The bright morning sunlight streaming through the windows highlighted the faint pink stain on Thalia’s cheeks as she left her room. Thinking about what had happened the night before, and more importantly how she’d behaved, had her wanting to hide under her bed. There were a hundred things she should have done, calling the cops topping the list, but she could only blame her emotions for paralyzing her.
She closed her door gently, glancing in both directions for some sign of Colt. Not that she expected much of one. Still, she thought there was a chance he could run into a chair or something. She figured that that would be hard to miss.
Thalia came across nothing out of the ordinary, reaching the kitchen without incident. She nodded, relaxing slightly and opening one of the cupboards. Her hand was on the cereal box when she heard “Hello” from behind her.
She jerked and whirled around, staring at the empty kitchen.
Colt winced. In hindsight, he probably should have made his presence known to her before talking. Thalia had to be on edge after the thief. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s fine. I just…sometimes I forget you’re invisible.”
That made him grin. “You’ll get used to it.”
“How are you? Did anything happen after I went to bed?”
“I’m fine. Everything was quiet. I spent the night reading then went to rest at dawn. And how are you? No ill effects I hope?”
She shrugged. “I’m good. I was just thinking that I really should have called the police and let them deal with it. It’s their job and something could have happened to either one of us.”
Colt chuckled. “I had it well in hand. Unless an individual has a way of attacking a person’s spirit, they won’t be able to hurt me. And it was better for me to chase the man off. This way he’ll be spreading stories of what will happen to those who attack your family.”
“Won’t some people see that as a challenge?”
His mouth open to reply, he froze for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that. That…that could be a problem.”
Thalia shook her head, a touch of a smile hovering around her lips. It was odd to her that she found Colt being human and making mistakes so reassuring. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“You’re certain?”
“There’s nothing to be done about it either way, so we might as well relax.”
“Okay then. Oh! I had almost forgotten. The thief left his bag in your parlor. There some curios and knickknacks that I weren’t sure where went so I left them. I’m afraid you’ll have to put them away. There is also his light stick as I wasn’t sure how to dispose of it.”
She blinked, taking a moment to realize what he meant by light stick. “His flashlight? Well I’ll take that and let my parents think I bought it or something. I think I’d better put the stuff away now. Mom and Dad didn’t tell me when they’d be back and there will be a lot of awkward questions about this that I can’t answer. Without bringing you up. Unless you’d prefer that…?”
“No,” Colt said, shaking his head and moving a bit closer to her. “That would be bad. The times my friends have revealed me to their families…well let’s just say that’s generally how I end up trapped in something. Which is better than the time they thought William was mad and had him locked in a tower. I was able to break him out, but I left him shortly after. I think he managed to patch things up with his family in the end.”
“Are you telling me you go like a hundred years only talking to one person?” Thalia asked, frowning.
“No. I go a hundred years trapped in something, which isn’t that bad since it’s just like I’m resting. I only have to adjust to what changes have happened while I was sealed away. And I think it averages out to about ten or twenty years with each friend depending on things. Some I’ve been with up until they died and others only a year or so. I even had one child think I was his imaginary friend.”
Thalia stared at the empty spot in front of her where Colt’s voice as coming from, mind buzzing with questions. She spoke the first one that had sprung to mind. “How old are you?”
“I’m not sure really. Depends on how you count age. Personally, I don’t count the years I spent sealed in things. I’m guessing a couple of centuries at least.”
“A couple of centuries?”
Colt shrugged. “You get used to it. My biggest problem is the way languages change over time. It took me a year before I could understand what people were saying when I finally go out of the bottle and it was another two before I could speak naturally that way myself. Thankfully, I’m quite adept at picking slang up now.”
Feeling light-headed, Thalia dropped her eyes, took a deep breath and held back the barrage of questions filling her mind. It was time to turn her attention away from Colt’s past and the nature of his existence. Though she had to admit, his being several centuries old had her more certain now than ever that he was a ghost.
Taking another calming breath, she looked back up at the spot where she guessed Colt was and said “Want to join me for breakfast?”