Spectral Quest (Spectral #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Dylan

I stared at my phone in disbelief. It truly was Mike calling me at three a.m. Mike, the guy I’d been secretly in love with ever since the day I fell on my skateboard and he’d rushed over and helped me home.

Mike, my best friend, Pete’s older brother, correction, his straight older brother.

But why was he calling me? Had something happened to Pete?

My phone was lit up with a smiling picture of his brown hair sticking out under his Christmas hat with the twinkling tree lights behind him. He’d been so happy that Christmas that I’d grabbed my phone and snapped a pic mid-laugh. I was glad I’d done it; the picture was my favorite of him.

My curiosity won out and I clicked accept just before it rang out. “Mike?”

“Dylan!” Mike greeted with way too much cheer at this hour.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, confused and a tad worried.

“No,” Mike sighed, then began sniffing. Was he crying?! Oh, please don’t cry! I was horrible at consoling people over the phone!

“Mike?” I tried, hoping I could get more out of him. “Are you home?”

“Hmm,” he sniffed.

Mike still lived with Jackson, who was conveniently the guy my best friend Pete was dating.

“Are Jackson and Pete home, too?”

“They are,” Mike whispered, likely just realizing he should keep it down. “They’re so in love, Dylan.”

I sighed at that. “I know.” I was glad Pete had finally snatched Jackson up, mostly because his obsession with the guy had been going on for two whole years. But I also missed my bestie. Maybe Mike could relate to that.

“I’ll never find love like that,” Mike sobbed. “I just get yelled at.”

Suppressing yet another sigh, I soothed my voice. “Have you been drinking, Mike?”

“A little,” he confessed. I knew he was going through a break up at the moment and was likely feeling worse now that Jackson was happily dating Pete, but I had no idea what to say to fix it for him.

I’d only been in love twice, and my only ever girlfriend and I had ended things amicably.

My other love was Mike, and even though that wasn’t going well for me at all, I still couldn’t relate to his anguish.

I’d never had Mike be mine and then lost him, if I had, I would likely be sobbing too.

Speaking from the heart seemed to be the only thing I could do right now, and with how often I’d heard about Mike’s arguments with his ex-girlfriend Vera, I could actually say what I truly thought of her.

“Look, man. Vera is a bitch okay?”

My calm no-nonsense tone must’ve surprised Mike because he laughed. “She is, isn’t she?!”

“She is,” I confirmed, nodding to myself in the dark.

It was nice finally saying this. Mike might never be mine, but he at least deserved someone who would appreciate him.

“She knew you wanted to travel. She even seemed to admire your passion at one point,” I continued.

“But giving you crap every time you had to leave, and then guilt tripping you into coming home earlier because she was lonely? Not cool, man.”

He sighed. “Pete told you, huh?”

“He did,” I admitted. I hoped Pete wouldn’t mind me spilling the beans. Me being the one person Pete talked to about everything meant I knew everything. “He was worried about you, said you seemed so down every time you returned home.”

“Well, it was hard coming home to arguments and yelling every time,” Mike grumbled.

“Was that why you began working in the office more?” Mike had travelled way less than he’d planned, and as an anthropologist, that said a lot.

We spent every Christmas together, Pete and I—my mothers didn’t celebrate Christmas—and that meant I saw Mike a lot even after he moved out.

One Christmas, he’d told us how excited he was to travel to all these different countries.

He wanted to travel once a month, more if possible.

But he’d only gone on three trips this past year.

“Relationships are about compromise,” Mike stated, like it was something Vera had told him over and over again.

“Right,” I agreed. “So, she should know not to give you crap about your work. Especially since she knew full well what your future career would be. Compromise means give and take, not control and demand.” I sounded so wise. Maybe I should wake up earlier and not waste this talent on sleeping.

I was met with silence. Had Mike fallen asleep? He sounded to be sobering up the longer we spoke, but perhaps I’d bored him to death with my wisdom?

“Thank you, Dylan, I’m glad I called you.” Mike’s soft voice was all fondness and appreciation and I shivered from the force of it. Maybe I had a praise kink like Pete, because damn it felt good hearing those words from Mike.

“Anytime,” I whispered back, my heart suddenly beating way too fast in my chest.

Mike never called again. It had been over a month now and we had to spend Christmas together, like we always did. Maybe he’d been too drunk to remember? Or maybe he was too embarrassed?

I shook my head and kept cleaning the floor.

It was mostly to find something to do. Pete had spent a lot of time with me lately, a surprise considering he was dating Jackson now.

Pete had admitted that he feared Mike felt lonely after his break-up, so he intentionally spent less time with Jackson, allowing Mike the chance to have Jackson all to himself.

I was just glad since that meant I got some bestie time, too.

Unlike Pete, I didn’t have a job currently, so I had way too much time on my hands and spent most of that time gaming.

I did make a little money helping my mothers out with their online store.

If they hadn't been helping me pay for the apartment, I would’ve needed to move back home.

Something I dreaded. Pete was supposed to move in with me, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen now with Jackson in the picture.

I had a few hours to kill before Pete came over after work.

His job was so cool and fascinating to me.

He worked as a medium and helped ghosts either move on or get moved around.

He’d explained it several times to me, but I still had no idea how he could free ghosts from attachments, such as humans.

It also sounded like the worst kind of torture that you got stuck as a ghost next to the person who’d touched you while you died.

I didn’t want anyone to touch me when it was my time to go, no thank you.

I wanted to haunt a place and not a person.

Even with mediums around to help, it would be complicated to ask one for help once dead.

You’d have to somehow stumble upon a medium who would be willing to help you and not all would.

I sighed heavily as I watched the clean floor.

I couldn’t keep scrubbing it forever. I simply had to admit defeat and start job hunting again; no more procrastination.

I stood, my back aching as I returned to the computer.

I ran my hands through my dark blond hair and figured a shower would do me good before I turned the computer on.

Not that I was intentionally pushing job hunting aside, but what if I got called in to a last-minute job interview?

I couldn’t show up with greasy hair, now, could I?

With that in mind, I stood and got ready to shower.

Pete came with goodies, lots of goodies.

“Oh, my God! You brought me my favorite burger too?!” I gasped, clutching the offered bag like it was the greatest treasure in the world.

It sort of was to me. I’d forgotten to eat lunch.

It often happened when I got too focused.

My bodily needs took a step back while I concentrated intently on my current task.

This time it wasn’t gaming but job hunting.

Once I got into the groove, things just went smoothly.

I felt awfully proud of myself. I truly deserved that damn burger.

Pete laughed. “Forgot to eat again?”

“Yeah,” I said, taking the other bag from him. The delicious scent of cinnamon wafted from the warm bag and I groaned. He’d brought dessert too. I truly loved that man.

“Gaming? Or cleaning?” he questioned with a knowing lilt to his voice.

“Job hunting.”

“Wow, really?”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” I said, rolling my eyes.

We sat and turned on the TV. Pete and I had the same love for sci-fi.

I put on my newest obsession and we began eating.

Being with Pete had always been easy, as if we were true brothers and not just besties.

He was stuck with me for life and even though I knew I would see less of him because of Jackson, I also couldn’t fault him for that.

I could only enjoy these moments we had together and cherish them more.

Huh, I guess buying me food made me way more loveable to be around.

I should write that down for my future partner, if I ever found one, that was.

“So, have you gotten all your Christmas presents?” he asked, knowing fully well that I didn’t.

“Nah,” I said, waving a ketchup covered hand in the air. “I think I’ll make them something this year.”

“You could paint?”

My dry look told him everything I thought about that stupid idea. I didn’t have a single artistic bone in my body. Normally, parents kept the things their children made growing up, but all mine “mysteriously” broke. I knew what my moms were up to and I couldn’t even blame them.

“I meant more like food or a cake,” I explained. Now, cooking I could do, and I made the best damn cookies in the world. I even had a recipe that was perfect for the freezer. I would dump so many damn cookies on them, their freezer would be stocked full for an entire year.

“Jackson won’t tell me what he bought for Mike this year,” Pete shared with a knowing grin. “I bet it’s gonna be hilarious.”

“Oooh, I can’t wait to see it! Think your mom would mind cookies this year? I really can’t spend much on presents until a job comes my way.”

He smiled. “My mom adores your cookies! And she would much prefer those than a gift card anyway, just saying.”

Pete’s phone beeped and the dopey look on his face gave the sender away. Jackson was my newest competition for Pete’s time, but seeing the happiness shine out of my best friend meant that I would gladly share him.