Changing the Past and the Present

Chapter 4

(Michael's POV)

"Let's hold a seance."

I nearly spit out my soup.

"E-exCUSE ME?!"

Calum continued to sip his soup. "You heard me. Let's host a seance tonight."

"That came out of nowhere.... As fun as it sounds, why don't we do a tarot card reading instead?" Valeria suggested. Were these normal dinner conversations with them this past month?

"Will the cards tell me that I'm destined to help an ethereal being?" What the hell, Calum?

"That's not how the cards work." Val, you're not helping.

Okay. Seriously. What the hell is going on here?

"Cal. Not this again," Ashton sighed.

"I'm not making it up. I really saw her," Calum retorted.

"Okay guys. I'm going to have to chime in here," I said, setting down my spoon. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Calum thinks-" Calum cut Ashton off, slamming his spoon on the table.

"No. I know I saw a ghost. Or a spirit. Either way, I saw someone. I felt her presence and we have to help her. I saw her. Twice!! Once a month ago, and once today before everyone arrived."

A silence filled the air.

"So this house is possibly haunted?"

We all turned around to see Luke leaning against the wall. I moved to help him sit down at the table.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Sleeping Beauty," I joked, returning to my seat.

"So the house is- Thank you for the soup- haunted?" he asked, slurping up a spoonful of his soup that Val set down in front of him.

"It's not," Ashton sighed once again, setting his bowl of soup down.

"It is. Well okay. Not haunted but someone lives here that isn't us," Calum huffed, leaning back in his seat with his arms folded. After a moment, he leaned forward, making direct eye contact with Luke, as if pleading with him to believe him.

"So you're saying that a spirit or a ghost or a demon lives here. What proof do you have?" Luke set down his bowl, already pouring himself another. For someone who claims to hate food, he eats a lot of it.

"I saw her. Twice." Calum stood up and opened the fridge. He rummaged through it for a minute before closing the door and walking back to the table with some juice.

Luke finished his second bowl and set down his spoon. He stared blankly at everyone before his mouth curled into a smile.

"Let's conduct a seance then."

(Raine's POV)

I stared at the two people dressing the table with a white table cloth, placing candles down. Were they hosting a nice dinner? A bit strange to host a dinner at 2 in the morning, but who was I to judge? I sat on the counter, pretending to kick the bum in front of me. Specifically, Calum's. Of course my foot went through, but who's to say that it wasn't fun regardless. I watched as all 5 people sat down around the table, leaving a sixth seat empty. I wonder what they were doing. They didn't have any food.

"Ready?" The boy— what was his name? Boot? Loot? Oh!! Luke!!— said, looking around at the others.

Michael gave a hesitant nod, looking at the others. Calum seemed determined for whatever foodless dinner they were having at 2 in the morning. One of the boys got up and turned off the lights as Luke started to light the candles they had on the table. The girl was looking at her phone, reading something, before telling the others to link hands.

"We call upon the spirits that roam around this house to come join us in a chat. We offer energy for you to use in the form of these flames. Won't you please join us on this lovely autumn night?"

They all looked around, as if expecting something. Or rather, someone. I stayed on the counter, observing them before staring into the flames of the candles. Suddenly I felt sleepy. Before I could panic (given I haven't fallen asleep in hundreds of years), I suddenly blacked out.

-Flashback-

(Someone's POV)

"Young Master. It's time to get up," I heard someone say. I felt someone shaking my shoulder but I just turned my back towards them, groaning.

"Young Master, it's time for you to wake up and start your day!!"

Sighing, I sat up, slightly glaring at the young maid who came in to wake me up before forcing a smile upon my face.

"Thank you, Genevieve, for waking me up this morning."

"Of course, Young Master. It was a pleasure," she said, curtsying before leaving the room.

I rolled my eyes. I hated all these mannerisms others had to adopt around me. I hated this elevated status. I frowned. I was having a nice dream. One where servants didn't have to bow or curtsy whenever they saw me. I also met a girl in that dream who didn't care that I was royal and didn't have a problem with telling me when I was acting ridiculous. My dream girl. I slipped out of bed and began to dress myself for the day. I knew that the moment I set foot out of my bedroom doors, I was going to be bombarded by my tutor telling me the lesson plans for today. I bet my friends didn't have to go through all these lessons at such length, but I suppose that's what happens when you come from the most influential family of this section of the lands. I thought only the princes of the country would have to go through these intense lessons, not the son of some lord. Helaas pindakaas, here I am. I quickly dressed and headed towards the main hall, only to be greeted with a sword planting itself firmly into the door as I opened it.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Nice of you to finally join me this morning."

"Nice of you to not impale me with your sword this morning. As if I wanted to live to see another day," I said, rolling my eyes at my best friend. I walked over to a bench in the corner of the room, picking up my bow, slung my quiver over my shoulder, and grabbed a few apples.

"Let's just begin practice." I turned and started walking out of the main hall, making sure to pull out the sword that was still lodged in the door, taking it with me.

"I saw a cute maid earlier." He grabbed his sword off the bench and followed me.

"You always see a cute girl, Mikey," I said as we walked out to the courtyard.

"Okay. But I'm saying this for you. I think you'd really like her," Michael said, handing me an apple he grabbed from the hall. I placed it on his head and positioned him in front of the large oak tree that provided shade to the courtyard.

"I told you," I sighed, "I'm not girl-crazy like you."

"Okay. Sure. But hear me out. She has these huge t-"

I aimed and shot my arrow at the apple. A shriek was heard, but it wasn't from Michael's mouth. We both looked around to see where the source of the sound came from. I didn't see anyone until my eyes landed on a figure that was hiding behind a pillar in the corridor. They peeked out from their hiding spot, making eye contact with me. It was a girl around my age that I had never seen her before so I was intrigued. Who was she and what was she doing here? I set my bow down on the floor, but the girl was gone when I looked back up. Maybe I imagined her? I turned to ask Michael if he had also seen the girl, only to be met with an empty tree, minus the apple with an arrow shot into it. I looked around and saw Michael chatting up a maid by one of the other corridors.

"Oi!! Michael!! Stop harassing the maids. We need to practice for the tournament."

"Until next time, my dear," he said, kissing her hand. The maid blushed before curtsying and running off towards the kitchen.

"Michael. That was single-handedly the most vomit inducing scene I have ever seen."

"It's only single-handedly because you're single- Oh hooo!! Finally. A sword match!!" I swung his sword at him before he could finish his comment on my relationship status. We spent the next few hours chasing each other around the courtyard, sparring.