Esterville (Book 1)

Chapter 10: Confronting Allison

As soon as they reached to Oliver's neighborhood, Amelia released his hand. Relieved, Oliver dropped to his knees and starts choking.

"Are you okay?" asked the vampire, staring at the boy with her dark eyes.

He nodded silently, trying to adjust his eyes for a moment.

It wasn't the first time Amelia did that.

When he was little, Amelia would either carry or take him anywhere: school, home, bookstore, and the grocery store.

To Oliver, it made him laugh and scream as if he is a rollercoaster, syncing with the twisting cars. 

"Yeah," he laughed weakly.

"I need a minute to take a breath."

She winked in response, then pointed at Allison's burning house.

Right now, it's invaded by oncoming firefighters. Red trucks parked on Allison's lawn, as they stood within a five feet distance of the raging fire.

Flames broke through the windows;  bright yellowish-orange aura flickered like black smoke.

Speaking of smoke, Oliver can see light gray clouds spreading out of the windows. Neighbors and firefighters shield their mouths from the black stench, as they try to remain distant from the blazing heat.

"The reporters are going to eat this up," sighed Amelia, judging the scene.

"I have no doubt Mike did this."

Speaking of Mike, Oliver activates his sixth sense and saw the ghost standing in front of him.

Mike still wore his blood-soaked construction outfit, but this time Mike didn't smile.

"What the hell happened here?" he grunted.

"What happened?" yelled Oliver. "You set your girlfriend's house on fire!"

Raising his eyebrow, Mike crossed his arms then eyed the boy strangely.

"Really?" he laughed. "I may be an asshole, but I would never burn that bitch's house to the ground."

Amelia scoffed in disbelief.

"We know about you and Allison." she snapped.

"We know that you abused her, and let Allison filed a complaint against you."

"But apparently," Oliver seethed. "your dad ripped it up. How can you explain that?"

Instead of answering, the ghost shrugged his shoulders as if he doesn't seem to care about his past.

"Are you finished?" he said.

"What kind of person are you?" Oliver questioned.

"A narcissistic asshole? A ghost with a grudge?"

"What kid says 'narcissistic' ?" laughed Mike.

"Doesn't your mama teach you how to be normal?"

Oliver bit his lip to keep himself from screaming.

"Okay, then," said Oliver calmly.

"Since you weren't torching Allison's house, what the hell were you doing?"

"I was keeping an eye on her," said Mike truthfully.

"Why?" demanded Oliver.

"Earlier, you said you wanted revenge-"

"I know."

"Then why are you keeping an eye on Allison?" asked Amelia.

"Were you going to kill her?"