They Know Me

UNMASKED

The next day, while scrutinizing myself closely in the mirror mounted on the back of my bedroom door to see if I could see the mysterious, invisible energy Zil spoke of radiating off of me, Rhys called. He hadn't found anything more about Cemetery Raven or Cortland Bridge than I had. He'd also asked to hang out. I declined, promising we would later.

I needed to be alone to think about, and absorb, everything Zil had told me about his life. Because of what he was, I had no other choice but to believe him – and it was a lot to take in!

Knowing him for what he truly was, was a privilege, but it was a burden, as well – and in carrying his secret, I was, by default, caught up in his lie. But I was determined. Even if it was more than I could handle, I'd withstand it, just to see if I could. To know Zil was a vampire, and to look him in the eye and not be afraid ... mind blowing! It was more than what any other mortal could claim. And as crazy as it might be, my new-found knowledge had strengthened my belief that my friendship with him could make it possible to experience places no other ghost hunter had ... and to one day see my parents. Even if I was wrong, it brought me peace to think I might.

But despite that, in the end, I knew it had been difficult for Zil to reveal his secret. He'd sacrificed a lot by telling me – and I respected him for it.

Prepared to test myself, and despite not making plans to meet with Zil, I left my house at nightfall for Cemetery Raven. But when I'd nearly reached the end of my street, I could see he wasn't there. Undeterred, I crossed the road to wait for him at the graveyard gate.

After some time had passed, and Zil still hadn't come, I looked behind me to the tomb. He wasn't outside of it. Assuming his absence meant he regretted sharing that part of his life with me, and had chosen to avoid seeing me because of it, I left and headed for downtown, specifically for The Paranormal Shop to look for ghost hunting equipment.

The little bell above the door tinkled cheerily as I entered the store and walked to where the investigative devices were. At first, nothing caught my attention. But when the employee behind the counter picked up something resembling a walkie-talkie and gazed at it with exaggerated interest, I paused.

Casually, he said, "This is an EMF detector. Hunters of the paranormal use it to measure a spirit's energy."

"Do you have anything I can use to communicate, you know – in real time?"

"A recorder can do that, but ..." He reached down into a glass display case, removed three devices, and placed them onto the counter. "These can help." Pointing to each one, in turn, he began his sales pitch. "A thermal detector. It shows an object as blue or purple for cold, and yellow, orange or red for heat. A Rem Pod. This can be placed on the ground or on a table. It lights up if a ghost is nearby and can measure the spectre's energy. Finally, the Ovilus. This beauty is hand-held and has a screen where you can read what the ghosts are saying." Smiling slyly, he said, "Huge hit for paranormal seekers. Interested?"

Because the possibilities were limitless with equipment designed specifically for ghost hunting, I bought all three, ready to test them all out. But when I stepped outside, I was undecided which cemetery to go to. If by going to Cemetery Raven, Zil saw me, he might think I was using ghost hunting as an excuse to look for him. Instant disqualifier. That left two others – Wildwood, which was close, or the more remote Greenwoods Cemetery, located at the edge of town. Deciding in favor of less interference for better outcome for my investigation, I started down the sidewalk in the direction of Greenwoods.

Halfway down the block, I caught sight of Zil. He was ahead of me, across the street, headed in the same direction I was. I started to hurry to catch up to him, but he turned left into one of the alleyways of the seedy section. Given its reputation, and the possible dangers one might face, I couldn't understand why he'd go there, but allowing impulse to override good judgment, I crossed the street and took the same corner he had.