30th May 2019

RENEE

"Lord Augustus?" I asked, as I glanced at Noah, who looked livid.

His entire face had transformed, the cheerful facade he put up was no longer there. His mouth was set in a straight line, his eyes reflecting the fire that seemed to dance within him. He looked older, more serious, as though his pain had aged him by a few years.

Then Noah snapped out of it, giving me a tired yet casual grin. "I don't want to talk about him, Renee. I promise to tell you the story someday, but not now, not when we have better things to do..."

I dropped the topic and returned his grin. "Do we have better things to do?"

"Yeah, we do!" Noah replied with a little extra enthusiasm. "Let's go for a walk."

He offered his hand, and I got up reluctantly, being my usual lazy self. Once the cool air hit my face, I started to think that the walk wasn't such a bad idea after all. For one thing, Noah was still holding my hand, his fingers laced with mine.

Forty-five minutes later, we were walking under the starry sky, and Noah was complaining about how parties weren't a thing in the Spirit Realm.

"I miss the fun, the loud music, the overall excitement," Noah sighed, as I heard the low buzz of the insects in the background.

"Well, I'm personally not a fan of such stuff, so it's fine for me," I said, and saw his jaw drop.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "I did see an empty void of desire in you."

"What's that got to do with anything?" I asked him like I wasn't affected by his question.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Noah laughed incredulously. "It has everything to do with your desires, Renee. Love, Power and Lust..." He trailed off, giving me a meaningful look.

"Alright." I huffed, "Maybe I do like someone. There you go, my big secrets out."
My lower lip quivered nervously as his gaze fell on me.

"Not quite." He said, a smirk playing about his lips. "Who do you like?"

"Do you always need to know everything?" I said, mimicking his voice.

"Haha, don't try to be too smart, Renee," Noah wiggled his eyebrows. "I could just look into your mind and find out who that is..."

"Oh, can you?" I turned towards him defiantly. "Do it then."

Somehow, I had a feeling that Noah wouldn't do it. He was curious, but he wouldn't go to the extent of invading my thoughts.

Would he?

Noah raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? Don't mind me invading your privacy?"

"I'm one hundred per cent sure," I said confidently, and for some reason, his expression changed, as he turned away.

"What's wrong?" I teased. "Are you afraid of what you'll find?"

Noah looked at me, his face placid. "No. But this is exactly what the ISA does, and I don't want you to experience even a tiny bit of it."

See, I was right. Noah wouldn't do it. I grinned at him, slightly surprised that I'd guessed what he'd do.

"Why are you smiling?" He asked.

"Nothing," I replied, my grin widening.

"Keep your secrets then." Noah scoffed, then playfully waves a finger at me. "But just remember, I have the power to get into your mind and learn every little thing."

"Oh, is that a threat?" I challenged.

"Maybe it is." Noah gave me a malicious smirk.

"Anyway, are you allowed to like someone?" I asked him, as I saw the pale white moon upon the sky. It was possibly a fake moon, but I wasn't too sure.

"I can like people." He explained without any hesitation, locking his eyes with mine. "I can't lust over them."

"I bet that doesn't stop you," I laughed, as he threw me a smirk.

"You have no idea," Noah sighed with a small smile, messing his hair again. I bet he was blushing, but it was too dark for me to make out his face.

I wondered who made him blush like that...

Then the Spirit Girl came into my mind, immediately dampening my mood.

Right on cue, Noah spoke, "So, I heard you met Shay the other day."

"Shay? The girl who took Truffles's soul?"

"Yup. That's her." I noticed him looking at me from the corner of my eye. "What do you think of her?"

"She's..." I paused, trying to pick an appropriate word.

"Yes?" Noah prompted, his smirk was evident.

"She's nice... why are you asking me that?" I forced out rapidly.

"Because she thinks the same about you too," Noah replied. "And I usually trust her opinions."

Just as I'm about to ask Noah what that meant, he abruptly changed the topic.
"So what did Truffles tell you that day?"

I explained the whole story, how the two girls had wanted me to die. How they made Truffles fly, expertly baiting me into the accident.

"Wait, they were humans? And they did magic?" He looked puzzled.

"Yeah... Also, they could see my spirit self." I informed. "Like after my spirit came out of my body."

"Humans can't see spirits," Noah clarified. "Which leads us to the question: what are they?"

I hesitated before talking. "Could they... Be like me? A human in the fifth dimension?"

"Renee, I honestly don't know... why do they have magic powers?" He asked worriedly, then his eyes widened.

"What?" I shook his shoulder. "What is it?"

"Maybe, they are like you... But their spirit can reach a higher dimension, like mine. You know, like the eighth or ninth dimension."

My eyes grew round with wonder.

"Can I reach a higher dimension?" I asked him softly.

"Of course you can, Renee," Noah replied gently. "I can reach the seventh dimension. It's not that hard either."

"Can you teach me?" I asked him eagerly, then added, "I mean, if they want to kill me again... I'd have to be prepared, right? Besides having powers sounds so cool."

He grinned at me, making me grin too. "Absolutely, I would love to teach you."

That's when Noah's phone buzzed, effectively interrupting our conversation.

Noah tried to make excuses, but the guy on the other side was complaining so much that it began to get annoying. Finally, Noah sighed, agreeing to leave.

"Duty calls," He said with an awkward shrug, as he shoved his phone inside.

"No problem." I smiled at him.

"Same time next week?" Noah questioned. "I have to go to my job and you have school..."

"Oh yeah," I replied, wondering how I forgot about school. "Okay."

As Noah walked away, I smiled to myself. Now I had another reason to meet up with him every week.

To reach the higher dimensions.

*****

"Six hours?" Clover demanded. "What were you guys doing for so long?"

I gingerly removed the helmet and glanced at the clock. It was past noon, the sunlight filtering through my room at a weird angle, making me feel sweaty.

"Any way that doesn't matter. Mike is leaving now and I guess you should say goodbye." Clover said.

"Oh," My eyes widened. "Okay, I'll come."

I grabbed my crutches and edged towards the bathroom, the dull pain in my leg resurfacing with movement. Once I freshened up, I headed into the living room, watching Mike lining all his bags next to each other.

"Renee!" Mike said cheerfully as he wrapped me in a one-armed hug.

"You're leaving? So soon?" I asked him as I pulled away.

Mike cast a look around us, and upon seeing the empty room, he whispered, "Dad wants me to leave."

"What?!" I nearly screamed as he clamped his hand over my mouth.

"Don't yell, Clover doesn't know... I don't want her to think that I'm being kicked out of my own house." He whispered hurriedly.

"But why?" I looked at him with concern.

"Dad thinks I'm bad luck. That my presence has something to do with Truffles's death." Mike said simply, eyeing the kitchen, where Clover was chatting with my mom, who was baking brownies for Mike. Dad was probably not at home.

"That's insane!" I hissed. "Truffles died of poisoning."

"Dad's not right in the mind, Renee." Mike looked away, sadly. "And it is my fault."

I thought about the day Mike ran away from home. During his fight with dad, he'd gotten a little aggressive and had pushed dad to the ground. That resulted in dad having hallucinations, which had recently receded.

And now by the looks of it, Dad might be having them again.

"Still," I looked at Mike. "He's being unreasonable."

Clover skipped out of the kitchen towards us, carrying two freshly baked brownies in her hands. "Careful, they're hot," She said as she tossed me a piece.

"Not as hot as me..." Mike winked at her, as he popped the brownie into his mouth, before screaming, "Oww... This just burnt my tongue!"

Clover and I broke into peals of laughter as Mike blew on his tongue. Finally, he plopped on the couch, looking traumatised.

"Does this feel better?" Clover whispered as she placed a soft kiss on his mouth.

"A lot." Mike grinned gratefully and wrapped his arm around her. "Although I do think I need another one."

As Clover kissed him again, I carefully turned towards my mom to see if she was noticing this. To my surprise, my mom was already watching them with a tiny smirk, before heading inside the pantry.

"She knows?" I asked them in a rather loud whisper since I was sitting across them.

"She caught us making out in the morning," Mike muttered, as his fingers played with Clover's silky blonde hair.

"She wasn't angry though, rather she was teasing us about it," Clover added, placing her head against his chest.

"I think she approves," Mike said, as he smoothened her hair.

"In fact, she does approve," Said mom loudly, now standing directly behind Mike and Clover, causing them to fall off the couch in horror.

I rolled in laughter, and mom exchanged a grin with me, before turning to a scowling Mike.
"Why did you sneak up on us?" Mike complained.

"Really Mike, you're the one sneaking around," Mom retorted. "I'm only keeping quiet because you're leaving so soon, and Clover wanted this for a long time..."

"Mrs Durvont!" Clover gasped.

Mom gave her a soft smile. "I've always known, sweetie."

Unfortunately, Mike's manager soon arrived, causing him to grab his bags and rush outside. Clover and I helped him out, whereas mom packed the brownies for him and his friends.

As we were exchanging goodbyes, the manager poked his head out, asking Mike to hurry up. Mike quickly headed inside the car, waving brightly as the car drove away, without a hint of worry.

It was almost as if he were leaving of his own accord, instead of being kicked out by our father.

*****