Chapter 15

'True love doesn't exist.' He said.
'I would die for you.' She replied.
'I would die for you too. You know that.' He said.
'Why?' She asked.
'There's no life in living without you.' He replied.
'That's true love.' She smiled.

-Sunmeee




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'So, got any more good deeds lined up for today?' Gavin asked when Cindy's mother picked her up. She was the last third grader to leave.

'No. Besides I think Tom and Leo have other plans.' I said, nodding in their direction.

'I want to kick you.' Leo growled, slamming the library door shut behind Cindy and her mother. 'In the face.'

He flipped the open sign to closed even though it wasn't remotely close to closing time yet.

'It wasn't that bad.' Gavin protested.

'I want to punch you. Repeatedly.' Tom snarled.

'It wasn't that bad.' Gavin repeated.

'I wore a white tee shirt when I left home this morning. Now, I have a multicolored shirt made from different flavoured lollipop stains.' Leo glared at him.

Tom held up his plaid shirt that he wore over a grey tee shirt. It was in shreds. 'The army should recruit those girls.'

'If it makes you feel better, I still have nightmares about the first time I met them.' Gavin said.

'It doesn't.' Tom shook his head. 'I would punch you but...'

'But I have a lot of explaining to do.'

'Exactly.' Leo grunted, stretching his back.

'Okay. Mrs Pitt just got about two seconds ago. She's in the back. I'll just tell her we're leaving and then we can go to my house and talk.' Gavin said.

'Okay.' Tom said.

'I think Kelsey should be there.' Leo said.

'I'll tell her to met me at home.' Gavin nodded.

'Good.'

'You're unusually quiet.' Gavin commented, looking at me. Tom and Leo shared a confused look and then shrugged.

'Yeah, this is between you and your friends.'

'And it concerns you as well. And when has something being none of your business ever stopped you from butting in?'

'Good question. Never. Now, scurry along and go talk to Mrs Pitt.'

'Rude. Insulting. But that's you.' Gavin shook his head.

'You forgot to add devious and evil.'

He rolled his eyes in response and went into Mrs Pitt's office. When he returned, we all left. Tom and Leo rode separately in their cars.

'You have a lot of explaining to do. And your explanation is going to be awful since you don't have all the facts yourself.'

'And whose fault is that?'

'You know guilt doesn't work on me right? Besides I told you about my grandmother so there's that. And I said I was going to continue the story and I will. When I feel like it.'

'Yeah. Talking about your grandmother must've been hard. Are you okay?'

'I'm a ghost who has been seventeen years old for the past two hundred years.'

'So?'

'So I am a ghost! "Okay" isn't really a thing for me.'

'Too bad.' He said in the most insincere tone in the world.

'Hey!'

'Kidding.' He chuckled. I glared at him. He exhaled a sigh and swerved to the left, narrowly avoiding the traffic light turning red.

'You're going to get yourself killed someday in a car accident. And I will remember this day and all the other times I warned you about your reckless driving when I'm laughing at your funeral.' I said.

He didn't reply. He kept his eyes on the road. The only sign that he wasn't suddenly frozen in place was his hand tightening on the steering wheel.

'What's wrong?'

No reply. His hands were starting to turn pale because of how hard he was gripping the steering wheel.

'Gavin I know something's wrong. Talk to me.'

'I don't know what I'm going to say. To Kelsey. To Tom and Leo.'

'Tom and Leo already know about me. Kelsey, well she loves you. She idolizes you. You're her big brother. Break it to her gently and everything will be fine. And in case it's not fine and you end up in a psych ward, well that's too bad.'

'That's not what I'm worried about. Well, it is but that's not the only thing.'

'What else then? Jesus Christ, you're making mountains out of molehills.'

'Tom and Leo. The initial high has worn off. They are going to want to know exactly what's going on and I don't even know exactly what's going on. And Kelsey is my younger sister. Is it fair for me to drag her into this?'

'You're not dragging her into anything. You're telling her what's going on so she doesn't keep worrying about you. I agree with Leo. It's better if she knows. She won't have to worry over nothing then. And as for Tom and Leo, you're on your own.'

'But this is your problem too.'

'Yeah, I'm not a team player. They are your friends not mine. You deal with it.'

His brows were still furrowed in worry.

I sighed exasperatedly. 'Look, as long as you don't break it to Kelsey the same way you broke it to Tom and Leo, you'll do fine. Otherwise say goodbye to your life and hello to the perks of living in a straitjacket in a mental institution. And as for Tom and Leo, how that goes is how it goes. There's nothing you can do other than explain everything. That's it. They either understand or they don't. There's nothing you can do about that.' I stated.

He nodded slowly.

'And in case I wasn't clear enough, this is me telling you to not blurt out to your sister that you've been communicating with a two hundred year old ghost the way you blurted it out to your friends. Understood?'

He rolled his eyes. 'I wouldn't do that.'

'You were stupid enough to do it the first time. I doubt you have the level of intelligence required to know not to do it the second time that's why I'm warning you.'

'It's times like this that make me see why you were cursed.' He muttered. I glared.

'Cute.'

***


'So what you're trying to tell me is there is a two hundred year old ghost that only you can see and talk to and it enlisted your help breaking it's curse?' Kelsey clarified.

'Okay, I'm a little insulted by the "it" comment.' I piped.

'She's not an "it".' Gavin corrected. 'She's a... she?'

'Yes, Gavin! I'm a she. The balls on my chest should've clued in on that. And in case you were wondering, transgender wasn't a thing in the nineteenth century!'

'Yeah, she's a she. She's not two hundred years old. Technically, she's seventeen. She has just been seventeen for the past two hundred years.' He trailed off.

'Do you realize how.... Do you... Gavin, do you know how crazy... No, not just crazy. Insane that sounds?' She stood up from her position on the sofa and started pacing the living room.

'I know. I know. But Kelsey you need to trust me.' Gavin put his hands on her shoulder to stop her pacing.

'I... I... I... I do. I do. I do. You know I do. You know that. I just... It's all to take in. I need to... Wow. It's a lot to take it. I just... I need time process this. I... I need time to think. To digest. God. My brother... Is involved.... With a ghost. An real life ghost. I mean not a real life ghost. That would mean she's living which she is not. Because... Well... The whole point of being a ghost is being dead. So she's a ghost. She's... She's a ghost who's dead. Who has a curse which you are helping her break. My brother... Gavin... Wow.' She unconsciously shrugged his hand off and went back to pacing.

'She's talking in sentence fragments. That's not a good sign.' Gavin muttered.

'Well at least you're not in a straitjacket yet or a madhouse. That's a plus.'

'I guess I have that to be thankful for.' Gavin shrugged. Kelsey kept pacing and muttering to herself.

'She is not taking this well.' Leo pointed out.

'Not even a little.' Tom nodded.

It's like she was trying to wear a hole in the rug. She looked seconds aways from a cosmic melt down. She paced her way right out of the room. Tom, Leo and Gavin shared a worried look.

'Go talk to her!' I pointed at the doorway through which she just disappeared.

'Right!' He nodded but he didn't move.

'Now! Gavin, now!' I yelled.

'Right! Right.' This time, he went after her.

'Jesus Christ! How dumb can he get?'


A few minutes later, he returned with a not so shaken up Kelsey.

'Sorry I freaked out.' She blushed.

'She's like the Easter Bunny. So cute.' I remarked.

'You're straight right?' Gavin asked, narrowing his eyes.

'What?'

'You think she's cute. You stay at home to watch her paint. You know things about her that I don't. Are you a lesbian?'

'If I had a baseball bat with me right now, your head will be less like a head and more like mashed potatoes after its been mashed and then shoved through an industrial grinder. Twice!' I snarled.

'Sorry.' He flinched.

'Just to be clear, I don't like her. Or you. Or anyone from this blasted century.' I glared.

'The ghost is gay?' Tom asked.

'I'm not gay.' I growled.

'No. She's not.' Gavin winced.

'You sure?'

'Yeah. And she has threatened to shove my head through an industrial grinder for even suggesting that she might be.'

'Vivid imagination.' Leo smiled. 'I like her.'

Kelsey stiffened. I could almost hear the crack as she whipped around to glare at Leo. Gavin shot her confused look. She blushed and looked away.

A few seconds later, she covertly glanced at Leo again. Can she be any more obvious?

'Okay. So are you sure she's not here to hurt you? I'm she's a ghost. A cursed ghost. That means she wasn't a good person while she was alive. I mean good people don't usually get cursed right?' Kelsey said.

'Hmmm. Common sense. I thought it got lost sometime in the twentieth century. You know, between bell bottoms and those weird pastry hats.'

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Gavin shook his head. 

'Eh. It was before your time.' I shrugged.

'You're talking to her? Like right now? She's here?' Kelsey gaped.

'She's always around. She's kind of a stalker.' He shrugged.

'I am not a stalker. For the nth time!'  I threw my hands up in frustration.

'Sure, you're not.' He said placatively.

'You know in the past three seconds I have thought of five hundred and three different ways to kill you. Wanna hear them?' I smiled sweetly.

'Hmmm.' His smile was just as fake as mine.

'Why do I feel like she's shooting pretty sharp arrows and none of them are missing their target.' Kelsey smiled.

'Smart girl. Can't say I see a family resemblance to you in that aspect.'

'Oh shut up.'

'Sorry.' Kelsey muttered.

'Oh, I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Starlight.'

At this, I glared at him.

'Starlight?' Leo echoed.

'Yeah. Starlight?' I asked with a pointed glare.

'Actually her name is Vasilisa Rosemary but you can also call her Cahira or Hida. Whichever works for you.' Gavin shrugged.

'So why did you call her Starlight? I don't get it.' Kelsey frowned.

'Yeah, I would also like to know.' I snapped.

'Because it ticks her off.' He shrugged.

'Oh. So why did you tell her to shut up?' Kelsey asked. Nice to know, not getting off topic runs in the family.

'She said you're smart.' He muttered.

'And that's such a bad thing?' She asked.

'Well, no. She also said I have no family resemblance to you in that aspect.' He grumbled.

'Ha!' She giggled but it soon turned to full blown laughter. Leo and Tom joined in. Gavin glared at me like it was my fault. Which it was. That's exactly why I was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

'Your pain and embarrassment bring me a special kind of joy.' I grinned.

'And there's a special place for you in hell.' He growled.

'I thought we already covered that. It's a throne, remember?'

'You have no shame.'

'It's the happiest way to live.' I sang.

'Heaven save you.' Gavin said, looking up to the heavens.

'You're gonna have to pray harder, louder and longer to save my soul.' I wiggled my eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes.

'Why do I get the feeling that we can't hear the fun part of the conversation?' Leo asked.

'Probably because you can't.' Gavin muttered drily.

'Ahh! He's grumpy. That makes me happy.'

'I don't know about you guys but for the past twenty minutes, we've just been sitting here listening to one side of a conversation and it's not even the interesting side so how about we get on with the important stuff. Why did the ghost choose you?' Tom asked.

'Okay, I am slightly insulted by the fact that he chose to call me the ghost even though he knows my name.' I stated.

'Because its one of my ancestors that placed the curse on her. Something about the curse recognizing blood or something like that.'

'I'm pretty sure this is obvious but I'm going to say it anyway. If one of your ancestors put the curse on her, it had to be for a good reason. And besides shouldn't that mean she would hate you?' Leo pointed out.

'I don't hate him. His frustration brings me joy and while I would laugh at his funeral, I wouldn't kill him. Assist maybe but not kill.'

'Actually my ancestor is the one at fault here.' Gavin admitted, ignoring me.

'How do you know that for sure? You only have one side of the story. Cahira's side.' Leo said.

'Leo's right.' Kelsey said.

'I know. I do but that's all I have. She could be telling the truth or she could be lying. But if I don't help her and she is telling the truth, then what does that say about me?' He countered.

'That you're heartless, cold, mean, unforgiving and brutal.' I supplied. 'Basically me if you remove the unforgiving part. I have a disease when it comes to forgiving people. Seriously. I can't keep a grudge to save my life. It's very annoying.'

'Your only redeeming quality so far and you hate it. Why am I not surprised.' He said drily.

'Because you know me.' I smiled.

'Okay so why did our ancestor curse her? I mean shouldn't she hate us?' Kelsey asked.

'I never said I liked you.' I piped. Gavin rolled his eyes.

Shouldn't there be a law that prevents guys from doing that? An eye roll is always extra annoying when a guy does it.

'I don't know the details yet but according to her our two families hated each other before she even got cursed.' Gavin scratched the back of his neck.

'All I can see is more reasons for her to hate you and Kelsey and that doesn't explain why she has you doing Mother Theresa's job.' Leo pointed out.

'Mother Theresa was a saint. Gavin can never compare.' I piped.

'One of my ancestors, the one who cursed her was a bad... witch. Her name was Marge. She wanted some important powerful witch thing and I think they stole it?' He glanced at me for confirmation. I nodded.

'They stole it and so that made them get cursed but our ancestor found a loophole and got herself out of it and transferred her curse to Vasilisa.' Gavin said.

'I don't understand our families hated each other. Why did our families hate each other? And if they did, why was Vasilisa working for this Marge person?' Kelsey asked.

'It involves a guy. Her grandmother and Marge's mother liked the same guy. Pistols were drawn, shots were fired. Vasilisa's grandmother got the guy. Our ancestor got nothing. That and she ended up killing the guy by mistake so it's not really hard to see why they hate each other.'

'The Edward and Mariana story is true?' Kelsey gaped. 'I always thought it was just a story.'

'Edward? That's the guy's name right?' Gavin asked, looking at me for confirmation.

'Yeah.' I replied.

'Wait, you've heard this story before?' He directed his question to Kelsey this time.

'Yeah. Mom used to tell me all the time when we were kids. I thought it was just a story she made up because I had read all the fairytales.'

'Well, it's real. I didn't know your mother knew though.' I frowned.

'Wow. She must hate us.' Kelsey commented.

'Nah. She can't hold a grudge. She doesn't hate us. She's actually nice though she likes to act like she's a spawn of Satan.'

'It's not an act. And I am not a spawn! Devil reincarnated, maybe but not a spawn. That would mean I work for Satan. I work for nobody. I'm an anarchist.'

'Yeah, sure.' He said placatively.

'So what now?' Kelsey asked.

'Nothing. I'm just helping her break her curse by doing good deeds.' Gavin shrugged. 'Its not as boring as it sounds.'

'And how do you know when you've done enough good deeds?' She asked.

In response, Gavin whipped off his shirt.

'I didn't know you got tattoo.' Leo said.

'When did you get a tattoo?' Tom asked.

'Mom is going to freak.' Kelsey stated.

'I didn't get a tattoo. It's not a tattoo. It just magically appeared one day. Its somehow connected to the curse. Every time we do a good deed, a part of it disappears.'

'So when its all gone, that's when you've done enough good deeds.' Kelsey summed.

'Exactly.' He nodded.

'What can I do to help?' She asked.

'What can we do to help?' Leo asked, holding Kelsey's gaze.

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