Locked

Chapter 3

With a shriek Elle let go of the locket. The boy was quick to react and caught it just before it hit the ground.

"I told you to be careful!" he seemed to be a mixture of mad and annoyed.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Elle exclaimed as she took some steps backwards, "HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE?!"

Elle took a moment to eye him up and down. He was tall and looked no older than 19 years old. He was wearing the same clothes as the picture; a white button up shirt, tan breeches, and tall black boots. His hair was neatly combed to the side, and his posture showed elegance.

"Elle, would you please calm down and make this easier for everybody'" the stranger questioned, annoyance laced in his tone. With a hand he rubbed his forehead while sighing.

This only scared Elle more, "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?"

The door opened to reveal Avery standing there looking confused, "why are you shouting? And who are you talking to? Nobody's here."

Avery looked up at her older sister as if she were crazy; she probably was, but that was beside the point.

Elle glanced at the mysterious boy and then back at her sister, "umm, I was just..." she trailed off, her eyes reflected panic, what was she supposed to tell her? She looked around her room in search for a cover up. She grabbed a random book from her desk and lifted it up for Avery to see, "I was just reading out loud," Elle smiled and hoped that she had convinced her.

Avery stared at her older sister before furrowing her eyebrows and closing the door behind her. She mumbled something under her breath; Elle could faintly make out something along the lines of, "yeah sure."

"Why can't she see you?! Why can I see you?!" Elle whispered-shouted the moment the door was closed, looking —and feeling — even more confused and scared.

"I'm the guardian of this locket," he raised the locket hanging from his hand, "and you can see me because you are the owner of this locket."

Elle stood there watching the guy; she didn't even know what to think. Who was crazier, him or her?

"You're kidding right?" she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for an answer. This joke was starting to get old.

"Excuse me?" now the nameless boy that stood in her room seemed more confused than Elle, "I'm being completely serious right now," he stated matter of factly. His tone of voice and vocabulary showed that he was well-mannered and charming, but right now, he only seemed annoyed by the situation.

"If you're being serious tell me how you appeared in my room out of nowhere, why my sister isn't able to see you, and who are you?"

With a sigh, the stranger answered Elle's questions, "I'm Isaac Bosworth, the guardian of this locket, I appeared in your room because your careless self dropped the locket," he rolled his eyes before continuing, "and your sister can't see me because only the owner of the locket is able to see me."

"Ooohh! The "guardian of the locket"," she mocked and air quoted, she was getting tired of whatever this was, "how long have you been the guardian of this locket, huh?" Elle challenged.

"Over a hundred years," the boy, which Elle now knew was named Isaac —if that was really his name — answered.

"Come on! You are 19!"

"18," Isaac corrected.

"Then how can you have looked over the locket for over one hundred years?"

"Simple," Isaac answered, "I'm dead."

Elle stared at Isaac dumbfounded. Should she believe him? And if she did, how was that even possible?

"H-how do I know you're not lying?" Elle stuttered. A new sense of worry washing over her face.

"If I were alive would I be able to do this?" Isaac then disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room.

A shriek left Elle's lips, "Oh my God! Okay, um I-I believe you."

Finally, something clicked in Elle's brain, "you were the one following me?"

"Well, not you but the locket, but since you were wearing it I had to follow you," Isaac explained.

"That means that you have to follow the locket everywhere?" Elle didn't want to be followed around all the time.

"My job is to protect the locket, and if that means following it around, well then yes," Isaac seemed determined about his job, "that being said, I think it'll be safer with you."

"Protect it from whom? Or what?" Elle was intrigued by this now.

"Someone," mumbled Isaac barely audible.

Isaac took Elle's hand and placed the locket in it, "I'll keep my distance if you promise to take care of it," Elle nodded, too caught up focusing on something else, before Isaac took a step back and disappeared.

Elle was too distracted thinking about the feeling of Isaac's hand against hers to even call him back.