Wherever Souls Fly - Luke's Story

5 Goliath's ghost radar

I've known Pete since kindergarten, so it takes only a glance at his face for me to realise that he feels as uneasy as me. It is not the rules of BL stories that make me worry. I am afraid that Luke may get carried away by his feelings towards his little brother – if Matthias actually is his little brother. I have no idea whether spirits can get carried away, but that 'I love you' sounded a lot like it.

Pete breaks the silence after Luke's confession by asking Matt:

"Tell me a little more about your family."

Matt wakes up from his hypnosis and seems to be taken by surprise by Pete's question:

"Hmm, what exactly do you want to know?"

"Well, for example if you have a dog."

"That's a strange question, but yes, we do. Although some people consider him a rat that can bark. He's a Chihuahua named Goliath. My brother hated him, and vice versa."

"They are funny dogs, Chihuahuas," comments Pete, obviously trying to be polite, because I remember he actually considers Chihuahuas to be rats that can bark and even bite. "You seem to have a huge garden, like most houses here. I'll bet you have a garden house, right?"

Matt shakes his head and utters what I am thinking:

"This is a weird interview. Yes, Pete, we do have a garden house. We used to have barbecues there in summer, but my parents don't want to do that any more. It would remind them of Kevin."

At this moment an man with a Chihuahua on a lead comes strolling up to us – the second villager we've seen so far, and it isn't hard to guess that he's Matt's dad. As he comes nearer, the rat-like doggie starts barking at a disturbingly high pitch, and he is definitely barking at Luke. He drags on his lead and bares his teeth which looks funny, but Pete grabs my arm, because he was bitten by a Chihuahua when we were in Primary School. He was bleeding then and got a tetanus jab because his mum was afraid the dog might not have brushed its teeth.

Matt's dad smiles apologetically:

"Sorry, Goliath isn't usually like this. Nice to see you, guys. Matt, why don't you invite your friends to our house? Will you introduce them to me?"

"I didn't want to disturb Mum and you, Dad," Matt replies and tells him our names.

"Matt, you've never mentioned them. Do you know each other from school?"

I wonder if the little dog can sense that Luke is his archenemy's spirit. I take a glance at Goliath, and he stops barking for a moment and looks at me, too. Knowingly? Maybe. After this short telepathic conversation with me he goes back to barking at Luke, as if he wanted to prove that he – like all dogs – has a very good sense of smell, but also a sensitive ghost radar.

Matt doesn't know what to say, so Pete rushes to his side:

"Not really. We met in an online chat, and Matt invited us to meet him. You know, we live in the city, and a trip to the countryside is perfect on a hot day like this."

"I see. Guys, you don't need to hang out at the bus stop. Why don't you come to our garden? We could have a barbecue, we haven't had that at all this year. I'll tell my wife to take some meat from the freezer. What do you think?"

Like me, Pete thinks that this is going too fast, so he says:

"Sir, we don't want to cause you any inconvenience."

"You won't - on the contrary. My wife and I would be happy to have some young people around us again, and Matt would also like it, I'm sure. You know, since the pandemic our house has been very quiet. That isn't good for a boy like Matt."