Trapped in the Afterlife

Chapter 8- Last Chance, First Spy

Tiffany's birthday was in exactly three weeks. Margaret and Cecilia didn't understand why the member of the Kaiser family hadn't yet made a move. The closer she approached her birthday, the less chances he would have of eliminating her before her powers came through and lifted the veil off our entire family. Considering it was Yohan, I was hoping he was trying to talk his family out of it.

During these weeks, Margaret spent most of her time with Frederick and his sons teaching them all she could. Cecilia and I acted as bodyguards to Tiffany. One week before her birthday, Tiffany asked to go out without Cecilia, she wanted to meet with a friend which she claimed to trust. Cecilia agreed to stay behind but even if Tiffany asked that she make me stay behind too, that wasn't the case. And so, I followed her. When I saw that we were heading into Yohan's place, I decided to stay out of sight. I was a little scared however, what if he decided that now was the best time to kill her? Would appearing before him be enough to stop him? I couldn't do anything against him... although if he had managed to touch me, maybe I could touch him? Keep him from doing whatever act that would cause my niece's death.

''Have you given some thought to our last conversation?'' She asked as soon as he opened the door. What had they last spoken about that was so important she didn't even bother with a hello?

''Tiff...'' Yohan whispered as a greeting. ''I'm sorry, I haven't... I just got back a few days ago from my grandfather's...'' I quickly ran through the walls until I was standing in the wall behind him where I finally risked to take a peek. He was standing at the door, his position clearly not allowing her entrance. He looked tired and broken somehow. I frowned fearing the worst - that he was considering his 'task'. Please Yohan, don't be the one to kill her. Please...

''I need someone's support at the moment. A lot is happening to me and I need someone to talk to... someone to hold on to. And I can see that you seem to need the same. Why not make the best of it all?'' she asked, standing confidently in front of him.

''Tiffany... we've been supporting one another for years but I don't think you can help me with this and I don't think I can be of any help to you while I'm going through this. Its not...'' he bent his head as if ashamed of himself. ''Its not regular, day to day stuff.''

She beamed brightly at him and reached out to hold him arm which was pressed against the doorframe but he pulled back from her touch and her face turned down into a frown. ''My father doesn't want me to tell anyone about the troubles I'm facing but I feel like I can tell you. Please, let me in to talk at least?'' her voice was soft and wavering.

''I'm sorry Tiffany. You have to go.'' Just as he said those words his phone rang and just like that he closed the door to her face and turned to answer the phone.

I knew that I should have ran back through the walls and followed after Tiffany but the change in his face as the machine spoke the name of the caller made me curious enough to stay hidden. ''Yeah?'' he answered abruptly. Huh, so obviously this wasn't someone he was eager to speak with. What had happened in the time I was gone for him to be so cold and closed off? Sure he had been with Tiff but not THIS much.

Yohan remained silent with the phone pressed to his ear for a while, occasionally he nodded and murmured a few 'mhmms' as the person on the other line spoke to him. He wasn't helping me gather information which made me somewhat frustrated. I crossed the room quickly behind him and hid in the opposite wall hoping to get closer and maybe catch a few whispers of what the other person was saying.

''Yes, I'm working on it!'' Yohan suddenly yelled into the phone and ran his hand across his face. When he removed his hand I saw that one lone tear had slipped from his right eye but he quickly swipped it away.