Keeping Secrets (Book 1)

Chapter 6: Unhelpful

Travis and I followed Nina inside and she led us to a small sitting area. We took one couch while she sat in the one opposite us.

"So you can see ghosts, uh... wait, what was your name?"

Right. We hadn't introduced ourselves yet. I need to remember how to interact with people who don't already know me. "Sorry. It's Dylan and this is my, um... my boyfriend, Travis." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him smiling at me. I've never introduced him as my boyfriend before. It felt kinda nice. "But yeah, I can see them. It's still a new thing. I was in a... a bad car accident four months ago. That's when it started."

Nina nodded. "So you're new at this." Then she turned to Travis. "And you? Or are you just here because of him?"

Travis laughed. "Yeah, no. I found out about the whole 'ghosts are real' thing on the ride over here. Somebody was keeping it a secret. But I am willing to help, if I can."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" I asked Nina. "My sister showed up for two seconds looking like she was in a whole lot of pain and even bleeding, asking for my help. I've never seen a ghost look like that before."

She sighed. "Shoot. I was really hoping it was just the one that came to me, but if you saw one too... Have you seen any ghosts recently? Like any of them?"

I shook my head. "The last time I saw any, aside from today when Jenny asked for my help, was four days ago."

"Okay... Okay, hold on." Nina stood up and went over to a large bookshelf against the wall. After a moment of searching, she pulled out a book. It looked old, like really old.

"This," Nina said, sitting back down on the couch with the book in her lap, "might just have an answer. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"What is it?" Travis asked before I could.

She looked up at us. "The only book of its kind. It tells the past, present, and future of the ghost realm. Some might even say it's magic."

I'm sure my eyes were bugging out of my head. Magic? Really? I've already come to terms with ghosts existing, but magic too? It couldn't possibly be real.

"Are you saying magic's real?" I asked, still completely dumbfounded. "That that book can really tell the present and future? How does it do that?"

Nina burst out laughing. "No, silly. I made that up. But... this book can still be useful. It's the most accurate book about the ghost realm I've ever found. I haven't read all of it yet, though, only the sections that were relevant at certain times. But I think I remember..." She started scanning through the large table of contents in the book until she found what she was looking for. "Here!" She flipped to a page near the back and began silently reading.

While she read, I looked over at Travis, I can't imagine what he must be thinking. At least I had sort of had some time to adjust to the whole ghost thing, unlike him. Until about an hour or so ago, his life was normal. The only issue in his life was wanting me to come out of the closet.

Now I was causing a whole lot more issues for him, having dragged him out here with me. It made me think that maybe I shouldn't have to rely on people me to where I need to be, especially not Travis. He didn't deserve to be here.

Although Travis didn't seem to mind all that much, despite everything. He reached out and grabbed my hand, running his thumb along the back of it. It was almost like he was trying to reassure me. Shouldn't it have been the other way around?

Suddenly, Nina slammed the book shut. There was a dark expression on her face that wasn't there before. "You need to leave."

I looked at her, confused. "What? What did the book say? What's going on? How do we fix it?"

Nina stood up, clutching the book to her chest. "Get out. Don't come back. It's too dangerous. There's nothing you can do."

Travis tugged on my hand a bit, urging me to stand with him. I stood, but I wasn't exactly happy about it. I wanted to stay - to help. But if Nina was kicking us out, I wasn't sure I wanted to know why if it was that dangerous.

Travis led me to the door while Nina stood there watching us. I was trying to come up with something to say - anything to get her to tell us what was going on. Obviously she found an answer, so why couldn't she just tell me?

I still hadn't come up with something to say by the time Travis had pulled open the door and dragged me through. "Thanks for letting us barge in," he said, ever the polite one.

Nina gave him a short nod before slamming the door in our faces. It only took another second before I heard at least two different locks being put into place.

"Well," I said, still staring at the door. "That was helpful."

Travis wrapped his arm around me. "You did the best you could, babe. Now come on, let's get something to eat, okay?"

I shook my head. "That's the thing, Trav. I didn't do anything! My sister's in trouble! My grandma! All the ghosts, probably! I can't just forget about them while they suffer!"

"Babe, babe, babe," Travis said, grabbing my face, trying to calm me down. "I'm not asking you to forget. Just to remember that they're already dead. Like she said, there's nothing you can do."

"Yeah," I sighed, letting him think I was giving in. Silently, however, I was starting to make a plan. Looks like I was going to continue keeping secrets from Travis after all.

"Can I try driving to dinner?" I asked.

He dropped his hands, looking shocked. "What happened to your 'never getting behind the wheel of a car ever again' thing?"

"Well... I think you might be right. I should move on from the past."

He smiled, reaching into his pocket for his keys. "Not exactly what I meant, but I think I like it." He then dropped the keys into my hand. "Still remember how, right?"

I scoffed, heading off towards the car. "Of course I do."

My problem wasn't the physical act of driving, since my right foot was still fully intact, but it was the psychological wall I've put up against it that was the hardest to get past. But if I was going to figure out this ghost problem without Travis' help, I was going to need to get over it. This was the only way to do that.