Seeing Ghosts

Moving

  I'm twenty one. It's been five years since the Ghosters attacked at the school dance. Surprisingly, Graden actually kept hanging out with me. All the way up until we graduated. He and I would have talks with Herm. After the dance, Herm came around less often. When he did come, he seemed weak. I'm trying to figure out why now.

  After graduation, Graden got into college and said goodbye. Though he wants to come visit soon. We've written letters back and forth. Theo has come to be someone I can talk to a bit, about that night. Though I can't talk about the ghost seeing business, mainly because he still doesn't believe me.

  "Let's play a game. It's been a while." The boys look at mom. "I guess." She smiles and we move into the living room. "What game?" Dad sits on the couch. Our talk is interrupted by a knock. Theo stands to answer it. Herm appears, looking scared. "Don't!" I hurry after him. "Wait Theo, don't." Too late. He opens the door. Now I know why Herm looked scared.

  The woman smiles at us. Theo frowns. "Can I help you?" She looks past him at me. "Yes, I'm here to see Eres." I take a step back. Theo sees this. Then he looks back at her. His eyes widen. "Fay." I stop, a little surprised. She frowns. "What did you say?" He slams the door shut. Mom stands. "Who was it? Why did you slam the door?" He walks over to me. "Eres, why was a Fay looking for you?"

  Dad frowns now. "A Fay?" Theo nods. Mom looks worried. Fay are known to be dangerous. They can mess with your mind if you're not careful. "She was one of the ones at the school, when they attacked. Fay dust can be thrown onto ghosts, causing the death of the ghost. I don't know how they found me, I've been doing everything I can to keep them from it." I jump back. At the back window is another Fay. Another Ghoster.

  "Watch out! Get back!" They see them too. Everyone moves to the middle of the room, behind me. I see Herm beside me, he sets a hand on my shoulder. "You can do this. Just concentrate." I nod. Since the dance, I've been practicing pushing away an object by sheer force of mind. I close my eyes. "Get away!" I imagine shoving my energy at the figures beginning to multiply outside.

  It works. They fly back and don't return. A few ghosts from nearby come out. "They're gone. We'll stand guard tonight." I nod. "Thank you." I turn to my family. "I'm sorry. It's my fault they're here. I'll leave tomorrow." Dad shakes his head. "No, we've been needing to move. I'll look at good places tomorrow. We should sleep now." I nod and smile. "Thank you Dad." He nods.

"What do you think?" I look at the house. Dad's been looking at houses on the computer for awhile now. "It looks big enough." He nods. The others are crowded around too. "Where is it?" He scrolls down a little. "Goldrush Valley." Jason frowns. "Never heard of it." I nod. "Then it's perfect. Less likely the Ghosters will know about it. At least we'll be safe for a while."

Mom nods. "Lets get it. My brother said that he'll take over this house for us. We should hurry and pack." I nod. In my room, I sit on the bed. Herm appears beside me. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" He sits down. "I'm fine. We should focus on getting you to safety." I sigh. "I'm more worried about you Herm. If they manage to get near you, they'll kill you. If that happens..."

  I turn away, unable to continue. He puts his arm around me. "It's alright." I nod. We sit like this for a while. A knock startles me. "Yes?" The door opens and I see Theo. "Hey, mom wanted me to see if you had started packing yet. They want to leave tomorrow." I nod. "I'll get started now." Herm stands. "Come on."

  Theo walks back out and I stand. After a while, everything is packed. I've got a bag of Herm's stuff too. "Eres?" I look up and see Lysie. She's definitely got moms looks. Really pretty, with her long blond hair, and big blue eyes. Many of the boys at her school like her, though she turns them all down. She's decided that she wants to wait till she graduates to date anyone. I wholeheartedly support her. The boys and dad too.