Was it calling me because I was one of the ingredients of the spell? That seemed far-fetched even to me. I wished I had someone to ask about it. I guessed I could... but I realised that wasn't the point. I was sure I was just being paranoid.

"Are you all right?" Jonathan asked. I was thinking carefully what to answer. Saying that I found it all a bit odd would probably not have worked. What do they say? Fake it till you make it? I decided that was the right approach and nodded.

"I was just thinking about your story," I said.

"Meaning?" He raised brows. He was not used to people not believing him.

"That there is more to it. But I guess Annie will tell," I said with another iceberg melting smile.

"Where did you get it?" I changed the topic. I kept looking at the crystal.

"It's supposed to help me find you." Jonathan looked smug. So it was some sort of location spell. I was not sure if I knew anything about location spells - to be fair, I suspected I never bothered to learn anything about them. I was not really into the crystals, even at school when we had to learn precious stones. As far as I was concerned, diamond is not girl's best friend - they tend to be just... well, stones. No fun in that.

"And then?" I asked.

"Well, aren't you the witch?" said Jonathan, clearly surprised.