You Promised

11

Annabelle's pov

It was dark out and Jay was already in bed. I just couldn't get Maxwell's promise out of my mind, revenge on my daddy. It was a pretty good offer. I might even be able to put aside my hate for Ghost and Jimmy, I mean, I understand where they were coming from, they were just trying to protect themselves. I could respect that.

"Hello? Anyone there?"
Maxwell was sitting, or, hovering just above the couch, in the living room.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Start explaining."

"Well aren't you direct? Okay I'll start with Jimmy. Not many know about him and Ghost being the same person. The only people who do are Johnny Toast, the Accachallas, myself, and Toilet Toucher, who I believe you've already had a run-in with."

"I have. Now who are the Accachallas?"

He sighed.
"My family. Years ago I was part of the Accachalla gang. It was me, my brother Jeremy, our brother Jose Jose Jose Jose, and the oldest of us, Papa. Don't ask about the names, our parents were weird. We worked well together and always watched each other's backs, until one day. A robbery went wrong. Papa and I were working alone. I had the teller take me back to the vault and instead of giving me the money, she beat me to death with a crowbar. And you know what my back stabbin' brother did?"
He adjusted his hat so I could see his eyes, the were a unnaturally bright blue, like the sky over the desert.
"He watched. And then he just up and replaced me with some random guy off the street. Of course, Papa is the only member of the gang still alive. Jeremy ended up getting turned into some kinda shadow monster and Jose is currently possessing Papa, but he only shows up on Midnights and Mondays."

I sighed. I knew where he was coming from, you're supposed to be able to trust family.

"So who are you trying for revenge on?"

"My dad. He abused Jay and I for years and I finally got him sent to jail. That was enough for us to get out of town, but knowing my dad it won't hold him long. When he gets here, I wanna be ready. So how does Ghost help us?"

Maxwell shook his head.
"Look, I may hold a grudge against Ghost for all those times he defeated me, but he's a smart kid, and he isn't above murder when it comes to protecting his friend, Johnny Toast. You make friends with him, he'll do anything to protect you."

I thought about what Maxwell was saying. If he was right, this would be easy.
"Alright I can work with this."

Maxwell smiled.
"Good. Just remember, you owe me a favor. Now I gotta go take this,"
He threw me a silver whistle.
"If ya need me, whistle."
Then he disappeared.

"Wait, favor?!"