Peter was starting on his homework and I was flipping through the channels when my father came in with what looked like an old keepsake box.
“What is that?”
He just smiled and sat down next to me. He took the clicker and turned off the TV so there would be no distractions.
“Instead of me telling you what I know,” he took the cover off, “I thought I’d let you mother.”
“Oh my god.”
The box was filled with letters, pictures, newspaper clippings…
The last thing on top was a printed out email from my mom. I read it over, it was dated a few days before she died. She talked about mundane things really. She wondered how I would take moving to America, if my father and I would get along.
“I can’t read these.” I looked at him. “Some of these…they have to be private.”
“Cass,” he took one of my hands, linking his fingers between mine, “I know you’ve been wondering what exactly it was she was thinking. Well, here’s your chance. This is what I knew of you before we met at the school. Besides the phone calls that you never answered, this is what I had.”
“But these are…” I looked back down at the box and its contents, “these are her thoughts, feelings…there’s probably stuff in here I don’t want to know. All I knew of you was that she didn’t like you very much.”
“I know but…” he reached in, shuffled around a little, and pulled out a picture, “I loved you. We loved you. Once upon a time we were a family, the three of us.”
I took the well worn picture from him and looked at it. I’d never seen it before. It was a young version of him obviously but he didn’t look much older than Peter did now. He was in a white undershirt, sitting in the driver’s seat of a truck. A cigarette was in his mouth barely clinging to his lips, sunglasses on his face, and smiling at the camera. A baby sat on his lap, both hands on the steering wheel.
The baby was me and I was looking up at him, grinning, like I was looking at my whole world.
“You and me, kid. We were inseparable.”
He kissed me on the temple and left me to look through the box. But I just sat there for a good ten minutes, staring down at the picture. I’d never seen one of us together besides the one I had up in my room.
Peter came over, his homework abandoned for now. He wrapped an arm around me, moving as close to me as possible.
“You look happy.”
I pressed my lips together trying not to cry. I knew he was talking about the picture because at that moment I probably looked far from happy.
“The only picture my mother ever let me see of him was one where you couldn’t see his face. His back was to the camera, he was walking down the street, and he was holding me. I was facing the camera but…” I shook my head, “the only emotion in the picture was mine.” I looked at Peter. “I never had this to look at. I always thought he left because he didn’t want to be a part of our family, that he didn’t want me.”
“Now you know,” he whispered. “I’m sure, if you read all of this, you’ll find out that he did want to be your family.”
“Then why…”
“Things happen, Cass. The point is,” he tapped the photograph, “the man in this picture and the one that just gave you this box, this house, this home, are the same. He loves you, it’s pretty clear.”
“I know that.”
“Good. Because I love you too and I hope you don’t need a picture to prove it.”
A laugh found its way through the tears and I leaned into him, thankful, yet again, that I had him here to help me get through all this. I looked up at him and kept the smile on my face.
“I love you too.”
~ * ~
I put off going through the rest of it until Peter was done with his homework. I didn’t know what it was but I didn’t want to go through it by myself. I would be diving into my mother’s thoughts and feelings, an invasion I would feel better about if Peter was there helping me. My father came back in a little while later to watch TV with me. He didn’t ask about the box and I was thankful. He had to be the most understanding parent on the planet, maybe the universe.
“What are you watching?”
“I do not know. I have to say I’m still getting used to how this all works.”
My father had a universal remote but there was a DVD player, Blue Ray, VCR (he refused to give up on tapes), sound system…
It was insane.
“Technically I’m waiting on slow poke back there so we can watch a movie.”
My father looked at the clock. “It’s getting late, Cassie. I think you guys are going to have to forgo the movie watching for later.”
It was true. It was nine thirty already but I didn’t expect him to be a hard ass now. He wasn’t before.
“Dad…”
“Remember what we talked about?” I rolled my eyes. “You asked for this so now you’re getting it.”
“But…”
“Curfew is ten. Sorry, kid.”
“You picked the worst time to be…” My phone started ringing. “Hold that thought.”
I looked at the caller ID and my eyes got huge.
“Who is it?”
“I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”
I shot out of the room and into the kitchen, pressing accept as I went.
“Hello?”
“Well. Ms. South. Long time, no talk. I was starting to think my prediction was wrong.”
His sentences were short and clipped. Formal enough but having that little touch of familiarity to make you feel like he knew you. So like a cop.
“Andy.”
“So…you called. From the way you sounded, I assume you weren’t in immediate danger. That means you need something else.”
“Yes, actually, I do. It’s, um, concerning my uncle.”
“Hold on.” I heard something creak and quick footsteps. A door closed and I heard him breathe out. “Ok, tell me.” He didn’t sound all that excited about it.
“He’s back.”
“Great. Let me guess, he’s the source for the craziness at the school earlier today.”
“You wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that.”
“How bad is it?”
“He tried to possess Peter’s body and he’s already tried to kill me. Again.”
“Ohkay…I have a feeling you called me for something specific not just to notify me that a ghost is causing problems in my town.”
“Oh…there’s more. I, uh, need a favor.”
“I don’t like the sound of this…”
“I sort of…need something.”
“Meaning?”
“I need the knife, Andy.”
He was quiet for a second and I thought I lost the connection, but then his tight voice came back over the line. “That’s not possible. The knife is in evidence, in a sealed bag, in a box, where no one is allowed to touch it.”
“Andy. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“Why can’t you…”
“Won’t work. We’ve had to come up with a different spell. I need the knife and you’re the only one who can get a hold of it.”
“Cass, the knife is evidence in an attempted murder case, your attempted murder in case you’ve forgotten. It has DNA evidence all over it not to mention physical evidence…”
“Well it’s not like you can charge him!” I hissed. “He’s dead. The evidence should be released.”
“There’s a two year stipulation on serious cases.”
“I need the knife, Andy. If I want this to stop, I need it. I’m not kidding.”
He grunted. “I—”
“If you don’t, you’re going to have fun explaining to your superiors how I died. Because I can tell you right now, death by ghost isn’t going to fly!”
There was a long pause on the other end and for the second time I thought he’d hung up on me.
“Fine, Ms. South. I’ll see what I can do but I’m not promising you anything.”
“I need it by Saturday night.”
“Jesus Christ. Is there anything else?”
“If it makes you feel better I have to ask my father for his blood.”
“Wait just a holy second. The spell is an exchange…Kid, didn’t your mother tell you never to perform those?”
“Yes but if I don’t want to die from ghost sickness or a crushed larynx, I have to. Do I sound like I’m happy about it? No. I’m not. I technically didn’t want to do the spell but then he took over Peter’s body. Do you know what it’s like watching your boyfriend get possessed by your dead uncle?”
“I’m not gay.”
“A Naomh-Mhuire, máthair Dé! I never said you were! The point is…”
There was a knock on his end and the sound of a door opening. “Hey, the witness is ready.”
“Ok. I’ll be there in a second.” The door closed and Andy came back over the line. “I’ll see what I can do, kid, but I can’t promise you anything.”
“Alright, just, call me by Friday night so I know if we have to tweak the spell.”
“If you need the knife, and there is no leeway, you can’t tweak the spell. You know improvisation is not recommended with spells like that.” I knew he was irritated because his ‘that’ sounded like ‘tahaat’.
“Yeah, yeah. Just call me back.”
He grunted again and hung up without saying anything else. I slammed the phone down on the counter and glared at it. Leave it to the cop to be the one to irritate me tonight. Cops were so cranky. Maybe his blood sugar was low.
“Cassie, you ok?”
“Yeah. I just…he’s being difficult.”
“Who?”
“Andy.”
“Why are you talking to a cop, sweetheart?”
He came around so he was standing in front of me.
“I need the knife.” I didn’t elaborate more than that.
“Oh.” And obviously he didn’t need me to. “Well…”
“Dad,” I looked up at him, “I’m tired of getting bruises I can’t explain to anyone else. You’re lucky its winter and I have to wear long sleeves. Or someone might be calling social services.”
“Cassie…”
“I know he’s your brother. I know all of this has been difficult for you to deal with but…Peter’s right. You need to deal with the fact he’s trying to kill me, again.”
He looked down at his feet. “He’s my brother, baby.”
“And I’m your daughter. You’re lucky you didn’t have to bury us both a few weeks ago. When he shows up again, maybe you’ll get it.”
“I already get it but that doesn’t mean I want to…”
“He needs to go. He’s stronger than any ghost I’ve ever dealt with, that Alma’s ever dealt with. If there was a class he’d be like a ten or something. If I don’t do anything, he’s going to kill me. If I have to tell you that every day until he succeeds then I will. Because after you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”
I walked out of the kitchen and back to the living room. He didn’t follow me and a few minutes later I heard his bedroom door close upstairs.
“You ok?” Peter asked.
I looked at him. “Not really.”
“Well,” he closed his book, “my homework is done.”
“That’s a plus.”
He put up all of his stuff and then settled down on the couch next to me.
“Do you want to go through the box?”
I shook my head. “I think there’s been too much emotional upheaval for one night. Can we put it off til tomorrow?”
“It’s your box. What do you want to watch?”
“The back of my eyelids?” I looked up at him. “I’m tired.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No.” I yawned. “Can we just…?”
“Sure.”
He put on whatever movie was playing on FX and we laid down on the couch, facing each other.
“What do you think is going to happen?”
He readjusted his head and a bit of a chain fell across his collarbone. The protection amulet, he must’ve put it on when I wasn’t looking. The fact he was wearing the damn thing gave me mixed feelings. I wanted him protected but I didn’t like the fact it was her amulet protecting him.
“I think…” he tucked the blanket tighter around me, “we’re going to go to sleep and when we wake up, this day will be over.”
“And what about tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see the future, Cass, but I had a dream about it last night.”
I smiled. “Really?”
“Do you want me to tell you what happened?”
I nodded. “Yes please.”
“Well,” he pulled up on the back of my knee so my leg was wrapped around him, “we graduated. We went to college…”
“Which college?”
He took one of my hands and tucked it under his face.
“I don’t know. I’m not that creative.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “What college do you want to go to?”
“Cass, this is my dream remember? Do you want me to tell it or not?”
“Sorry. Go ahead.”
“We go to college. We graduate. We get married…” he smiled at that one, “we are blissfully happy. Gwen and Bren are our neighbors and we have a big house where Alma comes to work for us instead of my parents.” He pauses. “We have kids…”
“OoOo, kids. You do realize if we have kids they’ll be worse off than me, right?”
He rolled his eyes. “The point is if my dream comes true, our future will be a happy one. No creepy uncles, no exchange spells, no—complications.”
“You really think so?”
“I really think so.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Of what?”
“You basically have your whole life planned out already and you’re only seventeen.”
He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingertips tracing across my cheek bone.
“No because it’s with you. I’m not scared of that, I’ve never been scared of that. I know what they say about teenage love, god knows my mother tells me all the time, but…I believe ours is different, special.”
“Does this have something to do with what Alma told you when you were younger?”
“It doesn’t matter what she said even though it’s playing out in front of my eyes. You’re my home, Cass. Nothing and no one could ever change that.”
~ * ~
I woke up the next morning with a crick in my neck and completely freezing.
“Peter?”
There was no answer. I sat up and looked at the desk where he sat the night before. His stuff was gone, bag too…
I went to the kitchen and checked my phone.
No messages.
Huh…
It wasn’t like him to just up and leave without saying goodbye or leaving a note. I went to the back door and looked out. His SUV was gone too. This was so weird. I had a really bad feeling about this.
I checked the time and almost had a heart attack. If I didn’t get a move on, I would be late for school.
“You better be awake down there!”
I looked up the stairs. My father was up.
“He’s not here!”
“Oh.”
He came out of his room and I covered my eyes.
“Pants, Dad. You need pants.”
“Right.”
I heard him retreat into his room and I jogged up the stairs.
“I’m grabbing a shower. Try to be properly dressed by the time I get out.”
The second I closed my door though, my ghost popped in.
“Have you been casting any spells I should know about?”
“Not yet. You need to get out. I have to get ready for school.”
“But I need to talk to you.”
“Don’t really have the time right now, Ice Boy.”
I grabbed my uniform and headed into the bathroom.
“It’s important.”
“Give me ten minutes to shower and then you can talk to me.”
“Fine.”
The door closed on its own and I rolled my eyes. He was in a mood this morning. I took a really, really quick shower, not really having the time to enjoy it like I wanted to. As soon as the water cut off, my ghost started talking. I ignored most of it, not really tuning in until I came out of the bathroom.
He was in the middle of talking about the spell.
“…don’t think you should. You don’t even know what you’re exchanging…”
“Erik,” I looped Peter’s necklace back on, “I already know the exchange. I give my blood to make him go away. It’s simple.”
“It’s never that simple and you know it. Have you ever thought if your mother didn’t react to what she’d seen that day, she might still be alive?”
I sighed. “Erik. Just…let it go, ok?”
“What if the same thing happens to you? If you do what Bren laid out, the consequences could be…”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I’m being truthful. You never know the consequences to an exchange spell until after.”
“I already know all of this.”
I hastily put my hair up in a wet bun and I was about to jet out the door when my phone beeped.
It was from Peter.
Had practice. I’ll see you when you get here.
I frowned down at the phone. That was definitely out of character for him. Normally his messages weren’t so…impersonal.
“I thought they never had morning practice on Wednesday?”
I looked up at my ghost. “They don’t. At least normally they don’t.”
“Maybe it’s because they lost last week.”
“Maybe.” I pulled the strap of my bag over my shoulder. “I have to get to school.”
“Earth Girl…”
“Everything will be fine, Erik. I promise.”
I didn’t even look at him as I headed downstairs and then off to school.
~ * ~
As it turned out, I didn’t see Peter when I got there. I looked for him but there was no trace of him even though his SUV was in the parking lot.
Gwen and Bren didn’t even know where he was.
And the bad part?
I hadn’t seen Amber yet either.
I sat through the morning announcements, through every one of my classes till lunch, but even then I didn’t see him or Amber. My mood, by the time I sat down with my burger and fries, was depressed, suspicious, and sad.
“Hey. What’s going on?”
Garin sat down next to me but I didn’t even look up at him.
“Nothing.”
“Is something wrong?”
“If I say yes will you ask me what it is?”
“Probably.”
“Then no, there’s nothing wrong?”
“Then why do you look like you could kill someone?”
“Oh, you know, its murderous Wednesday.”
“Huh, well, do you want a distraction?”
“Yes please!”
He slapped some sheet music on the table in front of me. The note arrangement looked oddly familiar and as I finished looking it over, I knew exactly what piece of music it was.
“Garin…” I scratched my head. “What are you doing with my ghost’s song?”
“I found it in your music room when we were practicing. I borrowed it and made up the cello accompaniment. Mrs. Mullins approved it even though it wasn’t composed by a master. So, what do you say?”
“Cass, can I talk to you for a second?”
I looked up and found Bren standing there.
And he looked…horrible.
“Oh my god.” I got up. “Are you…”
“No. Can we…”
“Sure.” I looked at Garin. “Do you…?”
“Go ahead. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
I took Bren’s elbow and led him outside. It was like he barely had the energy to even move. By my estimation he was as bad off as the day he told me what happened to him.
“Bren, what’s going on?”
“You know what’s going on.”
I sighed and drew him into a corner. “Don’t you think you should hold off to do this until after everything has calmed down?”
“I was hoping…to do the spell clear headed. You don’t know what it was like having those moments of complete clarity. I haven’t had one like it in months.”
“Detox takes days, Bren. And depending on how bad your addiction is, and I know it’s pretty bad…”
“Yeah, I get it,” he snapped at me.
“Whoa…”
“I’m sorry. I know this is…”
“Don’t worry about it. When was the last time she dosed you?”
“Two days ago.”
I sighed. “Have you talked to Alma?”
“No and I don’t want to. You said…”
“I know and I will. Can you hold out until the end of the day or…”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Cass. I just…I’m tired of being…”
“It’s fine. Just…let me go get my stuff. Meet me at the car.”
“Ok.”
He stood there, still, fear just radiating out of him like the sun. His whole body was tight like a string on a bow. I felt bad for him, I really did. It was a big decision he was making and I didn’t envy him.
“Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”
“Ok.”
I jogged back into the cafeteria where Garin was still sitting with our stuff, some of his friends sitting around him.
“Hey,” he said. “Everything ok?”
“Um…no. I have to go.”
“Ohkay…why?”
“Emergency. Can you tell your sister I’m really sorry about skipping school…again.”
He smiled. “I don’t think she minds. You have the highest GPA in the class. Go. I’ll tell her.”
“Ok. Thanks. And um…yes, about the composition.”
He smiled and nodded. “Cool. Call me?”
“Sure.