The Stray Souls ["The Diary Keeper" Sequel; "The Dark Legacies" Series]

Chapter 20: Tell me a story

"Liandra!"

The piercing, high-pitched voice of Grandma Millie cuts through the morning silence – most people are still catching up on sleep at seven in the morning on a weekend, especially after a loud family celebration. But my grandmother can never be stopped – of all people, she finds it challenging to live in complete harmony and peace.

"Lia, my dear, are you still sleeping?"

No, of course, I'm not sleeping anymore. Could you sleep in such conditions? But I stubbornly continue to pretend that I'm sleeping like a log. Honestly, I just want to rest. Sometimes even the dearest people take away a lot of energy.

"Lia, can you hear me?"

This time, I finally got out of bed and lazily descended to the ground floor, following the voice. She won't stop until she talks to me – I was a hundred percent sure of that.

"Yes, Grandma, I'm here. What's up?"

"Tony was just here," her tone was more anxious than joyful when she mentioned the name of her ex-lover.

"But you two broke up!" I exclaimed. Although I had learned well from Grandma Millie – in her life, there was no room for stability. Any new relationship of hers was just another relationship, and the end of a relationship could never be considered final with certainty.

"He visited me half an hour ago to return some of my important things," she continued, "I forgot my favorite set of bright lipsticks at his place – you know, the one with eighteen colours. And also, the fashion magazines from my youth – not less than a hundred issues, I need to count them exactly. And also..." she began listing a dozen other things, and I just patiently listened.

"And... what's the point?"

"Liandra, you won't believe what secret Tony revealed to me!" Grandma looked genuinely frightened.

"So, you broke up, but you still trust each other with secrets?" Even in my young age, I wasn't that careless in relationships with my admirers.

"My dear, listen! Tony... saw ghosts."

I pretended that this statement didn't catch me off guard. How often do I hear something about ghosts? It seems like the last time was yesterday during the family celebration. Since then, less than half a day has passed.

"Grandma, if I were you, I wouldn't trust ex-lovers." I was trying to convince her that it's all nonsense.

"He would never lie to me! Just because we broke up doesn't mean he doesn't love me!"

I wanted to say that Grandma Millie simply lacked a little experience in love relationships, but then I remembered that it was actually the other way around...

"Maybe he just imagined it."

"Tony said there were about a dozen ghosts there!"

"There - where exactly?"

"At the entrance to Ravenwood, of course!"

Her loud voice woke up my entire family and all the guests who spent the night at our house – quite a surprise at seven in the morning. While everyone was trying to convince the poor old lady that ghosts don't exist, I was running various scenarios through my mind.

I was actually the only one among them who knows that they do exist.

***

Summer was approaching incredibly swiftly with each passing day. Only a few weeks remained until the end of the school year, and I already knew exactly how I would spend the upcoming holidays - of course, at least half of my free time would go to work in a cafe. As for the rest of the days, I would spend them on something unclear – life will show where my secrets will lead me.

While Caroline Sinclair was diligently preparing for the final exams and hoped to improve her good grades to excellent, I was getting ready for another visit to Michael Everglenn. It's a great relief that he is still alive and has good memory.

Finally, I'm back at Michael's house. We're in the living room, sitting on the comfy couch. It feels different this time – more serious, like we're here to talk about really important stuff.

"Tell me a story," I began, "Any story. Any details matter a lot."

"OK, Liandra Di Flores," he warmly smiled, "I will tell you a story."