Chapter 16

Days passed by slowly. My hands had begun to scab over as they healed, making it hard to use them. Nonetheless I was grateful to be healing just fine. Cameron’s cuts healed faster than mine, though his parents have him on metaphorical lockdown after they found out he’s been coming over to see me. Turns out his mom went through his phone one night after he went to sleep, and she was not happy with what she found.

The only places he was allowed to go to were school and home, making school the only time I’m able to see him. Despite my apologies he assured me that it wouldn’t be too long before his parents released him and moved on. Though I wasn’t sure how much I believed him. I think he’s just saying it, so I don’t feel bad if I’m being totally honest. So here I sat mindlessly doing homework, and even though everything seemed on the surface to have worked out, I couldn’t shake the feeling That there was something I was missing, something that hadn’t quite come to life yet. I tried my best to ignore the random intrusive thoughts of ‘you’re forgetting something.’ This isn’t quite the happy ending you imagine, you’re not finished. I tried telling myself that I was being silly. Everything was fine but for some reason unknown to me I couldn’t shake these thoughts.

I kept them to myself, deciding not to acknowledge them out loud. There's no point, everything was fine. I knew everything was fine, everything had to be fine. Mom was slowly returning to her job as an author. Cameron was alive, the curse was broken and here I was sweating pointlessly over some random anxiety that seemed to linger. Eventually all my homework was finished, and I have nothing else to try to keep my mind busy. Glancing at my phone when I checked the time and saw that dinner wasn’t for another hour or so to pass the time I decided why not do you some meditation it’s been a while since I focused solely on myself and my chakras were probably all out of whack Due to the stress of the most recent events Sitting straight in the middle of my bed legs crossed and eyes closed I started to take deep breath’ sitting straight in the middle of my bed. Focusing on timing each breath perfectly; in, hold, out.

In, hold, out. Soon I lost all sense of time, and my body went into a relaxed state. My legs and arms felt heavy, and I tried to focus my attention on my route chakra, deciding to work from there up. Taking my time eventually reached the last chakra and I felt all tension leave my body for the first time in a long time. I was completely and utterly relaxed, no thought in my head, no ever-present doom. I was completely lost in my own world. so you can imagine my surprise to suddenly hear a voice in my ear. It was a voice that I recognized although not one that I expected to hear from ever again I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I didn't want it to be real so I kept my eyes closed trying my best to ignore it though as you can imagine ignoring things doesn’t always make them go away. The voice in my ear spoke again this time a little louder, giving me no choice but to respond.

“What are you still doing here?'' I asked as I opened my eyes. There in front of me was Amelia Morgan, the one who I believed to have found peace after everything that happened the day of the eclipse.

“I do not understand your question.” she spoke tilting her head to the side

“We succeeded, we saved Cameron, we broke the curse. Do you have something else holding you here? I thought you would’ve moved on by now.” I explained.

“I can’t leave,” she said “not yet he is still trying to get to me”

“Who is he?” I asked tired of her being so vague.

“Evan Mikhale.” she stated as if it was obvious, “I’m the only thing keeping him from returning to the home.”

“OK I’ll pretend like I understand that for the moment. Do you need my help with something?”

“I cannot move on and find peace until I know he’s gone that he won’t bother you that he won’t return I do not know what is holding him here or how he has as much energy as he does I need you to find out so that we can break his tether to this plane, and I can finally see my family.” Her form started to flicker and fade as her energy was rapidly depleting.

I knew we wouldn’t have much longer to continue this conversation as it seems she was using most of her energy to keep Evans’ at bay. I told her that I would look into it and that she should focus her energy on what was important right now that was keeping us safe Evan’s spirit was too much of an unknown at this moment and if she ran out of energy we had no idea what would happen when he would show back up what would happen when he did

She simply nodded in response and vanished in front of my eyes was almost becoming a normal thing her showing up and disappearing whenever she pleased whenever she did her part of me was angry that she was still hear that there was another problem that she needed me to Solve but I knew that in the end she was looking out for us for her home for her family and I couldn’t fault her for that I would probably be doing the same thing if I was in her place. She didn’t ask to be in this position any more than I did. It was forced upon us by things outside of our control. At the end of the day this was something that can’t be ignored and this time I wouldn’t be alone. Letting out an exasperated sigh I trudged my way down the stairs realizing that it was more than likely time to eat. Walking into the kitchen, mom greeted me with a smile as she stirred the pot on the stove. I decided not to mention that I had spoken to Amelia that she was still here though she smiled at me. I could see in her eyes that she was tired both physically and emotionally. I didn't want to add to her stress at that moment. We were still finding our new normal without dad and after everything that happened I’m sure we needed time without added stress to find our footing once again. Our family dynamic was permanently changed and there was still a gap in our lives that we had no idea how to fill yet I am honestly not sure we’d ever be able to fill it not really it always be missing, and we always miss him and a father and a husband it’s not something one can so easily replace. That night we ate dinner in a comfortable quiet. Only ever disrupting the silence to make small talk that didn’t last very long any other day I probably would have some discomfort in the silence. But tonight I felt more refreshed than anything else. After dinner, the day passed by relatively quickly. Before I knew that I found myself getting ready for bed and so much like our first night here I laid there listening to the sound of the house. All of the creaks and groans of floorboards and pipes in the walls had become familiar to me no longer did they stand out. It was Friday night so that meant that I wouldn’t see Cameron for another two days. I hope that within the next two days I will be able to figure this out at least for the most part by myself. I hoped that this would be a somewhat easier fix Though I doubt I would actually be so lucky. If I had learned anything in my time here in Wichitan it was that nothing comes easy in this place. Slowly I drifted to sleep, no dreams or at least none that I could remember. I ended up sleeping in later than I originally anticipated not actually waking up until close to noon. Maybe it was my way of subconsciously trying to avoid my problems. Nevertheless when I woke up I greeted mom downstairs and started to try to do some research on what spirits draw their energy from. It seemed like the best place to start. That was the main question after all, how was Evan Mikhale getting so much energy. I found that spirits not only feed off of the energy of the living but can also feed off the energy of different electronics such as batteries. It would be very helpful if I knew where he was when he wasn’t knocking on our door that would tell us exactly where he was drawing his power from. But at this moment in time I could only speculate my best guess is that he’s been storing up energy all this time. Most people don’t experience spirits the same way that witches do. Witches more than likely are more tapped into the 3rd Eye allowing us to key into the different planes more easily. Non-witches tend to experience spirits Using “Ghost hunting equipment,” studying electromagnetic fields and using recorders to pick up phantom voices. Nine times out of 10 you see these experiences in TV shows or on YouTube. A lot of people will dedicate their entire lives to just proving the existence of ghosts or spirits to the rest of the world.

“If I were a centuries old spirit where would I hang out?'' I asked myself.

“What did you say sweetie?” mom asked

I guess I didn’t realize that I was speaking aloud to myself. “Nothing mom is just thinking aloud.”

she smiled at me probably suppressing a laugh before pressing kissed my cheek and excusing herself to her study. Thinking about it I probably did as much as I could without knowing more about Evan Mikhale’s history who he was where he hung out knew where his family estate was but there was no way I was getting on that property anytime soon and to be honest last time I was there I didn’t feel any spiritual presence. If He wasn’t staying at his family estate and he most certainly wasn’t staying here I couldn’t help but wonder where his spirit was attached to. I highly doubt he was free roaming, but I guess it was a possibility that I couldn’t necessarily exclude. I switch the topic of my research veering from spirits to Evan Mikhale specifically. Now the Internet could only provide so much information about how he lived his life it was better than knowing nothing. Turns out that the Mikhail family has always been well off. Because of this Evan was never expected to have a job or make money so it seems he spent most of his time that he wasn’t at social events with his parents just hanging around playing different kinds of games and fishing or being with Amelia. There wasn’t any public history that involved him or had any real details about where specifically he spent his free time; mostly it was just general knowledge that the 17 year olds that time had certain things they liked to do. Usually I would try going to the local museum but that wasn’t really an option anymore. Needless to say I was beginning to grow more and more frustrated by the lack of information I was able to obtain. Cameron and I had already read through Amelia’s journals throughout the duration of their relationship, and nothing really stood out, at least not to me. Maybe Cameron found something, but I would have to wait until Monday to ask. Despite my frustration I still tried to gather as much information as I could. Time seemed to drag on slowly. Technically I could ask Amelia about Evan, but one I don’t think she would appreciate that conversation And two she seemed to be really concerned about keeping Evans away from the house, so I didn’t want to take energy away from that. Ultimately I decided to take a break and went upstairs to try and take a nap. I wouldn’t say it was the most restful now, but it was definitely needed. It only lasted about 30 minutes which was about 10 minutes more than I anticipated getting. When I woke up mom was still working so I went outside to the garden to take a small walk and stretch my limbs. The sun had just started to set, and the sky was painted in blues and oranges. It was a beautiful sunset. Suddenly I heard rustling in the bushes nearby and thought maybe it was a rabbit but instead I heard a tiny meow. It definitely sounded like a kitten rather than a full-grown cat, so I started looking for it just to make sure that it was safe and not harmed. There in the bushes was a little gray kitten with bright blue eyes looking up at me. It was small and a little skinny and it was probably hungry and looking for food and had wandered its way into the garden. After a few moments I was able to gain its trust and it let me pick it up. I took it inside and out and gave it a bath in the sink to get it clean. It had a few fleas that thankfully I was able to remove and as it was curled up in a towel drying I microwaved some tuna since we didn’t have any kitten food. I sat down with it on the floor watching as I ate. I wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl and I didn’t see its mom anywhere but either way it was adorable.

“Who do we have here?'' my mom said as she walked in.

“I found it outside. I didn't see it’s mom.” I explained “Don’t worry I gave it a bath in the sink so it’s clean.”

“It’s certainly cute.” Mom said kneeling down nearby but still at a distance where the kitten felt safe.

“Can we keep it?” I asked

Mom hummed as she contemplated her answer.

“Please,'' I begged.

“I’ll tell you what,” she said. “We will take it to the vet to make sure that it’s healthy and if it doesn’t already have an owner we can keep it.”

I let out a small squeal of excitement “Thank you thank you thank you.”

After the kitten was finished eating I gave it a small bowl of water and mom started dinner. While we ate I started trying to come up with names that I felt suited this little gray kitten. As I watched it I decided on two names: if it was a girl it was River and if it was a boy we would call it Merlin. I know I’m probably getting a little ahead of myself since we don’t know if we’re actually going to keep it, but I felt so connected to this kitten already. After we ate dinner I sat and played with the kitten, and soon it was time to start getting ready for bed. I didn’t have anything to use as a litter box at the moment, so I had to improvise. I found an old shoebox and cut up some paper I have lying around. It wasn't necessarily the best, but it was the best that I could do. Mom had left a message at the local vet’s office explaining that we found a stray cat and we would be bringing it in tomorrow to get checked out. Everything was situated, it was time to go to bed.