Dream for the Dead (Completed/Editing)

35

Seth rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet nervously before we walked into the room his Father was sat in, waiting for us. He'd have the shock of his life. He may have thought some wild things about who this mystery cousin may be, but none would be as crazy as his dead - murdered - son coming to give him a visit. Maybe we'd make him go crazy. I almost smirked at the thought.
"You can go in." An officer told us. I thanked her, and checked on Seth one last time. He squeezed my hand and gave a slight nod, before walking into the room.
Alexander Crosby sat there in his chair, hands cuffed and a bored look on his face. An officer stood in the corner of the room. Alexander looked like he hadn't shaved or washed in months, and he had deep wrinkles all over his face and a receding hairline. Quite different to how he looked when he'd murdered his entire family. He looked up at me and made eye contact and, if only for a second, I could see the glint of evil in his eyes. His eyes shifted to Seth, and immediately he tensed up. I glanced at Seth and could see that he was trying his best to suppress tears and wails.
"My boy." Alexander began to sob. "My little Seth."
The officer's lip turned up and his face twisted into a look of confusion. I guessed that Seth was hiding himself from the officer, to avoid being recognised as Alex's dead son.
"I thought you were ashamed to call me your son." Seth's voice was filled with disgust.
"I-I'm..." His Father bit down on his lip and bowed his head, crying.
"You wanna sit down?" I whispered.
Seth proceeded to sit (slowly and reluctantly) across from Alexander.
"You're what?" Seth didn't look directly at him.
"Sorry!" It came out loud and quickly, followed by profuse sobbing.
"Aren't you going to ask how?" Seth ignored his apology.
"Because I'm going insane in here? Because I'm remorseful? Because my guilt is manifesting itself as a visual and aural hallucination?" He stared into Seth, making Seth turn his head further away.
"You still speak the exact same way." Seth breathed one long stream of air out of his nostrils. "You're not sorry."
"I really am!"
"I'm sorry, what's going on here?" The officer took a step towards us, but stopped when I held my hand up.
"Don't worry about it. I'm a reminder of what he did, this is normal." I smiled confidently. "I should know, being a psychology student."
That was enough for the officer, who stepped back into the corner. That's right, mind your own goddamn business. I thought.
"I'm real. It's a long story, but I am. I'm a ghost. There's kinda a curse on the house."
"Bullshit. You're not real."
"Tell me why you did it." Seth leaned back in his chair. I was surprised by how calm and collected he was.
"The house. It's dangerous. It's poisonous! The voices...the man...he told me...he said untrue things! That you'd leave! He made me do it!" Alexander wailed. "I'm so, so sorry. I love you all."
"That's not enough." Seth was getting irritated, his voice raised.
"I don't know what you want!"
"They'd better move you to another town before you die." Seth stood quickly, and the officer looked horrified at the movement of the chair.
"Come on, Tabs. This was pointless. He's a worthless piece of shit; I don't know why I wanted to come here."
"I'd better leave." I directed my sentence at the officer, who simply continued to stare at the chair in disbelief and terror whilst Alexander continued to cry harder than I'd ever heard someone cry before.
Seth held my hand again as we walked out, but stopped completely still for a split second when Alexander whispered:
"I'm proud to call you my son."

We stood outside the station for a while, Seth breathing deeply with his eyes closed.
"I'm glad I did it." He eventually spoke. "Even if it was awful."
"At least you know he wouldn't have done it, if he was himself."
Seth looked at me from the corner of his eye. I thought I'd said something careless, but he beamed at me all of a sudden.
"You know, you always make me feel better." He looked nervously down at his feet. "No matter what's going through my mind."
The edges of my lips turned up, and my heart beat faster. But I quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Friends, Tabitha. I thought. He sees us as friends. Nothing more.
"It seems like Peter was the one telling him to do it..." he mumbled. "Okay then, forest?" Seth straightened up and was suddenly bright and happy once more. When he began to walk, there was a spring in his step and there was a twinkle in his eye.
"This isn't all because of me, right?" I beamed.
He linked his arm in mine. "What do you mean, Tabs?"
"You know what I mean. It's because of what your, h-he, said. Right?"
He contemplated admitting it for a second, before his toothy grin got wider. "Kinda."

"I'm glad that you're not going through with the Saviour thing now." Seth sighed with delight and dropped to the floor when we got to the forest, lying back into the flowers. "I'd miss this place."
"It seems likely that Analetta put some sort of curse on this forest, too, y'know?" I commented.
"Why's that?" Seth's looked puzzled.
"Well, what're you lying in right now?"
"Purple flowers. Purple flowers that would look really pretty in your hair."
"What?"
Seth didn't answer with words, but instead grabbed my arm and pulled me down beside him. I expected it to hurt, but the blanket of flowers was so thick that it was a very soft landing.
Seth plucked a single flower and laced it through my hair. "Yeah. I was right."
His arm snaked around my shoulder, and I was going to allow him to get closer to me, but then I realised I couldn't. I couldn't allow intimacy and romance right now, if that was even what was happening. I had to focus on the Saviour business.
I sat up, smiling down at Seth.
"The forest isn't cursed, by the way." Seth also sat up, curling his knees into his body. "They're called cyclamen. They bloom almost all year round."
"That's interesting." I ran my fingers through the flowers on the ground. "They smell nice, too."
"Mhm." Seth grinned. "Anyway, I have something for you."
"Stop. Stop right there!"