“Sure.” I tell her but look at Drew. People are passing and looking at us oddly and why wouldn’t they? I’m answering and acknowledging questions they can’t hear.
“His name is Francis Bell, we were to marry after the war.”
“I don’t think you’re going to be able to find him.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Miss.”
“Abigail Demore.”
“Okay Abigail, because the war has been over for… many years.”
She looks at me confused, “He’s here, I know he is. He wouldn’t leave me!”
She is becoming emotional and that’s not a good thing. I knew I should have ignored her. “Please don’t get upset.” I say trying to soothe her.
“You said you would help, you have yet to even attempt and are ready to give up.”
“I’m going to help, just calm down, is he from here?”
“Yes.”
“When was he born?”
“1843, he’s 20 years of age.”
I can’t tell if she knows she’s dead or not and if she doesn’t I don’t want to tell her. Glancing around, trying to figure out what to do or say I notice a guy watching us from the other end of the block. He looks away once he sees me staring and quickly jogs in the opposite direction. To bad, he’s really cute…
“Are you done?” Drew asks.
“Not yet.”
“Excuse me?” Abigail states.
“Can we meet later? I’ll have to ask around and do some research.”
She nods, “My house is three squares down, two squares right, fourth house on the left. Thank you Dear, I’m sorry but I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Journey.”
She smiles, “Journey, that’s a very peculiar name. I will be expecting you.”
“Alright.” I say as she walks in the direction of her house.
“Don’t ever do that to me again!” I smack Drew on the arm.
“Why don’t you want to help them?”
“It’s not necessarily that I don’t want to. It’s complicated.” I roll my eyes and start off.
“I thought we were going down there.” Drew points in the direction Abigail was going.
“No, not today.”
“Why not? It looks like that’s where all the actions at.”
“She’s going down there and I don’t want to run into her again.”
“What did she want?”
“For me to find someone who’s been dead a long time I’m sure.”
“Are you going to?”
“I guess I have to at least try to find out what happened to him, and her now, thanks.”
“Anytime.” Drew grins.
CHAPTER THREE
Kadence
“Come on you guys, I know you are here! They are gone it’s safe now!” I flop down onto the Victorian chase in the parlor. They’re seriously getting on my nerves with their secretive bull ish.
“Who are you?”
I jump to my feet startled and spin around nearly tripping. Holy hello! “I’m Kadence and you are?”
“Noah.” He says combing his fingers through his short brown hair, “What are you doing here?”
“I live here, why are you here?”
He chuckles and leans against the doorframe, “I’m afraid you are mistaken, this is my home.”
“We’ve been over this Noah, it’s everyone’s home.” A lady in her early forties says appearing.
He sighs, “Kadence this is Rose.”
“Nice to meet you. Why won’t you all let Journey see you?” I ask.
Noah smiles, “That’s your living friend, the one you moved with correct?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“She’s,” he begins.
“Noah.” Rose warns quickly.
“She’s what?”
“Pay him no mind Dear.” Rose says sauntering towards me, her long dress skimming across the hardwood floor.
I glance at Noah who looks agitated.
“Where are the others?” I asked causing Rose to stop mid-step.
“They are around.” Noah smirks.
“How do you know there are more of us?” Rose asks.
“I can sense them, just like Journey. How many are here?”
“You are quite the curious one, aren’t you?” Rose says quickly.
“I guess. This is my first encounter with other ghosts.” I shrug.
Noah chuckles, “Somehow I doubt that.”
“You calling me a liar?” I ask defensively and throw my hand on my hip.
Rose giggles, “Things are going to be very interesting with you around.” She murmurs.
“Well?” I glare at Noah.
His smirk fades, “Join me for a while?”
Rose shoots him a look like she doesn’t approve which instantly makes me want to.
“I guess.” I shrug like it’s no big deal when actually I’m excited to be alone with him. Sure his attitude annoys me but the boy is seriously hot, definitely boyfriend material.
He smiles triumphantly and extends his hand. Oh my goodness! I control the urge to giggle like a little girl who has her first crush. Chill Kay, he’s just another guy. Don’t act too interested and dorky.
“See you in a bit.” I wave at Rose and try not to smile like an idiot.
She lightly nods her head and purses her lips. Clearly she’s not as enthused as I am.
I wait until we are a safe distance from the house before I start overloading him with questions. There are so many things I want to know, not only about him, or being a spirit, but the things that have to do with Journey. UGH, I’m here with this super cute guy and I’m thinking about my bestie, not cool.
“Why did you stay?” Noah asks before I begin my interrogation.
“I didn’t have an option, how about you?”
He watches me from the corner of his eye as he continues to lead me away. “I didn’t want to leave, I like it here.” He shrugs.
“How long have you been here?”
He smiles, “Are you trying to figure out how old I am?”
“Maybe,” I smirk, “but it makes no difference to me.”
“Then don’t worry about it.”
“Okay… So, what were you going to say about Journey before Rose cut you off?” I don’t like the look on his face at the mention of her name.
“How old is she?”
“Seventeen, why do you care?”
“Just curious.”
“So are you going to tell me?”
“Why haven’t you met any others like us?”
“I’m not answering any more of your questions until you answer mine.”
He stops, glances around and looks me in the eyes. If I weren’t aggravated with him at the moment I’d totally put the moves on him.
“I had assumed you caught on to the fact that I cannot tell you.” He grins, “However, if you pay attention to my questions and answers, you may piece it together yourself. Understand?”
“I guess so.”
“Great.” He hits me with another smile.
I bet he had girls lined up at the door begging for his attention.
“Now that you know I have a reason answer me.”
“Honestly I’m not sure.”
“Has Journey always seen spirits or are you her first?”
“Her first,” I can’t help but laugh.
He gives me a dirty look, “You know what I mean.” He says seriously.
“Jeez, it was just a joke.”
“I found no humor in it, girls nowadays are completely different from when I was young.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Young ladies rarely spoke the way y’all do, it was considered improper and of ill taste.”
I let his hands go, “Yeah, well get with the times buddy, women ‘nowadays’ have the same rights as a man, it’s the 21st-century not the dark ages. We can say what we want and do what we want. And just so yo
u know I’m sure women aren’t thinking any differently from back then, we just don’t have to worry about hiding our sexuality anymore. We don’t live in fear of being shamed by men who know we are the stronger sex.”
He noticeably blushes.
“Oh, does that word bother you?” I grin.
He shakes his head; “No I just don’t care to hear it from a females lips. Especially one I’m not intimate with and barely know.”
I open my mouth to go off on him, he puts his finger to my lips, “Kadence, let’s not do this, we could argue our points for the rest of our unnatural lives let’s just agree to disagree. We are after all from completely different time periods, old habits die hard.”
I let out an exhausted sigh, I know he’s right, “Fine, whateves.” But I still think I’m right and he’s a whole lot up tight.
“Let’s get back on track, shall we?”
I nod yes.
“Very well.” He smiles and loops his arm through mine as we continue down the path. “So are you the first spirit Journey has seen?”
“No, she saw a lot of them before me but since my death they’ve kept their distance.”
He chuckles, “That makes sense, you are very strong-willed, you’ve pretty much claimed her as your own personal haunt. If we were abundant and hadn’t already laid claim to this land we’d stay out of your way.”
“So it’s not because I’m dislikable?”
“I guess that’s a matter of opinion but no it isn’t the reason.”
“Good I was starting to get a complex.”
“I doubt other people’s opinions really matter to you.” He grins.
“You have a point.”
“Do you like Drew?”
His question catches me off guard. “Why? Why would you ask that?”
“Just curious, I saw the argument between you and Journey, how you got all flustered when she asked.”
“There is such a thing called privacy you know.”
“Yes, I apologize but y’alls relationship is quite intriguing. Most people are afraid of us and unwilling to accept the fact that we exist. She embraces it.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, it’s more like she’s stuck with it and has learned to accept it because she can’t change it.”
“But we don’t scare her?”
“I’ve only seen her afraid a couple times in my life.” I shrug.
“What caused it?” He asks overly interested.
I’m starting to see what’s going on here, “I’m not mad or jealous but why don’t you ask her yourself, clearly you’ve got a crush on her.”
He remains silent, I take it as a sign I’m correct. “Well are you going to?”
“I’m afraid to.” He says shyly.
“Why? Why would you be afraid of her? She is the nicest person I know.”
“Are you going to show yourself to Drew?”
“Why would I do that? How would I do that?”
“Because you like him, I’ve noticed that you spend a lot of time around him. It isn’t hard to do here, you are picking up skills quickly, it might not be as easy as say turning on the radio,” he grins, “but it’s possible. You have to channel all of your energy and borrow some from your surroundings, like you did when you first arrived. The more you do it the easier it becomes.”
“Are you always watching us?”
“Not always.” He looks away.
“But for the most part.” I roll my eyes.
He nods. “How did it happen?”
“What?”
“Your death, were you in a horrible accident.”
“No,” I glance at him, “I know it’s going to sound stupid to you but I, well… I guess you could say I gave up on life and ended it.”
“That’s a shame Kadence, I bet you could’ve done great things.”
“Yeah, well, crap happens. How about you?”
“Influenza and pneumonia.”
“OMG! That sucks, people rarely die from that now.”
“I am aware, medicine has advanced over the years.”
“How about the others?”
“Different reasons, suicides, murders, accidents, sickness. You’ll have to ask them yourself.”
“If they’ll quit hiding.”
“Some of them take a while to warm up to strangers, especially ones that have no problem associating with the living. And they’ve been in a bit of an uproar since Journey arrived, they’re afraid she’ll.” He stops suddenly and covers his mouth looking around nervously.
“They are afraid of her?” I whisper feeling uneasy like something menacing is lurking in the shadows of the huge trees.
Noah refuses to answer as he glances around. His gaze settles on something unseen and he drops his head. “I accidentally let Drew see me earlier.”
“Really? Did it scare him?”
“No, I think you got him past the initial shock last night.”
“I kind of feel bad about that… but he deserved it.”
“Yes, I thought so as well. It unnerved me to see him treat her so poorly.”
“Yeah, he’s always been like that I hope the new improved Drew sticks around.”
“Let’s hope.”
“So are you in trouble with the others for exposing yourself?” Oh that sounds to dirty and I want to laugh and comment on it but he’ll just get annoyed. Drew however would totally laugh his butt off.
“They are not pleased with me.”
“Rose didn’t seem mad at you.”
“She’s sort of taken on the motherly role to us younger ones here. Although sometimes I wish she’d accept the fact that I’m an old man now not the scared child I was in the beginning.”
“So she was here before you?”
“Yes, she was the original owner of the house.”
“What happened?”
“You’ll have to ask her, it’s not my story to tell.”
“Were there others here before her?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. I can’t wait to tell Journey.”
“You can’t tell her Kadence.” He says quickly.
“Why not? We tell each other everything.”
“I know for a fact you do not. Any time you and I talk about the others it stays strictly between us. If you can’t keep it secret I won’t tell you anything else and I promise they won’t ever talk to you.”
“Can I tell her about you?”
He seems to mull the idea over.
“Why don’t you just introduce yourself to her?”
“You can talk to her about me.” He says quickly.
“She’s going to want to know how old you are.”
“Very old.” He bites his cheek.
“Dude, I mean when you died how old were you?”
“Nineteen, happy now?”
“Yep, thanks.”
“Why do you care so much about my age? Why would she care?”
“You really are clueless. Dude you are slow.” I shake my head, he has no idea how crush worthy he is. I seriously miss making out but I can see he likes to be the pursuer. I’ll wait, if I move in to soon I’ll be boyfriend-less forever. Not going to happen and he’s not telling if there’s any other cute guys hanging around. Which makes me wonder, am I the only ghost interested in getting involved with someone? “Are there any girls your age around here?”
He snaps to me with a puzzled expression, “Are you tired of me already?”
“No, not at all. I was just wondering if you have a girlfriend.”
He laughs like it’s the joke of the century as he shakes his head.
“What’s so funny about that?” I ask annoyed.
“Forgive me, I forget you are still a young spirit and have not met many of us.”
“Alright so I’m taking that as a no and I’m the only darned ghost that still cares about having a relationship outside of simply friendship. Great.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So you do have a girlfriend.”
/>
“No, I meant there are a few of us that still desire that.”
“Well that’s nice to know.”
He looks at me shyly, “Why, are you interested in me?”
“Um… I think you are incredibly cute but I doubt our ideas of a relationship are the same.”
“How do you know?”
“Different lifetimes.” I shrug, “I’m sorry I don’t behave shy and ladylike. When I want something I let it be known. I go after it, I don’t sit around like a wallflower that’s more Journey’s style.”
He attempts not to smile or look at me, “You know I think you should try exposing yourself to Drew tonight.”
I can’t fight back my fit of laughter, “He’d like that way too much.”
He rolls his eyes with flushed cheeks, “You are a little pervert.”
“I know and it’s completely wasted with you, such a shame.” I shake my head sadly, “We could have a lot of fun.”
“We will stick with being friends but there are a few others around that would… Enjoy your humor and company. I must warn you though not everyone here is friendly watch whom you speak with.”
“You sound so ominous, are you always like this?”
“Only when I need to be.”
“You should lighten up some, especially when you decide to meet Journey. Don’t be a buzz kill.”
“Buzz kill?”
“Never mind. Just don’t be all doom and gloom. Make her smile and laugh, she needs that.”
“Alright.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Drew can’t stop chuckling as we walk back to River Street to meet our parents for lunch. Maybe I found it a little humorous to begin with but now its just old.
“Spanky’s.” He sighs, “You have to admit it’s funny.”
“Not anymore dork face.”
“Hey you look like a girl version of me.” He shoves my arm.
“Yeah but I’m pretty.” I stick my tongue out like a bratty child.
“I think that dude thought so this morning.”
“Huh?”
“There was the guy watching you while you were talking with that ‘lady’.” he air quotes the word grinning, “He was definitely checking you out.”
My cheeks feel like they are on fire. He has to be talking about that cute guy. Well at least I know he wasn’t another ghost.
“Oohh, Journeys gotta crush.”
Spirits (Spirits Series Book 1) Page 4