Scattered Souls

Chapter 32 - Eager Beaver

"Thank you for today." Xypher said, smiling at me. I could see the gratitude and something else, that I couldn't quite yet place my finger on, in his eyes.

"There's no need for that. I'm actually glad that you've started opening up to me." I smiled in return, genuinely meaning what I said.

We were back in my room, after our small, yet emotionally draining excursion.

"I think you could say I've opened up completely." he said smirking at me.

"I just..." I trailed off, searching for the correct way to word it in my mind.

He raised an eyebrow, prompting me to continue.

It's now or never Robyn. I thought to myself.

"I just have a feeling that there's more you're not telling me. " I finished off my initial sentence.

"Or perhaps more that you're not yet ready to tell me. " I corrected myself, only just realizing that could also be a possibility.

His hesitance could just be him not being ready to tell me, instead of him hiding something like I initially presumed.

"I'll tell you when the time is right, love."

So my hunch was right! There was more.

"Whenever you're ready." I smiled at him. Hoping that it would be soon. However,  I was already wondering about the different possibilities. Would reality outdo my imagination yet again?

"So the locket that we found?" I think my attempt to swiftly change the subject failed miserably, as he was looking a bit confused now.

Nevertheless, I continued. "What's next. Like what do we do now that we've found it."

"Well, someone's an eager beaver." he said with a wink.

I blushed a little. School girl blushes every time he winked at me was sure as hell becoming a thing. It's like my girly side goes into overdrive around him.

"Just trying to be helpful." I attempted deadpanning him.

"Eager to get rid of me, are we?" I think he was going for a tease, but the look on his face was sad.

"No way. " I reassured him.  "I'm just curious about what's next."

"Well, we'll have to get my body and then we'll have to find an Irish priest." he explained, as if those were the two simplest things on the planet.

"An Irish Priest?" I haven't heard someone specifically request one of those before. Do we even have any of those here in our small town?

"Yes. Since it was an Irish priest that initially performed the ritual that trapped my soul, it will have to be an Irish priest that performs the ritual to set me free." he answered.

"That makes an awful lot of sense now." I admitted to him.

"The thing is, I'm not even sure if we have any of those around here." I had no intention of bursting his bubble, but I decided it would be better to tell him now, instead of him going through all the effort just to discover that he doesn't have one of the key components for the ritual.

"There isn't one here?" he looked perplexed.

"There might be. I just haven't seen or heard of an Irish priest being here." I tried to be as gentle as possible while breaking that bit of information to him.

I felt instant regret. He looked so shattered that my heart broke a little from seeing him like that.

Perhaps that's what got my thinking cap working.

"We could try to do a Google search though." I offered. "It'll help us find out if there is an Irish Priest here. Or perhaps if there's one close to town."

His face lit up as those words came out of my mouth.

"That's brilliant." he gushed.

"One more question." I said, realizing that something still didn't add up in my mind.

"Go for it." he encouraged, I actually think he was getting used to the multitude of questions I had for him.

"How does the locket fit into all of this?" I questioned. "I understand the part about the Irish Priest and I kind of get the part of needing your remains. That seems a bit obvious. But what role does the locket play in all of this? How is it connected."

He looked at me thoughtfully.

"The locket was a gift that I'd bought for Julia, with my first salary as a farm hand." I could tell he was reminiscing again, with the way his eyes lit up and the boyish smile he had on his face.

"The only reason the locket is important for the ritual is because..." he paused.

I hated it when he paused halfway through. I mean way to build the suspense.

"Go on." I encouraged him.

"It's because I hoped that using the locket in the ritual would help reunite my soul with Julia's." he took a deep breath after he said that, looking down shyly.

"Wow." was all I could manage to say. "That's so romantic and beautiful."

"Really?" he looked up at me with a confused look on his face.

"Definitely. It's like the type of love you read about in fairy tales. " I admitted.

"Even though it's been so long, it's like your love for Julia hasn't diminished." I continued. "You're still looking for a way to be with her, even in the afterlife."

Their love story really was legendary. It's a pity they didn't get to be together in reality.

"I wasn't expecting that reaction from you." he looked surprised.

"What reaction were you expecting?" I wondered.

"Well given how heated things have been getting between us, I would've expected you to be a little upset." he said with a concerned tone.

"I can't be upset over a dead girl." I blurted out, before I had the time to filter my thoughts.

There was a startled look on his face but he didn't say anything else.

"I should get going." he announced,  after a few moments of us just staring at each other in silence. That goddamn electricity between us was still very much alive. I could feel it prominently, even in the silence.

"Take the locket with you." I called out, as he was turning around to exit the room.

He did a quick spin around, grabbing the locket, causing the locket to fall to the floor. It opened up in the process.

I bent down to pick it up, however,  I was completely shocked by what I laid my eyes on. Surely, this had to be some kind of mistake. My eyes had to be deceiving me.