The Fall of the Aftons

166: Michael Afton

About an hour and a half later, Michael and Noah had visited everybody's graves except for one.

Evan's.

Michael still had that dreaded feeling, too. And it was only getting worse as they neared his little brother's grave.

As the two got closer and closer, he noticed somebody sitting on top of it.

No, they weren't sitting on it...

They were floating above it.

Evan.

I used Michael as a test subject with the remnant I collected from Evan's friend. Cassidy, I think her name was. Anyway, seconds after the injection, he was writhing and screaming in pain. I'm going to call it "agony remnant." The agony remnant and the original remnant in his bloodstream seemed to clash at first, but after a while, they came to an agreement. I can't wait to see how the agony remnant affects him in the morning!

Michael froze at the memory of what his father had written in one of the numerous journals Michael had found shortly after Elizabeth's death.

I learned something new today. People with remnant in their bloodstream can see the souls of the deceased. Fritz saw me after work today. He was chasing me for almost twenty minutes and tried to strangle me. If it weren't for Susie stopping him, I might've died.

That was something he wrote in another journal.

Cassidy and Fritz's souls are red when I'm nearby, unlike the others. Everyone else's souls have been a turquoise-ish blue. But those two are red, and they're the only ones that are hostile toward me. That can't be a coincidence.

Evan's soul, compared to what William had written in his journals and the souls Michael had seen floating about as they continued with their undead lives, wasn't the supernatural blue they'd seen. But he wasn't red like Cassidy and Fritz were in William's presence, either.

Evan was gray.

What did gray mean? William's notes didn't have anything about gray souls.

"Mikey? Are you okay? You look pale," Noah said worriedly, pausing in place when he saw Michael just standing there.

Michael swallowed hard, panic starting to rise in his throat. "I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't do this. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this!" He tried to turn and walk away, but Noah grabbed his hand and stopped him. "No, no, no, no, no! I can't do this!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Noah exclaimed softly, pulling Michael into a restraining hug. "It's okay, it's okay. If you want to leave, we can leave. We don't have to stay. I know that today has been super emotional already and it's not even ten."

Michael nodded slowly, sniffling softly. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, resting his head on Noah's shoulder.

"Okay. Let's go, then." He kissed Michael's hand and smiled softly. "What do you want to do next?" he asked as he started to lead Michael back to the cemetery entrance, their hands intertwined.

"I don't know," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes again.

"Well, do you want to go home or stay out?"

"Out..."

"Okay, we can stay out, then. Do you want to go somewhere on the list? Or do you just want to drive around?"

Michael hesitated, trying to think. "No. I know where I want to go."

~ ~ ~

"What... What is this place?" Noah asked as he and Michael walked up to the porch of a small house.

Michael bent down next to an empty plant pot next to the front door, digging out a key from the soil. He brushed the remaining dirt off the key onto his pants, making sure it was clean.

"Mikeeeeeey, what is this place?" Noah whined, begging for an answer. "We better not be breaking into somebody's house!"

"I would never do that," Michael assured him, putting the key in the door handle.

"Then why are you doing it right now?!" he exclaimed.

"No one has lived here in fourteen years. Besides, I'm the legal owner of this place now that my father is dead." He unlocked the front door and stepped inside. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Noah sighed heavily and slowly stepped inside, gasping when he saw everything. "It's like somebody's family home was frozen in time," he mused, in awe. "It's a gorgeous house. Small, but gorgeous."

"You can look around if you want. I don't care," he offered.

"Are you sure?" Noah asked, shocked by the offer.

"Of course. I don't mind."

Noah's eyes lit up and he meandered about, exploring the house. Michael chuckled, then went over to the fireplace mantel, looking at the family photos of his birth family. Everybody in the photos haunted his dreams sometimes, even though he barely remembered them. He didn't even remember their names.

"Aww, you were so adorable when you were little!" Noah exclaimed from behind him. "You're the twin with the necklace and blue jacket, right?"

Michael flinched and jumped back, startled. But he just ended up ramming into Noah, making himself fall over. Thankfully, though, Noah caught him just before he crashed onto the hardwood floor.

"Are you falling for me again?" Noah teased, giving Michael a goofy grin.

"Shut up," Michael grumbled, looking away as he started to blush.

Noah snickered before dipping him lower, making him squeal. He instinctively wrapped his arms around Noah's waist, trying to hold himself up before he fell.

And that's when it hit him.

Noah just recreated the positions they were in during the best moment of their senior prom.

Their first kiss.

Michael's face reddened as he recalled the memory. Noah chuckled and rested his forehead on Michael's, closing his eyes before giving him a small, gentle kiss. A few seconds later, he pulled back a little, holding Michael's chin in his hand as he inspected his face.

"You're smiling," Noah mused, his voice filled with joy. "You're finally smiling."

"Well, what did you expect?" he asked, chuckling slightly. "You're standing here, holding me like a princess in a fairy tale and kissing me. You're cheating."

"Oh, I'm cheating, huh? How so?" Noah said, smirking.

"I like your kisses, and you know that. Therefore, you're cheating because you know that your kisses will make me smile."

He scoffed, laughing. "Yeah, whatever. I still made you smile."

Michael didn't say anything, just kissing Noah for a moment before carefully standing up. "It's still cheating."

"Okay, okay, fine. I cheated. I'm sorry", he said, snickering, then checked his watch. "It's getting close to 10:30. Do you want to go to the park by the Center?"

"Why can we only go at 10:30? And why the Center park?" Michael asked, slight laughter filling his words. "There are so many other better parks to go to."

"Because there's someone meeting us there that you'll wanna see."