Secrets (up for adoption)

Part 5

Scott

"What?!?" Avi Kevin and I all screamed. I felt nauseous. Mitch buried his head in Kirstie's hair.
We a were silent, but it became a scary, defining silence.
"How long?" Avi asked.
"What?" Mitch said looking up. He had tears in his eyes.
"Awe, Mitch. Why are you crying?" Kevin asked.
"I was so scared to tell you because I knew you guys would hate me and be scared of me." He said sniffling.
"We don't hate you Mitch. It is just a lot to take in..." I said walking over and taking his small body into my arms. He turned his whole body towards me and buried his face in my shirt.
"I'm a freak..." He whispered into the fabric.
I gently lifted his head so our eyes met.
"Mitch. You are not a freak. You are beautiful and talented." I said.
"Whatever you say..." He said
He turned to face everyone else but he still didn't leave my arms.
"And Avi. I have been seeing ghosts since I was very young and I started talking to them as soon as I learned how to talk." Avi nodded.
"It was kind of amusing because I remember one day when I was about 11 I over heard my mom on the phone with your mom and she was trying to get advice because she thought I still had imaginary friends." He said. I smiled.
"The still don't know the truth to this day. I mean... It's not like they would believe me. Quite frankly I don't know why you guys believe me..." He said.
"You were bleeding out of your eyes and you kept talking about a fire and Bennett. This makes all that make sense." Kevin said.
"So... How did Kirstie find out?" Avi asked.
We both sighed and cringed at the memory.
"When I was 15 Bennett told me the story of the evil woman who possessed his mother. Her name was Claudia. He told me that he needed my help to kill Claudia. He said that if I helped him it would save many lives. I tried to kill her and I thought I did by finding where her human body was buried and setting her body on fire. Let's just say that before I set the grave on fire she had possessed me and made me do horrible and painful things to myself. I was able to fight it for long enough part way through to set fire to the grave. Kirstie found me and I had almost died in her arms. When I woke up I explained everything to her." He said.
We all were silent again.
"As a matter of fact I think..." He said. He slipped from my arms and gently pulled off his shirt.
The word regret was visible across his stomach. It looked as if someone had taken a knife and carved it into his body.
I frowned and ran my fingers across the words. Then I leaned down and kissed each of the letters.
When I finished he slipped his shirt back on and I wrapped him in my arms again.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Avi said.
"I didn't want to risk any of you getting hurt..." He said hugging my arms tightly. "I don't think I could live with myself if one of you died due to my actions..." I felt warm tears on my arms and I hugged him even closer.
"We want to help you Mitch... Especially if she is trying to hurt you."
I said. He shook his head quickly.
"Do not get involved!" He said. "I kept this from all of you because I wanted to protect you! So no! Absolutely not!"
"Mitch! You get expect us to just sit here and watch you get hurt!" I said. "Mitch... I can't just let her hurt you... I can't even begin to think about what would happen if you died. I can't live with out you. It's Scott and Mitch. Mitch and Scott. You are my other half and I can't just sit here and watch her take the one thing I love more then life itself." I said. He buried his head in my chest and started sobbing. Everyone else scooted closer and all gave Mitch one big hug.
"Thank you." He mumbled tickling my chest. Everyone smiled.
"We are all here for you. No matter what." Avi said.
Mitch smiled at all of us. I kissed his head and he held my hand. We sat there for a while, all just thinking about all the new information Mitch has told us. I suddenly felt Mitch tense up.
"What is it Mitchy?" I asked.
He was silent. "Mitch...?" Avi said.
"What's wrong?" I asked trying to get him to look at me.
"Bennett." He whispered.
He slid from my lap and walked slowly to the corner of the room behind us. We all turned to look at him. He kneeled down and I heard his quiet voice.
"Don't be afraid. They can't hurt you." He said. He held out one hand and shivered.
"They are my friends. They want to help me beat Claudia."
"I promise. I won't let her succeed this time."
He looked back at us and smiled. He then turned back to the corner.
"They can't see you." He said.
I do have to say... This looks really strange. It looks like Mitch talking to himself in the corner of the room.
"I will. Promise." He said before walking back to me and sitting in my lap.
"What did he say..." Kirstie asked.
"Well he said to thank you for saving me that time and he said thank you everyone else for standing by me. He said I am very lucky. He also told me to be safe." He said. I looked at his hands and noticed the one he held out earlier was paler then the other one. He looked down and smiled slightly.
"Bennett has the power to touch me. I can't feel him, all I feel is a large drop in temperature."
"He can... He can touch you?" I asked.
"Yes. He can feel my skin and stuff. It makes him feel just a little bit more human." He said.
"How old is he?"
"He was almost 6 when he was killed." Mitch said sadly.
"Have you ever met any other ghosts?" Avi asked. Mitch nodded.
"I have meet so many I lost count. Most of them are good but there have been a few bad ghosts. Usually when I run into one of them the kinder ghosts will try and protect me. None of them have ever been as strong as Claudia."
He said.