34. Chapter 34
Kylie
Erik might have said he doesn't want me to find out more about Maya online, but of course I had to snoop. I'm way too nosy to sit and twiddle my thumbs when I know her name and have the means to look her up online. By means, I’m talking about my phone.
I found her fairly quickly. Apparently, she runs a bookstore. At least I've seen her appear on their social media page once or twice in the background.
Two more minutes of snooping and I found a personal profile, but it's set to private.
The only images I can see are of what I assume to be her cat.
A beautiful tabby with the most adorably, dumb expression.
From what I can tell, she's single and I don’t see any family pictures.
However, she's often tagged by others and appears to have a huge and active friend group.
I'm not going to tell Erik. Not unless he asks, but I'm glad she’s living a full life. Anything could have happened to her after she was kidnapped.
She could have become a drug addict, in jail, or murdered, but from what I can tell, she's got a smart head on her shoulders, just like her brother. I wonder if she even knows there's a family that has been looking for her this whole time.
“Earth to Kylie.” Kieran waves his hand in front of my eyes. “Are you with us?”
“Yes.” I blink a few times until I focus back on our surroundings.
Lauren decided we should check out the cemetery and see if we can find Nicholas O’Brien’s grave. I don't know what the process with Elizabeth’s remains is, but if we want to reunite the two, it does pay off to know where he's buried.
“Such a cute cemetery,” Kieran mumbles, and I find myself agreeing. It’s small. There are maybe fifty headstones, ranging from simple, with only writing, to statues and elaborate carvings. The older ones are covered with a thick layer of moss and grime.
I stop in front of a grave with a dog statue next to the headstone. Lauren appears next to me, face pale.
“Is everything alright?” I ask her in a whisper.
“Yes, yes.” She waves me off. “I always get a little queasy in cemeteries and hospitals. Don't mind me.”
“Be careful. If you puke onto any of these graves,” Nic shakes her head with a gleeful smile, “you will probably have a ghost haunting you too.”
“Oh hell no.” She turns even paler, then pats her pockets for emergency gum with her eyes closed.
“Deep breaths, Lauren,” I coax her and earn a light punch. Which only brushes my arm because her eyes are still closed.
“I will be fine. No barfing will be happening. All is well.” Her voice turns melodic as she repeats the mantra over and over, opening her eyes again. “Come on.” She links her arm with mine and Kieran’s.
We trudge along the rows. There isn't much order to these graves. One from the 1900s is followed by one of a person who died 20 years ago. The only indication we have of its age at first glance is how weathered the gravestones are.
“Good thing we didn't come here on Halloween.” Nic shudders. “I bet we would all leave with a new ghost attachment.”
“I have no idea what your issue is. I think having a house ghost sounds kind of fun,” Lauren declares, earning a glare from me and Nic.
“Such a naive take.” Nic clicks her tongue, and I also shake my head.
“As fun as it sounds in theory, when you startle for the fifth time a day because one of your doors is slamming, it's not as fun anymore.”
“But just imagine.” Lauren’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “A ghost bestie. What if they close your doors when you forget? Or blow out candles you accidentally left on?” Her face lights up. “What if they could start my coffee machine in the morning? They can do lights, right?”
Nic and I shoot each other a look. Is she serious?
“I guess they can,” I mumble, and softly shake my head.
“See? That would be so useful.”
“So basically, you want a ghost maid?” Lauren freezes, but Nic is not letting up.
“You want some poor soul to not go into the afterlife and reunite with their loved ones, so they can start your goddamn coffee machine? Girl, first off, you have a porta filter espresso machine. Only turning it on doesn’t do much.
And secondly, just get yourself an outlet timer like everyone else. ”
“What an idea.” I make a mental note. With my simple kind of filter machine, a timer should totally work. “Honestly, Nic you’re a genius.”
“Everybody stop. Is it this one?” Nic throws her arm over Lauren’s chest and stops our little human chain.
The gravestone is so weathered, I can’t decipher anything on it. Moss hides the name and not even the years are visible anymore.
“Hold on.” I let go of Lauren to wipe enough mud and moss off the stone to at least read the name. “Kate Smith.”
“Oh yeah, that's so far off.” Nic is already walking away. “Let’s keep looking.”
“I can't imagine,” Lauren lets out a heavy sigh, “all these years, her ghost was separated from her husband so unnecessarily. They could have been together this entire time. The two of them deserve a break.”
“And a happy end if it’s still in the cards,” Kieran adds, “After all the struggles they went through. Hell, they immigrated across a whole fucking ocean only to not get a happy ending.” He shakes his head. “Ouch.” He stops and whirls around, rubbing the back of his head. “Was that an acorn?”
“Yes.” I fish it out of the collar of his jacket and hold it up to show him.
“I hate to say it, Kieran, but I think you angered a ghost,” Lauren says in the same sing-song voice and skips ahead. She might be right. Because there are no branches above us and the closest tree is not a pine.
“Hold on. The only person who might be offended by what Kieran said would be O’Brien.” Kieran and I stare at each other, then, as if on cue, turn around.
“What is going on?” Nic appears and follows out gazes.
“If he threw the acorn, then it must mean that…” I point at a grave, if you can even call it that. It's only a gravestone, way smaller and more unassuming than the others, but there it is, clear as day.
Nicholas O’Brien.
“Loving husband,” Kieran reads out loud. “Oh damn.” He shudders and rubs the back of his head again. “This is spooky.”
I let my eyes wander over the cemetery. All of a sudden, the hair in my neck stands up. We're not alone here anymore, but it's not a threatening presence. It feels curious. Warm.
“Do you feel it too?” Kieran whispers, not daring to move.
Lauren catches up to us and stops in her tracks. “Whoa.”
“That describes it pretty well.” Nic nods in a solemn whisper.
“I don't even know what to say,” Kieran whispers, panicked. Funny, considering he had no issues chatting up his wife.
“Then shut up.” But I get it, it feels wrong to stand here at this grave and without saying anything.
“Mr. O’Brien,” Lauren steps forward, “Nicholas. Can I call you Nicholas? You don't know us, but we live in Wayward Hollow. It's nice to meet you.”
A gust of wind blows the dries leaves into the air. One of them gets stuck in Nic’s curls. I reach out to pluck it from her hair.
“And I think you should know that the town still celebrates the autumn festival,” she continues, as if she’s catching up with an old friend.
Damn. Lauren has truly never met a stranger, has she?
“It's a wonderful tradition you began. And it even functioned as a matchmaking event.” She shoots me a cheeky glance over her shoulder.
“But Kylie will have to tell you that story herself sometime. Anyway,” she takes a step back, “we'll see you again soon.”
Lauren turns around herself with a focused frown, trying to remember the spot, then skips away with the grace of a whirlwind.
“What she said,” I mumble awestruck. “Thank you, Mr. O’Brien.”
“Thank you.” The other two mumble their agreement, not sure what else to say and then we turn walk back to the entrance where Lauren’s car is waiting for us.