Chapter 5
Weeks went by. I hadn't had any visions of the weird Fehu ghost. But that didn't stop other ghosts to stop by for a chat.
Frank was revising some hearth diseases in animals behind the counter. Despite still being on break from school, Frank never went a day without studying. I really admired how dedicated he was. He also never let his studies interfere with his job. Once the bell rings, indicating we have a customer, Frank would put his book down, smile and greet them with the friendliest face he has. I checked my watch for the time. I tapped Frank's shoulder to get his attention.
"Closing time," I said. Frank slapped his book close and put it in his backpack. He helped me clean up a little and went home as I locked the front door.
Back home Will and Hazel were playing poker. By the looks of it, Will was losing. I hugged Will from behind to peek at his cards.
"You have a really crappy hand." I said.
"Well there goes my bluff."Will said folding his cards as Hazel laughed like a stereotypical villain as she collected the tokens from the board.
"Want to deal you in?" Will asked as he was shuffling.
"You're already losing, Solace. Adding Nico to the game, you will only get annihilated." Hazel said.
"The difference between you and your brother is, him, I can read like an open book."
"So you say." Hazel said.
"I have a poker face! Deal me in." I said.
Few games in, I already had an even number of chips as my fiance. He was right. He could read me when I was bluffing or not. Or he just guess at random what to play. But I could also tell when he was bluffing. Each time he had a lousy hand, he would bite his lips, and play with a token. Hazel had no tells if she was bluffing or not. When finally Will lost all his tokens he went to make us some hot chocolate. He had occasionally peeked into my or Hazel's cards. I had managed to gain some tokens back from Hazel, thanks to Will's terrible poker face, but eventually we decided it was too late and we called it a night. Hazel pouted since I still had some tokens she didn't win from me.
Will yawned as he laid in the bed next to me.
"Your sister has a serious poker face," he said.
"I wish I could say that for you." I poked his shoulder," I can't believe you managed to stay in the game for so long. You have worse poker face than Jason, and he has glasses. You can literally see his cards on his face and yet you have more revealing poker face."
"What's my tell?"
I told him about his habit to bite his lips.
"Well at least I don't furrow my brows and tap my legs. Also when you get a good hand you tend to purposely bite your fingernails. You make a real show of it too." Will made a point by imitating me. He took one of his hand, motioned it up and down, wiggled his fingers in my face then slowly started to put a finger in his mouth as if he's going to bite his fingernail. I covered his mouth before he could do that. We cuddled under the blanket, talking about everything and nothing at all. We teased each other, flirted and laughed in hushed voices.
I didn't even realise I had fallen asleep until Will had woken me up from ghostly nightmare. I gasped for air, still recovering from my dream of being drowned. Will hugged me tightly, and rocked me as he whispered in my ear, "you are safe, you're safe. Breathe in. And out. In. And out."
I looked around our room. Will switched on his nightstand lamp, so I could see clearly where I was. I followed Will's instructions and breathed deeply, in the rhythm he told me to. Hearing his voice, feeling his arms around me, made me feel safe and at home. When I had finally calmed down Will kissed my temple and asked me if I wanted to talk about my nightmare. I tried to remember my nightmare. I remembered cold water going in my lungs. I remembered feeling paralysed and in pain. I remembered feeling scared and alone. I remembered seeing a boy with me, under the water. He looked really young, maybe 15 or 16. His hairstyle reminded me of the lead singer of Nirvana. He looked beaten up. He was bleeding. His clothes were dirty and ripped. I had a feeling this was the same ghost that interrupted my dinner few weeks ago, with Reyna and Leo. But I didn't recognise the boy. I knew Will had a dead brother, but I already met him, and this wasn't him. I also knew Will had a big family, so if it wasn't his brother it could have been one of his cousins. I told him in detail what I saw in my dream. The kind of clothes the boy had been wearing. How his blond hair had few twigs and leaves stuck in it. How I felt. Will sat and listened patiently.
"Did he say anything?" Will asked. I shook my head.
"So you don't know anything, but his appearance?" I nodded. I didn't have a voice left in me to speak. I hated when it was a child's ghost. I wanted to cry for the boy. I got up from the bed.
"Where are you going?"
"Bathroom."
When I came back to the bedroom Will was still waiting for me awake. His eyes were closing against his will, but he forced them open. He held me in the bed, and pretty soon he had fallen asleep. I on the other hand stared at the ceiling wondering who that boy was, and how did he die.
That morning I woke up to an empty bed. Will was already at work. I found a note on the fridge from Hazel that said she was out with Frank. I decided to research about the ghost. Anything that could connect that weird symbol I saw during the dinner with a missing child. I was frustrated when after hours of searching I came up empty.