Chapter 1: Welcome

(So, I’ve been having a very dark nightmare for months and every time I have it, it gets more and more vivid. This first chapter is basically that dream with a character replacing me. Maybe it will lead somewhere, and finally get out of my head… please. The song above is pretty darn good at describing the idea I’m considering for a storyline, especially the chorus.)

Blinking open tired eyes, Taylor yawned and sat up, scratching at the back of his head. A slight shiver tickled his spine as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, then stood up. After adjusting his boxers on his hips slightly, he stretched his bare arms over his mop of messy dark brown hair and sighed.

A faint clink of metal on… something, met his ears, drawing his attention to his open door, but when the sound didn’t occur a second time, he shrugged it off and walked out of his room, intent on grabbing a cup from one of his still-packed moving boxes and getting a drink of water.

As he was heading toward the kitchen, a door caught his eye in the opposite direction. He didn’t remember it being there when he’d gone over the home with the inspector, but then again, the man had been pretty quick with his review.

Curious, he turned toward it, then walked over. It looked like any other regular door, and Taylor figured that there was just a simple closet or small storage room behind it. When he actually grasped the cold handle and turned it, then pulled it open, his eyes widened with intrigue and confusion.

He knew for a fact that the house hadn’t come with a basement, but there was no way he wasn’t going to check it out. With his thirst at the back of his mind momentarily, Taylor carefully began heading downward. Another loud clinking sound reverberated around him and vibrated through his bones the second his foot set down on the top step, but after a long pause, the sound did not repeat.

Not one to be discouraged, he finished walking down the flight of stairs without any issue. At the bottom, his jaw dropped open as his eyes took in something he definitely hadn’t expected. Before him sat a large three person silver and black triangular hot tub on a small risen wooden platform with a couple of the quieter jets running just enough to agitate the water, but not make too much noise.

It was impressive, but it paled in comparison to what was behind it. A massive, floor to ceiling wall of what appeared to be three foot by three foot fish tanks neatly stacked upon each other seamlessly, making the entire area glow with backlit water and brilliantly colored fish. It was honestly far taller than possible considering the house built above it, but Taylor dismissed that thought, deciding that its height was just an illusion.

He had no idea how the animals had gotten there, or how they were even taken care of without a massive ladder and a full-time worker. He couldn’t imagine how much time it would take to manage such a large collection of animals.

The wall took his attention for quite sometime, but after a while he felt his eyes redirecting across the room to his right. He wasn’t sure how the basement could be so huge, but he didn’t question it as his eyes traveled across the huge area to land on a king sized bed with dark purple blankets and a deep, rich wood headboard. It looked incredibly inviting, but even as he walked a few steps closer, he knew that it would be rude to just sleep in someone else’s bed… who needed to move out of his house as soon as possible.

He wasn’t a mean person, but there was no way he wanted to live with a roommate anymore. He’d been there and done that more than enough. He’d finally managed to save enough money, and gotten lucky enough for such a cheap house to abruptly come back onto the market after the last buyer wanted a quick sale. It had been sold for nearly twenty-thousand under value, and since the inspector had said that everything was generally sound, Taylor had pounced on the deal.

He evidently just needed to evict some sort of loaded squatter. The thought was odd, but he couldn’t understand how everything had even gotten down there past the inspector and previous owner without them somehow knowing and just keeping it quiet.

Turning, he caught sight of a large black stove in a little nook with two cabinets on the wall above it. Walking over, he frowned at the mess that had been left. A herb mixture of some sort that had clearly been freshly prepared instead of dried and premade lay scattered about the top of the stove with a small hand-cranked horizontal spinning peeler placed in the corner. Inside the open-bladed device were plenty of tomato skins and dripping thickened juice that had congealed on the item, but what caught his attention was the one cherry tomato seemingly stuck in the top blade, sliced open, but not enough to spill its juice or seeds.

“That wouldn’t be something I’d use to peel or cut those, anyway.”

It made no sense.

Frowning, Taylor walked to the middle of the room and looked around.

“Excuse me?” he called out as he slowly turned in a circle.

He was just about to shout again, his mouth parting for the words, when he slowly closed it. A small calendar hanging on the wall drew him closer, his eyes squinting to try and see what was written on a circled day. When his feet finally stopped in front of it, his eyes widened as a nervous shiver shook his body.

The calendar wasn’t recent. The faded paper showed a large picture of a goldfish on a shadowy black background, and underneath it had the month of May in worn black cursive. What had Taylor wanting to back away from the item was the circled day, and more specifically, what was written there. It was one simple word on the twenty-second.

Run!

A loud clink racketed off of the walls around him, making him swing around, ready to defend himself from whatever was sure to be there… but everything was exactly the same.

His heart beat hard against his chest as he hesitantly glanced back over his shoulder at the calendar. The single word was gone, but in its place were two new ones.

Happy birthday!

Unnerved, Taylor turned and hurried toward the stairs, only to be stopped near the hot tub, as if something were physically holding him back. Unable to take another step forward, he tested which direction he was allowed to go. Backwards was fine, but he could feel his legs growing heavy with each step he tried to take.

After a few moments, he hesitantly tried taking a step toward the hot tub. The action went unhindered, leading him to take another, then another. When he stepped up onto the raised platform, the underwater light installed in the tub turned on, illuminating the tiny bubbles from the lower-power jets that were running, making them shimmer enticingly.

His muscles did ache… and the steam rising from the water meant that it was plenty warm to sooth his body. It was his house, anyways, so surely his unwelcome guest wouldn’t mind him using the items he’d left on his property.

With fogging thoughts, Taylor carefully climbed into the hot water, sighing as he sank down into one of the three seats. The temperature was a tiny bit too hot, but after a few moments he relaxed and leaned his head back, then closed his eyes. His mind wandered as the warmth began to spread through his body. Right as he began to drift off to sleep, something stiff but strong grabbed his ankle tightly and yanked, dragging him beneath the water.

(Welcome to my nightmare :D)

Chapter 2: Adapt

(Note to self. If you write about a nightmare, it just expands. Yay…) 

Jolting upright in bed, Taylor coughed out a lungful of water and shook his aching head. His hair was completely soaked, as well as the rest of his body. With his temples pounding, he slowly looked up and around the room, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He hadn’t unpacked much yet, so his dresser and a pair of tennis shoes were the only things there. 

What the hell was that? 

He’d had some pretty strange dreams in his life, but that one definitely took the cake. 

When he was finally able to catch his breath, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, frowning down at his soaked body before sniffing his shoulder. 

“I’m sweating, but this is ridiculous… and my hair definitely shouldn’t be wet from it.” 

He wasn’t even going to think about the water he’d coughed up. Pushing the strange dream aside, Taylor checked his phone, cringing at the time. It was close to four A.M., an hour before he’d wanted to wake up. 

Might as well just start getting ready. 

His legs felt a bit sore, but he knew to expect that, at least. He’d moved all of his stuff from his old place yesterday and the aching in his muscles proved that. 

“Alright, a hot shower to start the day, then off to the office.” 

He’d thankfully remembered to bring in his toiletries and unpack a few changes of clothing so within an hour he was ready to go in a dark blue suit and pants, a protein bar between his teeth and his keys and wallet in his hand. 

No other odd things had happened as he’d gotten ready, allowing him to relax and put the strange dream behind him as he closed and locked the door. Walking to his car, he unlocked it and opened the door, then turned back around and looked at his new property. It really was a steal for how much he’d gotten out of the deal. The house needed a lot of yardwork to bring it back from the weed-pocalypse, and the backyard chain-link fence needed a new gate, but there was so much potential. 

That’s what was on his mind as he drove into work, and even between breaks and during lunch. Since he was the boss, he might have taken a few extra minutes here and there to draw out some of his plans for the yard, as well as things he wanted to add inside, especially since he now had a completely empty spare bedroom to work with. 

By the time the end of the day rolled around, two hours later than what he’d liked, Taylor packed up his stuff and headed home. 

It feels so good to have my own place to go back to. 

Pulling into the driveway, he let his body relax with a deep breath, then quiet sigh. Things were going well. Everything he’d worked hard for was falling into place. Nodding with enthusiasm, he grinned up at his house and pushed the car door open. 

“Now to unpack some of my boxes and make dinner.” 

He happily got busy after taking his suit and dress pants off, replacing them with absolutely nothing, because he could! Taylor gladly worked in his boxers, managing to unpack three boxes of kitchen items and a bit for his bedroom before his simple meal of spaghetti with ground turkey was done. 

After adding enough cheese to equal the same weight as the pasta sauce, Taylor sat down on the single sofa he’d brought from his previous place. It was simple but soft, a dark blue that he appreciate… especially when he’d spilled stuff on it during late night study sessions. The pasta was delicious after working all day, but as he took a second bite, a shiver ran down his spine. 

I know I turned off the A/C yesterday and haven’t turned it back on. 

Just to be sure, though, he set his food on the armrest and stood up. With a quick check, he confirmed that the air-conditioner was indeed, off. 

“Guess I need to put on some actual clothing.” 

He went to his room and tugged on a pair of checkered pajama pants and a baggy sleep shirt. Once dressed, he returned to the couch and plopped down, only to feel another chill creeping over him. Oddly enough, it was coming from his right side, but there was only a bare wall there. 

Frowning, he set his food down again and stood up. 

“Alright, something’s a bit off here,” he murmured to himself as he walked close to the wall. The chill grew exponentially within the whole two foot distance, making him shiver again as he hesitantly lifted one hand toward the drywall. 

The inspector had said that it had been redone only a few years ago, along with the rest of the house. It looked really darn good, and professionally installed, so he couldn’t figure out why it would be letting in such cold air. 

It’s not cold outside. There’s no cold air to let in. 

Ignoring his thoughts, because he really didn’t want to think of other possibilities, Taylor lifted his right hand and hesitantly pressed it against the wall… for a split-second before jumping back and shaking out his freezing digits with a hiss. 

“Did someone hook up a freezer mechanism behind this wall?” 

Of course, he knew the answer to his question was highly likely to be no, since it would be probably the most unpractical thing to do in a house, but still. 

He was just about to reach out again when he heard his phone ringing from the kitchen counter. Glad for the distraction, he hurried to answer it, his eager smile widening slightly when he heard a familiar voice. 

“Hey Sasha, what’s up?” he asked, relieved that it was her. 

They weren’t exactly friends anymore, like they had been in high school. At least, he didn’t really think so. She still wanted to hang out all the time, even though she had a boyfriend, but Taylor preferred to be by himself most of the time. 

I’m a bad friend, but for once, I’m glad you called. 

As Sasha started chatting his ear off about how amazing her boyfriend was and how awesome her new job was, Taylor shook out his hand, still feeling the chill as he shivered again. 

“Are you feeling okay? Your teeth are clicking loud enough for me to hear over the phone.” 

Oh, crap. 

“Really? It’s just odd is all. I haven’t had the air conditioner running but there’s this one spot by my couch where the wall is freezing and it seems to just draft around that area. I touched it a few minutes ago and I can’t seem to get the chill out of my fingers.” 

Wait a second. I shouldn’t have said that to— The loud shriek in his ear was proof enough to his thoughts. He’d forgotten how much of a supernatural nut Sasha had been in high school. 

“Oh my god, Tay! You have a ghost in your new house. You have got to let me come over! I’ve always wanted to try exorcising one but they are so rare these days.” 

Indeed. 

“I doubt it’s something like that. I’ve just been having weird dreams and it freaked me out. It was probably just the A/C vent blowing on the wall or something,” he said, trying to discourage her from visiting. He liked quiet. She was not quiet, especially when excited. 

There was a short pause on the other end of the phone with some hushed whispering, making Taylor think that she was talking to her boyfriend. 

“Okay, so Adoni said he could bring me over tomorrow. You haven’t met him yet, so it would be a great chance to do that, too.” 

I forgot you don’t drive. I really don’t need to meet him, either. 

He wanted to finally gather enough courage to tell her to just leave him alone, but instead, found himself telling her his new address and then hanging up the phone with a sigh. 

“I guess hanging out for a few hours won’t be too terrible, but I’m really not interested in ghost hunting,” he mumbled as he got his leftovers put away, then took a quick shower before getting into bed. 

It didn’t take very long for him to fall asleep after such a busy day. Unfortunately, when he awoke next, he was standing on the small cement landing slab that overlooked the basement stairs. 

He wanted to scream that he didn’t have a damn basement, let alone any of the things inside of it, but for some reason, he couldn’t make his jaw relax. It was also terribly cold, but he couldn’t figure out why. 

Not wanting to add anything extra to his already-horrible nightmare he knew he was about to walk down into, Taylor forced his bare feet to run forward. It literally felt like darting through a freezer, but the farther he got down the stairs, the warmer he became. When he stopped at the bottom to gaze up at the massive wall of fish tanks across the room, however, he felt the chill slowly creeping back up on him. 

A sound accompanied the growing cold, drawing his attention back up the staircase. It sounded like someone was dragging something solid, but not too heavy, down the stairs. Its thump corresponding with silent, methodical footsteps. 

“I’d like to wake up now, please,” he mumbled as he started backing up, then turned and hurried over to stand beyond the hot tub in the center of the room. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed darting lights to his right, briefly drawing his attention to the schools of panicking fish flitting around in their tanks, as if scared by an incoming predator. 

The thumping on the stairs stopped abruptly, drawing his attention back toward them. No one was there, of course, but right before he considered looking away again, a dragging sound started up as a line about two inches wide began to appear in sand that had definitely not been on the floor seconds earlier. 

“Okay, stop modifying this freak show, please,” he whispered nervously as he started backing up closer to the fish tanks, the line changing course perfectly to continue in his direction. 

Taylor backed up farther until he bumped into the tanks. The line simply continued at its monotonous pace toward him, making him swallow and square his shoulders. 

“If I can’t see it, it’s not there. You aren’t real. This is just a dream.” 

The line in the sand stopped abruptly less than two feet away. At the same time, all of the fish in the tanks that he could see without turning his head, dove to the corner closest to him, as if their favorite person had arrived with their evening dinner. 

“Do you like whatever is there or are you afraid of them? You guys are confusing the crap out of me, and I’m already slightly terrified.” 

He waited where he was, hyper aware of any possible movement from in front of him. When nothing happened for several tense seconds, Taylor licked his lips and considered moving. The only thing that really stopped him were the fish. They still weren’t panicking like they had been when he hadn’t been close to their tanks. There was clearly something that was freaking them out in the room, though. Likely whatever was causing the line to form in the sand. So instead of being impatient, he just forced himself to calm down enough to steady his breathing, then waited. 

It felt like it took forever, but finally, the line in the sand began moving again, and thankfully, it was heading back toward the stairs. Taylor slowly stepped away from the fish tanks and turned around once he felt like it was far enough away, expecting them to all relax again and swim around normally, but instead, they continued to swim toward the bottom right corner of their tanks, as if he was still standing there. 

“What is going o—” Taylor jerked upright in his bed, panting and shivering. 

His phone continued to ring beside him, drawing his hand toward it without thinking. He answered after another moment, only to get his ear blasted off by Sasha’s chastising. 

“We’ve been sitting outside calling you for twenty minutes, Tay!” 

Moving the phone from his ear, Taylor glanced at the time and groaned. He didn’t feel like he’d been asleep more than a few minutes, let alone all night and most of the morning. Putting the phone back up to his ear, he quickly mumbled that he would have the door unlocked in a few minutes, then hung up before she could chew him out. He would likely already get it when she walked in the door, no reason to deal with it twice. 

Skipping his shower, since he was thankfully not sweaty and didn’t stink like the previous morning, Taylor quickly tugged on a pair of shorts and a light sweater, since he was still a little chilled from the nightmare. 

The moment he got to the door and unlocked it, Sasha was running inside. Taylor had to jump out of the way so that he didn’t get bulldozed. His eyebrow went up as the young woman ran about, seemingly expecting to simply find a ghost waiting for her. 

“You made her a bit crazy,” a deep voice said to his right, drawing Taylor’s gaze slightly upward to an unfamiliar face. 

Remembering his manners, he turned and offered his hand and his name with a tired smile. The other man took it and shook, his light blue eyes nearly gray in the dimly-lit house. 

“Adoni, but you can just call me Adon.” 

Taylor nodded, his attention returning to Sasha as she disappeared into his spare room, only to reappear a moment later. 

“Did you have another nightmare yet, Tay?” she asked, making the flood of memories from his most recent one come surging back into his mind. 

“You have!” Sasha squealed as she ran over, only to be intercepted as her boyfriend stepped in front of Taylor and scooped her up into his arms. She tried to scramble over his shoulders, but he managed to hold her back. 

“You’re going to drive him crazy, Sash.” 

He was right, but there was no getting the girl to chill if she was determined to do something. With a quiet sigh, Taylor walked over to the couch and dropped down onto the spot farthest away from the oddly cold area. 

Adon seemed to take that as a hint that he could release Sasha and gently set her back down. She plopped down on the cushion next to him immediately, her wide eyes eagerly staring. 

“Alright. Yes, I had another dream.” 

Taylor did his best to recall everything without seeming unsettled. Sasha paid very close attention, right up until the last word. The end of the story was punctuated by the now-familiar  thumping sound resonating around the room. 

“Oh my gosh, Taylor! You definitely have a ghost in here… but I’m confused,” Sasha said, making Taylor lean back against the armrest since she’d crowded him a bit while he’d been talking. Her boyfriend had settled on the actual armrest, since his couch wasn’t exactly big, but he didn’t seem to mind the slight contact. 

“What are you confused about? It’s probably nothing. Just bad dreams and a messed up pipe somewhere that I need to get fixed.” 

Sasha rolled her eyes and took off the little backpack Taylor hadn’t noticed she’d even had on. When she pulled out a small chalkboard and a piece of chalk, Taylor frowned. 

“What are you doing?” 

Instead of answering right away, she got up and walked over to the wall in front of them, beside the kitchen. Removing a small package of thumbtacks, she pushed one into his wall and hung the board, then took out a little pencil sharpener and began sharpening the stick of chalk she’d brought into a fine dust. 

“I think she went crazy-er,” Taylor said as Adon nodded beside him. “I must agree.” 

When Sasha finished grinding up the chalk, she stuck two more little pins into the wall, then opened the top of the tiny sharpener and set it on the protruding pegs. 

“There we go. Since your ghost seems super active, I’m sure that it will respond to you,” she said, making Taylor raise an eyebrow up at Adon, who stuck his tongue out just the slightest bit in response, making Taylor bite back a laugh as they both returned their attention to Sasha. 

“You think I’m joking, but I bet you that it will respond by at least tomorrow,” she said, crossing her arms. “And since it’s interacting with you, you’re the one who has to ask the question… but where I’m confused is that it is showing you a dream, but then we’re hearing that noise out loud.” 

Taylor shrugged, still not convinced that there was even anything wrong. 

“Okay? What’s the matter?” 

Sasha tilted her head, seemingly thinking. 

“Have you noticed anything else odd? Like, anything? An area that’s too hot? Too cold? Wait, you had mentioned a cold spot, right?” 

Taylor responded nonchalantly as he lifted his arm and pointed toward the wall at the far side of the couch. 

“It’s really cold right there.” 

In an instant Sasha was there, her hand pressing against the wall… for a split second before she jumped back with a little yelp. 

“Holy crap, Tay,” she said as she shook her hand out. 

Adon got up and walked closer, seemingly finally curious. He was about to reach forward and touch the same spot, but Sasha quickly grabbed his wrist. Taylor had been reaching for his shirt, to stop him, too, but quickly relented when Sasha beat him to it. 

“Don’t babe. That’s definitely not a ghost. You have a banshee very close by.”

Shaking his head, Taylor crossed his legs on the couch and leaned a bit more against the armrest since Adon had gotten up. “It’s probably just the A/C unit turning on with a malfunction or something.” 

The look he got with that excuse could have turned  him into a banshee as Sasha walked over and scowled down at him. 

“You need to take this seriously, Tay! Those things can kill people!” 

Fidgeting with his fingers in his lap, Taylor looked toward the wall, pursing his lips in thought. 

“Does it kill people in its dreams?” he asked, finally a bit curious and nervous. 

Sasha shook her head, her lips turning down into a frown. 

“That’s the problem. They don’t show dreams. That’s only regular ghosts, and considering that you’ve had the exact same one twice, with that added bit about the trail in the sand, I think you might actually have a ghost and a banshee.” 

Not what I wanted to hear. 

“I bet you your banshee is on the other side of this wall, but they generally can’t pass physical barriers. I’m not sure how it could have gotten behind there, though. Your ghost, however, would be able to wander a bit, but can never be visible and can only barely affect anything physically, unlike a banshee or wraith. They can greatly affect the living world.” 

Taylor lifted an eyebrow and new he’d regret it, but he replied anyway. “Wraith?” 

Sasha’s eyes lit up as she nodded. 

“Those are the seriously dangerous ones. They can go through barriers and also interact physically with the real world. They can also be visible, with just minor details that give away that they are undead. If you ever  see anyone in your house that shouldn’t be there, don’t even try to confront them, Tay. Just get the hell out and get an exorcist.” 

Thanks for that fun information. 

One thing was bothering him, though. 

“You said that ghosts just show you dreams and such and can’t physically cause problems?” he asked, getting a nod from Sasha. 

“The first time I had that dream, I woke up and threw up a lungful of water. I was also completely soaked, as if I had really been drowned in that hot tub.” 

Sasha pursed her lips, seemingly confused, too. 

“A ghost has never been known to be able to physically harm someone… but they also never tend to be in the exact same place as a banshee. I’m not really sure how they can affect each other, but perhaps…” she paused for a moment, then looked toward the cold wall. “Your banshee might have been able to get into the dream the ghost was showing you. It could have tried to hurt you that way, since it can’t physically get beyond the wall to do so itself.” 

Taylor wanted to shrink in on himself. He’d just bought an amazing house, and from the looks of it, though he refused to admit it, it might actually be haunted. 

Sasha continued to brainstorm and look around for another hour or so before Adon told her that they had to go so that he could get ready for work. Taylor saw them off without much enthusiasm, then shut and locked the door before walking toward the kitchen. He was going to just get himself a bowl of cereal, then get busy unpacking more stuff, but when he saw the chalkboard, he walked up to stop in front of it. 

“Ask it a question, huh? It’s not like there even is an it, but…” 

Thinking for a moment, Taylor rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. 

“So how are you, my new ghost house-mate?” 

When nothing happened on the board, like he’d figured, Taylor got himself his breakfast, then got busy. He managed to get two more boxes done before he was thirsty. 

Walking out of the spare room he’d been working in, he headed for the kitchen, but stopped in his tracks when he saw what was written on the chalkboard. 

DEAD

Chapter 3: Research

Taylor awoke the next day surprisingly well-rested. As he glanced around the room, the familiar hitting sound echoed through the house, drawing an uneasy smile to his face. 

“Good morning to you, too,” he said, greeting his wall-banshee with minor enthusiasm. 

Reaching toward the small nightstand he’d dragged into his bedroom the night before, Taylor settled the laptop he’d placed atop it on his crossed knees, tugging his boxers down a bit to make sure that his legs didn’t get too hot beneath the computer. 

“Alright, let’s do a tiny bit of research on you guys to at least see what I’m dealing with.” 

Sasha had given him some quick, unpleasant details, but he wanted to actually know what was stuck in his wall, and what exactly it was doing as far as interacting with him in the ghost’s dream, too. 

“Maybe if I start with trying to figure out who they actually are first?” he mumbled to himself as he pulled up his internet browser and typed in his address. 

Giving a small whistle, he looked through the long list of owners in the past five years. The house had switched hands almost as fast as it could be bought. Each time it was a different real-estate company, too. 

“I wonder freaking why,” he mused sarcastically as he quickly browsed through the first several newer owners, then started digging deeper when the time of ownership spaced out more than a few months. 

The first couple of entries he looked into that were about a year of residency didn’t show anything significant, so he pushed a bit further until he came across a woman who had stayed there for nearly ten years. 

Minimizing the browser, he opened another one and typed in her name and his current address. The woman’s name came up again, but no picture anywhere. Another name also came up, drawing his attention to the small tidbit of information that was available. 

“Caleb Kay Marie. Seventeen years old.” 

He clicked on a little link with a familiar symbol next to the name, then felt his heart drop into his stomach. 

“Amber alert issued the day before his birthday. Still active…” 

Looking up, he let his eyes wander around his room again, then got up and walked into the living area. Setting his laptop on the kitchen counter, he turned toward the chalk board, a bit surprised to see that the word DEAD was no longer scrawled there. 

“Um, hey ghost? Are you the kid that used to live here? Or is that who is behind my wall?” 

He didn’t expect an answer right away, so he decided to leave his sleuthing at that for the time being and got himself showered and dressed. He had some grocery shopping to do, and while he was out, he made sure to stock up on a few non-perishables, too, just in case something happened with the banshee and he had to leave the house for any certain amount of time. He wasn’t a fan of fast food, so a few boxes of cereal and crackers was his go-to if anything happened. 

Once he had everything in his car, Taylor started heading home, only to slow to a stop as he passed a small pet store. He wasn’t sure what drew him to it, but after a minute he decided to park his car and go inside. The owner was a nice older lady who was quite busy taking care of all the odd little creatures in her store. Everything was actually gorgeous and well managed. No animal looked unhealthy or unhappy. 

“Just let me know if you need any help, sweetie,” the woman called as she handed a cockatoo a large nut, then got back to cleaning its gigantic cage as it stood on top with its treat. 

Taylor nodded and wandered around for a bit, eventually finding himself standing in the fish section. There was quite a lot to choose from. He even recognized some of them from the odd dreams the ghost had showed him.  

He wasn’t quite adventurous enough to try getting one of the brilliantly colored salt-water fish the store offered, but as he walked around a bit more, he noticed a huge tank with a single little goldfish in it. On the side of the tank it said FEEDER FISH . 

“Sorry, sonny. We only have one feeder left. People have been snatching them up as treats for their snakes and other larger critters. Just that one little guy left until my next shipment comes in Tuesday,” the owner said, appearing beside him. 

Taylor frowned at the little fish. 

He’s just here to be fed to something else? 

He knew that other animals had to eat, but it sucked to be designated a feeder from the get-go.

“Is he for sale as a pet, by chance?” he asked, though unsure why. He definitely didn’t need a pet while he was dealing with two supernatural beings. 

“Well, of course. I’ve actually grown quite fond of the tiny guy and was hoping someone might want him. I’ve only ever had one other person, a lad a bit younger than you, ever buy one of my feeders to save it from another animal’s mouth. If you buy a home for him, you can just have him for free,” the woman said, pointing to a long line of tanks and other assorted fish containers. 

Taylor walked over to them, eying several before finally deciding on a simple two and a half gallon one. It was a tiny fish. Surely it wouldn’t grow so fast to need replacing right away. The little tank came with its own filter, gravel, food, and a fake plant, too, so he didn’t need to do anything besides pour in the water and plop in the fish. 

He brought the tank kit up to the counter as the lady bagged the fish, then paid and settled the little bag of water on his front seat, then set its home on the floor there. 

Once he was finally buckled up and ready to head home again Taylor frowned and looked down at the little fish. It was staring up at him, its wide eyes empty of any emotion.

“Why the hell did I just buy this thing?” he said on a sigh as he started his car and headed toward home. 

It was a short drive considering that he’d already been halfway there when he’d stopped at the pet shop. 

Pulling into the driveway, he got the fish and its home unloaded first and set them on the counter, then got busy unloading his car. Once everything was put away, he turned to the chalkboard, curious to see if the ghost had replied yet. 

FISH

Taylor raised an eyebrow at the word. 

“Not exactly the response I was looking for, but alright.”

He turned and got the fish’s home set up, then added water and plugged in the filter. Once everything looked good, he added the fish. When it began swimming around, exploring its new home, he poured some fish food in the top, then stood back up, admiring his new pet. 

“Still not sure why I bought this, but oh well. At least I can just flush it if I kill it… which is highly possible,” he mumbled as he got himself some lunch and sat down on the couch with his laptop. As far away from the cold wall as he could, of course. 

He was just about to start looking further into the ghost and his friend when he heard a knock at his door. Setting aside his laptop, he hopped up to check it. The loud voice on the other side made it obvious who was there before he even undid the lock and let it swing open slowly. 

“Hey Tay, I brought a friend by to check something out since I had a feeling that you’d be home,” Sasha said as an older man offered his hand. Taylor took it automatically, a confused expression on his face as he stepped aside to let the man in… and his dog. 

Adon was there, too, standing a bit farther back with a sheepish expression on his face. 

“Sorry, she wouldn’t stop asking for a ride over since she said this guy was meeting her here. I thought she had called you beforehand, too.” 

Taylor could tell that the guy was a little miffed about the lack of communication, as was he. Shrugging, he gestured for him to come in, then shut the door. 

The older guy, who looked to be around fifty or so, was already at the cold wall with a pair of plastic gloves on. 

“Hey Tay, what was the last thing you asked the ghost?” Sasha questioned as she stood in front of the chalkboard. It still read

FISH .

“I did some research and found out that one of the kids that used to live here has an Amber Alert out for him. It’s still active and its been years, so I asked him if he was that kid.” 

Sasha gave him an are you crazy? look, then pointed at the chalkboard. 

“And his reply was this?” 

The tone of her voice had Taylor rolling his eyes as Adon stared down at the little fish swimming about in its tank. 

“I’m going to guess its reply has something to do with this little guy?” 

Taylor nodded, relieved that she’d brought her boyfriend, if only to offset her own high with his calm. 

“Yeah. I think he got frustrated that I was just letting the fish sit on the counter in a bag while I put away all the other stuff I’d bought.” 

The man who had previously been messing around near the cold wall finally walked over and examined the chalkboard. 

“Your ghost must really like fish if it used its energy to write this instead of answering your question,” he said, drawing Taylor closer to the board with curiosity. 

“What do you mean? In his dream he always shows me tons of fish, but what do you mean by his energy? Can’t he just reply again later?” he asked. 

The man nodded as the familiar sound of hitting echoed from the cold wall, making the man’s dog, who was sitting in front of it, whine. 

“Yes, he can reply later, but he doesn’t get to reply often. Ghosts have limited energy. It takes a lot of effort for them to communicate with the real world, so the fact that he used its energy to bring your attention to the fish you had bought instead of answering your question, goes to show you its priority,” the man said as he looked back toward his dog. 

“That one over there, however, will definitely have more energy than your invisible friend. Banshees can affect real life much easier, and when they die, they can even bring an item near them at their time of death with them into etherealism.” 

Okay, he was lost at that part. 

“What do you mean?” Adon inquired as he leaned against the counter, asking the question Taylor had planned. 

The old man gestured to his dog, drawing it over to them as it sat at his feet. 

“Let’s say that a young lady is killed viciously in a park by a robber with a knife. The robber takes her purse and leaves her for dead, but drops the knife next to her body as he flees. If the woman’s anger and frustration is strong enough, she will change into a banshee in hope of seeking revenge… and if the knife is close enough to where she can grab it before her heart stops beating, it will become part of her banshee’s form when she changes.” 

Taylor looked back toward the wall for a moment before returning his attention to the man. 

“So what you’re saying is that my banshee was killed, and whatever was near him, possibly the murder weapon, even, is now what he’s using to cause that sound?” 

The man walked a little closer to the wall and gestured for his dog to go forward. It sniffed the wall, then did a quick lap through the house, sniffing here and there. When it returned, it simply sat next to the wall and tilted its head. 

“As I’m sure you might have guessed, I’m an exorcist and this is my dog, Star. He’s trained to sniff out ghosts and banshees, but while you are telling me that you have both in here, and I definitely believe it because of the chalkboard, dreams, and of course, our friend behind this wall, I’m confused as to where the ghost’s body is located,” the man said, making Taylor shiver. 

It did make sense that the bodies were still on the premises, but if they were… 

“I think there’s a basement behind that wall. I think they sealed it off after the murders,” Taylor said as he walked over to the couch and brought his laptop to the kitchen counter before opening it. 

His previous searches were still up, allowing him to show them the history of the house. 

“And there we have it,” the man said as he pointed to the older history report. “There was a basement, and the owners at that time sealed it off and probably paid a realtor and inspector to fabricate that it no longer had one, then sell the place. I bet you that you have two bodies down there.” 

Okay, I’m definitely not opposed to moving again. 

“Problem is, you have quite an upset banshee stuck behind your wall… likely blocking the entrance to the basement,” the man said as he took a small carrying bag off of his shoulder and started taking a few things out. 

“I don’t have the ability to remove a conscious banshee, but other exorcists won’t waste their time coming out here unless you have proof. It’s a bit of dying profession,” he joked, only getting a chuckle from Sasha as Taylor and Adon glanced sideways at each other. 

“Do you want me to take care of the regular ghost first? I can handle him no problem,” the man said, turning to Taylor with a smile. “Sasha is a friend, so I won’t even charge you.” 

Taylor hesitated as he looked back at the chalkboard at the same moment the hitting sound reverberated through the house again. 

“I don’t think it wants you to get rid of the its friend,” he noted, having no idea why he was even wanting to keep the ghost around. He had nearly drowned in its dream for heaven’s sake. 

The man looked a tad confused, too, as well as everyone else, but eventually just pointed over to the cold wall. 

“Want to get a look at your friend over there, then? It won’t be able to get through unless its previous human body can fit, so making a small hole won’t matter.” 

He really didn’t want to, but at the same time he was really curious to see who exactly was there. 

Wait a minute. 

Turning back to his computer, Taylor pulled up the Amber Alert and clicked on the photo link. A young boy stared back at him with light brown, almost-blond hair and soft hazel eyes with flecks of gold in them. He had a cautious smile on his face, as if he knew that something wasn’t quite right but wasn’t sure who to tell about it. 

“I feel like he could tell something bad was going to happen. This  must have been taken shortly before he was murdered,” Adon said quietly as he leaned closer to the screen. “Yeah, it’s dated five years ago. Wasn’t that the end of the longer owned time for the house? Covering up the murder seems like the most obvious conclusion for this whole situation, it seems.” 

Smart dude. 

“And as far as why you have both. I bet you one was murdered, and someone, perhaps a relative or close friend, saw it happen. That would put your ghost as the first to die, and the second as the banshee, who saw it happen and possibly even tried to stop it, but got murdered in the end, too.” 

It’s definitely an idea, but I don’t want to go on just hunches. 

“Let’s see if we can figure out who is behind my wall?” 

The group turned their attention to the wall as Taylor’s heartbeat sped up. 

Time to start unwinding this horror story.

Chapter 4: Threat

(So I changed Salem’s name to Caleb because he would not accept the different name. I didn’t want to use a name I already had in a previous story but I’m not going to argue with him and try to change it again.) 

They had all gathered near the couch by the cold wall, but only the older man walked up to it. 

“This banshee has so much resentment. That’s where the chill comes from, and also how its managed to remain in this world for so long,” he said as he set down a large bag that he’d gone out to retrieve earlier. 

Taking a large hammer and chisel out, he began carefully tapping on a spot about chest-high. He stopped after a few moments, as if expecting the banshee to respond. Which, to Taylor’s surprise, it did. 

“They don’t usually like being disturbed, so naturally, it’s not happy that there’s someone trying to break through the wall on the other side.” 

When there wasn’t another sound from the banshee the man continued to work, taking almost no time at all to come in contact with a a length of concrete. 

I really wish things weren’t coming together this way. 

The man worked on that wall for about thirty minutes before his hammer finally broke through the other side. He jumped back immediately afterward as the temperature in the room began to drop. A quiet sound came from the small opening and grew as time passed to be comparable to that of wind howling through a corridor. 

It smelled like dust and mildew, and as Taylor inched closer, he could just barely make out a blurry, blotched outline. 

“I’m… not sure if he’s really there, or I’m seeing things,” he said as Adon stepped up beside him to try and get a look. Neither of them dared to get closer than three feet. 

The older man chuckled and walked a bit closer, then pointed straight at the little hole he’d made. 

“Oh he’s there, boys. He’s just not quite sure of the situation, since I’m sure that he’s been standing there, staring at that wall, for years. His form should reaffirm soon enough.”

Taylor licked his lips and hesitantly stepped forward with Adon, and now Sasha, at his sides. When he saw faint, uneven motion behind the hole, he stepped a little closer, leaving the other two behind him. 

“Oh. Well, shit,” he mumbled as the old man looked at him, a brow raised. 

Taylor took a step back and gave a nervous, uneasy chuckle. 

“Well, you were right about them being able to keep an item with them when they die.”

The man took another glance through the hole, but quickly returned his attention to Taylor. 

“You saw what he has?” he and Sasha asked at the same time, excitement in both of their voices that Taylor definitely didn’t share. 

“Yeah. He’s got a metal baseball bat in his left hand.” 

As if to confirm his words, a much-louder hitting sound echoed around the room as concrete dust and drywall bits rained to the floor by the hole. As the sound dissipated, another took over. 

A growl? 

It almost sounded like a scaled-down purr from an engine, but continuous and low. 

“He’s warning us, but that’s odd. They usually don’t bother with that, unless…” 

Adon straightened from where he was trying to look through the hole again, at a safe distance, and replied, “unless what?” 

The man gave a low whistle and shook his head. 

“I think my theory is holding pretty true. He’s protecting something… or really, someone.” 

Taylor swallowed as he looked back toward the hole. The banshee was now mostly formed as a faded gray outline. The inside of the body was only colored with brief faded gray here or there, but most of it was missing and black. The line that made up the outline of some of the upper right side of his face was missing, however. 

“That’s where the damage was,” the man said, making Taylor look back up at him. 

“When a banshee materializes, anywhere that was significantly damaged while they were alive doesn’t show up very well in their ephemeral outline. He was murdered by being struck in the head, likely with that bat. His lower arms are also missing some outlines, so I bet you he tried to defend himself but the first blow had likely already done too much damage.”

Stepping closer, Taylor was about to try and get another view of the banshee when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he felt his mouth open slightly before he lifted a hand to point. 

Everyone’s attention followed the direction of his gesture, then Sasha jumped and gave a little clap. 

“Oh my gosh! The pieces are coming together so well!” she practically screeched, making Taylor and Adon wince as they walked over to the chalkboard with a new message on it. 

PLSE DT HHHRT NKO

The old man joined them after a moment, eying the message before turning to Taylor’s open laptop on the kitchen counter a few steps away. 

“Your ghost desperately wants the banshee safe, but I believe that the boy we are dealing with behind your wall isn’t the one with the Amber Alert. There weren’t many details visible on your friend, but the height alone seems very off,” the man said as Taylor walked over and shook the mouse, waking up the computer and bringing Caleb’s picture back up. 

“I agree. That’s definitely not the same kid, but then who could it be?” Sasha asked as Taylor got busy trying to figure out the name. 

“I can’t think of many other names besides Nikolas and Nikolai that might have NKO in their spelling. Do you guys have any to add?” he asked as he started searching using the address and both names. 

Nothing out of the ordinary came up, and definitely nothing tied to the house. 

“Maybe we are looking at this wrong,” Adon said as he gestured for Taylor to step aside for a moment. 

When Taylor did, Adon began typing quickly, pulling up several different browsers as he went through different searches. After about five minutes he selected one of the browsers and nodded. 

“West Lake High School. He was a senior. I doubt that the school has permission to give out any possible information on him, but if we look through Facebook…” he took a few moments, then pulled up a public group with kids that had graduated from that school from specifically that year. 

“He would have been set to graduate that year, so if we just glance through this group…” he looked at several pictures before selecting five people to message. It was a simple couple of questions asking if they had known Caleb or if he’d had any friends at school.

Adon continued other searches as they waited, in high hopes, for one of the people to respond. The first person that did gave a straight-forward No , and the next one said that they didn’t know him well enough to be of any help. The third, and last of the five to respond, did, however, have some information. 

He was a quiet kid who seemed to get more nervous as the years passed. He was jumpy, but still always seemed happy. His smiles seemed forced sometimes. The only person I ever saw him talking to was one of our teaching assistants who was his step brother from his mother remarrying at some point. His name was Nikolai, and he wasn’t much older than us, maybe nineteen or twenty. He doted on Caleb whenever he was there and they went home together. I haven’t seen or heard from either since he disappeared, though. 

Taylor blinked back tears as Adon typed in Nikolai missing person along with their area details and city. A picture of a youthful, smiling young man with dirty blond hair and green eyes looked back at them. 

“There’s your banshee, Tay,” Sasha said quietly as they heard the apparition hit the wall again with his bat. 

“He’s guarding him, even after they’ve both already been murdered. He’s guarding his little brother’s body,” Taylor said as he looked back toward the small hole in the wall. 

The older man nodded approvingly at the information and went back to his duffel bag. 

“Well, we can report this all to the authorities now, and after the banshee and ghost are removed, they can retrieve the bodies and hopefully find the mother and step father.” 

Seeing that the man was getting out his phone, Taylor quickly ran over.

“Wait. Don’t call them yet.” 

The guy looked confused as he straightened back up. 

“Why on Earth not? You guys likely solved the murders. We need to report this and let them get the mother and step father in for questioning.” 

Something just doesn’t feel right, though. 

“But what about the bodies? If the spirits are exorcised, what happens to them? Won’t burying the bodies let the spirits rest?” 

The man laughed and shook his head. 

“For the ghost, maybe, but the banshee? You’re asking to get killed. That,” he pointed toward the hole as gray faded in and out within sight, “is not going to rest until whoever murdered his little brother and him is dead. Banshee’s don’t just rest.” 

Taylor massaged the back of his neck as he thought about the situation. He would have been okay with getting rid of them at the beginning, but he was having terrible second thoughts as he stared back at the chalkboard, rereading its message. 

Sighing, he walked closer to the hole and looked through. 

“Nikolai?” he called. 

The young man’s name on his lips had the growling stop abruptly, but the silence was immediately followed by a hit to the wall with the baseball bat. 

“Nikolai, they don’t live here anymore. They are far away,” Taylor said, trying to make his words sound soothing. He wasn’t really sure if you could calm a banshee, but he was willing to try. 

“They can’t hurt you or Caleb anymore.”

The growl started up again at the mention of Caleb’s name, but Taylor wasn’t deterred. In fact, he smiled slightly and continued. “He’s really worried about you. I’ve been talking with him. I even bought a fish, and he chastised me for leaving it out on the counter while I put away my groceries instead of tending to it first.” 

The growling stopped again. 

“He also wanted to make sure that we didn’t try to hurt you. Have you been down to see him recently?” he asked, hoping that he could at least understand a little bit of what he was saying. 

“He’s not going to understand you, son. All banshees want is revenge. If you get near them, or get in their way, they won’t hesitate to kill you,” the man said as Taylor turned back to him. 

“You are an exorcist. You said that you can’t handle a conscious banshee, but can you paralyze it at all? Could I get past it?” 

Adon and Sasha looked at each other as the man shook his head. 

“You are crazy! That thing is much stronger than you, and has a metal baseball bat ! Even if I paralyze it, the effect won’t last long.” 

You really do need to take a step back from this and calm down. Going down there right now won’t save either of them. They will still both be dead. 

“You’re right. Sorry, I got caught up in all of this,” he said as he looked back toward the hole in the wall. The banshee hadn’t moved from its spot. 

He was honestly getting exhausted from the stress of the situation. 

“Hey man, calm down,” Adon said as his hands settled on his shoulders. Shoulders he hadn’t realized had been shaking. 

“I’m going to get going for today. Don’t mess with that banshee, son. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. He won’t be able to get through there,” he said as he put his things away and picked up his duffel bag. 

Sasha looked up at Adon, but the man hesitated, his hands still on Taylor’s shoulders. 

“You look like you want to stay here, just in case something happens?” she asked, making her friend hesitate by the door. 

“Want a ride, Sash? Your house is on my way home anyways,” the man asked. 

Taylor didn’t want to inconvenience Adoni, but he also was extremely nervous now that the banshee was revealed. 

“I’ll stay, if that’s alright, Taylor?  I don’t mind sleeping on the couch… as long as it’s a bit farther away.” 

Blinking out of his daze, Taylor nodded. He didn’t realize how desperately he’d wanted someone there until Adon had offered. 

“That’s fine. You can even pull it into the guest room so that you can lock that door,” he said. 

Sasha nodded and waved as she ran over to her older friend. 

“Alright. I’ll head home with Martin. Call me tomorrow or if anything happens?” 

Adon and Taylor both nodded at the same time. 

The moment the door closed, leaving them alone, they both exhaled and dropped down onto the sofa, their attention going to the hole as gray blurred in and out behind it. 

Taylor leaned back after a moment and closed his eyes. 

He opened them a second later, surprised by a sound in front of him. He glanced sideways for a brief moment to see Adon staring at him, but when he didn’t move, or even blink, Taylor hesitantly looked forward as motion caught his eye. 

A figure stood at the chalkboard. Too tall to be Nikolai…

The boy had his arm lifted, his fingers slightly bent, as if he were using the tips of his fingers to wipe chalk on the board. 

“Caleb?” 

Jerking upright in bed, Taylor panted as sweat ran down his face and spine. His body shivered, the chill from the banshee in the living room not losing to the heat outside the house. It took him a minute to catch his breath before he could finally blink his vision clear in the darkness and look up. He took a deep breath to finally try to relax when he blinked a few more times, confused as to what his eyes were showing him. 

His door was closed, but he didn’t remember going to bed. 

Maybe I had fallen asleep on the couch and Adon had brought me in here and shut my door? 

Either way, he saw a faint shadow under the door. A light had clearly been left on in the living room, too. 

Maybe Adon is in the kitchen or still up in general. 

Getting up, Taylor stretched for a second before grabbing the door handle and swinging it open. He was just about to start talking when he saw a boy a few feet away from him, standing at the chalkboard with his hand raised, fingers slightly curled inward. The tips of them were pressed against the board with chalk dust coating the end of each digit. 

The boy seemed to not notice him for several long moments, allowing Taylor to look him over. He was wearing a jacket over a darker T-shirt and black track pants with white drawstrings. There was a graphic design on the front of the shirt, but not enough of it was visible to even be guessable. He turned his attention to the odd color pattern on the jacket. It was light blue. Like one often used in sports, like a windbreaker for those sitting on the sidelines or out and about often. 

The color is off, though. It almost looks like something was spilled on the back… and around the side. 

Before his thought was even complete the dots were beginning to connect. Unfortunately, at the same time, the boy’s head slowly began turning toward him, his eyes only blinking once during the long action. 

It took several tries before Taylor was able to manage to get out a single, whispered word. 

“Caleb.” 

The boy slowly tilted his head to one side as he finally began to lower his arm from the board, his fingers now growing claws that had Taylor’s stomach twisting. Feeling his legs grow numb from fear, he forced himself to stagger backwards and slam the door shut, then lock it. 

Not a second later he heard the door on the other side of the house open and gasped, terrified that Adon was going to get attacked. But when he simply heard the man walk up to his door and knock gently, then ask if he was okay, Taylor hesitantly opened it. 

He immediately looked past Adon toward the chalkboard, but when no one was there, he looked around the living room and kitchen. 

He’s not here? 

Looking back at Adon, Taylor couldn’t manage to get his breathing under control, nor hold back the tears that were running from his eyes. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Adon said as he pulled him into his arms for a much-needed hug. 

“You had another nightmare. It’s okay. He’s still behind the wall and hasn’t even tried to hit it. I’ve been up the whole time. I promise, nothing has changed,” Adon said soothingly as he rubbed his back, but Taylor knew that what he was saying was, unfortunately, a lie. 

As he looked to his left, the chalkboard proved that there had been a drastic change. The message had not been altered too greatly, but where the previous one had seemed more like a gentle plea, this one, with claw marks marring most of the blurred white letters, was definitely a threat. 

DNTTT HRRT NKKLAI!

Chapter 5: Free

Taylor awoke slowly, his mind clouded with a need for more sleep. As he came to, he realized that he was leaning against something, and as his mind connected the dots, he realized that it was a someone. 

He was about to tense up as he felt an arm tighten around him and a hand shift a bit over his mouth, but then he opened his eyes. His body did tense up then, but definitely for a different reason. 

Caleb was standing in the corner, staring across the room and out of the small window there. His eyes rarely blinked as he continued to look, motionless. 

Since he didn’t seem to be in immediate danger from the ghost, Taylor turned his attention to who was holding him. He remembered that they had moved the couch into the spare bedroom since he had wanted to be as far away from the chalkboard as possible. 

Glancing toward the door, he noticed that it was shut and the lock was still in place. 

He had to have walked right through. 

Next, he put together that Adon was the one behind him, his scent easily distinguishable now that he wasn’t panicking. 

But why is he covering my mouth? Caleb is just a ghost. He can’t do anything to us. 

Taylor was just starting to work on freeing himself from Adon’s hold when Caleb jerked his head to the side abruptly, his eyes going wider than they should have been able to… and then they just stayed like that. 

Shit. Got it. Don’t move. 

After a tense several moments his body seemed to relax and his eyes went back to normal as he looked down and to the side, toward his left hand. It was closed around something, but whatever it was, was too small to see. 

As the time stretched on, Taylor wondered if Caleb would ever leave. He’d had to pee since waking up and definitely wasn’t keen on doing so on the sofa. Or in Adon’s presence. 

Thankfully, right when he had decided to start trying to get up again, the familiar hitting sound echoed from the other room, immediately drawing Caleb’s attention. The boy turned and looked toward the door, as if seeing his step brother through it without any issue. When the hit sounded for a rare consecutive, second time, Caleb darted through the door and was gone. 

Adon’s hand and arm fell away immediately as their bodies sagged against the sofa and they sighed in unison. 

“I thought that we could only see ghosts in dreams, for the most part?” Taylor mumbled as he took a deep breath, then gave out another sigh. 

Adon took a few moments to respond, probably because he’d been awake longer than Taylor, watching Caleb in the room. 

“That’s not a ghost.” 

Taylor stood up, eying something tiny that Caleb had seemingly left on the floor. 

“What are you talking about? Of course he’s a ghost. He’s been showing me his dreams since I moved in,” he said as he slowly walked up and knelt down beside the item. Or really, items. 

Adon joined him after a moment, both of them frowning down at the tiny little fish skeleton on the floor. 

“Ghosts can’t carry objects. And neither can banshees, unless they take them when they die. Even if he had taken this skeleton, he couldn’t have walked right through that door. Nikolai can’t,” Adon said, sending a shiver down Taylor’s spine. 

“But they said that he’s a ghost. That he isn’t very powerful,” Taylor replied, trying to put the pieces together, but at the same time, not wanting to. 

Adon picked up the little set of bones and looked toward the door. 

“He’s a wraith, Taylor. I did some more research about them yesterday before we came back over, and after you mentioned that you saw him writing at the chalkboard while you were awake… it’s what makes the most sense.” 

He didn’t care what made sense. Especially if the answer to their questions was wraith. 

“Let’s just, check on Nikolai and have some breakfast,” he mumbled as he reached for the door handle. 

It was cold, but that was no surprise. He would never need to run the A/C again if he kept Nikolai in his wall. 

The things you think when you have a banshee problem. 

Turning the handle, he slowly tugged open the door, greatly relieved that there was nothing there to greet him on the other side. 

To his relief, as well, his fish was perfectly fine swimming around in his little tank, eating little flakes…

“You didn’t feed the fish, did you?” he asked, already knowing the answer. 

Adon walked ahead of him, stopping in front of the tank before looking over toward the chalkboard. It looked like someone had tried to write something else over the previous warning, but had run out of chalk dust.

Do I really want to grind more? 

He quickly ground a lot more dust for Caleb to use as Adon went to the bathroom, appreciating the written messages instead of forcing the ghost, or wraith, or whatever he was, to switch to physical ones. 

“I texted Sasha to ask her friend about what had happened. Waiting on a reply,” Adon said as he yawned, emerging from the bathroom. 

Taylor nodded and quickly went in to relieve himself, then splash a bit of water on his face after washing his hands. He needed a shower, but he definitely didn’t want to be caught naked when Caleb suddenly appeared again. 

When he emerged from the room he could smell eggs cooking, making his stomach grumble. He’d passed out last night without eating and was definitely ready to eat a horse. 

“Yours are just about ready,” Adon said as he added a bit of cheese to the top, then scrambled the eggs more with a spatula to mix it in. 

Taylor stared, transfixed, until he noticed the little fish bones next to his live fish’s tank. 

“I wonder where those came from,” he asked, not really expecting an answer. 

Adon plated Taylor’s food, adding two pieces of toast to the dish before handing it to him. 

“If I had to guess, downstairs.” 

Taylor nodded as he sat down on one of the small chairs he’d brought. He didn’t have a dinner table yet, so he just sat in the kitchen to eat. 

“Considering your dream, it made sense that he’d had a pet fish, but looking at this neighborhood, I doubt that his collection would have spanned a wall of fish tanks. Maybe that was just his wishful thinking?” Adon said as he got some eggs cracked into the pan for himself. 

“And a hot tub. We can’t really get down there to check, anyways” Taylor said, about to add something about not really wanting to know when he heard a knock at the door. 

“Take one guess?” Adon said with a chuckle. 

Taylor opened the door a moment later, but where he expected Sasha to start yelling right off the bat, well, she did. But it wasn’t for the reason he expected. 

With an ear-shattering screech she grabbed his arm and yanked him out the door, then slammed it shut, making Taylor stumble into the grass in order to stay on his feet. He whirled around as soon as he caught his balance. 

“What the heck, Sash?” 

The girl grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him an abrupt shake.

“There was someone else behind your wall, Tay!” she shouted, her voice loud enough to make him wince and her older friend’s, whom she’d brought with her, or more likely, gave her a ride, dog, bark. 

Oh, Caleb was standing with Nikolai? 

It made sense. 

“That was Caleb,” he said before nudging past her to open the door again. 

Nothing but Nikolai’s blurry form was behind the wall when he looked, so he turned his attention to Adon, who was leaning against the counter taking a bite of eggs. 

“I’m guessing she saw our friend?”

Taylor nodded, glad that he’d set his plate down before going to get the door or it likely would have been broken. He picked it back up and finished off his last few bites as Sasha and her friend slowly walked inside.

 “Tay, you really shouldn’t stay here anymore. That wasn’t a ghost,” Sasha said as the man’s dog began to whimper and look around. 

Martin patted the dog’s head and nodded toward the wall. 

“We both saw it. That other boy isn’t a ghost, Taylor. You need to find a strong exorcist. That thing can easily kill you.”

Adon swallowed a bite of food before replying. 

“He saw us earlier. Was in that room with us,” Adon said as he pointed toward the second bedroom. 

“Why do you have tiny fish bones on your counter?” Martin asked as he walked closer, redirecting the conversation slightly. 

Taylor stepped up beside him and shrugged. 

“Caleb was standing in the second bedroom with us, like Adon mentioned. He walked through the locked door when he left, leaving those behind on the floor.” 

Martin nudged one of the bones. Before he could do much else, Caleb was standing beside him, staring with his too-wide eyes. Seemingly knowing to not move or talk again, Martin remained still until Caleb relaxed and turned his attention to the fish bones. He slowly reached up and picked them up, then turned and looked at the little live fish swimming about in its tank. 

Wait. It’s actually trying to swim closer to Caleb? 

He doubted the fish even understood what Caleb was, but it was interesting to see its reaction. 

Probably because he fed you earlier. 

Taylor was about to risk saying the boy’s name when he heard a deep growl start up from behind the wall. All of their attention, including Caleb’s, turned toward Nikolai. In an instant Caleb was gone, then reappeared behind the wall with the banshee. 

The growling quieted at that moment as the ethereal light swirled around the wraith. 

“Taylor,” Sasha whispered as she slowly started to back toward the door. 

“We need to leave. This is serious and very dangerous.” 

Taylor turned to look at her and was going to respond when she backed right into Caleb. His body was solid as she froze against it, wisely not moving a muscle or uttering a word. 

The sound of Nikolai’s baseball bat echoed off the wall, making Caleb vanish again before reappear next to his step-brother, but not behind the wall this time. 

Sasha didn’t waste any time getting her butt out of the house. Martin and his dog were out a second after her, with Adon hot on the their heels, but stopping in the doorway to gesture for Taylor to hurry up. 

A breaking, tearing sound took Taylor’s attention away from escaping momentarily as he looked back toward the wall. 

Oh. Shit. 

Caleb was tearing away pieces of the drywall. 

Thank god he’s trapped behind cement. 

That’s what he’d thought, at least, until Caleb turned around and Taylor noticed that Martin had brought his duffel bag again… and dropped it when he’d run out. 

Oh no. 

He didn’t dare try to stop him as he walked over to it and slowly knelt down. Instead of bothering with the zipper, Caleb tore it open easily with his bare hands, then removed the tools he needed to get through the concrete. 

The second he turned and started back toward the wall Taylor high-tailed it out of there, slamming the door on his way out. He stumbled into Adon’s arms as he turned back toward the house, worried that Caleb had followed him. 

No one was there, and as he approached the window to glance inside, he realized why. 

Freeing your brother would definitely take priority over catching a useless human. 

Caleb was easily dealing with the concrete wall with the help of Martin’s tools. 

Now, not only did he have a wraith on his hands. Soon, he would have a loose banshee, too. 

With a nice metal baseball bat, too. Oh the joys of buying your first house.

Chapter 6: Bones

The chime of a text message coming through his phone made Taylor groan as he rolled over. When it didn’t beep again, he felt himself beginning to fall asleep again as he nuzzled into soft, cool blankets. He’d gone to Adoni’s apartment after the fun they’d had the previous day. Of course, he’d offered to just get a hotel for a short while until he could figure out how he wanted to deal with his situation, but Adon mentioned that he had a spare furnished room and didn’t mind him hanging around for a bit.

Thank you, god.

He stretched out a bit, but his mind awoke a little more when his toes brushed against something that felt like clothing.

Is Adon in here, too?

The guy had his own room, so it made no sense for him to sleep in the same bed with him, or at least stand at the foot of it. When his phone chimed again, Taylor sighed and tugged the pillow up and over his head.

Probably just work.

He definitely needed to at least go in later to do some paperwork. It was probably just one of his workers panicking about how he hadn’t been in in the past few days. His phone chimed again, but he ignored it.

Then again.

Then again.

Then again.

Jerking upright abruptly, Taylor snatched it from the blanket next to him as he squeezed his eyes shut to yawn. When he blinked them open to finally glance down at the screen, his mouth opened slightly as he read the message he was being spammed with.

The fish.

The fish.

The fish.

He quickly unlocked the device and frowned at the ten messages there. When he opened them, no phone number or name came up. Both normally-filled areas showed completely blank.

How the heck can he text me? This is ridiculous.

After glaring around the room, Taylor clenched his jaw and looked back down at his phone.

“You are just going to kill me if I go back there to deal with that thing. I know that you can feed it. Just take care of it yourself,” he said as he got up and headed for the small attached bathroom.

Adon had lent him a set of clothing to change into, so he figured that he’d just take a shower to wake himself up, then see if his host was awake. The shower was pretty small, but he was more than happy with the hot water and pressure from it.

All of the stress from the previous week began to wash away as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He would have stayed that way forever if something tiny hadn’t bumped into his toes.

Curious, he opened his eyes and looked down, expecting an old piece of hard soap or something along those lines.

What the…?

Kneeling down, Taylor reached toward the drain and picked up several tiny little objects. It took him a moment before he realized what they were… and who must have put them there.

And those are definitely not my toes.

Shivers wracked his hot body as he fought to not move. Everything in him wanted to run, but at the same time, he couldn’t even make himself take a decent breath. The faint chiming of his phone caught his attention as the text message notification pinged nonstop in the other room.

“You… just want me to go check on the fish?”

His phone went silent and a faded bloody hand appeared in front of him as the person before him leaned down.

“A-ah, r-right,” he whispered as he very carefully picked up each fish bone, then set them in Caleb’s palm. “I can go check on him before I go to work, but what about your brother? Won’t he just attack me when I get inside?”

Thankfully, Caleb hadn’t shown much aggression yet, but his brother was literally armed with a weapon he audibly swung quite often. He definitely didn’t want to have to dodge and run for his life just to take care of the little fish he’d bought.

Lifting a hand, he ran it through his wet hair, then slowly stood. He had kind of expected Caleb to disappear after his request had been acknowledged, but when he straightened, the young man was still there, staring at him with lifeless eyes.

My phone isn’t going off anymore and I gave him his fish’s bones back. I also agreed to come back, so why stay?

He was honestly shocked that Caleb could be so far away from where his own body was, too, but then again, he didn’t know much about wraiths to begin with.

Heck, I doubt many people know much about wraiths in general.

“Hey, can you talk?”

He wasn’t sure why he asked the question. The guy probably would have talked to him earlier if he still had the ability to do so. Taylor tilted his head slightly to one side, then watched as Caleb mirrored his movement.

When he just stayed like that, Taylor pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes as he really looked at the guy standing in front of him.

He’s actually getting wet from the bits of spray that my body isn’t blocking. So he has a physical form, but can also disappear at any moment. He’s also a little bit see-through this time.

It was confusing as heck to try and put any kind of pieces together when it came to Caleb or Nicolai.

“Um… would you, uh, like to take a shower? It feels pretty good,” he said as he slowly and carefully stepped around Caleb.

The guy finally blinked once, the action taking the entire time it took Taylor to move to the back of the small shower. He expected Caleb to turn in order to follow his movement, but the young man actually remained standing there, now partially beneath the hot spray of water.

Is he enjoying it, or probably just not registering what’s going on?

Right as he opened his mouth to question him again, Caleb disappeared.

“I… guess that answers my question.”

When he didn’t reappear Taylor finished up with his shower, then got changed and walked out of the room to see Adon sitting on the sofa in the living room. Having heard him, the man looked over his shoulder, then nodded toward the kitchen.

“I made some breakfast. Help yourself if you’re hungry.”

Taylor thanked him and hurried to the kitchen, suddenly aware that he was starving.

“What did Caleb want?” Adon asked out of nowhere, making Taylor pause as he was scooping the remaining portion of eggs onto a plate.

Setting down the fork, Taylor looked over his shoulder at Adon, confused.

“He came to my room, first. I felt like I was being watched and woke up, but he just walked around for a few minutes, then vanished out the door. Since he wasn’t acting violent at all, I just followed him out the door and saw him again right before he vanished into the guest room you were using. When I just heard your phone go off constantly, I figured that he was trying to communicate with you, and since I didn’t hear you yelling or sounding distressed, I didn’t want to possibly agitate him by bursting into the room,” Adon said, making Taylor look back down at the eggs and frown.

So he’d already been in Adon’s room, but hadn’t tried to message his phone at all? He’d been looking specifically for me to take care of that fish?

It made sense, but it still seemed a bit odd.

“He wasn’t fully formed, either. I could partially see through him,” Adon mentioned, getting a nod from Taylor as he took the remaining two pieces of toast from the toaster and added a little bit of butter, then jelly, before joining Adon on the couch.

“Yeah, he wasn’t quite as solid looking as he had been while at the house. What was even more odd, though, was that he’d brought the fish bones from the house with him,” Taylor said before he took a bite of food.

Adon rubbed the back of his neck with a hand as he sighed.

“Actually, I brought those, unintentionally. I found them in my pocket after you went to bed last night. I left them on the counter…”

Taylor slowly swallowed his current bite of toast as a shiver ran down his spine.

“Do you think, maybe, that’s how he got here?”

Adon was just opening his mouth to reply when he seemed to notice something on the counter and got up, then walked over to it. Curious, Taylor followed him, only to slow his steps when he realized what the other man had seen. Adon’s fingers were brushing against a tiny set of familiar fish bones.

“I think that’s exactly how he got here,” he said before turning his attention to Taylor.

“What did he want you to do, by the way? I assume he was contacting you for something, and I doubt he would have left without getting some sort of answer.”

Taylor nodded as he walked over to where he’d left his shoes by the door, double-checking that his wallet was in his back pants pocket and keys were on the belt loop as he went.

“He wants me to go take care of the fish I’d bought. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just do it himself, but if that’s all he wants from me, I don’t see a reason not to go do it… as long as he can keep his brother from coming after me.”

Adon looked skeptical, but didn’t hesitate to grab his keys and switch off all the lights. He was just heading for the door to follow Taylor out when he stopped abruptly and turned back around. He jogged over to the corner of the counter and carefully scooped the fish bones into his hand, then put them in his from left pocket.

“Good idea. Let’s just bring him back,” Taylor said as they locked up and headed for Adon’s car.

He hopped into the back out of habit since he used taxis and Uber quite a lot before buying his own car. Thankfully, Adon didn’t seem to mind and didn’t mention the habit as the man put his seat-belt on, then began pulling them out of the parking spot.

An abrupt metallic click snapped Taylor’s attention down to his own seat-belt, where it was fastened into its holder.

I… didn’t put that on yet.

Yet it was draped over his chest and settled into place.

Looking up, he noticed Caleb sitting in the far seat, staring at him with a slightly-odd head tilt. It wasn’t a huge car considering the inside space so it was perfectly plausible that he’d buckled his seat-belt.

But why?

Caleb looked out the window as a faint drizzle began to pat against the windshield and the roof of the car. His form drifted around a bit as they drove, sometimes being closer, sometimes being all the way up against the window.

Probably distracted.

His face never really showed any kind of expression, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking, if he even was.

Well, at least he thinks about the fish. So there has to be something functioning in his head for that… or at least memories about his previous pet to fuel his actions.

That was more logical than anything else he could think of, so Taylor decided to go with the idea for the time being. He did his best not to bother the wraith as it disappeared and reappeared during their car ride. Caleb even appeared in the front seat a few times, though he never stayed up there long before returning to the back.

They were just nearing the house, a few short blocks away, when Caleb materialized in the middle seat, quite close to Taylor. If it wasn’t raining so hard at the time he might have been a little more nervous about the dead man beside him, but Adon was struggling to see clearly, even with his sunglasses on, and Taylor definitely couldn’t see much through the torrential downpour. He’d also slowed down quite a bit, even though the road’s speed limit was around forty-five miles per hour.

I swear we’re just about there, but I can’t even see the street signs clearly.

Adon was just pulling over to the side of the road to wait for the worst of the rain to pass when something caught Taylor’s attention in the rear-view mirror. It was just a brief flash of color he saw in the heavy rain for only a brief moment, but that was the moment that mattered.

“Incoming!”

They were being hit less than a second after he’d finished warning Adon. Without even thinking he reached over and wrapped his arms around Caleb as he yelled, holding the wraith to his chest since he hadn’t been wearing a seat-belt. The hit itself jerked the car badly and Taylor felt his seat-belt strain hard against his chest as the airbags deployed, but as everything settled and the distant sound of a muffled ambulance siren met his ringing ears, he still felt a light weight against his body and in his lap.

“You… okay?” he rasped, not really directing the question to either person there.

Adon groaned, but then thankfully Taylor heard his door being opened. A minute later and his own was being jerked a few times, then finally creaked open. At that moment the weight in his arms disappearing.

“Are you alright?” Adon asked as he carefully got Taylor’s seat-belt off for him, then gently helped him from the car.

He thought that he’d replied, but when he saw flashing lights everywhere and realized he was lying on his back with Adon and a paramedic hovering over him, he realized that he was honestly having trouble staying awake as the rain belted down on them.

I have to go take care of the fish. I told him I would…

He tried to stay awake for a little longer, but his mind had other ideas. Before he was even in the ambulance, he was unconscious.

Chapter 7: Cry for Me

Caleb was waiting for him when he stepped out of the taxi and shut the door. The driver didn’t seem to notice, but he’d also not seemed to care about much of anything besides getting paid and hurrying to his next pick-up. 

Adon watched Caleb as the wraith watched him from where it stood beside the spare room’s window. He’d never really seen him outside in the open before. Even when he’d be at the apartment with them, he had disappeared when they’d left, then reappeared inside the car. 

So you can physically be outside, too. Good to know. 

“Taylor is in the hospital so I’m here to take care of the fish for him,” he said as he slowly started walking toward the house. 

A blur by the window next to the door drew his attention, but he couldn’t quite make out anything inside because of the glare from the emerging sun. 

Stopping a few feet from the door, he turned to see Caleb standing a few feet away from him, his stare blank and lips slightly parted. 

“You need to make sure that your brother doesn’t come after me. If he tries to attack me, I’m not going to take care of the fish, and I won’t let Taylor come back here, either,” he warned, getting a miniscule head tilt from Caleb before the wraith disappeared. 

Hope that means he agrees to keep me alive. 

Taking out Taylor’s keys, he unlocked the door, then nudged it open so that it slowly swung inward until it bumped against the wall. 

He looked around the entire room before carefully stepping inside, then shut the door. There was no way he’d lock it, but he didn’t want the banshee to get out, either, if that were even possible. He’d read up a bit more on that specific type of undead since he’d decided to go take care of the fish for Taylor, and wanted to be as prepared as possible. The information had been pretty adamant that banshee’s couldn’t travel very far from their bodies, and if killed inside of a structure, they were pretty much locked in there… but then again, the much smaller section of information he’d found on wraiths mentioned the same thing. 

Definitely was wrong there. 

Looking over toward the kitchen counter, he noticed the fish tank sitting where they’d left it and walked over. The animal looked fine at first, swimming near the top of its tank, but then Adon realized that the little pump wasn’t working. 

He quickly unplugged it and took it out, then walked over to the sink. After a rinse and scrub, he took a few pieces off the little device. 

“Ah ha,” he whispered to himself as he grabbed one of the keys on his keychain and carefully pushed a stuck piece of the fish’s plastic plant out of the small clear tube. It hadn’t been visible with one of the plastic pieces in front of it, but after he’d taken it off, it was obvious that it would cause the pump to struggle. 

“Hopefully that didn’t completely burn out this little thing,” he said as he got busy putting it all back together, then walked over to the little fish tank. 

Just to be safe, he tugged the little fake plant out and removed two more pieces of it that were already floating on the surface, ready to ambush the filter’s intake tube the moment he set it back up, no doubt. 

“I’ll get you something else later, little guy,” he said as he tossed the fake plant in the trash, then got the little filter set back up.

After checking it out one more time, he plugged it in and was immediately relieved when it started right up and began aerating the water again. He added a small pinch of food, then grinned.

“There we go. He should be all set now,” he said as he turned around, thinking that he’d see Caleb, but the young man was nowhere in sight. 

Instead, he heard a thudding noise echo from beyond the torn-apart wall. It took him a moment to connect the sound to Nicolai’s baseball bat as he heard it again. 

“Well, that explains where you were… and where I’m going, right now,” he said as he hurried toward the front door, only to turn around and run back to the counter. He tugged the fish bones out of his pocket and quickly set them down next to the tank, then turned back around to leave right as he began to see a blurry figure within the destroyed wall. 

Of course, things couldn’t go so easily for him. Caleb now stood between him and the door, his left arm raised and pointed toward the fish tank. 

“I took care of it!” Adon yelled as he turned his attention back to the banshee climbing through the broken wall. Its low growl started up as it took notice of him, making Aden hurry into Taylor’s bedroom and slam the door shut. 

It was locked a moment later, but it only took Nikolai a few seconds to trudge over to it and begin striking the poor worn wood with his bat. 

With his heart hammering harder with each swing of the weapon, Adon turned and ran over to the large window behind him. The latches on it took a bit of effort to unlock, but soon he was able to yank it up. 

Thank god there’s no screen. 

He knew that it was a life or death situation, but he really didn’t want to damage more of Taylor’s property. The door was already going to be gone in a few moments considering the amount of inhuman strength Nikolai was putting into it. 

Not wanting to wait around to see the final results, he quickly hopped out of the window, then slammed it shut. The sound reverberated around the too-silent neighborhood backyards surrounding the house. He half expected Caleb to be behind him when he turned around, but there was no one there. 

Alright. Just get the heck out of here and back to the car. 

Adon was about to hurry toward the chain-link fence on the left side of the house, but he didn’t get very far. Something had his feet stuck, drawing his attention down to the ground. 

Nothing’s there? 

He lifted them up one at a time. There was no resistance and none of the overgrown weeds were tangled around his shoes. 

“I’m going crazy.” 

Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his messy hair and started running for the fence-line. Unfortunately, he got a total of two steps away from the window before something grabbed his ankle, stopping his ability to breathe and somehow dragging him down into the earth. Everything went black as he was pulled through layers of soil and rocks, eventually falling through a ceiling. 

He landed painfully against a damp, concrete floor, his head hitting hard enough to make black dots dance across his vision and rob him of desperately needed air. 

What the heck… happened? 

He fought to remain conscious, focusing on his breathing but unable to move. He began to feel liquid warmth slowly pool against his hair. 

Hurts. 

A solid thump against a wooden surface drew his struggling attention. When another one sounded closer, then after a moment, a third one even closer, he realized what had happened. 

Get up, get up, get up!

 Shivers began to pulse through his aching body as the last thunk sounded, this time on the solid concrete, then began to drag. 

Caleb! I took care of the fish. 

His mind blanked for an unknown amount of time, but his consciousness quickly returned when he felt something scratching at his chest. 

What the…? 

His shirt had clearly been torn open, and as he fought to see anything in the utter darkness, something blunt but thin began to scratch at his chest, right above his heart. After several moments, Adon managed to open his left eye, but he really wished he hadn’t when he saw who was leaning over him. 

“Ni… ko,” he rasped, earning a deep growl from the apparition above him. 

Why can’t I talk well? Or breathe? 

He knew that he’d fallen through the ceiling, but the actual fall hadn’t been the whole way, thankfully. He’d also managed to break at least a little bit of it with his left foot, though it was numb now. 

His mind tried to focus on how to get Nikolai to stop scratching up his chest but it shifted when he felt something frigid push farther beneath his chin, forcing his head back and making him cough from the pressure. 

The baseball bat? 

A sharp pain in his chest made him whimper and Nikolai growl as he quickened his pace. Adon couldn’t help but wince every few moments as the banshee scraped away at his flesh, gaining more fervor the deeper he got. 

He forced his eyes open after a particularly sharp stab of pain and blinked, surprised to see Caleb standing just behind his head, staring down at him as his brother continued his efforts. 

“W-we… had a deal,” he cried, the words barely audible, even to his own ears. 

Caleb didn’t seem to register what he was saying, leaving Adon to try one last thing as the darkness edged at his vision again. 

“Taylor… won’t come… back. He’s at the… hospital. Bad shape,” he rasped, lying as he turned his head the slightest amount to try and alleviate enough of the pressure to be able to finish talking. “The fish… will die. He won’t be able… to come back.” 

Nikolai seemed to hesitate, but he definitely wasn’t removing the bat or backing away. 

“Your little brother… will be… sad, if it… dies.” 

There was a long moment of silence, but finally, thankfully, the baseball bat was removed, allowing Adon to suck in a deep, painful gasp of air. He panted hungrily, knowing that he needed to get as much air as possible to try and stop himself from passing out again. 

Unfortunately, even though Nikolai had stopped hurting him, his body had taken too much damage to keep the darkness out of his mind. Adon watched with blurry vision as the banshee slowly tilted its head back, slight dagger-like lines, perhaps teeth, appearing as it seemed to open its mouth in slow motion. Adon began to slip into unconsciousness as he watched, and a shrill, constant, wailing screech soon followed him into the abyss.

Chapter 8: My Immortal

(My roommate suggested this song. He thought it fit well with the idea of the story and I think he chose disturbingly well.) 

It was nearly four in the morning when Taylor finally got out of the taxi. He glanced around in the darkness as the car drove away, taking most of the light with it. After a few moments, he started walking toward the house, but something was bothering him. 

Pausing, he turned around, but nothing was there. The crisp night air drew a shiver through him as he made himself inhale, then exhale slowly. 

Just calm down. They haven’t attacked us yet. Adon probably went home and put his phone on silent to get some sleep. 

Of course, he knew that that wasn’t the case. He’d already gone to the guy’s home, and he’d definitely not been there. 

Fingering the spare key in his pocket, he turned around again, only to jump back abruptly when Caleb was suddenly there. His injured left foot gave immediately, dropping him to his back in the driveway as a harsh icy feeling bolted through his chest. 

The chill had him panting for breath and grabbing at his chest. It was freezing even through his shirt, and when he opened his eyes, he realized why. 

Caleb’s hand was outstretched, as if he’d tried to catch him. 

He couldn’t touch me, though. 

It was odd to think about, since he’d seen the wraith affect the physical word before. 

I’d even grabbed him during the car crash. 

He wasn’t really sure why he’d seemingly tried to help, but he had more important things to think about right then. 

“I’m okay. Thanks for trying, though. I just hurt my foot in that wreck so it doesn’t hold my weight that well,” Taylor said as he carefully started getting back up. 

The fall awoke his other minor injuries, making him wince several times and stagger once. When he was finally able to steady himself and stand, Caleb was nowhere in sight. 

Inside then. 

To his surprise, the door was unlocked when he got to it. 

Adon must really be here. 

He hurried inside, noting the dull light in the kitchen being on as he pushed the door shut behind him. 

Don’t want Nikolai getting out, if he can leave the house at all. 

“Caleb?” 

He turned in a circle, but the wraith had really disappeared. Since he was the only one there at the moment, he glanced toward the chalkboard. 

Heees nggr  yy

“He’s… angry?” 

Taylor looked around again, but he didn’t see anyone. 

“Adon!” he yelled as loudly as he could, then listened for a response as he walked hesitantly closer to the destroyed wall leading to the basement. 

Pulling his phone out, he checked to be one-hundred percent sure that Adon hadn’t tried to contact him. While he was on his way to the house he’d made sure to text Sasha to let her know where he was and what he was doing. She was probably asleep, since she hadn’t replied and it was still extremely early, but it was better than nothing. 

“Alright. Time to do this.” 

Turning on his cell phone flashlight, he carefully made his way through the destroyed wall. The sound of his shoes stepping onto the dusty basement landing seemed too loud to his own ears. 

“Adoni?” he called again, silently praying that he’d hear a response. Unfortunately, there was none. 

Making sure that the phone was pointed downward, but also slightly forward, he slowly started descending the old stairs. Some of them creaked from age, but thankfully none noticeably moved. 

He was grateful when he finally managed to get close enough to see the bottom. 

Where are Caleb and Nikolai, though? 

His thought was disrupted the moment he turned his head and spotted Adon lying a few feet away. He hurried over, dropping to his knees as he shone his flashlight over the open wound in the other man’s chest. 

“What the heck happened?” 

Yanking off his jacket, he quickly got busy wrapping it around Adon’s chest. Once he’d managed to fasten it well enough for the time being, he carefully started trying to get him to sit up. 

Thankfully, the man seemed to come around as he was working, a tired cough letting Taylor know that he was conscious again. 

“Hey, what happened?” he whispered as he started getting them to their feet with a little help from Adon. 

The man shook his head, clearly having trouble with the simple gesture, as well as just staying standing. 

“They’ll kill you,” he finally rasped shakily through clicking teeth, making Taylor look around again in the darkness. 

He couldn’t see a whole lot of anything. There were no windows and his phone flashlight didn’t do much in the utter darkness. 

“Who attacked you?” he asked, his own voice quiet as they started slowly making their way back toward the stairs. It was hard to stay upright with his bad foot and Adon’s growing shivers, but the adrenaline in his body thankfully kept them moving. 

“Nikolai… but I think Caleb was the one who pulled me down he—” 

Taylor didn’t need to guess why Adon had stopped talking. Caleb stood before them on the last step from the bottom, backlit by the miniscule glow coming down from the light in the kitchen. 

“Caleb, we’re going upstairs.” 

There was an eerie silence for several long moments before Taylor’s phone chimed in his pocket, having put it there in order to help lift Adon. When he ignored it, clearly focused on their more-important current situation, it chimed again. 

Shit. 

 Yanking the device free, he looked at the screen and felt his heartbeat double. 

Stay

“We aren’t staying, Caleb. Your brother hurt my friend. He needs help now,” he said, pushing past the pain running up his leg as he fought to stay upright with Adon. 

His phone chimed again, drawing his eyes down to it. 

Happy birthday

Taylor bit his lower lip in frustration at the messages. If the calendar in his dream had been correct, his birthday had been a few days ago. 

Shaking his head, he carefully lowered Adon so that he could lean against the wall, then looked back up at Caleb. The young man hadn’t moved an inch, his faded eyes staring at him without really seeming to see. 

His phone chimed again as he straightened, drawing his eyes back down. 

Run! 

The warning made a shiver run down his spine, but then Taylor remembered the dream the calendar had been in again. 

“You wanted to run away when you turned eighteen, right?” 

Caleb suddenly blinked four times as his head ticked the slightest fraction to the side. 

Well, that’s a reaction I haven’t seen before. Hopefully that’s a good thing. 

“Were you going to run away with your brother? You were going to leave this place, weren’t you?” 

Caleb vanished the moment he finished speaking and his phone went off again. 

Run run rn rn urn runnrnn unr rnnnnn

Not sure how I’m supposed to interpret that, but I’ll take it literally this time. 

Pushing himself as hard as he could, Taylor got Adon back up after putting his phone away and forced his legs to nearly drag the man up each and every stair. By the time they managed to get to the top he was shaking nearly as much as Adon, but he refused to drop yet. 

Outside. At least one can’t get us there.  

He was honestly confused as to where Nikolai even was, but that definitely wasn’t important right then. 

Just glad he’s not here. 

Focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other, he somehow managed to keep dragging Adon toward the door. As they passed the counter he felt the man shift and glanced sideways to see him reach up with his shaky right arm and grab the fish bones there. 

Why the heck would you take those? 

Adon stopped abruptly right as they were about to step out the door, making Taylor misstep and drop to his knees due to the pain in his foot. Adon came down with him, his body sagging to the side and his arm over Taylor’s shoulder slipping slightly. 

“Adon? What happened? I need you to help me get you outside.” 

There was no reaction from him for several long moments, making Taylor begin to finally panic. 

“Adon? Come on, just a little farther,” he pleaded, knowing that their time was limited as he tried, and failed, to get them both back up. 

When the man finally managed to lift his head high enough so that he could meet his eyes through his messy bangs, Taylor felt his heart nearly stop. 

That left eye… is not the right color.

Chapter 9: Lullaby

“It’s c-cold in here, T-Taylor,” Adon stuttered as shivers wracked his body. 

Taylor tried to stand up after removing Adon’s arm from around his shoulders, but his own damaged body refused to move. Panting, he held himself up on shaky arms and carefully started backing away from Adon. 

The man had fallen over and was taking quick, shallow breaths, seemingly staring at nothing. 

“T-too c-cold.” 

Shaking the shock from his mind, Taylor looked around the room for Caleb. Surprisingly, he was standing at the chalkboard, his back to them as his fingers moved over the dark green surface. When he vanished suddenly, Taylor narrowed his eyes and read the message. 

TAKKE O TSIDDE

Looking back toward Adon, he felt himself hesitate. The guy was clearly freezing, his lips already turning blue, but the reason why kept him back several feet. 

“He can’t go outside. There was a barrier.”

Looking around for Caleb again, Taylor continued; “You need to tell your brother to leave his body. He’s making him too cold. He could die.”

Caleb reappeared a moment later by the chalkboard, his attention on the letters he’d previously written. When he simply remained there without giving any actual response to what he’d said, Taylor inched his way back toward Adon.

By the time he got close to him again, the man had already passed out. 

“Shit. Okay, he’s too cold, so maybe I can warm him up.” 

He thought about grabbing the blankets from his bed, but those required body heat, and even if he added his own, he doubted that it would be enough. 

The sound of the bathtub spigot turning on drew his attention toward the bathroom connected to his bedroom. 

Ah, hot water. 

Using the front doorjamb to force himself back to his feet, Taylor tried to lift Adon’s body, but his injured foot dropped them both back to the floor before he could even more then an inch. Hissing from the pain, he rolled over and wiped a few tears from his left eye. As he was blinking away the blurriness afterward, he heard something beside him and looked just in time to see Caleb slowly standing with Adon’s body in his arms. 

Adon was definitely bigger than the wraith, but Caleb didn’t seem to be putting much effort into his weight. 

He’s clearly having to focus on something, though. He looks so tired, like just picking up Adon is draining his energy quickly. 

It was an odd thought once he considered it. He’d never really seen an emotion on the young man’s face. Of course, he’d communicated through the chalkboard and text messages, but to be able to see his facial expression actually change to the point of showing some sort of emotion? It had never happened. 

Until now. 

He tried his best to get back up and follow Caleb’s extremely slow steps, but he eventually gave up and simply pulled himself along the floor, dragging his bad foot on the tile. thankfully, he got into the bathroom right as the water started getting a bit too high. 

Caleb had just finished setting Adon in the tub so Taylor dragged himself past him and reached over to turn off the water. With that taken care of, he gave out an exhausted sigh and leaned back against the wall, needed to rest. 

The room was beginning to steam up a bit, making him wonder just how hot Caleb had set it, but since Adon didn’t look distressed and had finally stopped shivering for the most part, he figured that it was okay. Of course, he was still going to watch him. With Nicolai somehow partially possessing him, he was on edge to the point of being hyper aware. 

The adrenalin actually had his own body shivering a little, but just seeing Adon relaxing in the hot water was relief enough to keep himself focused. Since the crisis was at least momentarily averted, he turned his attention to Caleb. The young man had dropped to his knees beside the tub and was rocking slowly from side to side, as if he was having trouble staying upright, himself. 

“Hey, Caleb?” 

When he got no response Taylor looked closer. 

He seems out of it. His expression is back to being blank. 

When the wraith’s head began to bob, Taylor realized what was about to happen and reached forward. The action made him wince, but he was just in time to catch Caleb as he fell, his form fading into nothingness. 

He wasn’t sure how, but even without a visible body, he felt the young man fall into his arms. His weight definitely wasn’t what it would have been if he were alive, but there was definitely a couple pounds pressing against his arms. 

Not sure how this is actually working. I can’t see him, but I can feel him. 

 “Tay…”

Adon’s tired voice drew Taylor’s attention upward. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked, hesitantly sneaking a glance at the man’s left eye. 

It’s back to normal. Did Nikolai leave? 

He doubted it. There was no way he had seen incorrectly, and Caleb wouldn’t have put so much effort into helping Adon unless his brother was at risk, too. 

Wait. He helped Adon…

Pulling out his phone carefully as to not jostle Caleb, he quickly typed in a search for information on banshees possessing people. There weren’t many articles, unsurprisingly, but the few that came up gave him at least a tiny bit of hope. 

If Adoni dies while Nikolai is possessing him, then Nikolai will cease to exist… for good. 

“Still a little cold, but it’s definitely better. I thought I was going to freeze to death,” Adon replied quietly, clearly exhausted from his ordeal. 

Taylor returned his attention to the man for a moment before typing something else into his phone, hoping to find information on wraiths fading away, but still leaving their bodies. Of course, he found absolutely nothing, drawing a sigh from his lips. 

“I’ve never felt so much desperate relief,” Adoni said, drawing Taylor’s confused eyes up to him again. 

“You were freezing,” he said, hesitant to tell the man that he’d been possessed. 

Adon gave a slight nod and closed his eyes. 

“I think that he’s been feeling that way for years. Ever since he’d been murdered and resurrected as a banshee.” 

Blinking, Taylor shifted Caleb in his arms a tiny bit as he replied; 

“You know.” 

Adon nodded again but didn’t bother opening his eyes or moving his head from where it rested against the back tile wall. 

“I thought that he’d try to take over my body more, and at first, it was definitely terrifying. I don’t think he even thought that he’d be able to have a human body ever again. His mind is simple as a banshee, and it quickly got overwhelmed and made me horribly disoriented when he actually managed to possess me.” 

I can’t believe he’s not freaking out about this. 

“Believe me, I’m terrified, but feeling all of his uneasiness and confusion has me oddly sympathetic. Not that I want him to stay, I definitely don’t like not having complete control over my body, and I don’t think I’d be able to stay sane with two different minds in my head… one is more than enough, but right this second, I think we shouldn’t panic about this. He’s much less dangerous right now. He can barely even more my arm for more than a few seconds before getting exhausted.” 

You are now officially insane. 

“He can also feel warm for the first time in years, Tay. He was so cold for so many years that this hot water actually has him so comfortable that his consciousness is just barely in the back of my mind.” 

Taylor tilted his head slightly as he shifted Caleb a little bit more. 

“He’s… unconscious? Is that even possible? The articles on banshees said that they become immobile if they overexert themselves, but an exorcist is the only thing that can knock a banshee unconscious. Even Sasha’s friend said that.”

Adon shrugged, then winced as he looked down at the faint mist of blood emanating from his chest. 

“I honestly looked up a ton of stuff on banshees, too, but I couldn’t find anything that would explain this situation.”

Seeing that Adon was going to need help soon, Taylor carefully got to his feet, being extra careful to favor his bad one as he limped over to his bed. Once he got Caleb settled in, he hopped back to the bathroom, grabbing a towel along the way. 

Adon had already leaned forward and drained the tub, but that had clearly taken most of his remaining energy. He panted quietly as he waited for the water to disappear. Once it was mostly gone, Taylor leaned over and began helping him remove his clothing. It took a while because of their injuries, but they finally managed it. After another ten or so minutes, Adon was mostly dry and the towel was tossed aside. Laundry could wait a day or five. 

“Alright. Let’s get you out and into bed?” 

Adon nodded and reached over the edge of the tub. Taylor gently grabbed him under both of his arms, then carefully guided him over the ledge until they were both splayed out on the floor. Adon was settled atop his own body but the weight didn’t bother him too much. He was just relieved that the guy hadn’t passed out again, yet. 

“Alright, let’s get you to the bed and I’ll rebandage and treat your chest,” he said as he got to his knees, then slowly helped Adon up to his own before starting their long journey. They both needed several breaks, but after about fifteen minutes Taylor managed to get Adon up onto the bed. 

Glad I put Caleb on the side by the wall. 

Hopping back to the bathroom, he got down some medication, bandages, and filled a cup with water before limping back to set it all on the windowsill by his bed. 

“Alright, one thing at a time.” 

He handed Adon the cup of water and a pain pill, knowing that the guy might pass out at any second. Thankfully, he was able to take it, then drink the rest of the water before dropping his head back down to the pillow with a long sigh. 

Next, Taylor got busy dealing with his wound. It was pretty easy to clean with a small cloth, and once it looked good enough, he added a decent amount of medication and made sure to wrap it properly. 

“There. Much better.” 

Smiling sleepily, he covered the guy with a heavy blanket, then limped into the kitchen and got himself a drink, then ate a granola bar. When he was ready, he returned to the room with an extra bar in his hand. Unsurprisingly, Adon was out cold, but that wasn’t why his feet stopped him right at the entrance to the room.  

Adoni had definitely passed out, lying on his back with his lips slightly parted. He was breathing steadily, his chest rising and falling… perfectly in sync with the translucent young man sleeping on his side up against him. Part of Nikolai’s back and right leg were still within Adon’s body, but the rest of him was surprisingly visible. He almost looked as normal as Caleb did, except he was much more see-through. He was clothed, too, but his body was too faded to really tell much detail besides that he was wearing some sort of faded cargo pants and a dark colored shirt. 

Curious, Taylor quietly moved closer, keeping his eyes on the sleeping banshee as he moved to the windowsill and set down the extra granola bar he’d brought with him. Once that was done, he took a few calming breaths and simply observed the two. 

Their breathing was still perfectly in sync, making him realize that this was probably the first time in years that the banshee needed to go through that motion of living. His head rested on Adon’s right shoulder as his right arm lay beneath it and under the pillow. His left arm draped over Adon’s right one and his slightly bent left leg was close to being off the bed. 

He’s almost cute. 

He couldn’t get the true image of the banshee out of his mind, though. They were dangerous and scary as hell. 

Speaking of dangerous. 

Looking up, he noticed the faint indent in his other pillow by the wall. 

Still there. 

He doubted that Caleb was actually sleeping, figuring that he probably just ran out of energy and was immobile unless disturbed. 

Yeah, let’s not. I’ve had enough excitement for forever. 

Grabbing his spare blanket from a box near the closet, he trudged toward the couch in the other bedroom, but gave up halfway as his foot finally decided to stop supporting his weight. Too tired to even hop anymore, he curled up on the floor and did his best to tug the blanket around himself enough to keep warm. 

At some point during the evening he found himself blinking his eyes open a couple times, though they didn’t really focus enough to see anything. Having no interest in waking up yet, he stretched and rolled over onto his other side to get more comfortable, then snuggled in close against the back of the couch. Something faintly settled against his back during that time, but the pressure wasn’t enough to make him want to wake up. When nothing else happened for a few more moments, he gratefully let his mind return to the calming darkness of sleep.

Chapter 10: Screams From Below

(Whew, this chapter wore me out lol)

A startled scream had Taylor jerking upright on the couch. Confusion clouded his mind for a moment, since he didn’t remember ever making it to the room, let alone getting up on the sofa, but as the sound of a struggle met his ears from the other room, he quickly pushed it aside and got up. 

His foot sent pulses of pain straight up his leg as he tried to run. It was clear that that wasn’t a great idea, so he ended up limping his way toward his bedroom. When he got to the doorway his eyes immediately widened at what he saw. 

Nikolai was still mostly outside of Adon’s body, but instead of sleeping he was kneeling on either side of the man with part of his right leg disappearing into Adoni’s torso. Adon had his right hand grasped in his left, a tiny trickle of blood escaping from between his fingers. 

“Nikolai!” Taylor yelled, immediately drawing the banshee’s attention. 

It turned its body enough so that it could look over its shoulder at him. A faint bit of pale red painted his nearly see-through lips. 

Taylor was just about to ask why the hell he’d bitten Adon when Caleb suddenly appeared in front of him. He backed up automatically, raising one arm in case the wraith intended to do anything. 

The sound of the doorbell abruptly chiming had Taylor jumping and glancing toward the front of the house, but he immediately turned his attention back to the current situation… only to find both the banshee and wraith, gone.  

I guess.

“You okay, Adon?” he asked as he glanced back toward the door as the bell rung again. 

Adon slowly sat up, then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. 

“Yeah. No idea why he bit me, but it wasn’t much, and he didn’t try to make the injury worse or anything.” 

That was weird, but good, at least. Nodding, he turned around and walked over to the door. After a quick glance through the peep-hole, he opened it. 

Sasha and her friend, along with his dog, came walking in as Taylor stepped aside. The girl wasted no time finding her boyfriend and freaking out over his injuries, while the man’s dog immediately bolted down the stairs, even as commands to do the opposite were being shouted at her. 

Well, this is already a great day. 

“Tay!” 

Looking away from the basement entrance where the dog had vanished, Taylor walked back over to his bedroom to see Sasha sitting next to her boyfriend. Adon still looked really tired, but at least he was conscious and able to sit up. 

“Adoni told me what happened.”

Taylor pursed his lips and leaned against the doorjamb to give his bad foot a break. 

“What can we do about it?” 

Sasha sighed as she nodded past him, drawing his attention to the man that was walking up. 

“A banshee can rarely, and I mean rarely , possess someone who is extremely weakened. In order to do so, they must consume a part of their body.” 

Taylor made a face, glad that he hadn’t eaten anything yet.

“Not like that… technically,” Martin said, then continued; “Yes, he could have eaten a finger or what not. It would have worked just as well, but considering the bandages wrapped around your chest, I’m betting that he just got some of your skin and blood?” 

Adon slowly nodded after a glance down at his chest. 

“The banshee is able to possess you as long as a piece of your body is in its system.” 

Sasha squeezed Adon’s hand reassuringly. 

“But it has to keep feeding off of you to remain in your body. Every day, or sometimes even several times a day, it will have to ingest some part of you.” 

Adon looked up at Taylor, honest fear in his eyes. 

“I’m totally cool with getting him out of my body now.” 

Sasha pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. 

“I found a pretty highly rated exorcist who should be able to get ri—” Nikolai appeared suddenly, his translucent hands wrapping around Sasha’s neck as he pinned her to the bed with an ear-piercing scream. 

Adon’s body jerked with the action, but Nikolai seemed to be locking most of his ability to move, even though his undead form was mostly out of the man’s body. 

Taylor hurried forward, since the banshee’s strength was definitely not something to joke with, but Martin beat him to the situation. Instead of trying to do anything to Nikolai, the man grabbed Adon’s shoulders and yanked him backward, throwing him to the floor a few feet away. Taylor watched as the banshee was forced away, too, since it evidently needed to remain connected to its host in at least one place. 

Nikolai tried to get at Sasha again as he clawed at the floor, growling, but he couldn’t drag Adon more than a few inches at a time with the man resisting. 

Martin abruptly sat down and took out a long string of beads from his pocket. Taylor was about to ask him what he was doing, but as soon as the man started chanting something, he shut up. 

Nikolai started panting, making both Taylor and Sasha stare at him in confusion. 

“He needs to breathe?” she asked at the same time Taylor took a hesitant step forward. 

“Yeah,” he whispered as he watched Nikolai tuck his head and roll over onto his side, then reach up to claw at his own neck. 

He did no damage, of course, since he didn’t have a real body, but it was clear that he was struggling to breathe… and actually needed to. 

“I-I think you’re going to kill him,” Adon said as he raised a hand to his forehead and winced, clearly affected by the assault on the banshee. 

“He’s panicking. He doesn’t want to die again.” 

Martin grunted as the beads in his hands began to glow faintly. 

“This is the only way I can kill a banshee. I’m not really cutting off his oxygen, but I’m making him think that I am. His mind is responding to that, making him unable to process the oxygen he really does have available.” 

So he can really die permanently this way? He will actually die if he’s suffocated by what Martin is doing? 

“Don’t worry, Tay, Adon will be fine, and he’ll get his body back,” Sasha said. 

Taylor was about to reply when he heard a deep, groaning sound as the floor beneath his feet began to shake. 

An… earthquake? 

“Shit! Get out of the r—” before Adon could finish his sentence everything in the room, including the bed, boxes, and people, began dropping through the floor. 

Taylor stumbled backward just in time to avoid falling with the others. His eyes couldn’t comprehend what was actually happening, but when he started to hear sounds downstairs, he hurried toward the opening in the wall. 

He carefully started to ascend the stairs, looking around as he made his way down. The first person he saw was Adon, who was slowly rolling over onto his stomach, struggling to push himself up. 

Sasha had landed in a dusty, deflated kiddy pool. She wasn’t moving, but as much as Taylor moved faster, intent on helping her, the familiar sound of a dog growling drew his attention to the far side of the basement. 

Star? 

The minimal white marks on the dog were barely visible in the darkness, but it was clear that it had a hold of something and wasn’t interested in letting go. 

“Get him, girl!” Martin rasped somewhere in the darkness. 

Blinking to try and better his blurry vision, Taylor made it to the bottom of the stairs right as he realized what Star was biting. 

Caleb. 

The wraith was standing near an old, dilapidated desk. It looked like there was some sort of small laptop on it, as well as some old, dusty papers and something hanging against the wall, but Taylor didn’t focus on it for more than a moment. He quickly turned on the flashlight in his phone and limped toward the three. 

“Caleb, don’t hurt him!” he yelled as the wraith grabbed Martin by the throat and easily lifted him into the air. 

They were just about the same height, but Caleb’s added strength had Martin’s feet just-barely dangling off the ground. 

Star shook her head, trying to make the wraith release her master, but he didn’t budge, even with her frantic tugging. 

Shit. He’s going to suffocate him or break his neck. Think, Taylor. 

Looking around, he shined his flashlight to his left. 

Can I take back this decision, please? 

Two deteriorated skeletons became visible as they were illuminated by the light. Flecks of dust danced in the air above them, drawing Taylor’s attention like a cat. 

They really are here. 

The bones had been slightly displaced and moved here and there, likely due to rats and insects feeding on the living tissue previously attached to them, but all of those creatures have clearly long-since gone. Their job completed. 

Walking forward, he took in the first set of bones. It was a slightly smaller, shorter skeleton, making it easy to guess that it had belonged to Caleb. The skull was turned sideways toward the other skeleton, its hollow eye-sockets still staring at the person who had died with him. 

The other skeleton was next to a stained metal baseball bat and had some of its digits still on the little twin sized bed, making him think that Nikolai had died with his hands up there, likely staring right back at his little brother. One set was jumbled up with the skeleton’s on the bed, making Taylor purse him lips and blink back tears. 

He was just stepping closer when he heard the sound of something heavy dropping to the hard floor. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Martin coughing in the corner, his dog wagging its tail fervently as it licked him like crazy. 

He let him go. 

Turning back toward the skeletons, Taylor yelped and stumbled backward. Caleb was less than an inch away from him, his stare blank. 

“I-I wasn’t going to mess with you guys, I swear,” he stuttered out as the floor began to shake beneath his feet. 

Oh shit. 

“Get on the stairs! There’s nothing under us now but earth!” Martin yelled as he fumbled toward the stairs. 

Adon followed him, barely managing to carry Sasha in his arms. Taylor swallowed and began to turn as he heard Caleb start his shrill scream again. His feet were just about to dart for the steps as best they could with his injury, when he suddenly stopped, something having caught his eye. 

Above the desk, a small square sheet of paper stood out, a date circled in faded red ink. Lifting his phone’s flashlight, it highlighted just enough of the writing for him to confirm that it was the same colander from the dream he’d had. 

“Happy… birthday,” he read aloud in a whisper. 

The screeching scream slowly quieted, drawing Taylor’s attention back to Caleb. The wraith’s head was still tilted toward the ceiling, his mouth slightly open. 

“Hurry up, Tay! You’ll die if he pulls you under the floor this time!” Sasha yelled. 

The floor was, indeed, still shaking, but Taylor was convinced that he wasn’t going to fall through it. Caleb wouldn’t do that to him. 

He wouldn’t do that to his older brother’s bones, and the few remaining physical decrepit possessions he had. 

Granted, it was obvious that things had been greatly exaggerated in Caleb’s dreams. The king-sized bed was a tiny, tattered twin. The hot tub with jets and room for three was a deflated, worn, kiddie pool. Where the wall of fish tanks had been, sat a lonely, empty, fish bowl that had likely not held water in years. 

One thing is the same, though. 

Turning around again, Taylor ran his eyes over the two words circled on a specific date. Said date had passed, very recently, though it was obviously not the correct year. 

Shaking his head, he turned back around, surprised that Caleb had lowered his head and was now staring at him. There was an emotion in his eyes now, but just barely, and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Unsure, but determined to figure out what was changing the young man before him, Taylor hesitantly lifted a hand toward Caleb’s face. 

The wraith’s eyes widened to illogical proportions, but when his hand actually settled against his cheek, they slowly returned to normal, then moved to stare down at the hand touching his face. 

“I won’t bother your bones. That’s not appropriate and you two deserve to remain together. I won’t split you up,” he said quietly, only caring about Caleb hearing. 

A gasp and the sound of stumbling drew Taylor’s attention over toward the stairs. Adon stood awkwardly by the steps, an ethereal baseball bat in his left hand and a quiet growl emanating from his clenched teeth. 

“He still cares a lot about you,” Taylor whispered as he looked back at Caleb. 

The wraith still seemed fixated on the hand against his face. 

“I’m sorry that things ended up this way. I don’t want to give up on you guys, but I don’t know how I can help.”

Caleb finally looked up at that, but his eyes seemed to focus on something behind him, drawing Taylor’s attention over his shoulder again. 

The calendar. 

Turning back to Caleb, he licked his dry lips and reached up with his other hand. Instead of touching his face, like his other one was, he let his hand move past the wraith’s head and then did the same with his other hand. Excruciatingly slowly, he wrapped Caleb in a careful hug. When the guy didn’t move a muscle, Taylor lowered his chin to his cold shoulder, then spoke just loud enough for Caleb to hear. 

“I’m sorry that it’s late. Way, way too late… but happy birthday, Caleb. For all these years, and for that day. I hope that I can give you a truly happy birthday one day. I hope that your nightmare can come to a peaceful end and you and your brother can get out of this place.” 

The floor slowly stopped shaking as Taylor finished speaking. He intended to release the guy from his hug and, hopefully, head back upstairs now that the danger seemed to be over, but as he moved to step back and unwrapped his arms, he realized something that made his heart jump into his throat. 

Claws poked through the back of his shirt, their sharpness daring him to try and get away. 

“Caleb?” 

The wraith didn’t give any kind of response, and Taylor couldn’t back away far enough to see his face without getting stabbed. He was just about to reach behind himself and carefully try to remove Caleb’s hands, thinking that he might have run out of energy and become immobile, when something caught his eye. Taylor’s body froze and his breath caught in his throat. Eyes. Real, translucent eyes, were staring at him… from the skeleton on the bed.

Chapter 11: Take the Time

(Dang the lyrics on this song. /cry. This was actually supposed to be a different chapter, but I felt like this one needed to happen first.) 

The eyes were gone after a single blink, but he wasn’t going to take the situation lightly any longer. 

“Caleb?” 

The wraith didn’t respond for what felt like forever, but finally, he retracted his claws and brought his hands around to grasp the front of Taylor’s shirt. Nikolai’s growl behind him was ignored as he met Caleb’s blank stare. 

It seemed like he wanted to do something, but either the thought process was no longer there, or he was hesitating. 

Taylor was just about to speak when Caleb suddenly vanished. He quickly looked around the dark area, but the wraith had truly disappeared. 

Turning his attention to his friends by the stairs, he realized that Nikolai was also no longer trying to control Adon. He had withdrawn back into his body. 

“Well… that was fun,” he mumbled as he hurried toward the stairs. 

Sasha was thankfully coming around as Martin and Adon helped her up the steps. Taylor followed behind them, but paused a few steps up to look back toward the skeletons. Their outline was barely visible in the darkness. 

“ Taylor .“ 

The scratchy voice that said his name was new to his ears, but as he looked around, there was no one to attach it to. 

“Caleb?” 

He carefully turned in a circle, trying to locate the owner of the voice. When he returned to facing the remaining stairs, Caleb was suddenly there, sitting a few steps above the one he was standing on, leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees. The added height put their eyes level with each others’. 

“Was that you who said my name, Caleb? Can you talk?” 

There hadn’t been any information online on whether wraiths could actually talk, but that was no surprise. There was barely any information on them at all. 

He focused as Caleb started moving his lips, but after several long moments, he relented. It didn’t make much sense for a wraith to talk. 

But he had screamed earlier…

“Taylor! Are you okay?” Adon yelled from the landing above him, clearly worried that Caleb was intentionally blocking his way. 

Nodding up at him, Taylor replied, “I’m fine. I think he actually just said my name, but I don’t think he can do it again yet.” 

Adon gave him a look , but Taylor just shrugged and stepped up a few stairs before sitting down next to Caleb. The wraith turned his body slightly, along with his head, to stare at him. His lips moved again, but no sound came out. 

“Hmm, I wonder what made you talk a few minutes ago.” 

Martin appeared on the landing as he spoke, casting a shadow down toward them. 

“You’re losing your marbles, boy. Best get away from that thing before he tries to possess you like his brother got your friend.” 

Tilting his head, Taylor looked at Caleb’s face, taking advantage of their closeness. 

“You really do look alive in so many ways… but also not,” he whispered as he lifted his hand toward the wraith’s face. 

Caleb let him run his fingers through his stiff hair. It felt dry; Dead. 

No surprise there. 

“Maybe there was a reason that you had to say my name? Maybe that’s what let you do it?” 

It didn’t make much sense, but then again, nothing else in his home seemed to. What was one more thing? 

Thinking, Taylor went through his mind to try and figure out something that might actually spark some sort of emotion in the guy. He knew that something to do with his brother might, but there wasn’t really anything positive he could add to that awkward little situation. 

Hmm. What does he like? What did he like? 

Following that train of thought, Taylor felt a grin slip across his lips. 

“Would you like to go to the aquarium with me, Caleb? I can bring your fish bones.” 

At first, the wraith didn’t seem to have heard him, but then Taylor saw Caleb’s expression slowly begin to change. 

He’s processing.

Over the next two minutes Caleb opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly trying to get words to form. He looked down at his hands twice as he leaned a little closer. Then he looked back up at him and what Taylor wanted to hear, happened.   

“Yes.” 

The word was barely recognizable, but the glint of interest in the wraith’s eyes was easily visible. 

Taylor got up and Caleb quickly followed as he limped up the stairs and toward his bedroom. 

“Oh, right. Most of my stuff is downstairs now.”

He turned toward the door to go back downstairs to get a box of his clothing, but Caleb was standing in the door with one of them in his arms. 

“Excited to get going?” he asked with a smile as he took the box and set it down near the bathroom, then tugged out some clothing. 

He got the shower turned on a moment later, but when he stepped into it, Caleb was there, waiting. He looked a little impatient, which was actually pretty funny. 

“I promise that we’ll go soon. I just need to not smell like sweat and dust,” Taylor said as he quickly got busy scrubbing his hair. 

He was just about to start putting shampoo in his hair when Caleb took a slow step forward, then pressed his forehead against Taylor’s bare chest. 

“You… want me to wash your hair?” 

Would it actually do anything? 

He’d noticed that Caleb never seemed to change his clothing or really, anything about himself. He doubted that he could. 

In fact, all of the whole eight articles I’d found online mentioned that wraiths can’t change their appearance. Whatever they die in is what they wear for their undead life. 

Granted, the guy could probably put something on over what he was wearing, but he doubted that it would stay long, since Caleb liked to disappear completely sometimes, and not just simply turn invisible. 

Well, it can’t hurt to do it. 

Taylor squeezed a good amount of shampoo into his palm and carefully began working it into Caleb’s dry, dirty hair. He knew that it wouldn’t change anything, but he put all of his effort into massaging his fingers into Caleb’s scalp and making sure that every single strand was coated in soap. 

The wraith never moved from his position against his chest, but that honestly didn’t bother him. He wanted to think that he was enjoying the attention, at least, and that’s why he wasn’t pulling away. 

It’s too bad his appearance can’t change.

Taylor turned just enough to reach up and grab the detachable showerhead with one hand as his other one went around to Caleb’s back, holding him there without really thinking about it. 

“Alright, close your eyes… just in case,” he said, a bit embarrassed that he even said the words. Of course Caleb wouldn’t care if soap got in his eyes. 

Or would he? 

Shaking his head, he started to slowly wash out the soap. As he did so, Caleb lifted his head, his hazel eyes meeting his own. Figuring that he wouldn’t close them, or need to, Taylor just did his best to rinse out the soap, but his hand froze with the spray pattering against the top of Caleb’s head as dark tendrils of dirty water began to wander their way down the wraith’s face. 

Real… dirt? 

Swallowing nervously, he reached up with his free hand and gently began running his finger through Caleb’s hair, paying much more attention than he had been. He made sure to rinse every inch of Caleb’s left side, then took a half-step back to stare. 

I really cleaned him. 

“Your hair is very pretty,” he whispered without thinking. 

Tilting his head, Caleb seemed to take a few moments to process his words. When he decided on an action, he reached up and took the sprayer from Taylor. 

“You want to do it yourself?” he asked, curious. He didn’t expect Caleb to be able to connect the dots very well, from what he’d seen previously, but he also appeared to be learning how to be a person again, and not just a spirit. 

When Caleb turned the sprayer toward him, sending water right into Taylor’s face, he quickly closed his eyes and turned his head out of the way. Thankfully, he hadn’t put shampoo in his own hair yet, so he could open his eyes back up without worrying about them burning. 

“I don’t have any soap in my hair yet. There’s nothing to wash out,” he said as he gently took the sprayer back, then continued working on Caleb’s hair. 

Dark water pooled around their feet, reminding of him of when he’d washed his mother’s dog after it had taken a good roll out in the mud. The thought made him smile, but it disappeared from surprise when Caleb reached up and pressed a finger to the side of his bottom lip. 

When he didn’t do anything else, Taylor smiled again, then rustled his hair before returning the sprayer to its place above his head. He turned back toward Caleb afterward, but the wraith was gone. 

“I guess you don’t want any conditioner?” he asked with a bit of humor as he started scrubbing his own hair. 

The rest of his shower was uneventful, but when he stepped out, dried off, and quickly got dressed, he realized why. Stepping back into his room in a pair of dark jeans and a black button-up shirt, Taylor stared at the guy before him. 

“He’s been trying to put on your clothes for a while now,” Sasha said from the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. A scowl was settled on her face, but Taylor pushed her attitude aside and walked over to Caleb as he was trying to tug on a blue jacket over his blood-stained one. 

That’s definitely not going to fit, bud. 

Granted, he would be able to get it on, eventually, but it would be obvious that there was something under it. It would look awful… but he had a point. He couldn’t walk around the aquarium in a blood-stained jacket. 

“It’s too bad that they are stuck as they are. I am a bit confused as to how he intends to keep the clothing on, too,” Martin said as he walked up beside Sasha. “It will drop to the floor as soon as he decides to disappear.” 

Taylor had already had a feeling that that would be the case. 

“Wouldn’t he be able to just stay invisible the whole time?” he asked, curious. He’d honestly thought that he would do that, anyways. 

Martin eyed Caleb with an expression that Taylor couldn’t quite read. 

“You think a guy, dead or alive, who seems so excited to try on new clothing, would want to hide the whole time he finally gets to go out of the house he’s been stuck in for years? Let alone to somewhere he definitely wants to visit? Maybe for the first time?”

Well, I guess you have a point. 

Stepping forward, Taylor reached over and gently grabbed either side of Caleb’s jacket, then carefully began working it backwards and over his shoulders. 

“What the hell ?” Martin mumbled at the same time Sasha gasped. 

Taylor glanced over toward them with a raised eyebrow after he tossed the jacket off to the side. 

They both pointed past him to where he’d thrown the jacket, drawing his attention back to it… except, it wasn’t there anymore. 

“Um, well, he definitely didn’t need that, anyways,” he said awkwardly. 

Caleb seemed unfazed by losing his jacket. Instead, he was quickly tugging on the one he’d been trying to get on. It settled on his shoulders easily, covering the back of his bloodstained shirt. It was a tiny bit too big, but that was fine. 

“It’s all yours, if you like it,” he said as he grabbed a black jacket for himself and pulled it on. 

He was just tucking his wallet into his back pants and hooking his keys to his belt loop when he noticed Caleb’s bare feet. 

“No shoes, no service,” he said quietly as he looked around. 

“Hey Caleb? You’re going to need shoes. Can you grab some from downstairs?” he asked. 

The wraith started to fade, but stopped after a second. Taylor was about to question him, but then realized that what Martin had said must have been true. Caleb proved him right when he quickly walked out of the room and headed downstairs. He returned a few moments later carrying a pair of worn white tennis shoes. 

“Perfect. Try them on,” he said as Caleb started doing just that. 

They were a tiny bit to big, too, but after Taylor knelt down and tied them, he nodded and stood. 

“They’ll do. I guess we’ll have to go shopping eventually. I wasn’t really expecting you to be able to wear things and be cleaned,” he said while looking toward Martin, hoping for some sort of acknowledgement. 

“Wait, you cleaned him? While you were taking a shower?” Martin asked, making Taylor nod as he walked past them to grab a snack from the kitchen. 

“Yeah. I just washed his hair. It was super dirty.” 

Sasha’s brow scrunched as Martin shook his head. 

“I knew he looked different somehow, but no undead can change their appearance. They are as they had died.” 

Looking toward Caleb, who was standing near the counter, Taylor pointed his thumb toward him. 

“He begs to differ.” 

Both of them sighed, then Sasha returned to sit on the couch next to her boyfriend. Adon had a laptop out and glanced up at him for the first time since he’d walked out of his bedroom. 

“I would actually come with you, but since Nikolai can’t leave the house, I’m stuck here for the time being, too,” he said as he typed away at the computer. 

“I’m going to do a bit more research to see if I can remove him from my body.” 

Taylor nodded as he walked over to the door, swiping the fish bones on his way. After sliding them into his back pocket, he carefully put his shoes on, then grabbed the crutches that he’d had leaning against the doorjamb. 

“Ready to go, Kay?” 

A quiet growl came from Adon’s lips, drawing them upward as he glanced sideways at Taylor. One of his eyes shone with Nikolai’s color. 

“He doesn’t want you using that nickname, it seems.” 

Rolling his eyes, Taylor stuck out his tongue and headed out the door with Caleb on his heels. Well, the wraith was actually running ahead of him, stumbling every few moments because it had definitely been a hot minute since he’d worn shoes. 

When Caleb finally stopped next to the car and turned toward him, Taylor couldn’t help but return the guy’s smile with one of his own. It didn’t show on the wraith’s lips… but the excitement that shone through his bright eyes conveyed the gesture clearly. 

When Taylor stopped next to his car, he reached up and mussed up Caleb’s hair a bit more. 

“I’ll help you smile for real one day, and you’ll love it so much that you’ll never stop.”

Chapter 12: Wonder

A storm greeted them as they neared the aquarium. Cars were leaving the parking lot in droves, but that actually made Taylor relieved. 

The fewer the people, the less likely someone will notice. 

He took a spot close to the entrance, then grabbed one crutch from the back after getting out. When he walked around the front of the car, Caleb was already there waiting for him, his clean hair rustling in the breeze. The jacket rustled, too, making Taylor stare for a few moments. 

I can’t believe he’s really dead. 

Caleb turned his attention to him, his bright eyes meeting his own before he turned toward the massive building before them and pointed. 

“Alright, alright. Let’s get going,” he said as he took Caleb’s hand, holding him back from stepping right in front of a car that was driving too quickly in the parking lot. 

After looking both ways, they made it across and up to the ticket window. He tried to release Caleb’s hand in order to get his wallet out of his back pocket, but the guy didn’t seem interested in letting it go. 

“I need my wallet to pay so we can go inside,” he whispered a few feet away from the window, hoping that the worker behind it couldn’t hear him. 

Blinking, Caleb looked down at their entwined hands, then reached over with his free one and took the wallet out of Taylor’s pants. After a few slow glances up at the entry fee sign, he took out the two twenties they would need, then reached back over to put the wallet away. It took a bit more effort since he didn’t have the best coordination, but he eventually managed it. 

I guess that works. 

He let Caleb pay for them, then stepped inside after the wraith held open the door for him. 

“Thank you.” 

The inside of the building was even bigger than it seemed from the outside. Some people milled about, but as the sound of thunder rumbled loudly from the growing storm outside, the lobby area got more and more deserted. 

Perfect. 

“What would you like to look at first?” he asked as he smiled at Caleb. He slowly closed his mouth as he realized that the guy actually seemed to be struggling to handle the situation. He was nearly pressed right up against Taylor’s side, his hand still holding his own tightly. 

Looking around, Taylor pursed his lips  and nudged Caleb with his shoulder. 

“Let’s go over here first,” he said quietly as he gently tugged Caleb forward. 

The wraith wouldn’t move at first, but after a few moments he began taking awkward steps in the direction he was being guided. 

“There you go. Don’t worry, I’m here with you. This trip is all for you. I want you to be able to enjoy yourself, so if you get too stressed out or want to stop and just sit somewhere quiet for a while, we can definitely do that.” 

Taylor made sure to keep his steps slow as he lead them toward a small dark hallway with a sign above it that read Australian Reef. 

There was darkness for several seconds as they moved, but soon the walls along either side began to be dotted with different kinds of creatures. Taylor figured that Caleb would start gravitating towards a certain tank, but when the wraith just stuck to him like glue, looking behind them every few moments before turning his attention to the hall beyond them, Taylor realized that he was definitely not able to focus on the displays. 

I know that he was excited to go here, but maybe there are just too many people still? 

“Caleb?” 

It took Caleb nearly a minute before he finally let his eyes lift to Taylor’s. 

He’s… scared? 

He hadn’t really expected to see much emotion in them, since the excitement earlier had been the first real emotion he’d been able to pull from the young man, but there was no mistaking the fear in his widening eyes. 

Oh wait. Shit, his eyes. I can’t let them get too wide or people will start to pay attention to him. 

“Hey, Kay, look here,” he said, gently guiding him toward a warmly lit display that had many medium sized fish swimming around. They were all brightly rainbow colored, and when Taylor read the sign out loud, he realized why. 

“Parrot fish.” 

He nodded toward the glass and offered Caleb a reassuring smile. 

“These guys are super cool.”

Caleb was at least looking at the fish off and on, but Taylor could still see his worry as his eyes looked about slowly. 

“Don’t worry. I promise that I’ll take care of you. No one here can hurt you, Caleb,” Taylor said reassuringly as he squeezed the guy’s hand. 

“You really like fish. Do you know anything cool about these guys?” 

There was actually a group of plaques with information about the four displays in their corridor area a few feet away, but he wanted to find a way to get Caleb to relax and start enjoying himself. Plus, he was kind of hoping that he’d be able to talk again. 

Taylor waited patiently as Caleb’s lips began to move, but no sound came out. 

He’s paying attention to them, though. He’s even following the bigger one with his eyes now. 

They remained there for at least ten minutes before Caleb slowly turned and looked toward the four foot exhibit window behind them. Taylor gladly walked him over to it. Glancing at the sign, he read it aloud again.

“Surgeon fish.”  

He grinned as one of them swam up to the glass and stared at Caleb, its mouth opening and closing. To his surprise, Caleb lifted his free hand and pointed at the little fish as he leaned a little closer. 

“That’s one of the fish from that movie years ago, Finding Nemo,”  Taylor said, his words drawing Caleb’s attention to him as the wraith straightened. 

He mouthed something else, but again, there was no sound to his words. When Taylor didn’t respond, since there was nothing to be heard, Caleb looked past him and started tugging him farther down the hall. They moved from exhibit to exhibit, not missing a single one or skimping on time spent in front of each one. 

Taylor glanced at the information plaques as they went, reciting little facts about each of the different species they were seeing. 

They took a turn into a native animal display area with floor-to-ceiling tanks. The first one had three massive alligators floating near the bottom right up against the glass. Of course, they were both drawn over to it. Taylor knelt down, but managed to hold himself back from reaching over and touching the glass in front of the creature’s huge snout. Caleb, however, had no qualms about pressed his fingertips to the glass as he knelt down and leaned forward. 

The white covering that had been over the alligator’s eye drew back, revealing a pitch black slit surrounded by bright gold. It stared directly at the wraith and Caleb returned the look. His lips began to move as they remained there, but his words were still silent. 

After a few minutes something caught Taylor’s attention, drawing him back to his feet as his head turned toward another exhibit. 

“Oh cool, otters,” he said quietly as Caleb got to his own feet and finally looked away from the alligator. 

The otters were a little ways down the hall, darting about in their water as if playing a game that only they knew the rules to. Caleb, however, seemed to want to get in on it right away, because he released his hand and fumbled toward them at an awkward run. He wasn’t able to follow their movements very easily, but that definitely didn’t deter him from joining in on their fun. 

For the next twenty minutes or so Caleb ran along from one side of the tank to the other as the little marine mammals darted back and forth. He tripped more than a few times, and eventually kicked off his shoes. Taylor was a bit worried about getting in trouble, but when an employee walked by and just chuckled before heading on his way, he sighed with relief. 

If his foot wasn’t hurt, he would have joined in, but just seeing Caleb having so much fun drew a smile to Taylor’s face. He waited patiently until Caleb tugged his shoes back on and rejoined him, then took his hand again and continued onto the next area. 

As they turned a round corner after seeing a few groups of jellyfish and some octopus on the way, Caleb and Taylor both stared upward. 

“Wow,” he whispered as he saw the massive tank before them. It took up an entire wall and was easily hundreds of feet long by at least sixty or seventy feet tall. It’s size easily dwarfed any of the exhibits in the hallways they’d been through. 

Why had I never come here before? This is actually really cool. 

He blinked out of his thoughts as Caleb pulled him forward, clearly needing to get closer. Taylor let him pull him along without an ounce of hesitation. He was honestly just as excited to see things even closer. 

Right as they got up to the glass a massive shark swam past, drawing a huge grin to Taylor’s face. 

“I know that one. It’s definitely a hammerhead. I didn’t realize how big they actually were,” he said in awe. 

A few moments later, a large school of silver, medium-sized fish darted past them, followed not a second later by a shark with large black stripes along its body. 

“Oh, I think I know that one, too. That’s um…— Galeocerdo cuvier,” Caleb said as his eyes followed the hunting predator. 

Taylor was confused about what he’d said at first, but after a quick look around, he noticed some name plaques for the species in the tank. 

Oh wow. That was the scientific name for a tiger shark. 

Looking back toward Caleb, he was about to express his admiration for his knowledge… except that there was only a jacket and pair of shoes on the floor beside him. 

Oh shit. 

Taylor spun around quickly, trying to locate the wraith. He checked his pocket when he saw no one else in the massive room. 

The bones are still there. 

Turning around again, Taylor felt his fear rise. 

“Where are you, Caleb?” he asked as he stopped turning, facing the tank. 

Wait a second. 

Stepping closer, his eyes widened at the sight before him. Caleb was standing in the middle of the massive enclosure. His form was faded, but there was no mistaking it. None of the creatures seemed to be bothered by his presence as they swam right up to him, and some, through him. 

“C-Caleb, someone might come and see you in there,” Taylor whispered before checking over his shoulder. 

He couldn’t deny that the guy looked like he was having a blast, even without the ability to show much emotion. A large school of light brown fish circled him as he lifted his arms toward them, possibly even brushing against a few, since two darted away as soon as they got close to his fingers. 

I’m terrified that you might give yourself away, but also insanely jealous right now. 

“Hello, sir. Would you like a quick tour? We don’t have many guests because of the storm so I’ve been walking around offering assistance if you’d like to learn more about our collection,” a young woman dressed in an khaki employee uniform asked. 

You have terrible timing. 

He wanted to look over his shoulder to see if Caleb was still in the middle of the tank, but he didn’t dare draw attention to him… or the jacket at his feet that covered the pair of shoes beneath them. 

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he said as the woman began walking toward a different hallway, an excited smile on her face. 

Taylor stole a quick glance toward the tank, but didn’t wait around as he hurried after the woman. He was just about to turn the corner to enter the hall when the floor beneath him began to vibrate. 

What the…? 

It only took him a moment to connect what was going on as the shaking started to become more noticeable. 

Oh man. This is definitely not the place for this. 

He quickly turned around to see Caleb standing near the glass, but on the wrong side. Not wanting to waste time, since he figured that there would be employees running about soon to make sure that all the guests and tanks were fine, he limped over to Caleb as quickly as he could. 

“Kay, I need you to walk through there and get your jacket and shoes back on, please ,” he begged as he glanced over his shoulder for a second. 

When he looked back at the wraith, he was standing directly in front of him, his bare toes up against his own tennis shoes. 

“Oh, thank god,” he sighed out as he carefully leaned down and picked up Caleb’s jacket. 

Thankfully, the guy pulled it on, then slipped his feet into his shoes without any issue. 

“Are you two alright?” 

The employee that had tried to lead him away was back. Taylor quickly grabbed hold of Caleb’s hand and squeezed as he took a step forward, putting himself slightly in front of him. 

“We’re both fine. Go ahead and check on the other guests,” he said with a reassuring smile. 

The woman nodded and hurried along, allowing Taylor to sigh out a stressed breath. 

“Are you okay, Caleb?” Taylor asked as he turned toward him. He was just opening his mouth to speak again when he suddenly closed it. Caleb had leaned forward while he’d been turning to face him and was now pressing his forehead against Taylor’s neck as his arms hugged him around his middle. 

A bit confused, he returned the hug with one arm. 

“It’s okay. I promise I wouldn’t just leave you here,” he whispered against the guy’s hair as he rubbed his back with his free hand. 

He expected some sort of response, but when Caleb just leaned against him a bit more, he tilted his head and leaned down as much as he could without making the guy fall. 

He’s having trouble keeping his eyes open? 

 Taylor carefully lowered his body as he looked up at Caleb. 

“I need you to wrap your arms around my neck, hun. I can carry you outside and we can head home,” he said as the wraith slowly did what he was told. 

It clearly took some effort, but as soon as he was ready, Taylor wrapped his free arm beneath the guy’s backside and easily lifted his minimal weight. Thankfully, Caleb wrapped his legs around his waist, too, making it that much easier to carry him while still using the one crutch he’d needed to bring. 

“We haven’t gotten through some of it but we can definitely come back again. You seem to have had your fill for now,” he said as he began walking back toward the exit. 

While their day definitely hadn’t exactly gone as planned, he couldn’t help but feel great. Caleb had clearly enjoyed himself, and even though he wasn’t much of an animal person himself, he actually had a good time, too. 

Looking sideways at Caleb’s mess of hair near his shoulder, Taylor smiled and stepped out into the muggy afternoon air. 

“I’ll definitely bring you back here again,” he said as he carefully hefted Caleb’s body up a bit, then started walking toward his car through the light rain. 

“Maybe we can even bring your big brother.” 

He was still a bit afraid of Nikolai, but he had no doubt that the guy would have preferred to have gone with his little brother today. 

Maybe if I can figure out a way to let him out of the house… after we get a handle on his temper. Don’t need him getting Adon in trouble with that baseball bat.  

It was something to think about for a later date… much later.

Chapter 13: Switch

(I freaking love this book XD I guess a laughing face probably isn’t correct for this chapter, but hey, I am entertained.) 

“Okay, we need to talk, Nikolai,” Adoni said as he leaned back into the couch, his laptop perched on his legs with multiple tabs open. He’d been researching all day, but the storm outside was making him unable to focus. They always tended to put him to sleep. 

Not right now. Too much to figure out. 

Sasha and Martin had left to go to work, and since he could do his job remotely, for the time being, he’d already taken care of what he’d  needed to do for the day. 

“That just leaves you,” he said, seemingly talking to himself, but not. 

The faded outline of a body appeared beside him after several long minutes. It was taking Nikolai a while to reform into a physical appearance. 

He’s going to bite me again soon. 

He wasn’t looking forward to it. He already had enough injuries. 

“We need to figure out a way to keep you from continuously needing to chew on me,” he said to the materializing banshee. 

Stifling a yawn, he tugged his laptop a bit closer and began going through the open tabs again. He still hadn’t found a whole lot, but there was one article that was a bit promising. 

I’ll take anything positive at this point. 

“I think I found a way to make this less painful, at least,” he mumbled before leaning his head back again, then turning it to the side. See-through eyes stared back at him, their original light color nearly faded out of existence. 

Blinking out of a daze, Adon realized that he’d gotten lost in those eyes and Nikolai was waiting for him to say something. Clearing his throat, he glanced down at his laptop and scanned over a few paragraphs to be sure that what he was about to say at least made some sort of sense, then looked back up at the banshee beside him. 

“This might sound… weird, or wrong, or whatever, but this article said that you can stay within my body as long as you consume some part of me on a regular basis,” he said, knowing that they both already knew that general bit of information. 

Rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down again, he hissed in a breath before continuing. 

“Well, if blood counts, which is made by my body, along with the water I ingest, then, well, saliva should technically work, too… I think.” 

His mind was slightly grossed out by it, since he definitely wouldn’t drink someone else’s spit, no matter how much he needed to, but continuously being bitten was definitely not something he could manage. 

He looked up to check Nikolai’s response to his words, but found himself leaning away abruptly when he noticed that the banshee had moved right up against him. Well, he technically had to always have at least one part of himself fused with his body, but his face was so close that they’re noses had almost been touching. 

Leaning one elbow on the armrest, he eyed the guy nervously. He seemed to be processing his words. Of course, he wasn’t sure how he would really get the idea through to him. His ability to understand things wasn’t all that high. He knew how to stay in his body, which was consume some part of it. That seemed to be as far as his understanding went, or probably, instincts, and that was all he really needed to process. 

When Nikolai suddenly began leaning closer, Adon shrunk back until his back was on the armrest and there was nowhere else to go. 

“Hey, uh, what are you doing?” he asked nervously. 

When Nikolai’s face got too close, Adon turned his head to the side, making the banshee pause to reassess the situation. He had one hand on the couch cushion between Adon and the back of the sofa with his right one near his left shoulder. 

“I can just get a cup and we can test my theory,” Adon said quickly, trying not to stutter as he glanced back up at the banshee a couple times but refused to turn his head back to face him. 

A light weight settled against his torso as Nikolai straddled him nonchalantly, then leaned farther forward, putting his face within inches of his own. 

“I’m sure none of this is going to really stick inside your head, but I have a girlfriend, and while I’m sure that this is kind of a special case situation, we really need to try it with a cup or som—” cold fingers pressed against his lips, effectively silencing his nervous rambling. 

Shhhh…

Adon’s eyes widened to a near-painful width. 

Nikolai had shushed him… in his own mind! 

Panic raced through his system, sending a frigid chill first down, then up his spine. It darted around his extremities, then settled in his chest with his thrumming heart. 

The cold fingers against his lips gradually moved against his skin, brushing the side of his nose before stopping just beneath his eye and settling there to cup his cheek. 

“N-Niko, we really should just try it the other way first. I’m sorry if it sounds gross, but I really don’t feel com—” his words drifted off into silence when he saw Nikolai jerk his head up, his attention going to the front window. It was covered by blinds, but he was clearly sensing something there. 

When he eventually tilted his head, then looked back down at him, Adon figured that whatever had been there had passed, or he wasn’t worried about it. He almost wished that the man had a more materialized body so that he could see expressions, but considering his brother’s nearly human-looking appearance, he still didn’t have any kind of emotion that could be read. He just seemed scarier. 

He was just thinking about what Nikolai would have done if he had been reborn as a wraith instead of a banshee, stuck behind a wall for years, when he felt the man’s other hand gently press several fingers against his lower lip. 

“H-hey, we tot odout dis,” Adon tried to say, but it was hard with fingers inching into his mouth, seemingly trying to press against his hastily retreating tongue. He didn’t dare bite the banshee, but at the same time, he felt like there was definitely something wrong with this situation. 

Adoni…

The faint whisper of his own name in his mind had Adon hesitantly turning his head so that he could look up at Nikolai better. The man was truly fading away, right before his eyes. There was only small bits of light sporadically around his body’s outline and one eye staring calmly down at him. 

Would he even be able to last until I got up and got him enough saliva to try my theory? Would he just be removed from my body, or will he actually die if he fades away? 

He knew that Caleb was able to fade away to invisibility when he got tired, but he had only seen Nikolai as illuminated lines. He’d never completely disappeared, to his knowledge. 

I-I guess once… won’t hurt. It’s only to save your life. I feel like I’m talking to mys— a barely-there pressure settled over his mouth. A coolness came with it and moved between his lips, then downward into the space between his lower front teeth and bottom lip. 

Adon felt movement against the side of his face as, what he assumed was Nikolai’s other hand, moved up into his hair. 

Don’t get carried away, he warned the banshee even as Nikolai’s tongue wandered deeper into his mouth, searching out what it needed. A quiet, echoing chuckle met his thought but dissipated before he could pull together much of a response. 

Blinking open eyes he hadn’t realized had slipped closed, Adon felt them widen uncomfortably for a second time as he took in what he could see. 

He looks almost…

Seemingly having heard his thoughts, Nikolai slowly leaned away, allowing Adon to take in some much-needed air as the banshee began to reassess their situation. 

He looks more alive than Caleb now, but how? 

He’d been biting him off and on since he’d possessed him, but it had never given him more than a little more bioluminescent substance to his form. There was never a real person staring back at him like there was now. 

Nikolai leaned back to sit in Adon’s lap as he lifted his arm, mouth parting slightly, likely from the same wonder and confusion that was currently making Adon’s mind and heart race. The banshee continued to examine his new form, getting more and more excited as he saw himself for the first time in what must have been years. 

Adoni took that time to look him over, too. He was still wearing the same clothing that his skeleton was downstairs, and now that he was just about completely formed, Adon’s heart started to hurt. 

A long swath of blood coated his left arm nearly up to his wrist. There was also dried blood along the left side of his neck, both on the skin there and soaked into the dark green T-shirt he wore. There were a few splashes of it on his left cheek and ear, too, but that just told Adon that the worst damage would be on the left side of his back. It was a similar injury to Caleb’s, but it seemed like Nikolai was able to defend himself with his arm… at least for a short while. 

Slowly, hesitantly, he pushed himself forward so that he was sitting up, leaning his side against the back of the sofa for some help balancing. The action drew Nikolai’s attention. When their eyes met, Adon felt all of the air in his lungs suddenly disappear. 

This man can’t be dead. 

Reaching forward with his left hand, Adon hesitantly pressed it against Nikolai’s chest. It was completely solid. There wasn’t an ounce of give as the flesh beneath his fingertips expanded and shrunk with each breath the banshee took that matched his own. 

You are living for him. If he wasn’t attached to you, he’d be just like he had been for all these years. 

His brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around that idea, though. He couldn’t process that the man sitting in his lap was the same one that he’d first seen behind the wall. 

Never… again.

Nikolai’s voice in his mind drew his eyes upward, making his head lift with the action. The other man’s mouth was there to meet his own midway through his action, his tongue easily parting Adon’s lips. 

Time seemed to stop as he was guided back down against the couch by Nikolai’s gentle hands. He relented this time, knowing that he was giving the man something worth more than his own insecurity. 

Shivers came and went as Nikolai deepened the kiss, his tongue refusing to miss a single inch of Adon’s mouth. It took all of his focus just to keep himself breathing enough to not pass out, so there was no resistance from Adon. 

After a while, however, even his breathing was becoming hard to manage. He could feel Nikolai’s heartbeat in his mind, though, and since it oddly felt stronger than his own, he started focusing on it to steady his struggling one. 

The sound of a key inserting into the door was lost on his ears as he felt a strong hand slide beneath his back and easily lift him, as if he suddenly weighed next to nothing. 

“Adoni!” 

Rest now.

His eyes jerked open at the sound of Taylor’s voice, at the same time he was pulled forward, then hugged tightly, except, there was no resistance when he met Nikolai’s chest. His body passed right through his flesh… and into complete darkness.

Chapter 14: Stolen Flesh

(I got a stained glass portrait of Racquetball to join Snowman’s :)) 

He couldn’t believe his eyes. When he walked in the door, he had found a see-through Adon and a very not translucent Nikolai, kissing. 

Now he’s gone. 

“Nikolai!” Taylor yelled as he sat a waking Caleb down near the door. 

He hurried toward the banshee, who now, somehow, had his original body back. There was even dried blood on his left arm and face. 

It’s not Adon’s. He wouldn’t do that… I hope. 

His footsteps slowed as Nikolai stood from the sofa and flexed the fingers on his left hand until a metal baseball bat materialized. 

Wait, so he gets a real body, and a ghost baseball bat? 

Fighting himself not to step back, Taylor squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes on the man before him. 

“What did you do to Adon? He didn’t let you get killed by Martin, and this is how you pay him back for it? Where is he?” he yelled, panting with anger and confusion. 

Nikolai took a step forward, but stopped as his eyes lifted to stare at something past Taylor. 

Caleb? 

He didn’t dare turn his head and look, but that was the only thing he could think of that would make his brother hesitate. His mind was trying to figure out what his next move would be when a hand appeared from his left side and quickly clamped over his mouth and nose. 

Fumbling backwards as he reached up to try and remove the hand, Taylor felt his back hit something firm. An arm wrapped around his waist at that moment, then Nikolai stepped closer.

Caleb? Caleb, you have to let me go! 

He struggled, but even tired, the wraith easily held him as Taylor felt his head begin to get fuzzy from lack of oxygen. His vision started to blur as Nikolai began to open his mouth. His ears were ringing, deafening whatever words the banshee might have been saying as Taylor’s legs slowly began to lose their ability to hold his weight up. 

Nikolai watched as the man before him slid to the floor, his brother lowering him gently. He allowed his bat to dissipate, then turned his attention to Caleb. He was only partially visible, but as he stood back up and met his eyes, it was clear that he didn’t want to rest yet. 

“Niko…?” he rasped, stepping forward and pressing his forehead against his chest. 

Nikolai didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his little brother and lean down, pressing a kiss to his faded hair. It took him several tries to get his mouth to work after having been extremely limited with the sounds he could make over the years, but he finally managed to figure it out after several long minutes. 

“I… love you, K-Kay,” he said quietly, holding him tightly for the first time in forever. 

They both remained that way for some time, neither minding as the seconds stretched into minutes, then neared an hour. They had lost so much time and been so close, but unable to really be able to comprehend physical attention enough to just spend time together. 

“Where is… your person?” Caleb finally asked as he looked up, making Nikolai lean back just enough to meet his gaze. 

It took the banshee a while to form a response, his mind still trying to get used to functioning fully instead of having to push through cloud after cloud of confusion and anger. 

“Inside. Like I-I was,” he replied, seemingly content with his response, since he didn’t bother to elaborate as he lead Caleb over to the couch and sat, then guided his brother into his lap so that he could rest against his chest and be hugged again. 

“Did y… y-you have good time?” he eventually asked as he wove his hands through Caleb’s messy hair. 

His brother didn’t seem able to reply with words any longer, and his form was becoming more and more translucent. 

“Rest,” he whispered as he hugged him closer. He was honestly exhausted, too. Of course, he’d always felt like he was seconds away from death, especially more recently, but now that he actually had a beating heart and mostly-functioning body, he felt an overwhelming need to sleep. 

He wasn’t sure when he actually did fall asleep, but the next time he opened his eyes, it was pitch dark and his body felt sluggish. The sound of quiet crying met his ears, but as he looked around, Nikolai realized why he couldn’t see anything. He was inside of his mind. He thought that it could be a dream, since he hadn’t had any in so many years, but that idea was quickly proven false when the crying quieted just long enough for someone to try and catch their breath before it continued. 

Crying will solve nothing, he thought to the darkness. He knew that Adon was there somewhere, but whether he was right in front of him or in a different plain of his thought, wasn’t something Nikolai could figure out. 

He nonchalantly scanned the darkness, unamused with having returned to it, even though he could tell that he still definitely had control of the live body, which was all that mattered. He didn’t have to focus on sharing the heartbeat to breathe anymore, or the legs, hands, and eyes, to move and see. He had it all. 

I can kill you, if you’d like. 

He knew that the man was already technically dying, to some degree. He’d had to latch onto him quickly or risk being thrown out of his body or fading into the dark nothingness completely the second he’d possessed him. He’d had years to grow desperate enough to act upon his instincts in that precious moment. 

You aren’t desperate enough to take your life back. You can barely steal enough oxygen from me to be able to keep your own heart beating. 

Flexing the fingers of his left hand, Nikolai felt his bat slowly materialize in the darkness. 

Come. I will help you sleep forever. 

His eyes scanned the darkness again, calmly waiting and watching. 

Ah…

Stepping forward, he walked for a short while before stopping in front of a few faint bioluminescent lines. Kneeling down, he reached forward until he felt his fingertips just-barely brush against frigid skin. 

Faded blue-gray eyes suddenly appeared, staring up at him with an expected shine of tears in them. 

The tears run out when you can no longer process the water needed for them.

He gripped his baseball bat tighter as he felt Adon’s frigid fingers grab at his left leg. The man was soon wrapped around it, desperately seeking the warmth that had been taken from him. Nikolai watched his partially outlined body shiver and pant in the darkness. It seemed like only yesterday that he’d turned into a banshee, himself. He remembered freezing to death, but not dying. Suffocating for hours, but never being able to close his eyes. Eventually, he’d stopped trying to breathe and accepted that he would never feel warmth again. 

He didn’t intend to return the man’s life and didn’t want to risk him managing to figure out how to get it back from him. 

Flipping his bat around so that he could use it to bludgeon easier, he aimed the base of it down toward where he felt Adon’s head leaning against his knee. 

I will relieve you from the torment I had to suffer for years. 

He reached down with his free hand to press his fingertips into Adon’s hair, double checking for his aim. He might be intent on killing him, but he had no intention of making him suffer further. 

His arm lifted as he leaned down a fraction closer. 

Rest, forever. 

Nikolai swung his bat downward with as much force as he could manage, except, his eyes suddenly jerked open and the darkness disappeared abruptly as he felt the side of his face sting as if he had been slapped. 

The other man, the one that currently owned their home, stood before him. His expression spoke volumes, as well as his slap that had awoken him. Unfortunately, emotions weren’t something that were returning to Nikolai’s mind all too quickly. He slowly stood from the sofa where he had been resting. Caleb had disappeared, but that was no surprise, and none of his concern. He knew that his little brother was more than capable of taking care of himself in his current form. 

This human is being a nuisance, though. 

“Bring him back! Give Adon his body back!” Taylor yelled unnecessarily loudly. 

Nikolai tilted his, reaching up with one hand to press his warm fingers against the side of his face. He wasn’t used to feeling pain in such a way. Of course, he’d been freezing to death for years with his lungs burning for air, but to actually have flesh to injure again, and not just a bioluminescent outline for a body? It was odd, but also welcome. He truly was alive. 

“I do not know how.” 

The answer was surprising to both of them, evidently. He honestly wasn’t sure how he’d swapped with him to begin with. How he’d gotten his own flesh and bones back, when his flesh had been eaten and his body lay downstairs.

“Not… your… yours.” 

Caleb’s scratchy voice drew Nikolai’s attention immediately, the human before him easily forgotten as he walked up to Caleb. 

“What do y-you mean?” he asked, clearly confused. He had worked hard to come back from the brink of death. He also had his own body back, and wasn’t sure how to even return Adoni’s, so he saw no reason not to accept the fate that he’d managed to acquire. 

Caleb slowly lifted his arm, the appendage shaking every so often. 

He needs more rest. 

When his pointer finger gently pressed against Nikolai’s bloody shirt, he felt his new heart begin to race uncomfortably in his chest. Caleb allowed his fingers to splay over the dirty fabric as he took a step closer and frowned up at him. 

Emotion? We are not capable… but he looks upset with me. 

“These bones… nod your,” he rasped out. 

Nikolai wasn’t sure what to say in response. The body was definitely his… but how could Caleb know that his bones were Adon’s? 

He went downstairs. 

I’m still there. 

Raising one of his hands, palm up, Nikolai stared down at the lines crossing his skin as he flexed his fingers. They were  his. His hand was not Adon’s. His body wasn’t, either. It was somehow his, from years ago. He couldn’t find a response to Caleb’s words, so he remained silent until his brother reached down to take his hand, but his transparent one slid through his own skin, gripping onto something that made Nikolai try to step away… except, it felt like Caleb was grasping his hand from the inside, instead of grasping his real flesh. 

“Kay?” 

When Caleb looked down, then hesitantly back up at him, Nikolai tried to step away again, but the movement made Caleb lean away in response, and that’s when Nikolai felt himself panic. His own translucent fingers were being slowly, agonizingly-painfully, pulled out of his own hand. It felt like he was being forced into a freezer as his arm began to follow. 

The sheer cold and terror from the situation had him unable to balance, bringing him to his knees as his brother quickly followed, unwilling to relent. 

“K-Kay,” Nikolai whimpered as he tried to pull away, but was completely useless against Caleb’s undead strength and persistence. 

He felt his heart suddenly jerk in his chest and his vision blur. His banshee form was being ripped from his new human body, and he was somehow powerless to stop it. 

Half of his full spectral form was already outside of his body when he felt something frigid slide along the top of his hand, then grasp between his fingers. The action had Caleb halting abruptly, giving Nikolai enough time to catch his gasping breath and blink away enough of the darkness, at least in his left eye, to see a mostly-invisible hand sitting on top of his own ghostly one, as if trying to keep him from being pulled out of the body. 

Taylor appeared beside Caleb a moment later, his expression one of clear shock. 

“Your right eye…” 

Nikolai watched as the bioluminescent hand slowly began to retract the one Caleb was holding. His brother hesitated for a minute before finally releasing him, allowing Nikolai to hurriedly pull his banshee’s form back into his human body. The shock of the abrupt heat and return of a full flow of oxygen had him dropping the rest of the way to the floor as his head swam and his forehead pulsed with a growing headache. He knew that he would pass out soon, but the only thing he could do was focus on catching his breath and trying to shiver the chills away. 

He felt a blanket settled over himself at some point, then heard someone sit down beside him, but his good eye was too close to the floor to be able to see who it was, and he had no strength left to even lift his head. 

“Don’t worry, Adon. I’ll help you get out. Just stay strong,” Taylor’s voice said in a muffled tone from somewhere nearby. 

He will be gone soon, he has n—

His thoughts ended abruptly when he realized that his calculations hadn’t been correct. He could not see out of his right eye. The thought had one side of his lips tilting up the slightest amount. The man had figured it out, somewhat. He wouldn’t die… if left alone. 

Unfortunately for him, he was still adverse to sharing. He would reassess the situation again another time, though. For now, he needed to rest. They both did. The darkness came seconds later, and Nikolai welcomed it wholeheartedly.

Chapter 15: Caught

Blinking open heavy eyelids, Taylor felt like he had just fallen asleep when something tugged at his mind. Sitting up slowly, he rubbed at his left eye with one hand as he opened his right one… only to choke on his current inhale of breath as he scrambled away from the skeleton on the bed beside him. 

After several seconds trying to calm himself, he realized what was going on. He wasn’t in the basement. 

A dream? 

Looking around, his eyes widened when he realized that he was back in Caleb’s dream world… but it had changed. The stove against the wall before him was still there,  but the strange apple peeler and tomatoes had vanished. 

Moving his gaze along that wall, he noticed the calendar hanging up, a new lamp nearby illuminating the paper. It had been flipped. Carefully climbing off the side of the bed the skeleton was not occupying, Taylor walked over to the calendar to examine what else had changed. 

He noticed the date that was now circled and read the tiny scratch of marker on it. 

Taylor came home. 

It had been the day he’d moved in. 

The words brought a small smile to his lips as he turned. The massive wall of fish was still there, but it had expanded by a good amount. He had no doubt that some of the new creatures were because of their recent trip to the aquarium. There was even a larger tank near the center with a big octopus in it. 

Walking up to it, he stared at all of the new animals, in awe that Caleb could remember each and every one in such detail. All of a sudden, the fish began swimming downward, starting from the left side of the tank, then gradually moving toward where he stood. 

Turning, Taylor watched as footsteps appeared in the thin layer of sand on the floor. 

Oh  no. 

He quickly began to retreat back towards the bed. 

I thought he was stuck in Adon’s body. Can he still infiltrate Caleb’s dreams, too? 

Considering that banshees were supposed to be less powerful than wraiths, Nikolai was sure showing off a fair amount of skills in succession. Right as he was forced to stop or risk stepping on the skeleton on the floor, Taylor gave out a quiet gasp of surprise. Caleb stood before him, his form a mixture of faded, see-through colors. 

Is he still recovering from our trip to the aquarium? 

When he realized that it wasn’t Nikolai, Taylor relaxed a bit and stepped forward with a smile. 

“How are you feeling, Caleb? You still look really tired,” he said, curious as to why he wasn’t resting. 

The hot tub beside them suddenly turned on, making Taylor jump and glance toward it before returning his attention to Caleb. To his surprise, the guy had vanished, only to reappear squatting down on the edge of the hot tub, leaning over slightly to look at the rumbling water. 

After a few moments hesitation, Taylor walked over and stared down into the agitated water. It almost reminded him of the ocean during a storm. He was just opening his mouth to speak when he suddenly felt dizzy. His hands skidded on the damp surface edge when he tried to brace himself, then hot water was dragging his body beneath it and filling his lungs. 

He awoke with a startled cough. His eyes were slow to blink away the darkness. After several tries to better his vision, he tried to focus through it. Squinting, he realized that he was staring at the front door, but something was off. Besides his vision being cut by nearly eighty percent by darkness and turning blurry, he quickly realized that there was nothing by the door. He knew that he had left his shoes in that area. Adon’s should have been there, too. 

Taylor tried to turn his head and look around, but it seemed to be determined to keep his focus on the door. He waited as patiently as he could, until, finally, it looked like someone was coming in. 

He felt his heart stumble as he saw who  was walking through the door. At that exact moment, whatever was controlling his vision shifted slightly, as if moving weight from one foot to the other, or tilting one’s head in curiosity. 

Taylor realized what was going on, however, when the realtor who had sold him the house followed him through the door. 

He was seeing Caleb’s memory. 

He watched closely as he followed himself around. Caleb must have been right beside him the entire time, yet stayed invisible to avoid detection. 

Caleb paused when they went into each room, waiting in the doorway before backing away when they approached again. 

He had followed them the entire tour. 

His attention eventually turned toward the wall he now knew hid Nikolai. Except, to Caleb’s eyes, it hid nothing. His brother stood behind the wall, hunched slightly with his head down, chin pressed against his chest. It had been no wonder they had heard nothing from him. He had been resting during the time he had visited the home the first time. 

His vision abruptly went blank, only to return a few moments later with a different scene. Taylor was startled as a baseball bat suddenly came swinging toward him in a blurry arc, but to his surprise, it hadn’t been aimed at him… or really, Caleb. As he thought about it in that moment, he realized that Caleb already seemed to be lying on his side on the floor. 

Dots of red came flying toward him, forcing his eyes to close momentarily before he managed to open them again. A person had picked up his body and was holding it closely before they both jerked. Taylor could only assume that it was the baseball bat connecting with Caleb’s protector’s back. 

His mind was transfixed on the situation, trying his best to see through the growing darkness that was trying take away Caleb’s sight. He desperately hoped that he could hold on until he could show him who had killed them, but just as the person shielding him began to fall to the side, Caleb lost consciousness and Taylor was sitting up abruptly, his breath coming in harsh pants as he looked around the dark living room, water dripping from his damp hair. 

“What… the hell?” he rasped out as he noticed headlights from a car in their driveway. 

Checking his phone, he didn’t see any messages from Sasha or Martin saying that they were coming over… but that had never really stopped Sasha before. 

Figuring that it was her friend’s car, he carefully got up and stretched, then headed for the door right as he heard a strong knock on the other side. 

That… doesn’t sound like her. 

He hesitated with his hand on the bolt lock, but when a loud voice spoke from the other side, Taylor blanked. 

“Police! Open the door.” 

Taylor’s face grew paler by the second as he glanced over his shoulder. Caleb and Nikolai were nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t show up abruptly… or that Caleb wasn’t invisible somewhere nearby already.

Licking his dry lips, Taylor unlocked, then opened the door just enough to greet the officer. 

“Hello, sir. How can I help you?” 

The officer held out a small manila folder and raised an eyebrow. 

“Can you take a look at these photographs for me, please. Also, were you at the aquarium yesterday with a friend?” 

Oh. Shit. 

Trying not to freak out as badly on the outside as he was on the inside, Taylor hesitantly flipped open the folder. 

God. This is bad. 

There had been a security camera in the large tank area. There were several photos in the folder that had been blown-up, very easily catching Caleb when he phased out of his clothing and walked into the massive tank. 

How am I supposed to respond to this situation? He’s my imaginary friend that I just wanted to share with everyone for the day? 

The officer seemed to take his stunned silence as agreement, because he took the folder back and pointed at Caleb’s blurry picture. 

“I’m part of the paranormal investigations team in town and I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your friend.” 

Taylor noted that the man hadn’t asked if it was okay. He would ask them either way, and expected answers. 

I guess I can handle this one step at a time. Please, Caleb and Nikolai, please stay hidden. 

“Okay,” he said quietly. 

The officer took a step forward, clearly intent on being invited in, but Taylor quickly straightened and held the door steady, making sure that the busted wall remained out of view. 

“We can talk right here.” 

The man seemed a bit surprised by the abrupt refusal, but he didn’t let it sour his mood. 

“Alright. Firstly, what is your friend’s name?” 

Taylor wanted to smack his head against the door. He should have known that the question would come up, but he hadn’t really thought about how he could lie around it. If he gave a fake name, the guy would be able to look it up in the computer. If he gave a real name, he’d know… 

I don’t have a choice. 

Sighing, he licked his lips nervously and replied; “Caleb Kay Marie.” 

The officer unhooked a small radio from his belt and spoke the name into it, asking for it to be looked up. It didn’t take long for a response to come back through the device, alerting the officer before him that the boy had had an Amber Alert out for him for years. 

“Well, that’s not really the response I was hoping to hear, but it closes the missing person file and will give the parents some solice, at least,” the office said solemnly as he responded to the person on the other end of the radio. 

“Reporting that the person in question is deceased and his alert can be canceled. Details will be forthcoming,” he said as he looked at Taylor expectantly. 

Um… do we have to tell the parents? 

He wasn’t exactly sure if the parents would be happy about the cops finding out about their sons… if they actually had been the ones involved in their murder. He also was hesitant to let the police bother the remains, or at least try to. He doubted that Caleb or Nikolai would be happy with people touching their bones. 

Today, is not a good day. 

At least he’s not pulling out the handcuffs, yet.

Sighing, he readied himself for more questions. 

It was probably a good thing, because Taylor blinked a few times, then saw Caleb’s form appear behind the officer on the last one. 

Please be nice. He’s not here to hurt me, I think. 

To his surprise, Caleb’s face wasn’t blank. He looked intrigued, his eyes slightly wider than a normal person’s as he tilted his head a tiny fraction. 

“How long have you been in contact with Caleb?” the man asked as he pulled out a small iPad to take notes with a stylus. 

Taylor shrugged one shoulder, thinking back. 

“Around a month or so,” he said, honestly surprised that it hadn’t been much longer. It felt like they’d known each other for years. 

The man nodded, then replied. 

“When and where did you meet him?” 

Thinking back, he remembered when he saw the bloodied boy scrawling something on the chalkboard he’d hung near his kitchen. 

“I had a feeling that there was something up when I moved into this house, so my friend, who is quite a paranormal fanatic, advised me to put up a chalkboard. One day I woke up after having fallen asleep in my room and opened the door to see him writing on it. I slammed the door shut in response, and when I opened it again moments later, he was gone.” 

The man nodded and wrote down a good amount of notes before clicking on something that had popped up on his screen. 

Oh, shit. Again. 

His coworker must have sent him Nikolai’s missing person information, since they had both likely been reported by the same person. 

He silently flipped the iPad so that Taylor could see it. 

“Do I have to ask?” 

Running a hand through his hair, Taylor sighed. 

“I know him, too. He’s dead… kind of.” 

The police officer’s eyes narrowed as confusion and unease took over his expression.

“Can I get an explanation on that kind of ? Do I need to get my gun out and call the paramedics?” 

The officer was only partially joking. Taylor could tell that his right hand was inching toward his gun. 

Shaking his head, Taylor replied. “He somehow possessed my friend and switched bodies with him. He’s now the one who is alive, kind of, and my friend is, well, I guess he’s stuck as some kind of banshee inside of Nikolai.” 

The police officer didn’t look impressed with his explanation. 

“I’m not trying to make this harder on you and I am telling the truth. I know them both, and they are both on the property at the moment, but I can’t just let you inside… for your own safety.” 

The officer seemed to relax the slightest bit before taping a few things on his iPad. 

“Do I need to send for a search warrant?” 

Okay, he kind of anticipated that question. He was actually a bit surprised that it hadn’t been asked earlier, or he hadn’t just gotten one to begin with. 

Taylor slowly lifted his hand and pointed behind the man.

“The warrant won’t help you if you don’t get permission from him… and his brother. The latter being the harder one to manage. He gets a tad defensive of his territory, and sibling.” 

After he finished speaking, the police officer had visibly stiffened, but then quickly forced his body to relax as he took a few steps to his right, putting himself just-barely out of reach of Taylor if he happened to be lying in order to try something while he was turning his head to look where he’d been pointing. 

Caleb had faded a bit more as he stood in the grass a few feet away, but he was still very-much visible. 

“Wow. It has been nearly a year since I’ve seen a banshee so close.” 

Well, you’re in for a surprise. 

“He’s not a banshee.”

The officer gave him a nervous side-glance before gluing his attention back on Caleb. 

“He’s… not a banshee,” he stated, as if he needed help digesting what he hoped wasn’t true. Because the other thing he could really be, as far as paranormal undead went, was not something a normal person ever wanted to encounter. 

“Caleb, he’s being friendly. Say hello. He’s not here to hurt you guys, right officer?” Taylor said, the edge of his lips tilting up a fraction as he spoke. 

The man quickly nodded, and it was clear as day that he was fighting himself not to take a few more steps backward. 

Caleb seemed to take a few minutes to process the situation before he gave a disturbingly slow nod, but had trouble lifting his head afterward. 

“I told you to rest,” Taylor said with a sigh as he stepped forward and carefully lifted Caleb into his arms. “I swear, you are as stubborn as your brother in your own way,” he chastised as he walked back toward the door, only to stop in front of the small opening he’d left. 

“Do you have any other questions, officer, or can I bring him back inside?” 

The man seemed at a loss for words and eventually just took a small business card out of his back pocket and handed it to Taylor. 

“I-I’ll… need you to call me tomorrow.”

I guess. 

He knew that he could just pretend to forget, but he had no doubt that they had tracked him to his house by his license plate, and likely already had his phone number in their records. They also, clearly, didn’t mind paying him a visit. 

“I’ll talk to you then,” Taylor said as he turned and stepped into the house. 

Since he was carrying Caleb, he had to nudge the door open wider, giving the officer a very brief glance at the destroyed wall before he shoved the door shut and locked it behind himself. Instead of going to his bed, he dropped down onto the couch with Caleb tucked against his chest and groaned. 

“I have so many skeletons in my closet right now that are about to be found out… but I guess they’re really in the basement.” 

Looking down when he felt something move against his neck, Taylor couldn’t help but nudge aside his rising stress and lean down to press a kiss to Caleb’s hair. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you guys… somehow.”

Chapter 16: Slipping Away

Adon wasn’t sure what was going on as his vision slowly returned. He could only see out of one eye, and as time ticked by, he remembered what had happened. He tried to shake the cloudiness from his head, but the action felt sluggish, as if he didn’t really have control. 

“That’s enough of that,” a slightly familiar voice chided. 

This is my body, Nikolai. Give it back. 

Adon put as much determination as he could into his words as he tried to move himself from where he was now sitting. 

Wait. Where am I? 

Refocusing his attention on what was around him, Adoni used his one good eye to quickly figure out that they were in the basement, but considering where he was seated… There was no need to try and force Nikolai to let him turn his head. He didn’t want to see the skeleton beside him. 

“What’s wrong, banshee? Don’t like seeing my true self?” Nikolai said as he turned so that Adon had no choice but to watch his hand reach forward and pick up a piece of fractured bone. 

He’s better at talking now… and I can actually sense some sarcasm in his words. Is he getting emotions back? 

He expected Nikolai to speak again, but when the man just stared at the broken bone, Adon looked at it closer. There were no bite marks from rats gnawing on it. It had been broken before Nikolai had died. 

Who killed you two? 

There was a tense silence as Nikolai turned the piece of bone over in his hand several times. When he stopped moving it, it was sitting in his palm as faint glowing lines of light elongated from his fingernails, creating claws. 

“Caleb’s mother.” 

He’d expected it, but to hear Nikolai say it… 

“I would hunt her down and kill her if I could get out of this house, but I can’t go beyond the door with you here.” 

I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to die for your revenge. There are other ways to bring her to justice. 

A quiet, cynicle chuckle slipped from his lips as Nikolai let the shard of bone slip from his fingers, then raised his hand above his head, stretching his translucent claws toward the worn ceiling. 

“I care not for justice. Her and my father…” a deep growl rumbled from his chest as Nikolai began to lose control of himself. 

Adon’s instincts told him to shrink back into Nikolai’s mind until he was more stable, but he knew that he couldn’t do that. He needed to get the guy to trust him, and in turn, stop trying to kill him. 

Focusing with his one good eye, Adon extended his own arm up through Nikolai’s. He felt the man’s flesh blocking his fingertips as his hand internally reached Nikolai’s outstretched one. 

Nikolai gave a warning growl, but Adon ignored it as he managed to slip his translucent fingers through Nikolai’s skin and gently grasp his clawed hand. 

Calm down. We need to work together to fix this situation. 

“Fix.” 

The word was snarled as Nikolai withdrew his hand, the abrupt action forcing Adon’s to return to his body. The man was suddenly on his feet, and before Adon could stop him, he had kicked his own skull. It slammed against the concrete wall, fracturing part of the back portion, then tumbled to the left before stopping near the tiny nightstand that had Caleb’s dusty, empty fish bowl on it. 

“What can be fixed!” 

Nikolai turned back toward his skeleton, clearly intent on displacing more bones out of anger, but he abruptly stopped when they both noticed Caleb sitting on the edge of the bed with his head down, eyes half-lidded as they stared down at Nikolai’s newly-damaged skull between his hands. 

A thick silence took over the area and Adon could feel Nikolai’s frustration draining. 

Caleb really is the key to handling Nikolai. 

He got an internal growl in response to his thought, but Adon ignored it, his attention focused on their current situation. Nikolai was slowly beginning to reach forward, clearly intent on taking his skull back. However, right as his fingers were going to touch it, Caleb hunched over and hugged it tightly to his chest. 

Adon felt Nikolai’s confusion as the man hesitantly straightened back up, unable to figure out what his reaction should be. When Caleb realized that Nikolai had withdrawn his intention to take his skull back, he peaked up from beneath his bangs. His lips were squeezed together tightly and his brow was scrunched. 

“Not hurt Niko,” he rasped out as he looked back down and softly caressed the newly-damaged part of the skull. 

Unexpectedly, Adon felt Nikolai completely retreat, retracting his control of his body so abruptly that he made Adon drop to his knees before he could even think to catch himself. Thankfully, he managed to avoid landing on the remaining skeleton and quickly returned to his feet seconds later. It was odd, though, because he might have been given full control again, but the outer body was still Nikolai’s. 

“Hey Caleb…” he whispered, getting used to being able to talk again. 

When Caleb just spared him a brief glance, Adon felt the edge of his lips tilt up. He carefully stepped over Nikolai’s skeleton and took a seat beside the wraith. Caleb immediately shrank closer to the skull, but when Adon made no move to try and touch it, he eventually turned his worried gaze up to him again. 

“I’m not going to hurt him,” Adon said with a careful smile. 

Caleb didn’t seem like he processed his words, so Adon tried again. 

“He was just really stressed about everything. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt himself, either. He even went to hide somewhere in our mind because he was worried he’d upset you.” 

Again, Caleb didn’t respond. 

Confused that he might have needed to rest abruptly, Adoni leaned closer. 

Wait a minute. 

He hesitantly reached up and pressed his fingertips to Caleb’s cheek, except… his fingers went right through the wraith. 

Umm, Nikolai? 

When he got no response, Adon furrowed his brows and looked toward the stairs. He hesitated for a moment, but after glancing back at Caleb’s fading form, he yelled as loud as he could. 

“Taylor! Need you down here!” 

He hoped that the guy was awake. 

After a few quiet minutes Adon heard feet heading down the old stairs. Moments later, Taylor appeared at the bottom, limping slightly when he hopped down from the last step. 

He seemed to shrug off the pain when he saw Caleb and hurried over. 

“What happened? What’s happening?” 

Of course, it was clear what was happening, but neither of them knew why. 

Nikolai, I really need you back here, bud. Your brother isn’t looking too hot. 

It took him a few minutes before he felt the other man’s presence returning. Nikolai seemed to look through his right eye before realizing that there definitely was an issue. 

Adon didn’t hesitate to relinquish the body for Nikolai this time, knowing that his brother would be the best chance they had to help Caleb. 

“Kay?” Nikolai said as he leaned over and gently grasped either side of his brother’s fading face. 

When he tilted his head, blank, half-lidded eyes stared into nothingness. 

Caleb’s eyelids began to move in a blinking motion, but it was excruciatingly slow. When they finally lowered to the point of closing off his eyeballs, they suddenly jerked back open wide as his head swung backwards, then fell forward with a blood-curdling scream. 

Taylor took an unintentional step backwards, but Nikolai tried to grab his brother, only for his hands to slip straight through Caleb’s translucent skin. 

He almost looks like… 

Taylor stepped forward again, his bare feet nearly touching Nikolai’s skeleton. His eyes were hard see in the darkness of the basement, but there was no doubt that there was sadness in their depths. 

“He’s a… banshee now?” 

That explained the sudden whaling scream. It had definitely not sounded like the other ones he had given before as a wraith. 

But how could he have degraded? Was that actually a thing? 

It definitely hadn’t been in any kind of information he’d seen online. 

“Of course it is a thing, stupid human! Nothing remains forever… after all of these years, my little brother is starting to truly die.” 

Taylor gasped and carefully stepped forward. He tried to touch Caleb, but his hands went straight through his form, just like Nikolai’s had. 

“Caleb? Caleb, please calm down. We can figure this out,” he said, unsure if he could really do anything to help the poor guy. 

A snarled laugh drew his eyes toward Nikolai. Even in the darkness he could see the hatred in their depths. 

“You don’t need to figure anything out, human. Caleb would have been fine… more than fine, if he had j-just done what he should have. But no,” Nikolai growled as he stood up and leaned over, crowding Taylor, forcing him to step back. 

Nikolai stalked forward and Taylor matched each of his advances with a retreating step of his own. Neither of them stopped until Taylor was pinned back against the far wall, dust greedily clinging to the back of his previously-clean shirt. 

“He couldn’t do it. He has no conscious. No emotions. No heart!” Nikolai snarled out as he slammed his clawed hand into the dilapidated concrete beside Taylor’s head, then began slowly digging into it with his translucent claws. 

“He couldn’t possess you. Not even to keep himself from losing what miniscule grasp he had on reality.” 

Adon tried to reign Nikolai in, but the man completely refused to relent. 

“If you c-care about him at all, you’ll find a way to get him in here!” Nikolai yelled as he grabbed the front of Taylor’s shirt and shook him back against the wall. 

With one final grunted growl Nikolai turned to stalk up the stairs as he panted, leaving Taylor to mull over what he’d said, and Adon to pace in his mind with worry for both his friend and the new banshee. 

He didn’t want Caleb to truly disappear, but he also wasn’t sure if Taylor could handle possession. Even he, himself, struggled with it, especially when he’d been repeatedly bitten. 

Not to mention being attacked in my own mind. 

Nikolai replied with a warning growl as he stepped onto the first floor of the home but Adoni rolled his good eye. He wanted to reply, but knew that Nikolai was already right on the edge of his sanity, so he let it go… for now. He wasn’t done trying to get his body back, but he knew when to back away from a possible fight that he wasn’t going to win. He’d bide his time and try to help Taylor with whatever decision he ended up choosing while trying to come up with a new path that both him and Nikolai could follow together, for now.

Chapter 17: Unraveling a Story

Taylor sat on the sofa for hours that evening, contemplating what he could honestly do about the situation he was in. He wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep, but a shiver shook his body at some point, bringing his mind back to the present and drawing his tired eyes open. 

He felt a faint weight in his lap and, evidently, had unconsciously wrapped his arms around it at some point. 

You’re so cold.

As if he’d actually heard his thought, Caleb lifted his nearly see-through head, his eyes invisible, but clearly seeing. 

Words stuck on Taylor’s tongue as he slowly brought his hands up to cup that faded face before him. There was no expression, or even much detail anymore, but it was still definitely Caleb. 

“I’m… not sure how I can help you anymore.”

He felt terrible as he whispered those words. 

Of course, he knew that Caleb wouldn’t be able to respond anymore, so he simply returned his arms to around him and gently guided his body to rest against his chest. The chill from his ethereal form was formidable, though, making him shiver again within seconds. 

Wait a minute. 

Taylor looked around the room, but Nikolai was nowhere to be seen. 

“Nikolai? Adon?” he called as he hugged Caleb a little closer. 

Adon had been freezing when he’d first been possessed, but before Nikolai stole his body, he seemed to have gotten used to it. Maybe I can help Caleb if I can figure that out, too. 

“Hey Tay, what’s up?” 

Wait a second. That’s not Nikolai’s voice. 

Turning his attention toward the stairs as he rested his chin atop Caleb’s faded hair, Taylor watched as Nikolai’s body appeared from the hole in the wall leading to the basement. 

They had been down there again… but that voice. 

“Yeah, I’m a bit surprised, too,” Adon said from Nikolai’s mouth as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few sandwiches from the counter that he must have made previously, then filled two cups with warm water from the tap before bringing everything over to the coffee table in front of Taylor. 

It took him two trips, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry, or stressed out. 

I’m so lost. 

Feeling another chill go through his body, he felt Caleb try to pull away from him, but Taylor only hugged him closer with one arm while reaching to the side with his other one. Grabbing the blanket beside him, he got it situated around them both. The added warmth made him sigh with relief, and after a few moments, Caleb relented and relaxed against him again. 

When Adon finally came and sat down beside him, he offered Taylor a sandwich. Having missed quite a few meals, he didn’t hesitate to take it. Within moments, the two had devoured the entire plate of four roast beef and turkey sandwiches. 

“Here. You’re going to need this,” Adon said as he handed Taylor one of the glasses of warm water. 

Why not use the cold water dispenser from the fridge? 

When Adon grinned through Nikolai’s lips, Taylor realized two things. His previous question he was going to ask was likely answered by the glass of water in his hand… and Adon figured that he would somehow try to get Caleb to possess him. 

After chugging down most of his own glass, Adon turned his body partially toward him, leaning his side against the back of the couch. 

“As long as I drink a lot of warm water and eat mostly hot food, I’m usually pretty good. I also have to eat a lot more than I had before, since my body is working overtime to stay warm, but I’ve gotten used to it. The hot showers definitely help, too.” 

That seems easy enough. 

He was just looking back down at Caleb when the doorbell chimed, drawing a frown on his lips. His arms suddenly dropped to his lap as Caleb completely vanished. 

“I guess I’ll get that,” he said awkwardly as he set the blanket aside and stood up, then glanced back at Adon. 

“Don’t worry. He’s actually resting pretty deeply. I should be fine.” 

Reassured, Taylor nodded and walked with Adon to the door. He was actually glad that he had some back-up this time… and didn’t have to worry about the baseball bat making an appearance. 

He wasn’t too surprised when he swung the door open to see the officer from the previous day. What he was surprised to see, however, were the two people standing behind him. One was clearly an exorcist and was completely decked out in warding charms and thick beaded necklaces and bracelets and dark brown robes. The other person was a woman with a crew cut and officer uniform to match the man’s. 

“Good evening, Taylor. I’m sorry that I showed up abruptly, but I called several times and got no answer. I was worried that something might have happened,” the original officer said as he seemed to relax his stance a bit. 

Thank god Adon has control of Nikolai at the moment. 

“It’s alright. Nothing is wrong, I was just deep asleep,” he said, hoping that his words would settle the man’s nerves more and the group would leave. 

Of course, things were never that easy. Especially since the three’s eyes were wide as saucers as they stared at Nikolai. A living, dead man. 

Oops. 

“You said that he was dead…” 

Taylor sighed and looked up at Adon. The guy was frowning nervously as he leaned against the doorjamb. 

“Nikolai is definitely dead. He uh, just possessed me, then somehow swapped our bodies. He’s asleep right now, so let’s not wake him up, please?” Adon said, knowing that he sounded completely insane. 

The officers blinked at each other and the woman began to reach for her cuffs. 

Taylor quickly stepped between them and raised his hands. 

“No need for that. We aren’t lying. Heck, we have no reason to,” he said, trying to calm them down. 

The male officer pursed his lips but eventually gestured for his partner to relent. She did so, but it was clear that she was hesitant. When she finally seemed to relax again her partner extended a hand toward Taylor. 

“I’m sorry we’re all a bit on edge. We don’t usually have such supernatural activity in this area,” he said, then added, “I’m officer Dawson, by the way. You can call me Larry.” 

He nodded toward his partner as Taylor took his hand to shake. “And that’s Raya.”

Taylor responded with a nod and slight smile. He was about to respond when he felt something cold brush against his arm, making him release the man’s hand and jump from surprise. 

“Is something wrong?” Larry asked immediately, looking around to try and see if anything was there. 

You probably won’t see him. 

“Nothing’s wrong, just Caleb wanted my attention,” Taylor said as he turned around to face inside. 

He didn’t see the guy, either, but something did catch his eye. 

There’s something new written on the chalkboard. 

He started walking toward it automatically, but when he heard Larry clear his throat, he quickly turned back and around and reached up to massage the back of his neck nervously. After a moment, he looked over at Adon. 

The guy shrugged and took a step closer. 

“He’s still out cold. Take it one step at a time?” 

He still wasn’t sure, but they had no reason to deny the people access, as long as they didn’t try to touch anything they shouldn’t.

Returning his attention to the small group outside his door, Taylor sighed and gestured for them to come inside. 

“Not to sound threatening, but Nikolai is not the nicest banshee. If Adon says that you guys need to leave, or if Caleb tells me the same, you have to go immediately, for your own safety.” 

The person who seemed to understand the most was the exorcist, who nodded several times before stepping inside. His eyes widened as soon as he completed the action and his lips parted slightly. 

“There is definitely a strong aura in here…and a second one is present, too. It’s power is no laughing matter, either, but it seems… tired.” 

Caleb. 

“Wait a minute. What kind of tired do you mean? Like, asleep tired? Or something else?” he asked, wondering if he was just sensing Nikolai’s slumber. 

The man grasped his hands together as the officers warily stepped inside, trying to look nonchalant, but clearly on high alert.

“One is resting, definitely. However, the tired one is dissipating.” 

Taylor’s heart shrunk to nothing in his chest. 

“The one who is asleep is the original banshee, Nikolai. Caleb… was a wraith, but now he’s turned into a banshee,” Taylor said quietly, the chalkboard momentarily forgotten. 

The exorcist seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head slowly. 

“Lad, that boy is still a wraith.” 

He is? 

“But he looks like what Nikolai did before he possessed Adon. How is he still a wraith?” 

The man walked over to the chalkboard and lifted his fingers to press against the dust beneath the writing. 

“He’s still definitely a wraith. Ghosts cannot write this well, and banshees cannot write at all, unless this is an old message… but it looks fresh.” 

You’d think that banshees could write at least decently, considering they are thought to be higher than ghosts in strength, but I guess each one has its own abilities. 

Taylor noticed a faint bit of fluctuating light behind the man, inside his bedroom, but kept his mouth closed about it for the moment. Instead, he turned his attention to the writing and frowned. 

NTT HIS SKN SVE FRN

“Is he saying that it is not his skin?” Taylor questioned the man beside him. 

They nodded, then moved their finger to tap at the two other words Taylor wasn’t sure about. 

“He wants you to save your friend from his brother. This wraith is extremely advanced in his understanding and empathy. I have reviewed this case and looked into the brothers’ relationship with each other. Caleb must have a very strong sense of right and wrong, even as a wraith, since he’s willing to take away his own brothers’ chance at being partially alive again.” 

Taylor rubbed at the back of his neck again as he looked at Adon, not really sure how Caleb telling him to save Adon can really be useful. 

“He’s not talking to you, by the way. I believe that this message is for me,” the exorcist said, making Taylor’s eyes widen. 

“You?”  

The idea that Caleb was intentionally communicating with someone else, instead of trying to allow him to figure out what he needed, made him a little hurt. Of course, he knew that he shouldn’t be bothered by that. Caleb had to do what he had to do, and he clearly had a reason and was trying to help. 

The man turned to nod to Adon, then looked at the two of them. 

“That isn’t really Nikolai’s body, but an impressive illusion that banshees can create. They usually don’t even realize that it’s fake, and think that they finally have their own bodies back. It’s honestly very hard to tell the difference if the person the banshee possesses has a similar height and build. It also helps that you’re male, so between you and Nikolai, it would be almost impossible to tell that it was fake, except…” 

The man walked over and gestured for Adon to turn around.

“Take your shirt off.” 

Adon hesitated for a second before removing the shirt he wore. It was actually Nikolai’s blood-soaked one, since the banshee hadn’t allowed him to change out of it, but the moment he removed it and let it drop to the floor, it suddenly turned into his own dark blue one. 

The bare body beneath it was bloody on the back left side with a rusty red coloring at least forty percent of his back, shoulder, and even some of his front and left arm. 

“Besides the shirt clearly not being bloody from this injury,” the man said as he tapped the damaged flesh on Adon’s back. “There is clearly no damage here, even though it looks quite gruesome, if you touch it, all you feel is smooth skin. This is still your body.”

Adon was shocked, but he couldn’t hide the smile that quickly found its way onto his face. He was still definitely possessed, but he’d never lost his body at all! 

It really was a relief, and Taylor couldn’t help but look back toward Caleb’s outline and smile with a nod. 

“So then, with that issue understood, before we look into any kind of exorcism and such, can we see the crime scene?” the female officer, Raya, said as she looked toward the large hole in the wall leading to the basement. 

Picked up on that fast. 

It was pretty obvious, though. 

Looking back to Adon, Taylor raised an eyebrow. Adon shrugged and held a finger to his lips, signaling that Nikolai still seemed to be asleep. 

Nodding, Taylor lead the group over to the entrance to the basement, but stopped in front, blocking the hole as he looked toward his bedroom. Sure enough, Caleb’s ethereal form had walked out and was watching them. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t let them disturb you guys,” he said, not worried at all that the officers and exorcist turned their attention to Caleb. They had known that he was in the home to begin with, so there was no reason to hide him. 

The exorcist had a curious expression on his face, but he didn’t dare approach Caleb. 

“I’ve never been so close to a wraith,” he said before turning to glance at Taylor, then back to Caleb. 

“How has he behaved? It’s so rare to even hear of one. I think he’s only the fifth I’ve even seen in person, and definitely the closest I’ve ever gotten to one. I’ve removed two from a distance, but it’s much safer to just block off their territory until they fade away.” 

The awe in his voice had Taylor holding back a chuckle as he replied. 

“He’s actually a sweetheart. We got off on the wrong foot a bit, but that was because we kept looking up freaky stuff on the internet, and we didn’t quite know how to handle each other. He was just trying to protect his brother, who had been sealed behind this wall for years when the murderers built over the original opening. He tried to warn us away, too, but with our friend’s assistance, along with her exorcist friend, we ended up opening up the wall.”

The man shook his head, seemingly shocked. 

“Your friend’s friend was confident in dealing with a wraith? If Caleb was intent on defending his brother, things could have gotten deadly, fast.” 

Taylor shook his head. “He definitely wasn’t comfortable handling the wraith. I guess curiosity got the better of everyone.” 

He pointed to the counter where his fish was swimming around in its little tank. 

“We ended up leaving the house when Caleb finished knocking down the wall to let his brother free because Nikolai is extremely aggressive, but things kind of got odd from there. He somehow put his soul, or something, into those fish bones on the counter, which was his previous pet before they died, and can move them as he wishes. They found their way into my pocket somehow and so, he found me at Adon’s apartment and told me that I had to go back and take care of the fish I had bought on a whim. He didn’t want it to die because I wasn’t there to take care of it.” 

The exorcist nodded enthusiastically. 

“Then that would be his transfer device. He put a part of his soul into those bones, so wherever they go, he can go. That explains how you got him to the aquarium,” the man said, making Taylor nod before turning to look down into the dark basement. 

Officer Larry offered him a flashlight and he gratefully took it, clicking it on before carefully starting down the stairs. Adon hurried to his side to help him with his bad leg, making it much easier to descend. 

Once at the bottom, he thanked him before stepping out of the way. It was no surprise that the officer’s attention quickly went to the dusty shadowed bed at the far side of the room. Officer Raya already had her own flashlight out and was slowly walking over, being extra careful not to step on anything. 

“There are bone fragments over here,” she said quietly as she moved her light to the left of her shoes. 

Taylor walked over, frowning at the bone chips.

“Nikolai got angry the other day and grabbed his own skull. He threw it against the wall and, I guess, broke off some small pieces.” 

The woman nodded and quickly took a few pictures with a camera she’d brought, then continued on to the two skeletons. Caleb had returned Nikolai’s skull to its previous resting place, so the pictures were accurate and Taylor didn’t need to tell them anything extra about it. 

“Banshee’s have very little control over their own emotions. It all seems to jumble together with the hatred that they used to return to this world,” the exorcist said as he walked over to the calendar hanging on the wall with the other officer. When he read what was written, he gave a little chuckle and looked over his shoulder at Taylor. 

“I believe this little wraith has a crush on you, my friend.” 

Taylor was grateful for the darkness as he felt his face warm. Caleb was a sweetheart. He couldn’t not like him, but he was surprised that he might actually feel the same. 

“There was another message there before. He showed it to me several times in his dream,” Taylor said as he walked over and pointed at the date of Caleb’s birthday. 

“I think he understood that he was going to die soon, possibly even on his eighteenth birthday. He had written run!  in the space.” 

The exorcist rubbed his chin, nodding a few times before looking over at him. 

“Did this dream replay many times? Did you sometimes wake up feeling like it wasn’t really a dream?” 

Taylor nodded quickly, relieved that the man seemed to seriously know his stuff. 

“Yeah. When I first saw it, it was the basement, but it was furnished like he was rich,” Taylor said as he began to point around the room. 

“That kiddy pool was a really nice hot tub, and that wall was stacked with tons of gorgeous fish tanks.” 

He turned, pointing toward the wall beyond the desk they stood near. 

“The bed was a king, but the one thing I don’t understand was the stove with the apple peeler and cherry tomatoes on top of it.” 

The man seemed to think for a long moment, so Taylor glanced toward the female officer. She was now by the bed, taking pictures of the skeleton’s positions and the area around them. Adon was standing close by, but was definitely still keeping himself at a distance far enough away so that if Nikolai woke up, he wouldn’t be able to immediately hit anyone with the bat.

“It’s definitely a strange way to convey his feelings, but I think I understand what he meant by those items.”

Taylor returned his attention to the man, then added. 

“The peeler and tomatoes had vanished from the dream recently, after I took him to the aquarium.” 

A warm smile appeared on the man’s face and he reached over, gently patting Taylor’s shoulder before giving it a light squeeze and letting go. 

“You are such a caring person. That apple peeler was Caleb’s representation of his heart, symbolized by the blood red tomatoes, being sliced into pieces by his past experiences. That was in the dreams he showed you because he thought that it was a necessary part of himself that he had to express. He had to feel that pain. Keep it so close to him that it showed up to even haunt his dreams after death.” 

Taylor’s heart squeezed at that information. 

I’m glad that I could help him get rid of that pain, at least. 

“Every ghost and wraith express themselves in a very specific dream like that. Banshee’s minds are too chaotic to be able to piece together such things, though.” 

Frowning, Taylor replied. 

“Nikolai entered his dream before, though. When I was there… and maybe even several times. I know the first time I’m positive it was him was when I heard thumping coming down the stairs, like something heavy or solid was being dragged down step by step. When it got to the bottom I was standing over by the fish tanks. The fish were freaking out as a line in the sand began to come toward me. But now that I think about it, there was also something else there, walking up to me from along the tanks, because the fish had followed whatever it was. I think… maybe that was Caleb standing in front of me, protecting me from his brother?” 

The exorcist gave a quiet sigh, shaking his head. 

“That little wraith is absolutely amazing, and that banshee? To get inside another, stronger entities dream? These two are quite impressive.” 

He couldn’t argue that. 

“The first time I entered that dream, I was actually somehow pulled under the water in the hot tub and woke up coughing up water. I think that might have actually been the first time I interacted with Nikolai in Caleb’s dream.” 

The man nodded immediately. 

“Yes, that makes more sense than Caleb attacking you. He doesn’t seem like he would just try to drown you without you doing anything negative to either of them. His brother was probably just infuriated with the trespassing and caught you in his little brother’s dream. Caleb might have even forced you to wake up before you drowned.” 

He was just about to continue the conversation when a quiet, low growl began to build behind them. No deduction was necessary on his part to know what it was… or really, who. 

“Um, sorry, but we need to cut this extremely short. Someone has woken up and isn’t happy.” 

Just as he was finishing speaking, a loud, drawn out, ear-piercing screech came from Adon’s mouth as he flung his head back toward the ceiling and a bloody, silver baseball bat appeared in his left hand.

Chapter 18: Ring

“Everyone remain calm,” the exorcist said as he grasped one of the bands of black beads he had wrapped around his left arm. 

Taylor glanced back at him briefly and noticed his lips moving, but whatever he was saying was too quiet to decipher. Since he didn’t seem like he was going to hurt Nikolai, he returned his attention to the problem before them. 

His hands tensed at his sides, but he stood his ground, being the closest to the awakening banshee. 

“Nikolai?” he asked calmly as the banshee’s head slowly lowered and his eyes opened. 

Yep, he’s there now. One of his eyes is a different color. 

“He’s definitely there and has partial control,” the exorcist noted, earning a nod from Taylor. 

Both of the police officers had their hands on their guns at their waist, but Taylor quickly shook his head at them. 

“If you shoot him, you’ll kill them both.” 

His words didn’t calm them enough to remove their hands, but at least they weren’t drawing their weapons yet. He returned his attention to Nikolai, but something was off. He wasn’t moving or trying to attack anyone. There was still a low rumble coming from his slightly parted lips, but he seemed unfocused. 

“They’re talking in their mind,” the exorcist said, making Taylor look over his shoulder at him. 

The man was smiling, seemingly much more at ease with the situation than anyone else. 

“Your friend is very strong to be holding his own with this banshee. I gave him a little bit of help by draining some of his body’s strength, which will handicap the banshee for the time being, but it will also help him hopefully calm Nikolai down some.” 

Taylor was skeptical. 

“They aren’t exactly friends. I don’t think calming is the emotion that’s occurring between them right now.” 

The exorcist chuckled quietly and smiled. 

“It is very hard to understand a banshee because of their inability to handle their thoughts and emotions, but that banshee was clearly asleep when we entered his home. His territory. He’s angry with us being here, absolutely, but he’s also torn between that emotion and trying to understand why someone he had finally managed to trust enough to actually rest, allowed such people into his very limited space.” 

He… trusts Adoni?

That was definitely not something Taylor would have guessed judging from how aggressive he’d been with the poor guy. 

“Tay… lor.” 

Blinking at his name, Taylor refocused and took a small step forward. That voice had sounded mixed, as if Adon had started speaking, but Nikolai had taken over at the end. 

“Yes? Can I help you guys somehow?”

Adon nodded very slowly, as if he was getting permission for the movement before making it, then making sure that he didn’t make any mistakes when executing the action. 

“He’s hungry and cold,” he finally said, each of the words in his own voice this time. 

Taylor hesitated, confused. He’d expected him to say that Nikolai was pissed and wanted them all to get the hell out of his house… but he said that he was hungry and cold? 

“May I go retrieve some food and a blanket for you?” the exorcist said with a relaxed smile. 

Adon appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before he nodded again. The exorcist took that conformation and returned it with his own nod before slowly making his way up the steps. Taylor watched him until he had disappeared up the stairs, then returned his attention to Adon. 

They all waited quietly until the man returned a few minutes later with the thick blanket from the sofa and a plate of leftover pasta that he’d warmed up. He didn’t hesitate to walk right up to Nikolai and offer both items, and shockingly, Nikolai allowed his baseball bat to dissipate before he took the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, then took the plate of food. 

The exorcist turned his back and calmly walked away until he was standing beside Taylor, a smile still on his face. 

“I’m sure you know why we are here after your discussion with Adon. We haven’t touched anything, and don’t intend to. We just wanted to see what had happened and verify that you two were really down here,” the man said as the two police officers inched their way over to stand behind him. 

“I know why you are here,” came Nikolai’s tired voice. 

He made short work of the food that had been brought for him, then set the plate down on the floor behind him with the fork. 

“You have found what you were looking for. Leave.” 

The exorcist nodded, but hesitated for a moment before rubbing the large black beads on his wrist. 

“I’d like to ask you something before we go, if you wouldn’t mind hearing me out?” 

Nikolai didn’t seem interested, but he nodded anyways. 

“Would you be willing to have a wearable transfer device instead of a full possession? It would be akin to what your brother does with his fish bones, but as long as the human you wish to possess is wearing the item, you will be able to share bodies.” 

Nikolai’s eyebrows turned downward and he lifted his lip slightly with a growl.

“I don’t need to share what I already have.”

The exorcist nodded again, but then gestured toward Nikolai’s body. 

“I’m sorry to say this, but that body might look like yours but it truly isn’t. Not a single bit of it is you. You are a very powerful banshee and have cast a sort of illusion upon it, perhaps, without even realizing it?” 

Nikolai’s growling got deeper as his baseball bat began to rematerialize in his left hand. 

“I promise that I am not lying. You can check it for yourself by simply touching your injured left side. There will be no physical wounds there, only images you are unintentionally projecting onto Adon’s body.” 

Nikolai was having trouble processing and just seemed to be getting angrier, making the exorcist raise his hands and back toward the stairs, signaling for the police to follow. 

“We will step outside. Please consider my words. Adon seems like he understands you, and I believe that he would accept such a situation, and it would be easier on both of you since you wouldn’t be physically inside of his body all day and night.” 

Taylor followed the small group up the stairs after a short moment of hesitation. He knew that Adon could usually handle Nikolai, but he was worried that the banshee might get out of control again. 

Have to put some faith in him. He can do this. 

He hurried up the stairs and while the other three stepped out the front door to wait, he dropped down onto the sofa and watched the dark hole in the wall. 

There was a long wait after that. No sound came from downstairs, and Taylor was about to go check on them after about twenty minutes when he felt a chill settle in his lap. It immediately stole his attention away from the previous situation, drawing his eyes in front of him. Faded, see-through ones stared back at him. There was also a tiny smidgen of a smile visible on his translucent face, drawing one onto his own as he reached forward and wrapped Caleb in a hug against his chest. 

“Hey there, Kay.” 

Caleb nuzzled against his neck, the chill from the contact sending a shiver down his spine that he tried to suppress. 

“Would that be the wraith?” came the exorcist’s voice from the doorway. “Caleb, was it?” 

Taylor felt Caleb’s ethereal form shift in his lap before his head lifted to stare at the open front door. 

“…sss.” 

He can still talk? 

The exorcist seemed just as shocked and took a step back into the house, not quite paying attention. Thankfully, Caleb didn’t seem to mind and simply remained where he was, watching silently. 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Caleb. I will do my best to help your brother and his friend… but is there something that I can do for you?” 

Taylor blinked, a bit taken aback. What could he possibly do to help a fading wraith? Was there a way to save him? 

Is there really a way to save either of them? They’ll never have a real body again, or a life… does he mean kill them completely? 

The idea had him uneasy, but Caleb seemed to think the offer through before slowly standing from Taylor’s lap and making his way over to the chalkboard. Taylor watched him fumble with the chalk for several moments as the small writing utensil slipped through his nearly-invisible hand to the floor multiple times. 

After a few minutes Taylor hopped up and walked over as the exorcist approached more slowly. Reaching up, he gently grasped Caleb’s hand that had just picked up the chalk again, then helped lift the little white item to press against the black chalkboard. 

“I’ll help you. Just guide me, alright?” he said with a warm smile. 

Taylor felt a faint chill against his right cheek before the hand he was grasping gently began to move. He focused hard on simply holding the chalk and letting Caleb guide his movements. The letters were definitely sloppier than when he could write them himself, but Taylor was more than happy to help in any way he could. When they finally finished after a tense five minutes, he returned the chalk to its place and took a step back to read. 

CN Y GVE LTLE MRE TME IT TALR 

When he actually pieced together what he had said, Taylor felt his face warm, then get even hotter when he realized that Caleb had actually kissed him on the cheek before they’d started writing. 

The chuckle from the exorcist snapped him out of his embarrassment and drew his attention to the man that was now standing beside him. 

“I’ve never heard of such an attached wraith. Well, except in cases of revenge, but he clearly just wants to exist for a little longer to be around you.” 

Taylor rubbed at the back of his neck and looked down at his feet, then back up. 

“Well… um, can you? Can you help him at all?” 

The exorcist was about to speak again when Nikolai appeared from the hole leading to the basement. He looked calmer, and as he straightened back up after stepping into the room, he seemed to even relax as his eyes met theirs. 

His left hand lifted, then extended toward them before being turned upward. His clenched fingers then unfurled and unveiled a faded, silver ring. 

“Can you make this my possession item?” 

The exorcist calmly walked forward and examined the ring without touching it, then looked up to meet Nikolai’s eyes again. 

“Is this something important to you? Do you have a strong attachment to it and not want to lose it?” 

Nikolai nodded, earning an excited smile from the other man. 

“That should do perfectly then,” the exorcist said as he sat down right where he’d been standing, then tapped the spot in front of him to signal for Nikolai to mirror his action. 

He did as told, crossing his legs. 

“I need you to hold out that ring just like you had been. You cannot grasp it, but you also cannot let it go.” 

He… can’t hold onto it but it might be taken away? 

Taylor scratched the back of his head, confused. 

Nikolai didn’t comment and simply focused on the ring as the exorcist began chanting quietly. His hand drifted to grasp several of his black beaded bracelets. Taylor watched silently as the atmosphere in the room began to get heavier and heavier. He was just feeling a chill settle into his right hand when he jumped at the abrupt thunderous noise as the ring in Nikolai’s hand shot from his hand and embedded itself into the drywall next to the chalkboard. 

The exorcist was shaking his head slowly. 

“That item will not do.”

Nikolai frowned as he stared at his treasured ring buried in the wall. 

“Perhaps… something Adon values?” the exorcist queried. 

Nikolai’s right eye flashed slightly and he paused for a moment, seemingly unfocused. After a minute of tense silence he stood up and walked over to the counter where Adon’s wallet and keys had been set. He fiddled with the items on the keychain for several moments before finally removing something. 

When he returned, he sat back down and offered the item the same way he had offered his ring. 

It… looks like a ring, but it also appears to have been part of a bigger item. It also looks like cheap plastic. 

“What is the history for this item? Why would you want to hold onto it?” the exorcist asked, clearly curious, too. 

Nikolai swallowed and licked his lips once, then looked to the side as he replied. 

“It is the ring that had held the pacifier Adon had bought with his saved up money from chores when he was little. It was meant for his stillborn younger sister. He trusts me with it… I will not let it move from my hand.”

Chapter 19: What We Found

The exorcist’s expression changed to one between understanding and awe as he reached forward, letting his hand hover over the item, but not touch it. Taylor tightened his hold on Caleb’s hand as they watched. 

After a few moments with his eyes closed the exorcist retracted his hand and grasped the beads again, then started chanting. The same pressure began to build in the room. Without really thinking, Taylor stepped in front of Caleb’s faded form, worried that if the ring didn’t pass the test, it might go flying again. Of course, it would do far more damage to himself than Caleb, but his mind didn’t even consider that fact. 

As the pressure began to get stifling, Taylor saw little zips of electricity begin to dance about on the little plastic item. He felt cold arms wrap around his right one as a pressure leaned against that side, but he didn’t pay any mind to Caleb peaking around him as they both watched, transfixed. 

When the actual transition happened, it took less than the blink of an eye. One second Nikolai was there, and the next, Adoni was. Seeing his friend back in complete control was a huge relief. 

“It was a success,” the exorcist said with a nod toward the little plastic ring. 

Caleb hurried forward after hearing those words and dropped to his knees before the tiny item. Even with most of his form invisible, Taylor could tell that he was a little nervous for his brother. He couldn’t blame him. It was such an easy item to lose or destroy. He wasn’t sure how Adon had gained so much trust from the banshee, but he admired both of them for coming to such a conclusion. 

Adon grasped the ring tightly in his hand as he stood up, a look of desperate relief on his tired face. With Nikolai’s glamour gone it was easy to see just how exhausting it had been to deal with the banshee twenty-four seven. 

He seemed to think some things over silently for a few moments before walking over to the little metal clip holding his keys and sliding the ring back onto it. 

“I’m going to go wash up, then sleep,” he said, the tone of his voice sounding dead tired, literally. 

Taylor nodded, unsurprised. The guy looked like he was about to fall over. Thankfully Caleb and Nikolai had helped bring his bed back upstairs previously. The frame had bent a bit with the fall, but it was still useable. Taylor watched him go, then turned back to the exorcist once the door to his bedroom had shut. 

“Now then, how can I help this little wraith, hmm?” the man questioned to himself. He rubbed at his jaw as he glanced at Caleb, who had found a seat on the floor in front of him. 

“Are you adamant about not directly possessing your friend? It wouldn’t have to be permanent, but it might help you recover your form some.” 

Caleb’s outline wavered as he shook his head, making Taylor’s heart hurt as he carefully sat down beside him and took his cold, translucent hand. 

“Well… there is one other way, but it would take a lot of trust on your part,” he said to Taylor. 

He was surprised that he cared so much about Caleb after only having known him for a short time, and only his ghost, but he knew that he could trust the guy. 

“What is it?” 

The man pursed his lips and looked between them both, then began speaking. 

“I’ve never seen this method actually work, but I’ve heard stories… none of those have ever been between a human and a wraith, though. While wraiths are definitely considered the most powerful, there are limits to each supernatural form, as you have previous seen with the chalkboard example and banshees.” 

Taylor leaned closer, wanting him to talk faster so that they could start already. He knew that Caleb was on borrowed time and fading more by the second. He didn’t want to lose him by delaying something so important. 

The man seemed to get the picture since he stood up and gestured toward the basement. 

“Please, follow me.” 

Taylor hurried after him, but stopped at the entrance when Caleb didn’t stand up right away. 

“Kay?” he asked, silently noting the police officers still hovering by the open front door. They didn’t seem very interested in coming back in and the man was on his phone, so he continued to ignore them, returning his attention to Caleb. 

The boy looked up, but didn’t stand up. Confused and worried, he walked back over and gently lifted him up into his arms. He weighed almost nothing. It was like carrying a small bag of feathers. Careful not to drop him or let him sway too much, Taylor headed down to the basement. 

By the time he got there the exorcist was already standing before the skeleton on the bed. When he noticed them, he quickly gestured them over, then pointed to the skeleton. 

“Set him inside. He needs to be whole.” 

Taylor didn’t argue and hurried over, gently setting Caleb down on top of his skeleton. He faded into it immediately, disappearing completely. The sight had Taylor hesitating, wanting to reach out and try to pull him back out of it, but the exorcist grabbed his shoulder and guided him a few steps away. 

“Don’t disturb him. That’s what needs to happen,” he said as he lead Taylor back toward the foot of the bed. 

“We are running out of time, so I need you to put all of your effort into this. This might be our only chance,” he said, earning a quick nod from Taylor. 

The man gestured for him to kneel down, and he did as told right away. 

“Ghosts, banshees, and wraiths rely on memories and resentment to sustain themselves, but there is one other way to keep one on this plain,” he said, drawing Taylor’s wide eyes up to him. 

The exorcist gestured downward. 

“Pray, Taylor. If you want this boy to exist, you must care about him enough for him to feed off of your faith. His ethereal body needs a new reason to be here since his hatred has dissipated to this point… but I warn you. While his wraith form rests, the only other form he can have—” the sound of something moving on the bed met Taylor’s ears, but he refused to stop praying. He had been focusing all of his effort, all of his heart, into turning Caleb into his god. His reason to live. He had only known him for a short time, but he couldn’t imagine his life without the shy young man beside him. 

Stay with me, Caleb. I need you here. You’ve taken up so much space in my head that I can barely even think about anything else I used to care about. It’s all you, and I never want to change that. So please; please continue to exist for me. I need you. 

A shadow fell over his form as he stared at the ground, his focus broken by the movement. 

“Miraculous…” the exorcist mumbled as Taylor slowly allowed his head to lift, bringing his eyes up to what had moved closer to him on the bed. 

Eyes widening in shock, he stared up into two pitch-black eye sockets. The skeleton was on its knees on the bed, both hands in front of it, clearly uncomfortable and trying to hold its bones up. 

There’s nothing actually connecting the bones. 

“He’s quite an amazing example of a wraith. I’ve never seen them be able to move the skeleton for more than a few simple gestures before, yet he wants to be near you so badly that he’s already somewhat mobile,” the exorcist said in awe. 

Taylor was in awe, too, but he couldn’t push away the terror growing in his heart as the skeleton reached toward him with shaky, dusty fingers. Unable to control himself, he quickly scrambled backwards until his back bumped into the wall beside the old desk. His heart hammered in his chest, making it hard to get in a decent gasp of air. 

“Lad, you need to pull yourself together. Your friend is still himself, you just gave him a chance to rest his corporeal form so that he wouldn’t truly pass on,” the exorcist coaxed quietly as he knelt beside him and settled a hand on his shoulder. 

The moment the man touched him both of their eyes snapped back to the skeleton as a stuttered hiss somehow emanated from its slowly parting jaw bones. 

“O-oh, sorry Caleb,” the man said as he quickly removed his hand and stood up, then bowed once. 

The hissing quieted, drawing Taylor’s attention back and forth between the two of them. He was still a bit too shocked about the actual moving skeleton in front of him to really process the jealousy. 

Wait. Moving. 

His breath caught in his throat as Caleb maneuvered his new body off of the bed. It was no surprise, however, when he couldn’t balance. He might have gotten a more solid form, but his movements were sluggish, likely because he wasn’t used to having actual weight to move around. 

Taylor fought himself as he watched Caleb fall. He was terrified to even touch the skeleton, but it was old… several years old. It had been exposed to the air for quite some time, and several parts were already weakened by rodent bites and decay. 

He lunged forward before he could talk himself out of it, but right as his arms moved to wrap around the skeleton, he jerked his eyes closed. The feeling of worn porcelain met his fingertips as they slid for a moment before he forced himself to hold on. 

He barely weighs anything. 

Granted, he’d weighed almost nothing when he was a wraith, but for some reason he expected a skeleton to weigh more. He barely felt fifteen pounds in his arms, give or take. 

 His eyes finally refused to stay closed as the skeleton began to move, its actions extremely slow, with a few jerks in between. As much as he wanted to help, he couldn’t make his eyes look away from the ceiling. Smooth digits pressed against his skin one at a time as Caleb worked his way through moving each singular bone. 

I guess it makes sense that it’s a lot harder to move the skeleton than it would be to just move in his ethereal form. He has to tie together every single bone and coordinate them together, as well as hold them all in place correctly. 

Blinking back tears, Taylor looked down at the poor creature desperately holding onto him so that it didn’t fall. It looked pitiful. Pathetic, even, but he knew that it was an incredible feat. 

“You’re amazing,” he whispered softly. 

It looked like Caleb was trying to lift the head of the skeleton to respond in some way, but he just seemed to be too tired to complete the action, as it hunched back down several times before it stopped moving altogether. 

“He should rest for a while. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to suddenly have so much weight back on your body,” the exorcist said, but didn’t dare approach. 

Taylor agreed, and carefully began shuffling closer to the bed. It took a good while, since he had to wait for an-evidently very sleepy Caleb to match his actions. 

“It’ll be okay, Kay. Just going to lay you down to rest for a little bit,” he said quietly as he continued to guide Caleb back to the bed. 

It took them about twenty minutes before they were both finally sitting down on the edge. He’d had to be careful not to bump any of Nikolai’s bones on their way, too, which added more time. Not that he minded. 

“Okay, time for a little nap,” he said as he gently guided Caleb’s body to lie down. 

A faint cloud of dust rose from the bed as they moved on it, making Taylor make a mental note to get a new set of soft blankets and some pillows that weren’t flat and chewed on by bugs and rats. 

I really want to take him upstairs to the clean bed, but Adon probably just fell asleep, and to wake up next to a skeleton… I should just buy them a new bed for upstairs. 

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine to rest there for now. Besides, the undead are always more comfortable in the area that they died. That is why you rarely see them venture far away from it, even though some wraiths probably could,” the exorcist said as he gestured for them to head back upstairs. 

Taylor hesitated for several moments, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything else right then. 

“I’ll be back down soon, I promise. Get some rest, Caleb,” he reassured himself as much as he did the wraith. 

With that, he slowly followed the other man up the stairs. By the time he stepped onto the first floor, he felt like his entire body was weighed down by something heavy. 

What is going on? 

“Feeling it, I imagine?” the exorcist asked as he turned to Taylor with a smile that didn’t seem quite right. 

Feeling it? 

His mind felt jumbled as he took a step backward, then slid down the wall when he felt it against his shoulders-blades. 

“I’m surprised that he hasn’t knocked you out yet, but that just goes to show how amazing he’s going to be to study. I’m glad that all of my research about prayer transfusion was correct, too. I’ve never been able to get my hands on a wraith, let alone one so malleable, but you just made my dream come true,” the man said as he gestured for the officers to come back in. 

They didn’t look surprised by his predicament in the least, much to Taylor’s discomfort. 

They had fooled us all. 

He tried to look toward his bedroom, worried that something might have happened to Adon, but he couldn’t move his body anymore. 

“Don’t worry about your friend. That was all fine. You’re welcome for saving him, by the way. That banshee was draining his life-force pretty badly.”

Now unable to speak, Taylor simply glared up at the man, receiving a cackling laugh in return. 

“You’ll feel better in a little while… but by that time, we’ll be long gone,” the man said as he gestured for the officers to go downstairs. 

Get up. You have to get up! 

Yet he couldn’t move a single muscle. Not even his fingers responded any longer. 

Only a few short minutes passed before he heard people coming back up the stairs. When they finally walked into his line of sight, his heart fell into his stomach. 

Don’t take him. You can’t take him! 

The skeleton in the man’s arms was still holding itself together, but there was no sign of life from it as it hung limply in the cop’s arms.

Caleb!

“Take care, Taylor. Thank you for this invaluable opportunity,” the exorcist said as he headed out the door, taking the little plastic ring from Adon’s keys as he went. 

“Safe-keeping,” he said as he held it up and waved, but didn’t bother looking back at him as he stepped out the door, then slammed it shut.

Chapter 20: Fusion of the Heart

Taylor was out for nearly a day before he felt someone shaking his shoulders. He still felt exhausted, but as his mind began to return to its senses, he knew that he couldn’t afford to rest any longer. So, he pulled himself together and forced his eyes to open at the same time he gasped out in pain, “they took them, Adon.” 

“I know,” his friend said in a hushed whisper as he pulled Taylor forward into his arms for a strong hug. “I saw the ring missing from my keys and ran downstairs immediately. They took Caleb’s bones, too.”

Taylor didn’t even try to blink back tears as he returned Adon’s hug tightly, then replied as he buried his face against the man’s sweater. 

“The exorcist tricked me into putting Caleb into his bones. They took them, so they took him.” 

Adon seemed to pause for a few moments, taking in the information. When he released him and stood up, Taylor wiped off his wet eyes and watched the man walk over to the counter. 

“I don’t think they have him… at least, not unless he wants to be there.” 

What?

Taylor scrambled to his feet, stumbling a few times from exhaustion as he made his way over to the counter to stare down at what was making a smile appear on Adon’s lips. 

“The bones…”

Hesitantly, Taylor lifted a hand and gently touched one of the tiny fish bones. 

“Caleb? Are you able to hear me?” he asked, his voice nearly as quiet as a mouse. 

It would have been too good to be true. There was no way that he hadn’t just lost one of the best people he’d ever known. 

Feeling a warm hand settle on his shoulder, Taylor bit his lower lip and looked up into tired, dark-rimmed eyes. 

“We’ll get through this,” Adon said reassuringly as he turned his attention toward the chalkboard on the wall, nodding to it to draw Taylor’s eyes in its direction. 

Upon seeing new words scratched sloppily on its surface, Taylor hurried over. 

Wait… what? 

Adon’s arm wrapped around his middle as he felt his legs begin to give out, holding his weight as he reread the words with him. 

PLSE ADN HLP M. ND YOR BDY PRMLY.  

“But you said that you didn’t want to do that before,” Taylor said in a hushed whisper as he felt his shoulders sag. “You wouldn’t accept my body. Why would you ask him for his?” 

Taylor turned as he spoke, bringing his eyes up to meet Adon’s calm ones. 

“Why does he want your body and not mine? What did I do wrong?” he asked, not understanding. 

Adon reached up and gently ran his hand through Taylor’s hair a few times, trying to calm him. 

“He doesn’t want your body that way,” he finally said, making Taylor’s brows knit together. He still didn’t understand, which only made Adon’s lips turn up into a small smile. 

Taylor swallowed his unease and straightened, making Adon slowly lower his arms. 

“So what you’re saying, is that you’re giving yourself to him so that we can be together? Adon, you can’t do that,” he said, his voice raspy with stress. “We’ll find another way to save him.”

Adon shook his head once, his smile growing as he gently brushed Taylor’s bangs away from his eyes. 

“I trust him, Taylor. I feel like he knows things that we don’t, even though he is unable to convey them. He’s being honest, too, not trying to lie to get things his way. Don’t you trust him, Tay?” 

Taylor wanted to shake his head, if only to keep Adon from doing what he knew he had already decided on… yet he couldn’t. He slowly lowered his eyes until his forehead was pressed against Adon’s chest. 

“I trust him.” 

Adon hugged him one more time before walking over to the fish bones and picking up the sharpest of them. Taylor watched from where he stood as the man slowly but carefully dug the tip into his wrist. He thought that the bone would easily break, considering what it was and its age, but it wasn’t too surprising to see that it not only didn’t snap, it actually cut well, too. 

Caleb is there helping him do it. 

The line of blood rose halfway to the bend of his elbow before he pause abruptly, his body stiffening from some sort of shock. 

“Adon?” 

When the man didn’t respond, Taylor hurried forward, getting to him just in time to catch his falling body. 

“Adon? Adon, come on!” 

He shook the man a few times, checking for a pulse at his neck when he didn’t get a response. 

Thank god, he’s still here. 

Taylor looked around for a blanket and quickly located one that had previously fallen off the couch. He gently laid Adon down on the floor, then hurried to scoop up the blanket before coming back. He knew that being possessed was going to drop his body temperature, so he needed to make sure that he was able to get him warmed up fast. 

After draping it around his own back, Taylor pulled Adon into his arms, then got the rest of the large blanket wrapped tightly around them both. It was a bit awkward since Adon had some height and weight on him, but he wasn’t going to let the guy freeze just because he was slightly insecure about his own body. 

They stayed like that for some time with Taylor drifting in and out of a light sleep. Every hour or so he’d wake up and check on him, but there was barely any difference. It was good, at least, that he wasn’t losing too much body heat. The last time he woke up, some time around seven or so in the evening, he actually felt the man shift a little in his arms. 

“Adon? Are you there? Are you okay?” he asked nervously, leaning closer to try and catch anything he might whisper. 

He waited for a while before unfamiliar eyes blinked open to stare up at him in a daze. 

Wow, they look like a mix of Adon’s and Caleb’s. 

A huge smile widened his mouth as he exclaimed his excitement at just seeing the man awake again. 

“Was’… out,” Adon eventually mumbled, his lips barely able to manage the words. 

Taylor leaned a little closer, confused about what he was supposed to watch out for. There was nothing else in their home, for once, and he definitely didn’t seem able to move. 

“Watch out for wh—mph!” Lips sealed over his mouth as a hand grabbed the back of his head, pushing him closer. 

Adon began shifting his body around in his lap, eventually getting onto his knees so that he could lift his other hand to grasp the side of Taylor’s face and deepen the kiss.

 Taylor’s mind felt like there were a bunch of flies buzzing around, banging into walls as they tried to figure out which direction they were supposed to go with this new shocking development. None of them could figure it out, though, so he just stayed still, staring with wide eyes until finally, after what felt like at least five minutes, Adon leaned away enough for both of them to try and catch their breath. 

“Holy crap,” Adon eventually rasped as he let his hand slip from the back of Taylor’s head, then made himself remove the one against his cheek. 

“I’m sorry. I have so many new emotions going crazy in my head from him, but I couldn’t get control of that one,” he said, looking up after a few moments so that they could look at each other. 

They were both still panting hard, but Taylor was just trying to process what the guy was saying. 

“You’re… still Adon? You have control?” he asked, confused. He’d thought that Caleb would have taken over his body. He’d even said that he’d need it permanently. 

Adon smiled and rubbed at the back of his neck, then shrugged. 

“I am… but I’m not. It’s different then when Nikolai possessed me, though. We aren’t fighting each other for control, per say, but there are a lot of emotions and feelings shuffling around, trying to all find a place to exist without being erased by each other. Caleb is definitely here, though. That kiss was all him. He was super excited to get a chance to show you affection with a real body.” 

Taylor felt his face heat at his words. 

“I’m still kind of confused. Didn’t he take control to do that?” he asked, trying to put the pieces together so that they fit better. 

Adon chuckled and reached up, mussing the guy’s hair before leaning forward, only to stop himself and quickly lean away again. 

“Calm down, Kay. I promise I’ll do my part,” Adon said, seemingly to himself, before returning his attention to Taylor. 

“You know that I wouldn’t just kiss you out of the blue,” Adon said, earning a nod from Taylor. The guy had always been polite. He had become a good friend, but he never appeared to want to change that. He also had a girlfriend, and he didn’t seem like the type to even consider cheating. 

“Well, I think I’m going to have to break up with my girlfriend now. I might not have been one-hundred percent sure on my feelings towards you, but Caleb definitely is,  and I can’t really argue. You are pretty great. The amount of love he wanted to show you kind of forced my body to move before I could stop it. Thankfully that got the emotions to simmer down afterward,” Adon said, frowning as he sighed. “I’m still sorry about that. I wasn’t ready for so much need to suddenly smack me in the face.” 

Taylor let out a small chuckle and shrugged. 

“It’s fine. So, you’re… you, and him, now?” Taylor said, trying to wrap his mind around it as he stared at Adon’s eyes. 

“You know, your eyes are a mix of yours and Caleb’s. They’re really pretty,” he said, then looked away, feeling slightly nervous. 

Adon tilted his head, a familiar grin drawing Taylor’s attention back to the man’s face. 

Before he could react, Taylor was hugged so forcefully that he fell over onto his back. 

“Uh, Adon?” 

Adon nuzzled his face against Taylor’s chest as he replied, “I’m sorry, again. He… caught me off guard a second time. I swear I’ll try to reign him in better so that I’m not jumping you all the time.” 

Taylor was going to tell him that it was probably a good idea to do that, but at the same time, he could just imagine how Caleb felt. The guy could finally express himself after being perpetually frozen inside of a nearly-emotionless wraith for years. He couldn’t blame him for flooding Adon’s mind with strong emotions. 

“It’s alright,” he eventually said as he lifted a hand to settle atop Adon’s hair. When the man didn’t respond, he began running his fingers through it and closed his eyes to try and calm down a little. 

“Hey Tay?” Adon asked, making Taylor reply with a quiet “Hmm?” 

There was silence for a few moments before Adon responded. 

“Because he’s here now, possibly permanently, I think, at least until we figure out this new version of possession… that we, maybe, split our names? Caleb is part of me for the time being, and wants to exist… so maybe I should change our name for the time being?” 

The thought was a bit weird, but it was true that Caleb definitely seemed to have influence over his emotions. It could also change as they settled in with each other, so perhaps it was a good idea to recognize that he was there, too. 

“I’m sure he would love that. I think a simple version of your mixed names would work well,” Taylor said as he continued to run his fingers through Adon’s soft hair. 

“How about Cadon?” 

He heard the man still lying on top of him hum for a moment, then push himself up just enough to look down at him in the dimly lit room. 

The guy’s smile appeared brighter than any light in his house could. 

I see you, Caleb.

“That sounds perfect!” 

Taylor returned the smile and yawned, then slowly sat up so that Cadon had to move off of him. 

“Let’s get something to eat, then rest a little longer. Once we’re both fully recharged and you have a good idea of how you two are going to function together, we can go find our last missing piece?” 

Cadon stood up with a nod, then leaned down to offer him a hand up. 

“Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter 21: A Second Chance for Two

Waking up in someone else’s arms was definitely not something Taylor was used to… but he found that he didn’t really mind. Cadon had followed him to bed after they’d showered, separately, and asked if he could hug him while they slept. It was an odd request, but he let him do as he pleased. The added warmth was a tad uncomfortable, though. He’d been so used to the chill that came along with Nikolai’s banshee, and now that he was gone, the air-conditioner just didn’t seem to do much, especially with a warm body beside him. 

“Good morning,” came a mixture of voices from behind him that quickly had Taylor sitting up and looking at the man lying beside him. 

That’s not his voice, but at the same time, it is. 

He also looked a little different. His body was a little more tan, and his hair had darkened slightly. 

He’s… really handsome, now that I’m actually looking. 

“You’re going to make me lose control again if you keep looking at me like that, Tay,” Cadon said as he reached up and ran his fingers through Taylor’s messy hair. 

“S-sorry,” Taylor murmured as he looked away, only to realize that there was a light coming from beneath their door, meaning that someone had turned the light on in the other room. 

“Don’t worry. I called Sasha last night after you had fallen asleep and explained everything that had happened. She was upset about breaking up, at first, but then she decided to put her emotions on the back burner for now and help us get Nikolai back.”

Taylor was honestly surprised. She was way more mature than he gave her credit for. 

“She’s a sweetheart, and it sucks that things happened this way. I’m not regretting it, but I do need to actually sit down and talk with her when this is all over. I’m not one who likes using calls or texts to handle very personal situations,” Cadon said, earning a nod from Taylor. He definitely agreed with that. 

“Her exorcist friend, Martin, is also here. They talked about what might happen today, last night, and texted me this morning that they were coming over. I let them in and we talked for a bit, but I couldn’t keep myself from coming back here to check on you… then just getting back in bed so that you didn’t wake up alone.” 

I have a feeling its not going to be hard to fall for this guy. 

“They think that because we technically took Caleb back, that the other exorcist is going to return to try and reclaim him,” Cadon said, drawing Taylor out of his thoughts. 

They can’t really take him back now, though. He’s permanently part of Adoni. 

“They think that they’ll want him even more now that we’ve fused together.”

Frowning, Taylor reached forward and wrapped him in a strong hug. 

“I’ll never let them take you away. We’ll get Nikolai back and be rid of that exorcist,” he said reassuringly as he felt Cadon’s arms go around his waist and tug him closer. 

“We will. So… want to shower together before we get this show on the road? I’m sure they’ll be heading this way soon,” Cadon said with a smirk as he looked up at Taylor. 

The thought had his face burning as he quickly shook his head and climbed out of the bed. 

“I’m good. I got it,” he said as he hurried into the bathroom with an armful of clothing and shut the door to the sound of a quiet chuckle. 

When he stepped out of the shower, he could hear voices coming from the other room… and they sounded uncomfortably familiar. 

Quickly drying off, he yanked on his clothing and reached for the door handle. He very carefully turned it, then opened the door a tiny amount. 

He’d been correct. The male police officer and exorcist were standing with their backs to him. The bedroom door had been left open, giving him a decent view of the scene. He could also see Cadon sitting on the couch with someone next to him. 

Likely Sasha and her friend. 

He tried to think of a way to help them when his eyes zeroed in on the exorcist’s left hand. 

He’s got Nikolai’s ring!

Of course he’d bring it to try and bribe them, or threaten, if that didn’t work. 

We might stand a chance if I can get him out of that, but I don’t think I can sneak so close without being heard. 

He was about to try, though, since that seemed like his only option now, but right before he started pushing the door open he noticed something take form in front of his eyes that he couldn’t quite process immediately. 

You’re… 

The fish, which was about four inches long, was a beautiful translucent gold as it slowly swam about before his nose. It flicked its tail as it ascended a few inches, then wiggled downward when it wanted to lower its body in the air. 

Caleb must have sent you. 

He wasn’t sure why, though. 

Looking up, back toward the group in the living room, he suddenly realized that it wasn’t just the fish that was appearing. The entire wall he could see past the exorcist, which would normally be the front door, window, and part of the outer wall of the second bathroom, was now completely covered in iridescent fish tanks. All manner of creatures swam in the tanks, from little tiny darting fish to octopuses and grouper. 

You upgraded again, huh? 

It was gorgeous, but he knew that it wasn’t meant to distract him. Returning his attention to the exorcist and the cop, they both seemed perplexed by the sudden illusion, but refused to be swayed. The exorcist, especially, was getting angry as he pulled out a lighter and flicked it on, then held up the little plastic toy ring that held Nicolai’s soul. 

I can’t keep waiting. 

He quickly sprinted forward as more fish began to float around the different rooms. It took some effort not to try and dodge any and accidentally give himself away. 

Don’t look. Please don’t look!

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side this time. 

The exorcist turned right as he reached out toward the ring. It was yanked back, and without a hint of hesitation, the lighter was lifted up to it. 

Taylor only had a split second to make a decision, but he knew that once he’d done it, that it was definitely the right one. He closed his hand over the lighter’s flame right before the fire could catch hold of the little plastic ring. At the same time, he shoved his other hand forward and since he doubted the man would release it easily, he just slipped his pointer finger through the center. 

“Help me help save you and Kay!” he hissed out as pain radiated through his other hand from the burn he’d just obtained. 

While his hand felt extremely hot, the ice that suddenly shot through his veins chilled its way through his body in every single direction. The abrupt change in temperature had him gasping and dropping to his knees, but even as the exorcist tried to remove the ring or lighter from either of his hands… he couldn’t. 

“You are getting on my last nerve, boy!” the man yelled as the police officer beside him unclasped the gun at his side. 

Taylor wasn’t aware of the situation enough to react, already shivering and feeling as if something else was taking control. 

Caleb is now part of my human? 

The thought wasn’t his. 

Nikolai? 

He could feel the banshee test his arms and legs, clearly uncomfortable being in a body that wasn’t Adoni’s. 

He did it to save him, Nikolai. Caleb asked him for his body, and he agreed. They kind of melded together over time, and are still changing, but they’re going to really die for good if we can’t help them right now. 

The first response from Nikolai was a flare of rage that made Taylor want to whimper to the back of his own mind, but the banshee quickly changed emotions as he slowly lifted Taylor’s head and looked toward the couch. 

The fool exorcist, the crazy woman, and…

Cadon smiled and inclined his head slightly, his eyes now a perfect mix of Adon and Caleb’s. He took a few moments to process that they really had permanently fused, then lifted Taylor’s head toward the person immediately posing a threat to them. The gun was only a few inches from  his face, but the officer wasn’t the one talking, it was the stronger exorcist, the one that had tricked him and his little brother. 

“Take the ring off, Taylor. I’m only going to tell you this once,” the man said as he released his hand, clearly unable to remove it on his own. “That banshee will drain your life force faster than you think. You saw what it did to your friend.” 

He didn’t doubt that. His body was already freezing and it was becoming hard to breathe, or even stay awake. 

I’ll take care of this. Let me have control. 

Something frigid began to erase the heat from the burn in his palm, then extend outward. He looked down, in a daze, and saw Nikolai’s baseball bat materializing. 

“We need to shoot him before it can start attacking. As much as I didn’t want blood on my hands, we’re being paid too much to make a mistake at the end!” the exorcist said as he snatched the hesitant officer’s gun, then pressed it against Taylor’s head. 

“Sorry that things had to come to this. I tried to save you and your friend from them, but you just couldn’t keep from meddling,” he said as he began to squeeze the trigger. 

A long, drawn-out hiss began slipping from between Taylor’s slightly-parted lips, but the warning, unfortunately, fell on overconfident ears. Right before the gun went off, two arms appeared from behind the exorcist. One grabbed the gun and jerked it upright at the last second, sending its bullet into the middle of the chalkboard behind him, cracking it nearly in two. 

The other arm snaked beneath the man’s neck and then pulled back tightly, blocking off his airflow without an ounce of remorse. Taylor watched through his eyes, but Nikolai still had complete control of his body as he slowly stood up, a cold shiver of glee running through his system as he watched the person before him choking to death. 

“Welcome back, Niko,” Cadon finally said as he grinned from behind the exorcist. Even with the  man’s struggles, he couldn’t seem to break the hold around his neck, and without the officers help, who was now being surrounded by two people and a banshee, he quickly fell unconscious and dropped to the floor. 

The gun switched hands at that point, slipping into Cadon’s fingers as the man’s grip relaxed with his loss of consciousness. It was immediately turned toward the officer, but Cadon backed up a few feet so that the man couldn’t lunge for it and try to take it back. 

“You okay, Taylor?” Sasha asked as she knelt beside him, but hesitated to help get him to his feet. 

Nikolai still had control, and his baseball bat was still firmly grasped in his left hand. 

 “My father paid them to get rid of us, once and for all,” he finally said as he stood up and turned his attention to the police officer. The man looked like he was about to piss himself… and  he should. 

Taylor could feel Nikolai’s rage trembling just beneath the surface of his skin. He desperately wanted to swing his bat and strike the man until he was a bloody corpse on the floor… but they needed him alive. 

“Where are they?” Cadon asked, not wanting to waste anymore time. 

The officer glared at him, but Cadon just nodded toward Nikolai. 

“Want to kill him?” 

Taylor felt the banshee flare inside his body, sending icicles through his veins. 

“ Yes,“ Nikolai growled through his mouth, lifting his bat as if the simple question was a go-ahead to complete the deed. 

“Wait, wait! They only live about two blocks away. They wanted to stay close so that they could keep an eye on the situation. I can take you there right now, if you’d like,” he said, lifting his hands to try and calm Nikolai’s anger. 

He wasn’t sure if Nikolai could even follow if they tried to leave the house again, but the banshee definitely wanted to try. Thankfully, Cadon was the voice of reason in this odd situation, and quickly spoke up. 

“I have a better idea. Hey Sash?” 

Sasha was already dialing her phone as she smirked up at him and hit send, then lifted the item to her ear. 

“I got you, babe. Ex or not, I’m going to make sure that this situation gets straightened out and you boys can finally have some peace.” 

Martin took the time she was talking with the police department to walk over to Taylor. Nikolai was far more focused on the police officer, so he didn’t even spare the simple exorcist a glance. 

“Are you okay in there, Taylor?” he asked after observing him for a few moments. 

It took a lot of effort, but Nikolai did relent his control, partially, to allow him to respond. 

“Y-yeah, jut c-cold.” 

He gave an acknowledging nod to that, then turned when Sasha got off the phone and hopped up from the couch. 

“There are a few cars on their way here, and a few heading to the boy’s parent’s house. I also made sure to tell them about the other two officers you texted me about earlier. By the way, your parents hadn’t even changed their names, and Caleb’s mother simply just took Nikolai’s father’s, so it was easy to find them without this guy’s help,” she said as she walked to the door, unlocking it as she squinted through the illusion of fish tanks. 

It took only five minutes for the police cars to arrive. Once they had both the offending officer and the more powerful, yet still thankfully unconscious exorcist in handcuffs and out of the house, Cadon relinquished the gun he’d taken and sat down at the dinner table to discuss everything that had gone on. It was quite a long story, and at first, the officers didn’t seem to believe him… but it was hard to ignore the little goldfish swimming about their heads, or the translucent octopus that had escaped its imaginary tank by the door and was working on climbing up onto the table. 

“Don’t worry about them,” Cadon said for the third time as he reached out and picked up the animal, then got up to slip it back into its tank. 

“I was just getting to the part where the wraith kind of fused with me, so this is what he did to try and distract the officer and exorcist that had attacked us. I guess he can’t quite turn it on and off as he’d like, and I’m not too sure how to do it, either, but pay it no mind. They are harmless little guys.” 

A shark about four foot long nonchalantly swam between them on its way to nowhere, then disappeared into the wall right beside the gaping hole leading to the basement. A crime scene investigator had been working right near the opening and jumped abruptly, screeching like… well, a banshee. 

With both of their enemies on their way to a prison cell, Nikolai was much calmer and even assisted in the investigation. Of course, a lot of the workers were afraid of him, especially since he refused to put away his ethereal baseball bat, but thankfully he allowed Taylor to have some control, and also do most of the talking. 

It was about forty minutes later that the head officer decided to call the other group he had sent to their parent’s home and arrest them. There was more than enough evidence, and right off the bat he thought it was strange as hell to have built over a basement in general, and so abruptly right after both of your kids go missing, but that wasn’t something he had been aware of. The parents had covered it up perfectly… until their older son’s soul became trapped behind that wall and Taylor had moved in. 

They continued their discussion for another hour before Taylor was asked for the keys to the house so that the investigators could work as needed. They promised that they wouldn’t move Nikolai’s remains, and also said that they would immediately send out a task force to retrieve Caleb’s. Sasha and Martin had both given their testimonies concerning the events they had witnessed, then been asked to leave for the evening but remain in touch for questioning. They were hesitant to leave them both alone, but Cadon eventually convinced them that they would be fine. 

With that done, Taylor was given full control of his body as Nikolai retreated to rest and quickly packed himself a large suitcase, then walked back into the living room area at the same time Cadon brought his own to the front door. 

“Here are the card keys to a hotel room on the other side of town. Don’t tell anyone that you are there. No other officer knows about this, I grabbed the room on my way here after what your friend told me. I figured that we would probably need to investigate for a while. I’ll call you tomorrow to check in, but for now, please go get some rest,” the head officer said as he handed them each a key, then turned to head toward the basement. 

“I guess this is it for tonight… and possibly the majority of this whole thing,” Taylor said quietly as they wheeled their suitcases out to Adon’s car and hopped in. 

Cadon immediately locked the doors, then reached into the back and retrieved a blanket to tightly tuck around Taylor’s shivering body. 

“T-thanks, didn’t realize I was this cold.” 

Smiling, Cadon mussed up his hair before getting them on the road. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll get this all taken care of… and then figure out how we can tie up our last loose string.” 

Taylor looked up into the pull-down mirror on his side, frowning as a second set of eyes flashed through his own for a brief moment. 

“We’ll figure something out. I won’t let him suffer for the rest of his existence, and I don’t want him to die.” 

Cadon nodded. 

“We’ll figure it out. Let’s rest for tonight, then deal with everything else tomorrow.” 

Taylor nodded and curled up as best he could with his seatbelt on. 

“I’m sorry to fall asleep so suddenly…” 

Cadon chuckled and winked at him before returning his attention to the road. 

“I know how it is. Nikolai can’t help but chill your body and make you extra tired. Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you up when we get there.” 

Thank you. 

It didn’t take long before he was out cold, finally able to relax a little with most of their immediate troubles off their shoulders.

Chapter 22: Breathe

Cold…

Taylor blinked open heavy eyelids as his mind began to awaken. He felt a faint kiss press against his forehead at the same time warm arms tugged him closer. 

This isn’t my room. 

He was a little surprised, at first, but when his memories of the previous day began to return, he gave a tired sigh of relief and looked up into Cadon’s watching eye. 

“Good morning,” he rasped, then shivered. 

He probably should have taken the ring off since the danger had passed, but after what had almost happened, he couldn’t find it in himself to do it. 

I do not want to return to it yet, came Nikolai’s voice inside his mind. It was quiet, almost seeming as tired as he, himself. 

Taylor felt lips press against his own and blinked out of his thought communication with Nikolai. He would have returned the kiss, and he technically did, but as soon as he stopped paying attention to Nikolai, the darn banshee took his body! 

He felt his right hand reach forward and entwine itself in Cadon’s hair, pressing their mouths painfully closer together. Even Cadon seemed a bit shocked by the abrupt force as his eyes jerked open after having closed. 

Taylor felt Nikolai move his body overtop Cadon’s, then sit on the man’s lower abdomen once he rolled onto his back. 

“Niko?” Cadon asked as he tilted his head on the pillow slightly. 

He seemed to pause at hearing his name, then tilted his lips up into a curious, yet awkward grin. 

“You are truly alive now,” he finally said as he pressed his palm to the side of Cadon’s face. 

Taylor could feel the excitement and relief coursing through his system from Nikolai. He couldn’t imagine how much his brother had worried since they’d been murdered. He might not have been able to verbally say anything, but just the fact that he’d guarded his brother’s corpse for so many years, diligently watching and protecting… no words were needed. 

“I’m alive, Niko,” Cadon said as he sat up, then leaned forward. 

To Taylor’s surprise, Nikolai leaned backward, preventing the kiss that Cadon had tried to press to his lips. 

Weren’t you kissing him a minute ago with me? 

Brother… Didn’t know before. 

Taylor felt Nikolai’s control slip and quickly took it back in confusion. 

“Your step brother?” Taylor asked, though already knew the answer to his question. 

A light chuckle from Cadon drew their focus to him again. 

“I think that kiss he pursued was more because of Adon than Caleb.” 

Oh, that makes sense. 

“Wait a minute. Nikolai likes  Adon?” Taylor asked in disbelief. “I thought he just possessed him.”

Cadon grinned and leaned forward again, and immediately, Nikolai took control and leaned back. 

Okay, this is kind of cute. 

Nikolai grumbled from between his lips and gave Taylor his body back, but was still clearly uncomfortable with the idea of kissing his step brother. 

“Niko, I want to do things with Taylor,” Cadon said, Caleb’s cheekiness shining through. 

Taylor blinked, his face warming at the other man’s words. 

Feeling Nikolai take control back again , he noticed him reaching over to remove the ring on his finger that held his soul, but right before he could, Taylor pushed him back out of control. 

“You two are adorable,” Cadon mused right before his cell phone rang on the bed beside him. 

Taylor quickly scrambled out of his lap, but before he could climb off the bed he felt an arm slip around his waist and tug him to sit beside Cadon. 

“Hello officer,” Cadon said as he lifted his phone between them both, allowing Taylor to easily hear the conversation without needing to put it on speaker. 

“Good afternoon, I’d like to report that with the exorcist’s testimony, we have arrested not only the officer involved in this case, but also the parents of the two deceased boys. They are all being held at our high security prison.”

Cadon nodded and smiled at Taylor as he replied, “that’s great. I know that we spoke earlier this morning, but are there any issues with what was explained?” Cadon asked, making Taylor’s brow furrow. 

They had spoken while I was asleep?

“While your story does seem farfetched, the exorcist that was involved in this case is extremely powerful and highly sought after to deal with dangerous cases. He has confirmed that both spirits are still present in this world. You said that one has now been permanently fused to your own body, as well. The wraith, Caleb, if I remember correctly?”

Cadon leaned over and settled his head against Taylor’s shoulder, moving the phone to his left ear but still easily within audible range for them both. 

“Yes, he asked me if he could use my body permanently, and I agreed. As of right now, though, Nikolai is confined to a small ring that the exorcist had put him in.”

The officer made an acknowledging sound, then replied, “we have decided to consider awarding their parent’s assets to them, but it will be a bit of a procedure. Because of the severity of this type of case, and how infrequent it is in our town, or in general, their trial will be pushed forward to begin next month. We’ve already collected a lot of evidence and taken statements from everyone involved except for you two, but we can get those later today when you’re available.”

Taylor leaned over slightly, settling his chin on top of Cadon’s soft hair so that his mouth could be closer to the speaker. 

“We would be glad to give statements. I currently have Nikolai with me, as a partial possession.”

There were a few sounds on the other end of the call before the officer replied, “the exorcist did warn us about him. Are you doing alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. He’s calmed down a lot since we’ve been able to communicate. I think we will be able to work with him,” Taylor said, honestly feeling like they might have a chance to really get through to Nikolai now. 

It definitely helped that they found his one weakness. Well, Caleb had always been his weakness, but now it was Caleb’s affection for Taylor that was making the banshee nervous and less aggressive. 

“That’s good. Please give me a call if there are any issues.”

They hung up after agreeing, but before the phone was even lowered back to the bed, Taylor felt something warm and wet brush against his throat. 

He fumbled backwards, falling right off the bed and onto the floor with a grunt. 

“Oops, I didn’t think that would startle you so much,” Cadon said as he dropped his phone onto the bed and stood up, licking his lips twice. 

Taylor rubbed his right shoulder as he glared up at the man leaning down and offering his hand to him. 

“I’m sorry. I need to get better control of myself,” Cadon said as Taylor hesitantly took his hand, accepting the help as he got back to his feet. 

Glancing at man a few times in between looking away, Taylor eventually inched his way toward the bathroom, picking up his small backpack he’d brought with him. 

“I’m just going to take a quick shower,” he said, getting an eyebrow raise from Cadon. 

Nikolai slipped into control at that moment, turning Taylor’s expression into a scowl as he pointed at him. 

“You’re not invited.” 

Thankfully, Cadon didn’t even try to argue and simply sat down on the bed to make a few more phone calls. Taylor took his time in the shower to try and relax, as well as speak with Nikolai.

“I wonder what we should do about this situation. I know that I can’t just keep wearing your ring without some bad side effects, but do you have any other, safer way of possessing me?” 

Nikolai took over his body as he finished speaking, and since he couldn’t feel any kind of malicious intent, he didn’t put up a fight. The first thing he did was turn his head into the warm spray of the water and close his eyes, sighing as the warmth heated their chilled body. 

“Safer… no,” Nikolai replied stoically. 

Not safer, but there is a way? Why is it not safer? Do you have to to kill me? 

He was partially joking, but when Nikolai simply nodded into the spray of water, Taylor felt his heart shiver. 

“If I can consume your blood from the inside to the point where your heart stops beating, I can meld myself to your body… but I refuse to try.” 

Refuse? That doesn’t sound like the Nikolai I know. 

Not that he was upset. He didn’t exactly want to be bled to death. 

“You might not die from it, if I can keep your heart pumping long enough for you to receive appropriate medical care, but I will not risk Caleb’s lover for my wants.”

Lover? 

He felt Nikolai tilt up the edges of his lips as he began calmly washing their shared body. 

“Several people have entered our home after our death. Some, Caleb ignored, some, he scared off… but there was only ever one that he intentionally tried to contact, again and again.”

His dreams? 

“I tried to stop him, because I didn’t want him to get hurt again. We were already dead and had no emotions, but he somehow still got attached to you.”

He really did. Looking back at our interactions, he was actually following me around the house quite often, and even wrote on the chalkboard to talk with me a lot. 

“I’m not surprised that he has your friend eager to touch you after they became one, and I am not as opposed as I thought I would be, but with me in this body as well…”

Do you not like Adoni? 

Nikolai scoffed as he began scrubbing their hair. 

“He is my human.”

That’s… not really a valid answer. 

“I am not human now, unlike my brother. My emotions are extremely limited.” 

Oh, right. I guess I’ve just forgotten since you’ve calmed down so much. 

“Most of the hatred that has been clouding my mind for years has dissipated, but that alone cannot bring back who I was,” Nikolai replied, his voice sounding surprisingly tired. “It is best that you remove my ring for the time being, as well. I have no ill will toward you, and at this time, I can only cause you harm.”

Taylor nearly stumbled when Nikolai suddenly shoved him back into control, then retreated to the back of his mind. 

“Nikolai?” 

When he got no response, Taylor shook his head and finished his shower, then stepped out to dry himself off and wrap a towel around his waist. 

He moved over to the mirror and nearly tripped when he saw the dark circles under his eyes and the fatigue in his features. 

Wow, he really has drained me. No wonder I’m so tired and cold. 

Looking down at as he raised his right hand, Taylor hesitated for a few moments, but eventually removed the little pink ring. The second it left his finger he felt all of the cold within his body vanish, leaving him staring at the little plastic item.

“To willingly go back so that I could rest… You’ve changed more than you think, even with limited emotions. I’ll find a way to bring you back, Nikolai.” 

“We both will,” came Cadon’s response from the other side of the door. 

Taylor carefully opened it to see his friend smiling on the other side, his arms crossed over his chest and a warm smile on his face. He’d changed his clothes and was now wearing a dark red shirt, black jacket and blue jeans. 

He looks really good…

“Feel free to stare as long as you’d like,” Cadon said, his smile widening as Taylor quickly grunted and shut the door so that he could get dressed in peace. 

“We’ll head down to give our statements and sort things out once you’re ready,” Cadon said from the other side of the door before Taylor heard him walk away. 

Looks like it’s time to finally end this. 

Staring at the ring still in his hand, he carefully slipped it into the bottom of his backpack, then got changed. By the time he was ready and out of the bathroom, Cadon had returned their few items to the car and was waiting in it with a couple breakfast sandwiches. 

Taylor didn’t hesitate to take the ones meant for him and give his thanks. He was nervous, but definitely hungry, too. They had a big day ahead of them, and he had no doubt that the officers would want to talk to Nikolai, too, so he needed to keep his strength up for when he had to put the ring back on. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here the whole time, just like I’ve always been. I’m not going anywhere, Tay.”

Taylor glanced up at him, but instead of replying, he simply nibbled at his second sandwich. He couldn’t argue with the man, though. He’d been there from the beginning, and he hadn’t hesitated, even once, to step up and help him when thing got bad. 

Thank you, Adoni, and Caleb. You both have come to mean the world to me. 

(This was going to be the last chapter, but I guess it wasn’t done yet lol)

Chapter 23: Saying Peace

Taylor hugged his backpack to his chest as he settled into a chair across from a couple that he could easily guess were Caleb and Nikolai’s parents, even if he hadn’t been told beforehand. The police chief had asked him and Cadon if they wanted to speak with them, and Cadon had accepted. 

He wasn’t sure why, though. 

Glancing sideways, Taylor watched as Adon sat himself down beside him, his eyes narrowed on the two people opposite them. There was an officer sitting at each end of the table, one of them being the chief, himself. 

Squeezing the backpack a little tighter, Taylor slowly straightened and looked at Caleb’s mother. Her attention was locked onto Cadon, and he didn’t doubt that he saw her son in his features. 

She really does look like Caleb, too. They have similar eyes and hair color, among other things. 

“You wanted to meet with us. What did you want to say?” Cadon asked as he tilted his head slightly. 

Taylor wasn’t sure how he wasn’t breaking down. Adon knew everything, and now part of him is even the person, himself, who had gotten murdered by the woman before him. Yet, he was holding himself together perfectly fine, and even seemed interested in what his murderer and mother had to say. 

“I wanted to tell you that your father is sorry for what he did to you, Caleb.”

What? 

Cadon slowly tilted his head the other way, taking in what she was saying, but not responding in any other way. 

Taylor took that moment to look at the man across from himself. He seemed stoic and sat straight in his chair, as if he had accepted whatever was said, and what was going to be added. 

What is going on?

The police chief leaned forward and addressed him and Cadon, drawing their attention. 

“So, I wanted to talk to you about this when you got here instead of over the phone because of its importance,” he said, making Cadon raise an eyebrow for him to continue. 

“Well, the statements for these two are a bit different than what you boys have told me, but they correlate with what the exorcist has said, so I need more information from you two.” 

Taylor felt a cold sweat beginning to shiver down his spine, but it stopped abruptly when Cadon slipped his hand into his own beneath the table, then squeezed gently.

“Not a problem, officer. Taylor? I think this is where you get the chance to tell your story, for real,” he said, drawing Taylor’s eyes up to his own beautiful ones. 

The smile there, half from Caleb and half from Adon, made his heart swell in his chest. 

“Okay,” he whispered quietly, then sat up straighter and looked across the table at the two older adults who were now staring at him with nervous, but dark, eyes. 

“I bought that house because of its price and location. It was perfect for me, and only needed a few upgrades here and there,” he began. 

“Little did I know that there were two skeletons beneath my feet when I settled down for my first night of sleep.”

He looked to his right with a warm smile, seeing Caleb’s appearance mixed in with Adon’s perfectly. 

“That was when I first encountered Caleb, though he didn’t show himself to me yet. He let me into his dream.”

He leaned back and smiled at the memory. It had truly taken him by surprise, but what a wonder it had been. 

“Walking down those steps that I didn’t even knew existed yet… There was a hot tub right as I got downstairs to my right. It looked so inviting, with the smaller jets running to send little ripples through the surface of the water.”

He paused for moment as he reminisced. 

“But that wall of fish tanks behind it? Far more impressive. I didn’t realize it was a dream right away, and just thought that some cool, rich squatter was hanging out in my house,” he said with a slight laugh. 

“As I looked further around the room, I noticed a large, king-sized bed on the other side, and a black stove in the corner. At the time, I didn’t realize that the apple peeler on the stove with a little destroyed tomato within its blades meant something. I thought that it was strange to try and peel a cherry tomato in general, but with an apple peeler? Just odd.”

He looked to Cadon, who was staring at him with a proud grin. 

“I then found the calendar.” 

He paused for a moment, then added. “I forgot to mention that this entire time, and even when I was conscious, I was hearing a clinking sound, as if something metal was hitting something else metal, like pipes being banged together… or a metal baseball bat hitting a railing or pipe.”

His hand slowly inched its way into his backpack as he continued his story.

“At first, that calendar said Run!  on the twenty-second, but when I looked again, it had changed to happy birthday. “

He licked his lips and fought off his hesitancy to continue. He was worried about painting Nikolai in a negative light, but the truth had to be said, even if it made someone look bad. It hadn’t been the banshee’s fault. 

“I had decided that I’d had enough of that situation and headed for the stairs, but the hot tub… for some reason, it called to me. I ended up settling into it, just to try and relax for a few moments. Well, before I could even take a few calming breaths, something had grabbed my ankle and yanked me beneath the water, forcing me to wake up in my bed upstairs, soaked and confused.” 

The two across from them looked at each other, a faint shine of hope in their eyes that made Taylor’s stomach twist nervously. They thought that he was crazy. He would have felt worse, but that hand in his own steadied his resolve and made him continue. 

“I brushed off the dream at that point. It was just a dream, anyways. But the next day, when I was trying to eat dinner on the couch, it got cold. It wasn’t cold outside, and I didn’t have the air-conditioner on, so it made no sense to feel a chill constantly,” he said as he slowly looked down at the little pink ring he’d removed from his bag. 

All eyes went to the item, but he was extremely cautious, almost protective, of anyone who even twitched in its direction. He refused to let anyone else wrong Nikolai. 

“That’s when I first encountered him,” he whispered as he stared at the little ring. 

“I didn’t understand it at the time, but he was standing on the other side of that wall. Standing guard, staying rooted to that spot so that if anyone ever discovered that basement, he could protect his little brother from harm.”

A sad smile wandered onto his face as he blinked back tears. 

“He didn’t have the mental ability to understand that his brother had died along with him. He was guarding a corpse for years while feeling like he was freezing to death over and over again.” 

The police chief leaned back in his chair slightly and crossed his arms calmly over his chest. 

“That is quite a tale. I’m curious, how did you finally meet either of them face to face?” he asked with interest, but surprisingly, no humor. He was honestly trying to believe him. 

“Well, I first realized that there was something behind the dreams when I was forced into another. It was the same set up, but it was colder at the top of the stairs when the dream first started. I really didn’t want to slowly wade through it again like last time, so I hurried down them, but then things began to change. The chill that I had left upstairs began to seep downward, and at the same time, I heard that thumping sound, but this time it didn’t sound like metal on metal. It sounded like someone was dragging something down the stairs, making it thump each time it hit a stair.”

He paused again, hesitated for a moment, then slowly slipped the ring on. A harsh chill sank into his bones, making him cough a few times before he was able to open eyes that clearly belonged to Nikolai and not himself. 

“I had planned to kill him. He’d escaped from me when I’d dragged him underneath the water in the hot tub. Caleb had woken him up, but I couldn’t process that at the time. I wanted him away from my little brother. He was a human, and humans killed us. I could easily kill him inside of my brother’s dream if I tried again, so I brought my baseball bat and made my way towards him while remaining invisible,” came Nikolai’s voice, clearly having taken over. 

Taylor blinked a few times, making one of his eyes change to its normal color so that he could continue with his own story, too. 

“Caleb ended up intervening, though. Nikolai had me trapped by the fish tanks, but for some reason, Caleb stepped in front of him, and of course, he would never harm his brother,” Taylor said, nodding slightly to Cadon, who smiled back at him, clearly remembering, and not regretting that moment in the least. 

“When I woke up the next morning, Adoni’s girlfriend, at the time, Sasha, was there and had decided to hang up a chalkboard to try and communicate with whatever was in my house,” he said, earning a nod from the chief. 

“Yes, she gave us a very thorough statement of everything that happened. You have a very good friend there, boys,” he said, earning a nod from them both before Taylor felt Nikolai take partial control back. 

“They researched once Caleb contacted them, and figured out that my brother and I had both disappeared at the same time, and considering that there were two possible entities in the house, they concluded that it was us,” he said, his eyes locking with Caleb’s mother. 

Taylor could feel the hatred bubbling through his system like shards of glass and ice, but he did his best to meet that chill with a warmth of his own. 

This is our chance. Your chance. Attack them with words. 

Nikolai let out a quiet growl through his lips, startling the officers, but thankfully, neither pulled a gun or responded in a negative way. 

“I nearly killed Adon trying to possess him. Thankfully, I succeeded and he healed, and while I had a lot of trouble controlling myself at first, we eventually began to be able to work together after I took complete control. Being able to breathe again, and just not be freezing every day allowed me to slowly return to my senses. I still do not have the same emotions as a normal person, and my cognitive ability is still recovering, but Adon gave me a chance to exist again… and to tell our story so that the one who killed us is brought to justice.”

His eyes remained on Caleb’s mother as he spoke, refusing to look anywhere else. 

“Caleb managed to show Taylor a dream of the attack that killed us, but it wasn’t until later that we were able to verbally say that his mother had bludgeoned us both to death with the metal baseball bat I now carry with me,” he said, watching the woman try to hide her anger behind a forced, slight-smile. 

“It has been so very long since that day, Nikolai,” his mother started. “I know that you love your brother dearly, but that day did not play out that way. I was at the grocery store when that happened, buying food for Caleb’s birthday party later that evening,” she said calmly before looking at her husband. 

There was a gleam to her eyes that told Adon and Nikolai that she was going to begin spinning her tail now, and that, judging from the man’s expression and posture, they had agreed to use him as the scapegoat. 

“I was the one who killed you both,” Nikolai’s father finally said, proving that he was intending to take the fall. 

“You were not,” Nikolai replied immediately, not even bothering to look at his father. His eyes were squarly locked on Caleb’s mother. Adon could feel the immense amount of effort it was taking the banshee not to leap across the table and snap her neck. 

You’re doing amazing. I’m here for you, and so is Caleb and Adon. We can do this… the right way. 

Nikolai licked his lips and lifted his free hand to point at the woman. 

“You bludgeoned your son to death because you didn’t like that he wanted to be a social worker instead of a chemist or whatever else he was smart enough to do. You were mad because he wanted to move out with me and travel the world’s oceans and study fish for fun when he wasn’t working. You were mad because eight months before his birthday, he confessed that he was gay… but you tried, so many times, sometimes even multiple times a day, to force him to change his mind. You wanted grandkids from me, but you, at least, in your own words, didn’t want your own son to be a disappointment who liked boys. You already treated him poorly. Putting him in the basement with just a crappy mattress and a fish bowl. Yet you expected him to grow up to be an obedient child who would stay with you and not move away or choose a career path that didn’t pay a hefty sum that you could mooch from.”

He took a breath and finally looked away from her, his attention turning to Cadon. 

“You wanted to change him to be what you wanted and what you could manipulate. And when you couldn’t do that? The day of his birthday. The day he would turn eighteen and earn his freedom from having to live in the basement with his treasured little fish and shoddy tiny bed, you beat him to death.”

The woman turned her ice-cold eyes back to her husband, who took the hint and quickly leaned forward calmly. 

“I’m afraid that your memory has been distorted, son. I killed you and your brother. I had lost my temper and could not stand that he was gay. I took it out on him, and when you tried to defend him, I killed you to keep from having a witness.” 

Liar. 

“You loved Caleb almost more than me, your own son.”

The man blinked abruptly, but quickly bit back any kind of emotion that might have slipped free of his façade. 

“You loved him, but by the time you heard what was going on downstairs, it was too late. He was already critically injured, and I was beaten so badly that it was unlikely that I would live, either, even if you tried to stop her,” he said, making Taylor want to hug him. 

Since he couldn’t physically do it, he wrapped his free arm back around the backpack in his lap and squeezed Cadon’s hand tighter. 

“We were dead either way, so you decided to just go along with what your wife wanted. You let us take our last breaths down there as you sealed up the basement permanently, ignoring your bleeding, unconscious sons. Then you went about your life as if nothing had ever happened.”

His father seemed like he wanted to reply, but he didn’t seem able to. Instead, his wife smacked her hand on the desk between them and hurried to speak. 

“We put out Amber Alerts for both of you! Of course we were worried! And I didn’t kill you!” 

Nikolai had Taylor’s body lean back in their seat and smile knowingly. 

“You were trying to blame him for beating us to death, but then you said that you put out Amber Alerts for us. So, after my father allegedly beat us to death, you decided that you didn’t know where we were and were so worried that you notified the police to put out the alerts after sealing up the basement for no reason? Your story has more holes in it than my skeleton does from the droves of rats that had gnawed on my decomposing body in that decrepit basement!” 

The floor shook slightly with his yell, but thankfully he calmed himself and remained in his seat… but just barely. 

The police chief seemed to realize that things were going to get harder to manage and stood up, but not before he looked toward Nikolai and smiled. 

“Lad, are you able to tell that story, in full, in front of a judge and jury without getting too upset? This case will likely go to a death penalty, and if you can give us enough detail that our forensic scientists can corroborate your story after they go over the scene, we might be able to convict.”

Caleb’s mother started jumping to her feet, but when Nikolai met her with a ferocious snarl as he, too, got to his feet, she quickly sat back down with fearful, wide eyes. 

It’s okay. Let’s sit back down and talk to the police chief. 

Nikolai did as told, turning his attention back to the other man. 

“Yes. I will tell this story to them. I will tell them the truth,” he looked toward Cadon and nodded. 

Cadon smiled and looked up at the police chief. 

“Yes, both of us will tell everyone what had happened. We will see to it that we get justice for ourselves… the right way.” 

The police chief nodded and gestured for them to leave. 

“I will contact you shortly for the trial dates. Thank you for coming today.” 

Nikolai allowed him to slip the ring off at that point, making Taylor sigh with relief as the chill left his body. He quickly stood up and after slipping the ring back into his back and settling it over his shoulder, he walked out with Cadon, the weight in his chest from the stress of the situation loosening the slightest amount. 

They would testify against Caleb and Nikolai’s parents and finally get justice for them, but they had one more thing they needed to tend to first.

Need to find that exorcist…

(Okay, this is technically the end chapter but the epilogue is going to go into actually finishing off the full story and what happens a bit afterward. Look forward to it? :3)

Epilogue

Taylor walked with his hand in Cadon’s as they made their way down the dimly lit hallway. They had taken a trip to the maximum security prison in the next town over. It was the only place that was strong enough to hold someone who could use magic. 

They’d had the police chief call ahead and get them clearance to speak with the exorcist, with guards present, of course. 

The man was in a small cell within a white room. He was in a prison jumpsuit, all of his previous beads and mystical items were gone. 

He looked up as the guards opened the door, then stepped in to either side, allowing himself and Cadon to walk in after them. 

“Ah, didn’t think that I’d be seeing you two again so soon. What do I owe the pleasure?” the man said, clearly not worried about his current state of affairs. 

He hadn’t physically harmed them at all, though there were definitely implications to what he had done. The guy wouldn’t be getting off scot-free.

“Actually, I believe I can guess what you want. You know that my testimony is only what your parents have told me, so that would be useless to you both… but my skills? You want to keep your banshee friend in this world, correct?” 

Taylor quickly nodded, not one to beat around the bush. 

“I’m afraid that the only way that he can be permanently alive is for him to drain your blood from the inside-out while you’re wearing that little pink ring. It’s dangerous as hell, and if you aren’t already in a hospital, with doctors waiting on you arm and leg, you’ll die from it.” 

The man pointed at the backpack Taylor still had hanging over his shoulder. 

“You should leave that creature be just as it is, boy. Your friend is extraordinarily lucky that his fusion with the wraith went so well, but a banshee? It’s not possible.”

Taylor was about to speak when Cadon stepped forward, a hint of something in his eyes that had him curious. 

“What about me?” 

The man frowned, confused. 

“What about you, boy?” he asked, clearly as confused as Taylor was. 

“I have a wraith already. What about adding a banshee?” 

Wait. 

“You—” 

What the heck could he say to that?

“You wanna die early, huh?” the older man said, clearly unimpressed by his idea. 

He was about to say something else when he stopped abruptly, then looked over to Taylor. 

“Let me see that ring, boy.” 

Licking his lips nervously, Taylor made his way closer and unzipped his bag. He carefully took the ring from it, then after another moment of hesitation, handed it over. 

The exorcist lifted it up to the dim light so that he could look through the center. 

“You want to try it, boy? Maybe your brother can help save you.” 

The ring seemed to shiver in response, making the exorcist make a humming sound as he thought for a moment, then replied. 

“The human might not survive, but you and your brother probably would. You would have a body.”

Taylor felt his blood run cold as looked over to Cadon. He seemed cool and collected, but at the same time, he could tell that he was nervous. The fingers on his left hand were fiddling with one of the beltloops on his pants and he was blinking a little more than usual. 

“You don’t have to do this. This is your life, Adon. You already gave away part of yourself to allow Caleb to live. You don’t need to sacrifice anymore,” Taylor said. 

Cadon turned and pulled him into a hug, but Taylor didn’t miss the small uneasy smile on his lips as he did so. 

“Don’t worry, Tay. I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything. If anything, I’ve gained another outlook on myself, and of how I see the world. Caleb is a sweetheart, and he’s added nothing but good things. You and I both know that Nikolai is also a good person, but has had it much harder with him being a banshee. If I can free him from that, I’d gladly take on a second change. Besides, I’m confident that Caleb won’t let me die.”

The ring shook again in the man’s hand, drawing their attention as a long moment of silence followed. When it was finally lowered, the exorcist sighed and reached out toward Cadon, offering the item. 

“He would like to try. He said that he will do his best not to hurt you in any way, but he wants to live.”

Cadon released Taylor and took the little ring without hesitation, then turned toward him before offering it. 

“I think it would mean the most if you put it on me, hmm?” 

Taylor bit back his response as he felt his face warm. Either way, he took the ring and, when Cadon lifted his left hand, slid it onto his ring finger. 

The reaction was immediate, and Taylor barely had time to catch Cadon as his body dropped. He carefully but quickly lowered him, settling the guy in his lap so that he could wrap his arms around his shivering form. 

“He’s going to get very cold. I would suggest that one of you fetch him some blankets… unless you want a dead boy on your hands,” the exorcist said to the guards standing by the door. 

They both looked at each other nervously, then one swiftly ran from the room. He was probably just wanting to get away from whatever the hell was happening, but thankfully, he returned with an armful of blankets a few moments later. 

Taylor tucked them around Cadon as best he could as the exorcist reached forward and pressed two fingers to the unconscious man’s forehead. 

“It’s quite busy in there,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes, seeing things that Taylor would hopefully never dream of. “Their three souls aren’t quite happy with each other being stuck so close together. Thankfully, Caleb and Adon’s have already fused, but with Nikolai’s suddenly being added… it’s a bit hectic and it caused him to pass out.” 

Taylor wanted to ask the obvious question as the main leaned away, about whether or not Cadon would be okay, but he knew not to bother with it. He just had to wait and hope for the best. 

“Rest up. I’ll be here for you when you awaken,” Taylor said as he got comfortable against the wall, then leaned his head back and closed his own eyes. 

He wasn’t sure if the guards left or not, but when he awoke, the room was relatively darker and the door was shut. One guard was still present, standing in the opposite corner with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“You know…” came a gruff, whispered voice from below him, drawing Taylor’s widening eyes downward. 

Cadon smiled up at him sleepily, his left eye shining with the color of Nikolai’s. 

“You’re supposed to kiss your prince to wake him up.” 

“But the exorcist would prefer no PDA, thanks. Let’s talk a bit more before I send you strange ones off, shall we?” 

Taylor helped Cadon sit up straighter, but the guy was stubborn and didn’t want to get out of his lap. 

Fine. Just stay. 

Cadon gave him a sideways smile before they both turned their attention to the man on the cot in front of them. 

“Alright boys, so, good news. It worked… kind of.” 

Kind of?

“Kind of?” Cadon asked, mirroring Taylor’s thoughts. 

The exorcist nodded, then leaned forward with his lower arms on his knees. 

“Your fusion worked… but I’m afraid that his soul is still attached to that ring.”

They both looked down at the little plastic ring on Cadon’s finger, then back up in confusion. 

“So the only thing is that I can’t take it off?” he asked, confused why it was such a problem. 

The man nodded, but then added, “you can’t take it off, but you know that thing is made as cheap as they come. You need something way stronger, or that banshee’s soul will eventually make it crumble. Destroying himself in the process.” 

“So… we need a stronger ring? One that can handle the wear and tear his soul will inflict on it?” Cadon asked. 

The exorcist nodded again. 

“Much stronger.”

Taylor tilted his head, glancing slightly down at Cadon as the guy looked up at him with a knowing smirk.

“I guess we’re getting married a little early?” Cadon said with a wink that made Taylor’s face burn.

The exorcist clapped his hands twice. “That is actually a great idea. A wedding ring will definitely hold up for many, many years. It’s also something that won’t have to be removed.”

Cadon slowly got himself to his feet with Taylor’s help, then took in a few deep breaths and stretched before turning to him. 

Confused, Taylor stared slightly up at him, then watched in horror as he knelt down in front of him on one knee, but never lost eye contact. 

Wait. Is he going…

“You look like you’re about to have a  meltdown there, Tay. Let’s go find a ring that can keep this crazy guy with us for a while, hmm?” he asked with a chuckle as he stood back up and took his hand. 

Taylor couldn’t find any words to say, so he just nodded and let himself be lead out of the jail. Thankfully, there were plenty of jewelers in the town so they didn’t have to drive all the way back. 

It took them a bit to find something that Cadon wanted, because he refused to get something unless Taylor got the matching piece. Eventually, they settled on a topaz set with an entwined ring for Taylor and a solid, stronger deep blue one for Cadon. 

They returned as soon as Cadon put the cost on his credit card. It was already past dark, but thankfully the guards allowed them back inside. 

“Welcome back, welcome back. Let’s see the ring, boys,” the exorcist said as Cadon fished them from his pocket. 

When the guy saw that there were two, he clearly held back an expression and swallowed some words, but after a moment he shrugged it off and grabbed the more solid one. 

“Sit here, boy,” he said, gesturing for Cadon to sit in front of where he sat on his uncomfortable-looking bed. 

Cadon did as told, then held out his hand with the little plastic ring on it as the exorcist gestured for it. 

“I don’t have any of my spiritual devices, so this might take a bit. Just relax and if you feel a pull in your chest, just let it happen.” 

Taylor stepped forward and sat beside Cadon, but was sure not to touch him. He didn’t want to risk messing up something as important as a soul transfer. The exorcist hadn’t been lying when he’d said that it would take a while, either. Nearly three hours after he began, he leaned back and nodded, drawing both his and Cadon’s eyes back up to him. 

“You’re all set, boys. You need to be very careful that you don’t take that off, ever, and if it starts to fade even after polishing the outer portion, you find yourself another exorcist and get a new ring. They should be able to do a safe transfer, since I’ve already done the binding and his soul has already been accepted into your body,” the man said. 

Taylor carefully helped Cadon up, but when he looked into his eyes, he was surprised to see that Nikolai’s eye color was still prominent on the side it had appeared earlier. 

“That’s a bit of a side effect, but I doubt that you two will mind?” the exorcist said, earning a shrug from Cadon. 

“It’s fine. It makes me look cool, right Tay?” Cadon said with a wink that had Taylor finally relieved enough to laugh a little. 

“I don’t know if you know how to be cool, but I guess looking like you might be isn’t too bad,” he said as he turned and headed for the door. 

He could hear the exorcist chuckling behind him and the sound of Cadon fumbling after him. They were escorted back outside, but before he could head for Cadon’s car, the guy grabbed his hand and spun him around into a super tight hug. Another moment later and he had leaned down to steal a kiss that Taylor could tell had a bit more Caleb in it than Adon. It honestly didn’t bother him, though. 

He waited until Cadon decided to end the kiss, then leaned back just enough to raise an eyebrow at him. It had been quite a long one, especially for their new relationship.

“I would blame that on Caleb… and he was definitely pushing it, but that was totally all three of us,” Cadon said, catching Taylor a little off guard. 

Three? 

“Turns out that Nikolai honestly just wanted someone to love, but he could never express it since banshees were rarely able to show any kind of emotion besides rage. I think, in time, he’s actually going to be the most affectionate when it comes to doting on you.” 

Taylor felt his jaw go slack, stunned by that information. Evidently, Cadon thought that it was funny and reached up to muss up Taylor’s hair. 

“I was also considering changing my name again, to reflect that he’s here now, too, but there was a strong negative feeling when I thought about it, so I’m guessing he’s happy just the way it is,” Cadon said as he took Taylor’s hand and began leading him across the parking lot toward his car. 

“So then, now that that’s settled, and we have our court dates set and all is good for tonight… how about Chinese food, a movie, and maybe one or five more kisses before bed?” 

This guy.

Taylor shook his head, but he couldn’t hide his smile. He had a lot to get used to now. Both of them did, but as he looked at his friend… well, his boyfriend, he knew that they would be able to manage everything together. They would bury Caleb and Nikolai’s skeletons in a proper cemetery, then help put their parents away for good. After that, the sky was the limit… and with such a quirky, crazy, loving guy by his side, Taylor figured that he just might be able to even reach that, someday.

Bonus Chapter

He was still getting the hang of having two other people inside his mind. They had melded together pretty well over the last few months, but there was no mistaking some of the personalities and quirks that the brother’s refused to let get lost in the mess. 

For one, Caleb’s soul had made Cadon absolutely obsessed with fish. They already had four tanks around their living room and had used one of those to upgrade the home of the little feeder fish that Taylor had bought for him awhile ago. 

It now had a few other goldfish as tankmates, and plenty of plants to swim and hide around. 

“Cay! Did you remember to put the chicken strips in the oven?” called Taylor from their bedroom. 

Oh, right. 

He’d gotten too caught up in watching the fish… again.

Grinning, he hurried to the freezer and got their lunch set out on a baking pan, then slid it into the oven, not bothering to wait for the preheat function. He added a pan of french fries after that, then set the timer for twenty-eight minutes. He was more a fan of softer food, but Taylor loved crunchy stuff, so he would gladly cook them a bit longer to make him happier. 

With that done, he walked over to the chalkboard still hanging on the wall between the kitchen and their bedroom and picked up the chalk. 

The fish are doing great and I’m so glad I got to have ramen again last night. 

Beneath that he added;

Thank you for buying the caramel candies. 

Once he set the chalk down Cadon shook his head a bit, then took in a few deep breaths before smiling and reading over the sentences. 

“They really are doing well. You’re a great teacher. We’ll get real ramen from the place downtown sometime soon, Kay. I’m sure you’ll love that even more.”

He glanced down at what Nikolai had managed to write and allowed his smile to widen a little. 

“Anytime, man. They were delicious.”

Sometimes one of the brothers would just be so present in his mind that he could actually let them control his body just a tiny bit. Most of the time they moved as one, with him having full control of just about everything. The brothers did have a say in things, of course, but they rarely stepped out of their comfortable coexistence they had going on to bother. Besides, their souls were practically already melded together, so a great deal had already been changed with his likes, dislikes, interests, and so on. 

At the small chalkboard was the one time either brother, or rarely both, requested to voice their individual thoughts. If he felt the nudge to do so, he gladly let them pick up the chalk and write out a message. Sometimes they were meant for Taylor and sometimes they were meant for him. 

“You’re such a sweetheart,” came Taylor’s teasing voice as he squeezed his way beneath Cadon’s right arm and hugged him as he looked at the chalkboard. 

“Spoiling them, huh?” he said as he looked up with a smirk. 

Cadon chuckled and leaned down, stealing a quick kiss before leaning back and looking past Taylor and into their bedroom. 

“I like it,” he said, acknowledging the hard work his boyfriend had done in rearranging stuff so that both of their things could fit nicely into the large room. 

He had actually just moved in with Taylor recently. Of course, he’d been over just about every night the past few months, work permitting, but he’d come to learn that his boyfriend really loved having his own personal space and wasn’t the best with physical attention being constantly thrown at him. He didn’t used to be so physical, but once he’d taken on both brothers, his want to love on his boyfriend had grown exponentially. 

That’s why he had been so relieved when they’d finally talked about it, because he kept getting insecure when Taylor would want attention sometimes, but other times he just wanted to be left alone or to not be very physical.

They had a perfect understanding now and if there was ever anything wrong, they talked about it immediately. 

Looking back down at the guy still hugging him, Cadon smirked and abruptly lifted him up! Taylor scrambled to wrap his arms and legs around him, then scowled as Cadon tried to hold back a chuckle. 

“I got a text from the lawyer we’d hired while I was cleaning,” Taylor said as he got himself comfortable and Cadon settled his hands beneath his backside to hold up his light weight. 

“Oh? How did things go?” he asked as he brought Taylor over to the sofa and sat down, loving that the guy was in the mood to cuddle. 

“The judge had already ruled that their parents are getting life in prison, but now their assets have officially become yours, too.”

Hell yeah. 

He’d already contacted a realtor and advised them of the situation. Now all he had to do was get ahold of the official documents, then toss them a text and get their parents’ house sold. 

They had considered moving into the much nicer four bedroom home with a pool, but neither him nor Taylor wanted anything to do with the property, so they had already decided that if they got ownership of it, that they’d sell it immediately. 

The brothers’ parents had also owned a dog, which had been placed into boarding for the time period of the trial, but since they were now going to be locked away permanently and none of the family had shown any interest in taking the dog after he’d called the boarding facility, him and Taylor had decided to adopt it. They had just been waiting on the verdict to be finalized so that they could get the ball rolling on that. 

“Looks like we’re the proud new owners of a little blue pit bull,” he said with a grin that Taylor mirrored. 

“I’m glad the officer let us know about her. I’ve been wanting a dog, anyways, and when we called to ask about her the kennel staff said that she was a sweetheart,” Taylor said, earning a nod from Cadon. 

“I also heard that someone’s business is really taking off,” Cadon said as he squeezed Taylor, making the guy squirm and laugh. 

Sasha had actually joined Taylor’s company as a secretary, but he’d quickly realized that she was a much better asset higher up. He now had an executive assistant that absolutely loved to keep in touch with her ex boyfriend. It had been odd, at first, but when Sasha brought over her new girlfriend, Hannah, things became clear pretty quickly. 

“When is Sash going to be over, by the way?” Taylor asked, making Cadon fish his phone from his pocket. 

“Around eight. She said that she’s finishing up the project you gave her yesterday. Then she’ll go pick up Hannah and we can all play Cards Against Humanity and order a pizza.” 

Taylor nodded against him, then shifted a bit in his lap until he could sit facing him. 

“What’s up?” Cadon asked curiously. 

Taylor absentmindedly buttoned and unbuttoned Cadon’s shirt as he seemed to mill around an idea in his head. When he finally seemed to decide on what he wanted to say, he looked up with a faint blush to his cheeks. 

“You know, we joked about getting married and everything before…” 

Cadon could feel the brother’s attention flare up in his mind. 

“I remember,” he replied with a knowing smile. 

Of course, he hadn’t been joking, but it had been clear that Taylor definitely hadn’t been ready for such a commitment yet. Of course, he definitely didn’t blame him and allowed him to totally brush off the proposal with a nervous laugh, but he’d also been waiting for the day that he really would want to take it seriously. 

“Well, perhaps we can start actually planning the wedding… i-if you still want to marry me,” he said nervously, refusing to look up at him any longer. 

You’re so darn adorable. 

He could feel his entire being beaming with pride over the fact that Taylor had voiced his intent to be with him. He’d actually intended to ask again after a year or so, once everything had truly settled down, but to hear his boyfriend ask him instead? He was in heaven. 

To say that he might have squeezed the life out of his fiancé was an understatement. It took everything in him to loosen his arms enough for Taylor to get in a few good breaths of air. 

“Hell yes, I still want to marry you!” he chimed as he squeezed him again, then kissed him on top of his head. 

At that moment the oven timer went off, making Taylor wiggle his way out of Cadon’s arms to go take care of their lunch. He only took a few minutes in the kitchen before he returned with a large plate stacked high with chicken strips and french fries. 

He handed it to Cadon, then went back for two glasses of water before plopping down next to him on the sofa. 

“You know,” Cadon said as he picked up a chicken tender and took a bite. 

Taylor glanced up at him but remained silent due to the french fry he was already chewing. 

“I think, if you’re up for it… I think we should redo the basement with the money we get from their parents.” 

Taylor stopped chewing for a few moments and looked toward the large hole in the wall. They had hung a long sheet to cover it for the time being while they’d decided what to do. They’d originally intended to just seal it back up after the investigation, but the more he thought about it, the more he disliked the idea. 

All of the objects that had been down there were already long gone and the boy’s bodies were buried respectfully beside each other in a beautiful grave at the cemetery nearby. It needed deep-cleaned and a lot of work, but he just couldn’t see them simply closing it up and moving on. 

“I think that’s a good idea. Just because something bad happened down there doesn’t mean that we should just hide it all and move on. I was actually thinking about having a little shrine in the far corner and a few  large fish tanks… maybe even turn it into a quiet lounge area with a little mini cooktop and computer desk,” Taylor said, making Cadon nod in agreement. 

“I love that idea. We can piece together what we want to do as we go,” he said, earning a smile from Taylor.

They also had plans to add a hot tub just outside the back door, and had already bought a few soccer nets so that Cadon could practice his new sport hobby, courtesy of Nikolai. 

“I’m looking forward to working on everything with you,” Cadon said as he picked up a chicken strip and offered it to his fiancé. 

Taylor gladly leaned forward and bit off half of it, leaving the other half for Cadon to plop into his own mouth. They both chewed silently as they relaxed against each other on the couch, staring at the chalkboard on the opposite wall. When Taylor finished his bite of food, he snuggled in a little closer and sighed with contentment. 

“I’m looking forward to meaning everything to you,” he said quietly, earning a look from Cadon that made him burst out laughing at the same time his boyfriend tackled him to the couch for a tickling session. 

You are so corny sometimes, and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.