Chapter Four
Mike
“This is fucking gorgeous,” Ivar stated, his tone filled with awe as we walked through the camping site.
We had a week off because our research was doing so well.
We had to stay in Africa but were allowed to do our own thing for the week before we were assigned our next task here.
Ivar wanted to go further out to explore the more rural parts of the country so here we were, about to sleep in small huts because tents weren’t safe enough out here.
I was slightly terrified; I wasn’t about to lie about that.
“The stars at night will be something else,” Ivar continued, not even noticing my trepidation as we approached our small hut for the next week. “There’s a trail we can follow too which will lead to a small waterfall.”
“Cool,” I amended, because a waterfall would be pretty cool to see here.
“Wanna dump our stuff and just go now?” I could tell by Ivar’s tone that he really wanted to go.
“Sure,” I agreed, mostly because Ivar deserved some happiness.
I hadn’t known it at first, but his mother was sick and his job was his escape to experience something for himself after caring for her.
She wanted him to have fun and enjoy life and he was trying to do exactly that while his younger brother took care of their mother.
Ever since he told me the whole story a few months ago, I’ve tried doing things he wanted, basically because I felt bad for no longer going clubbing with him.
Honestly, I hated going out and had only done it because I wanted to give it a shot.
Unlike Ivar, I was not into one-night stands and meaningless hookups, I actually preferred talking or texting with Dylan for hours over a quick orgasm with a stranger. Not that I’d told Ivar that part.
“Sweet!” he grinned, a bounce in his steps as we got into the hut and left our stuff. It wasn’t anything special, just the necessities but way better than a tent would’ve been so I couldn’t really complain.
We began walking out of the camping area with the huts and found a sign near the trail where it said how long it would take to hike to the waterfall. It seemed to be a safe enough area but they still advised us to stay on the trail because of snakes. I fucking hated snakes.
“So,” Ivar started once we were on the trail. “How’s Dylan?”
I smiled as I remembered our phone call yesterday. “He’s fine. Eating way too many burgers.”
Ivar laughed. “You and those damn burgers.”
“Excuse me for missing something I’ve grown up eating!” I defended without any real bite to my words.
Ivar shook his head smiling. “You must miss him.”
That had me confused. Miss him? “I talk to him several times a day?” Our texting was almost always ongoing and we would talk on the phone whenever I was back at the hotel at night.
“That’s not the same as being in person, and you know it.”
I felt nervous all of a sudden. Things between Dylan and me had changed while I was gone. What would he act like around me in person? Would he hug me? Hang out with me? The thought scared me, but not in a bad way, in a fluttery and slightly nauseating way.
“I guess you’re right,” I agreed. “We weren’t really close before I left for this trip.
It will be interesting to see how things will change once I return home.
” I feared it a little bit too. I didn’t want to lose what I’d built with Dylan.
We talked about basically anything. The only topic we never really ventured into was dating, Vera aside, and that was mostly because the thought of Dylan dating anyone rubbed me the wrong way.
I was selfish for wanting all his attention for myself, but I’d already “lost” one best friend to my little brother and didn’t want to lose another one as well.
“Maybe it’ll be amazing,” Ivar said, his tone wistful, like he was talking about something else now.
I let the silence stretch between us, enjoying the scenery instead as I wondered why I couldn’t stop thinking about hugging Dylan when I returned home.
We’d walked for around fifteen minutes when I felt it. A tug on my conscience, like a mental tug in a certain direction. I stepped off the path before I’d even realized what I was doing.
“Mike?” Ivar’s voice was confused but also uncertain. I must’ve looked like a man on a mission as I stepped into the scrub and bushes.
What was I even thinking? There had to be snakes hidden in there somewhere just waiting to bite me with their sharp teeth. But this tug couldn’t be ignored. I’d never experienced anything like it. I simply had to follow it.
Ivar’s footsteps could be heard behind me and I felt bad for leading him into the snake trap, but I had to find the source of this feeling. I had to.
“You’re kinda scaring me here, Mike,” Ivar said, his voice almost a whisper.
“I have to find something,” I whispered back because maybe the snakes would hear me.
We wove through more scrub and trees and that’s when we heard it; the waterfall. We had to have taken a detour because it should’ve been at least twenty more minutes before we reached it. The sound couldn’t be ignored though, and that was definitely the sound of running water.
“Damn,” Ivar said behind me. We stopped and just stared at the small enclosed waterfall, to the right of it there was a trail right next to where the water led down, likely where we would’ve gone had I not taken us on an adventure.
Speaking of adventure…
I continued to the left, this time with Ivar staying put as he admired the waterfall and took some pictures. I was closing in on my search. Just a few more steps.
A small red object, a rectangular box it seemed, was hidden in the greenery, the red was slightly off in color, likely faded because it had been there for a long time. I kneeled close to it, hoping nothing would jump out and bite me.
It was a ring box! I held it in my hand and gently opened it, a little afraid as a rush of something swept over me.
“Finally!” a man yelled next to me.
A startled scream tore out of me as I fell on my ass, staring wide-eyed at the man, no not man, ghost, right in front of me.
Ivar came running. “Mike! Are you okay?” He offered me his hand and soon I was standing next to Ivar, but my eyes were locked on the ghost who watched me back curiously.
“You can see me, can’t you?” the ghost asked.
“Mike?” Ivar shook me a little. “If you got bit, we need to head back immediately.”
“No snake,” I replied, feeling my throat bob a few times as my gaze unwillingly found the ghost again.
“Take the ring with you,” the ghost ordered. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but it needs to be returned to Marcus.”
I had no clue who Marcus was or why I’d suddenly gotten my medium abilities. Mom always said I would get them someday. I wasn’t like her and Pete, they were born mediums, and I’d truly believed I would never get powers myself.
Not thinking about it, I slipped the box into my pocket and allowed Ivar to tug me away from the waterfall, the ghost following behind us the whole way back.
“I’ll grab you some food and water,” Ivar announced before leaving our hut. I didn’t even respond. He’d joked that I looked like someone who’d seen a ghost but my lack of laughter had only made him worry further.
“So…. he seems nice,” the ghost said, his tone conversational.
Now that we were alone, and I had processed my feelings on being able to see and speak to ghosts, I could take him in properly. He looked to have died around age thirty, maybe thirty-five? He had blonde hair and blue eyes and was grinning widely at me.
“So, you do see me!” he noted gleefully. “I’m Erik by the way. And you are?”
I cleared my throat. There was literally no reason to be afraid. “Mike.”
“Nice to meet you, Mike. Listen, I kinda need your help.”
“I figured.” Ghosts were either stuck to the area where they died or the person they touched as they died.
The fact he appeared as soon as I’d touched the box meant it had become a cursed object and I was now stuck with him, literally.
He couldn’t be too far from me until I’d freed him and I’d yet to learn how to do that.
“That ring.” He pointed to my pocket where the red box still rested. “I was going to propose to my boyfriend at the waterfall.”
“What happened?” I was mentally slapping myself. I was feeling down over being able to see ghosts when Erik had died so young. I needed to remember others had it worse than me.
“I was bitten by a snake,” he admitted, his eyes staring intently at nothing.
“Marcus ran for help, leaving me there. I’d dropped the box as I got bitten and Marcus never saw it.
I was stuck inside it for a long time before I figured out how to get out.
Even then, I was still rooted in the place where it rested, unable to venture away from the spot. ”
“Fuck,” I whispered. “I can’t even imagine going through that.”
He shrugged like what he’d experienced wasn’t at all traumatic. “I plan on mending things. Starting with that ring.”
“You want me to give it to Marcus? You don’t think that would cause him more heartache?” I winced as soon as the words had left my mouth. Luckily, Erik didn’t seem to mind my crass words.
“He deserves to know how much I love him. And I need to see that he's happy before I can move on.”
“You want to see your boyfriend happy with someone else?”
“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Mike, but I’m dead. My life is over; I wouldn’t wish for Marcus’ life to be over as well. He deserves a full life, filled with love and all the good things.”
“Wow,” I replied, quickly wiping a stray tear from my left eye. “I’ll help you.”
“Thank you, Mike.”
“So, where did Marcus live when you were alive?” I figured we would start there. Erik wore clothes that could easily be from five to ten years ago. I didn’t think he’d been dead for longer than that. Also, knowing Marcus’ location would make this search much quicker.
“Denmark,” Erik stated, giving me a wide smile.
“Denmark?!” I parroted.