Locked

Chapter 7

Jade had barely set a foot on Elle's house before she started yelling.

"Isaac! Hello? Mr. Ghost? ISAAC!"

Luckily for Elle, her parents were at work and Avery had Ballet Training.

Elle couldn't even think of telling her to be quiet when Jade ran upstairs towards Elle's bedroom. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she followed her up the stairs, at a much more reasonable speed.

Elle was standing only two steps in front of her door watching as Jade searched everywhere she could for the so called ghost, when a now familiar voice whispered behind her.

"You told her?!"

Isaac looked mad, maybe even more than that, but he wasn't going to admit that he was also quite amused.

Elle shrieked and turned around to face him, "how many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?!"

"You told her!" He exclaimed ignoring her previous question, just like she had done with his.

"I needed to tell someone! I'm sorry, I was just going crazy with no one to talk to," she felt slightly guilty, she hadn't considered what Isaac would say, and neither did she think if it was risky for any of them.

"You could of just talked to me!"

"I can't talk about you with you, and that didn't turn out great last time..." she mumbled the last part under her breath.

Isaac rolled his eyes at her statement but then a smirk appeared on his pale lips, "so you talked about me."

"I just talked about the situation, and you're involved in it so..."

Jade had been so focused on finding Isaac that she hadn't realized that her best friend was apparently talking alone.

"Hey! Are you talking to him? Hey Isaac! Isaac! Over here!" She ran to stand besides Elle and waved her arms to call his attention.

"Is she always like this?" Isaac pointed with his thumb at the girl looking around Elle trying to figure out if there was actually a ghost in there.

"Yeah..." Elle chuckled in amusement at her annoying— but lovely— friend, but mostly at Isaac's attitude towards her.

"Elle I'm starting to believe you are playing with me. Why can't I see him if you can?" Jade seemed actually disappointed.

"Oh, I forgot, only the owner of the locket can see the guardian."

"You should of mentioned that earlier," Jade grumbled. "Wait! How do I know you're just not making things up and this is all some sort of joke I just fell in?"

"Ummm, I— Oh! The picture!"

Elle ran to her nightstand drawer, where the locket was safely kept away. She opened the locket carefully— she had learnt since she first met Isaac to be more careful around it— and smiled at the faded picture of Isaac.

She ran to Jade's side and showed her the tiny image. "This is him."

Jade took the open locket in her palm and studied it closely. Her eyes were squinted and she looked as if she was in deep thought.

"This doesn't prove there's an actual ghost."

Isaac took a step closer to Jade, and smirked at Elle, then he took the locket out of Jade's hand and held it by the chain. He then swang it slightly in the air.

Jade's eyes were the size of the moon, all color drained from her face. She looked like she could pass out in any minute.

"OK I BELIEVE YOU!" Jade shrieked and brought her arms up to herself while closing her eyes.

Both Elle and Isaac chuckled as they watched Elle's frightened friend.

Elle took the locket out of Isaac's hand and clasped it around her neck.

Jade finally seemed to be able to react normally again and turned to Elle, "I need some time to process that. I guess I'll go home; I'll see you tomorrow at school Elle." Her voice was almost robot-like. "It was nice meeting you Isaac..." the discomfort and fear laced in her words.

"The pleasure was mine," Isaac laughed, and Elle had to hold in her laugh.

Jade left the room and Isaac and Elle bursted out laughing.

"I wasn't expecting that," laughed Elle.

They both layed on the bed, small laughs still shaking their bodies.

"Do you scare people often?" Asked Elle; she was actually very curious.

"Only when I feel it necessary," Isaac smiled devilish. "Once, I used a Grim Reaper costume and flew over a park. All the people were terrified!" They both had to clutch their stomachs from laughing so hard, "And Halloween is always exciting, of course."

"Wow..." Elle was genuinely impressed.

"Yeah," sighed Isaac, "I guess it's the benefit of being a ghost." He suddenly seemed serious.

"What are the disadvantages?" Elle really wanted to get to know Isaac, and to understand this whole ghost concept.

"You have to watch the people you love go through tough moments, difficult situations, suffer, or die, and you can't do anything about it. You get to see them continue with their life without you. You see a lot of things, and for many years, you feel useless. You see your loved ones cross to the other side, to a better place, while you have to stay behind. And it can be exhausting." His voice was low, but Elle could hear every single word he said. So she did what she would have done with any of her friends, she hugged him.

Isaac seemed surprised for a moment, but hugged her back tightly. He buried his face in the crook of her neck while he tightened his grip on her.

When they finally broke apart, Isaac looked at Elle and smiled sadly, his lifeless eyes— that usually showed a different kind of light in them— were glossed over. All trace of witty remarks and sarcasm were long gone.

"Thank you," he choked out, "I hadn't hugged someone since before I died."

Elle's heart sank to her feet. No one deserved what Isaac had to go through, and certainly not for as many years as he had.

"Why haven't you crossed to the other side yet?" Elle was scared she would say something that would upset him more, but she needed to know.

"I won't be able to cross until there's someone else who can protect the locket. As I said before, the locket chooses who protects it and also who owns it."

"Do you remember past owners?"

"Only some of them, it had been a very long time since someone actually owned it when you bought it. Plus I don't tend to interact with the owners very often. But you are special Elle. The locket knew it, that's why it chose you. I knew it since the moment you approached the locket."

Elle could feel herself blush at that. Isaac had just complimented her. No sarcasm or an underlying offense in it.

She was suddenly aware that in the short span of a couple weeks she had become comfortable enough with Isaac. Maybe they had a shot at being really good friends.

"Thank you," she smiled, "so are you."

Yeah, they really could be friends.