Keeping Secrets (Book 1)

Chapter 18: Please

I was immediately surrounded by ghosts. The first few only tried to get through the door - which I had closed right after coming outside - paying me no attention. But when they couldn't get inside, they started to realize that I was watching them.

I saw the moment they all realized that if I could watch them, that meant I could see them. At which point, they all turned their attention to me.

The closest ghost - a woman wearing what looked like tattered bits cloth that barely covered what it needed to as clothing - reached out towards me. I took a small step back, not wanting to feel the icy touch of a ghost right now.

"Please," she whispered hoarsely. "Please!"

"What do you want?" I asked. "Why are you here?"

More of the ghosts started crowding around me, pleading. I didn't know what they wanted; none of them would say anything other than "please", despite me trying to get them to give me a real answer. I didn't know what else to do.

Then another woman stepped up. She wasn't begging like the rest of them. Actually, she didn't look as old as the other ghosts either - definitely more modern, although still twenty or so years ago. She also looked vaguely familiar, and I wasn't sure why.

"Why are you here?" I asked her, hoping she'd give me an answer, unlike the others. "Who are you?"

She gave me a small smile. "You're Dylan, aren't you?"

So they did know me then. Nina was probably right: Death must have sent them her way to get to me. But what did they want from me? Did I really piss Death off that much?

So I asked her. "What do you want with me? I can't do anything for you."

"You... My son..." She trailed off staring at me, but not seeming to really see me.

I shook my head. "I'm not your son. Look, lady. You're the only one talking here. I just want to know what you want. You all can't stay here."

"Dylan, please!" she wailed, lunging forwards a bit.

I took another step back, but my back hit the wall. There was nowhere else for me to go. I guess technically I could go through the ghosts, but I hadn't gotten that desperate yet, although I was almost at that point. She was starting to scare me.

"My son, my son! Please! You know my son!"

I shook my head again. "I don't know you, lady! And I don't know your son! Just tell me why you're here!"

The lady sank to the floor in front of me, her head lowered. I barely heard her whisper, "My Travis.... My baby."

Hearing that name, everything clicked. I remembered the one picture he showed me of his mom, back when we first started dating. It was an old picture, from when she was still a young girl. But if I remembered that picture correctly, that little girl had grown up and died, becoming the ghost crying on the floor at my feet.

"Travis Sholts?" I asked quietly. "Is that your son?"

The woman's head snapped up. "Yes, my baby. That's my baby! You know my son. You know my son!" As she talked, she slowly got back to her feet. "I need to see him. Please, my baby..."

Travis had asked once before if I've ever seen his mom, but at the same time, he still isn't all that comfortable knowing ghosts exist. But if he were to find out that I didn't tell him about his mom, he'd probably freak out on me. Then again, how would he ever know?

So I made a decision, deciding not to keep another secret from him. "If I take you to Travis, will you promise to tell me why all these ghosts are here and what they want with me and Nina?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes, yes! I need my son. My Travis."

Looks like I was heading back to my boyfriend's a lot sooner than I had expected. Travis' mom followed me to my car, passed through the door, and settled herself in the passenger seat all before I could even unlock my own door. Sometimes I really hated ghosts.

The whole trip back to Travis', she wouldn't talk. I kept asking her questions - the same questions I've been trying to get answers to - but she refused to say anything until she saw her son. It was a long car ride.

Finally, I pulled up outside his house. She was outside and over by his front door before I could even turn off my car. I didn't know why she wasn't going right into his house to find him, but it didn't matter. I was going in anyway.

Travis opened the door before I was halfway up the walkway. I watched his mother stare at him in awe. Seeing them next to each other, I could really see the resemblance now.

"Dyl? Everything okay?"

I continued walking towards him. "Uh... not exactly. Is there anyone else home?" There weren't any other cars in the driveway, but that didn't mean someone wasn't parked in the garage.

"No, just me," he answered when I reached him. He then pulled me into a hug. "Can you tell me what's wrong now, babe? Please?"

I stepped out of the hug, cringing a bit at the word "please". The echos of all those ghosts shouting it over and over will forever haunt my nightmares. "Let's go inside. This might be a lot."

I followed Travis in, right back to the couch we were sitting on barely an hour ago. The ghost was right there with us, not wanting to take her eyes off her son. It was sort of unsettling, but I couldn't seem to stop watching her.

"Babe?" Travis asked once we were both sitting. "What are you looking at? Jenny?" He looked at the other side of the room. "Are you here?"

I grabbed his hand, making him look at me again. "It's not Jenny. I... I couldn't save her. I couldn't save any of them."

His face softened. "Dylan, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what that must feel like. I'm here for you, babe. Wait. If you couldn't save the ghosts... what do you keep looking at?"

I had to forcefully swallow the lump in my throat. I don't know why I was finding this so difficult. She had gotten closer to us - almost too close. Maybe that was it. She gave me a weird feeling.

"Your mom," I whispered. It was as loud as I could manage it right now, but he still heard me.

His eyes widened and he looked back out across the room, completely missing where his mother was standing. Then he looked back at me. Instead of the shock that was on his face before, it was now filled with fear.

Every hair on my arms stood straight up when he shakily whispered the words, "Why would you bring her here?"