Our table is too small for another two additions, so we move from it to plant ourselves onto a larger, round one. During the moving process, I attempt to go grab a drink, but get roared at by Ava, so don't dare move. Tom offers me some of his slightly warm beer, and the fact I accept the offer says everything about my current state of mind.

I'm not sure how to react to Kato and Mosi's bartender friend, who's standing over Kato's shoulder opposite me, so I just play it safe and ignore him as I always do. I'm soon forced to endure another round of the explanation process, this time to Kato and Mosi. I can't quite decide if I'm more or less afraid of these two than I am of Ava. Once finished, it's quiet again. This silence lasts longer than the one that followed my first explanation.

When Kato eventually breaks that silence, she leans forward slightly and looks at me with an expression that's impossible to read. "Prove it."

"Uh, what do you--I mean, how?" I ask, tripping over my words.

"If your claim is true, you'll know how."

What? My heart suddenly feels like it's bouncing around my body, and everyone is eyeballing me. What does she want me to--Oh, shit, that's why they brought the old stiff, isn't it? They want me to acknowledge him. Eyes continue boring into me from all angles, and I know I should just look up at the guy and say something, but I'm frozen.

I can barely bring myself to speak to Annabel in front of Jamie half the time because it feels so strange, let alone acknowledge a random spirit in front of everyone in the middle of a run down B&B's beer garden. I've started tapping my feet. What's wrong with me? Just look up, you idiot. Everyone knows everything anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

"Okay." I sound about as confident as a puppy on its way to having its balls cut off. I clear my throat, take a breath, then look directly at Mosi's deceased bartender. "I'm guessing that's what you're referring to."

I make an awkward waving motion towards the spirit, and while everyone else's response is to look for something they can't see, Kato keeps her gaze on me and tilts her head slightly. She nods. I think she wants me to expand.

"The, uh, guy who hangs out at your pub a lot," I continue. "He fixes up badly poured pints. Kinda old. A lot of tweed."

I have such a way with words, don't I?

Kato and Mosi look at one another, while Ava gazes wide eyed at them to gauge their response. The curious, and probably somewhat concerned, glances of strangers are beginning to be shot in our direction, and it's making me want to crawl under the table and hide for the rest of eternity. The bartender has disappeared now that his job is done, and after some more silence, Kato nods her head slowly. She pulls her wild hair back, and pins it up off her face.

"Right," she says, clapping her hands together. "Family name? Is Reynolds part of a double barrel? Or did you change it?"

Straight into the family questions. Fantastic. Love it. I kind of want everyone to piss off. There's no use in Tom or Jamie being here--the only one who really needs to be here is Kato. I hardly want to make any more of a scene than I'm already making though, so I bite my tongue and say nothing.

"Nah, that's it," I reply to Kato.

"No, it can't be. It's not one of the twelve families."

Nope, that's definitely it. She can consult my birth certificate if she doesn't believe me. I want to roll my eyes, but fight it. What is it with Ava and her family's determination not to stray from their ghostie literature for five minutes? I mean, c'mon, I think I know my own surname.

Kato's eyebrows furrow. "It must be your mother's side. What's her maiden name?"

"Uh, Reynolds," I answer, which makes Kato look ten times more confused than before. "My folks never married. I took my mum's name--no clue why."

"Right, so what's your father's surname?"

"Brennan. Not sure how you say it, but I always say it like it rhymes with--" I stop in my tracks when I notice a look on Kato's face that resembles that of someone who's just witnessed a coyote bite a small child's head off. "What? What is it?"

Kato, Mosi, and Ava are darting their eyes at one another like they have some genetic twitching condition, leaving me no closer to understanding what the heck is going on.

"Ava, dear," Kato finally says, "you and your friends go and start getting all your stuff together. Your father and I will finish sorting this out here."

Sorting this out? Why does it sound like they're about to beat me up? Ava opens her mouth to speak, but says nothing when Mosi raises his eyebrows in response. She nods quickly, then stands from the table. She grabs Jamie's arm, who was sitting beside her, and pulls him up as they move around the table.

Carmen does as she's told when Ava asks her to head back inside, but Tom whines about wanting to hear all the 'cool ghost shit'. That gets him a sharp jab in his side from Ava, so he eventually does as he's told through complaints. I almost stand myself, but am getting the vibe that's not really the idea. The only people still here with me are Kato, Mosi, and Annabel. She sits beside me, mimicking the leaned in position Kato has adopted.

"What do you know about your father's family?" Kato asks, to which I shrug. "Did you know them? Did your parents ever speak about them?"

"Well, I mean, I can't remember," I reply with an awkward laugh that comes out sounding more pathetic than humorous.

"Yes, of course, sorry," Kato apologises.

"They couldn't be traced or anything, I don't think--I mean, after I was in hospital, there was no sign of anyone on my dad's side, which I guess is why I ended up in care or whatever," I expand. "I didn't have much family on my mum's side, so yeah, that's that." I pause. "I'm gonna guess you know more about that?"

"Yes. It's quite... It's difficult to explain."

Okay? Kato and Mosi glance at each other for the umpteenth time. I'm not completely sure why Mosi stayed; I don't think he's said anything this whole time. Annabel is looking up at me now, most likely waiting for a response to Kato's ambiguity, but I've got nothing.

"The Brennan's were always very... quiet, I suppose the word is--Well, perhaps private is a better word. We didn't know them personally, and I believe only one or two other families did, but we heard some wonderful things--an Irish family, in case you weren't aware. They were very close, extremely in touch with spirits, and were said to be some of the best spirit talkers."

As Kato continues raving about how fantastic my father's family were, it gradually dawns on me that I've heard all this before. Approximately eleven years ago. I know what's coming. I know this buttering up is leading to a shitstorm, so I just say it. No point dancing around the subject.

"They're all dead, aren't they?"

It's the only thing I've said with any shred of confidence all day, and it's oozing with the stuff. I don't make any emotion out of it, I just say it. Nice and plain. Annabel's eyes are boring into me, her mouth agape, which I don't fully understand because she must've figured it out.

"Oh, I didn't realise--Well, oh, were you told in hospital?" Kato says with surprise in her voice.

"Nah, I just guessed," I mumble in response. In an attempt to make light of the situation, I then continue on to say the weirdest thing I possibly could say. "Dead family is kind of my aesthetic."

Kato stammers slightly at first, then releases an awkward chuckle before going on to explain why every member of my family is dead. It took people a while to notice, apparently, with them being so private. So I guess they might've been rotting a while. It's generally accepted they were killed by dark spirits, which my cheery family road trip story reaffirms, but nobody knows why or how.

My folks' accident is the first actual revelation of how it happened, least with how they were killed. It could've been different for the others. The only reason anyone found out about the whole family being wiped out is from a séance, which resulted in the death of a member from a different family. All sunshine and rainbows then.

At least it now makes sense why Kato ordered everyone else to leave; breaking the news to someone that not only their direct family, but their entire ancestral line was violently slaughtered by angry spirits isn't best done in front of an audience of teenagers.

Kato and Mosi watch me with careful gazes, and everything about this situation is reminding me of when I was stuck in a hospital as an eight-year-old, surrounded by grown-ups watching my every move with downturned mouths and eyes brimming with pity. Annabel is sitting beside me with a face like a slapped arse, but I just shrug. I'm used to strangers I'm supposed to know dying.