𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 17
3𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐯

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        — JASPER LEANED AGAINST HIS COUNTER, blinking rapidly when he saw a shadow out his window. He shook his head and forced his body to face away, ignoring the whispers of as the sun began to rise. The more spirits he saw, the more they would see him. He took a breath and grabbed his phone, clicking on one of the first contacts, his grams.

It didn't take long before she answered, "Jasper, honey! How are you? You don't call me enough."

"I know, I'm sorry grams." He apologized quietly, a firm grasp on his phone that tightened as his mind wandered to the spirits he'd encountered recently.

Save the medium, his mind repeated.

He heard grams shuffle for a moment before she spoke again, in a more serious tone, "Go on then. What's on your mind?"

He was silent for a moment, debating if he should really do this — tell her the nightmares of his childhood had returned. Finally, he took the dive. "You know how when I was young I could see and hear things? Things you said you could too?"

"Spirits." She spoke firmly, "Nasty things—"

"But not all of them are bad." He finished. "They... went away for a bit, or maybe I just got good at ignoring them I don't know but—"

"They're back?" She questioned.

"Yeah and I can't — I can't push them away this time." He resisted the urge to curse under his breath, taking a deep breath instead, "Am I going crazy? I feel like I should check myself into a psychiatric hospital."

"You're not crazy." She told him sternly, though it did little to calm his concerns. His grandma was quiet for a few moments before... "Did you know I had a brother?"

Jasper furrowed his brows, "I think mom's mentioned him once or twice."

"He could see things too, like me... like you. He couldn't take it, that damned house made him go crazy. All the spirits there..." he could practically see her as she shook her head, "Promise me you'll stay away from spirits and everything paranormal."

He frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly, "You don't." He pointed out in a light protest.

"You're not like me, Jasper." She told him gently, "You're like him."

"I'm not going to go crazy, grams."

"He promised me the same. But that house has a funny way of knowing how to make you crazy no matter how hard you try. All the spirits do." She told him wisely, "Your powers are strong, you see more than I ever could, hear whispers in the shadows they don't want you to hear. You're just like my brother, Julian."

"I won't go crazy, grams." He repeated more firmly now.

"You won't." She agreed, "If you stay away from everything paranormal. Promise me."

He paused. He couldn't make a promise like that, not when he still felt the call of paranormal just as much as the day he first promised himself to stay away. "Grams..."

"Promise me, Jasper."

He sighed, "Promise. I'll stay away from ghosts." Behind his back, his two fingers were locked together tightly.

She seemed to release a heavy sigh of relief, his guilt stirring like a monster in his chest, "Good and another thing?" He let out a hum, all he could muster, "Never go to the Briar house."

Curiosity sparked, he stood fully, his hand behind his back falling to his side. He furrowed his brows, "The Briar House?" He asked, "What does that have to do with anything?" He'd never even heard of the name before.

"Just promise me." She said sternly, leaving no room for questions though he had many, "I don't want to lose you too."

He gulped audibly at the unexpected words and nodded, "I promise, grams."

Finally, the tension seemed to lift and his grams swiftly moved the conversation on to another topic however with his mind occupied, the call ended fairly soon after.

With the call over, he found himself at his desk, a browser pulled up. Without even a thought, he typed in two words... BRIAR HOUSE.

Surprisingly, several articles popped up almost immediately, some unrelated but many with one thing in common — the location; Kansas. The more he scrolled, the more he found and the more he got lost in the stories of a past that somehow all led back to him, his family.

He didn't know how long he sat at the desk, however when his phone began to ring, the sun had set entirely, and his eyes were tired as he pulled himself away and grabbed his phone with a frown and shake of his head. Without looking, he hit answer and pressed the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"Hey Jasper!" The sound of Sam's voice made him pause, his eyebrows furrowed as the blonde continued, "Are you busy?"

Jasper glanced at the computer where an article about Julian Jett and the Briar House sat, and shook his head, "No, not at all." He responded pushing his chair away from his desk, "Is everything okay?"

"What? Oh yeah everything's great, Colby and I are just having a bit of a get together with friends at our place and I figured I'd see if you wanted to join us."

Jasper blinked in surprise, "Oh." He furrowed his brows, "Why?"

"Because you're our friend?" Sam responded, seemingly just as confused. "I mean you and I haven't hung out very much but I can tell Colby likes you." He told him nonchalantly, like it wasn't the biggest thing Jasper had heard, he continued, "...and between you and me he's kinda been sulking since you ignored his message."

"Message?" Jasper asked confused, pulling the phone away from his ear he found several messages gone unanswered from Colby, "Shit. I've been... doing research. I didn't see any of them."

"It's fine." Sam waved off, "Seriously don't worry about it, he'll just pout a bit." He chuckled, "So do you want to come?"

He glanced at the time once as if he hadn't already made his decision and nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great. I'll send you the address." Sam grinned and said a quick goodbye before hanging up. Jasper's eyes wandered back to his computer as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.

He wanted to immerse himself back into his research but now his mind wandered to ocean eyes and he dragged himself away, going into his closet and closing the door to escape his screen. He pulled together an outfit and rushed out the door faster than he'd like to admit.

The further he got, the better he felt. The research he'd done still weighed heavy on his shoulders — his family history ran deeper than he ever knew and was far darker than he'd expected. But right now, none of it mattered. He could forget it all and go to Colby, to ocean blue eyes.

He got out of his car after barely waiting long enough to park outside of the house, and rushed to the front door, suddenly nervous, he knocked softly and then again harder, before the door opened and revealed ocean blues, "You're here." Colby said in surprise.

"Sam invited me." Jasper said shuffling on his feet, "I can leave?"

Colby's eyes widened in something akin to panic at the mere idea and he shook his head rapidly, "No, no. Don't." He rushed to get out and then stepped aside to let him in, "Come in." Colby met his gaze when Jasper paused uncertainly, the brunette spoke again, in a softer tone meant for only him, "Stay, please?"

Jasper nodded, "Okay." He agreed and stepped inside.

—'✧˖*°࿐

𝟏,𝟑𝟎𝟖 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬