Chapter 33
Noble’s brow furrowed when he thought he heard something he shouldn’t have, his instincts flaring in alarm at the same time.
“Maybe I should plant more trees out back behind my library?” Ollie mused. “Oh, maybe I can plant some fruit trees, and then use them in storytime in some way?!”
“You own a library?” Irene asked with interest.
Despite how adorable his Baby was when chattering away, he forced himself to focus on whatever he was hearing, needing to make sure he wasn’t being paranoid. As paranoia was sort of a given for witch hunters.
“Oh, yes. The Cross Heritage Private Library.”
She gasped, “You’re Verrill and Ruby Cross’ son?
Wait, no—Cassity and Amelia! You’re Cassity and Amelia’s child.
I met you once! I mean, I was a ghost… And I suppose I probably saw you more than that later and just didn’t realize.
But when you were a baby, you…” She frowned.
“You…you looked at me. You looked right at me and reached for my hand when I—ha—tried to play with you.” She sniffled.
“I thought I imagined it, but I guess I didn’t. ”
“You… You knew my parents?” Ollie rasped.
His Baby’s hesitant, yet hopeful tone, killed any chance Noble had of focusing on anything other than Ollie, even after confirming what he heard was definitely someone else breathing and following them.
Wrapping an arm around the witch’s waist, as they continued to walk, he tried his best to offer silent comfort as Ollie no doubt tried to get whatever answers he could.
Regardless of whether he was super focused or not, the person was far enough away that he’d still be able to do something if they got closer.
Ollie waited for her to answer, hoping to learn even just a little bit about them.
Rowden told him stories, but they’d always felt…
distant and cold, like the man was narrating only a third of what actually happened.
Ollie had always felt as if he was missing something, never seeing the whole picture. And perhaps that was on purpose.
As for everyone else…it was like…when it came to his parents, or his grandparents, they drew a blank, even the people who had met and known them.
It was as if no one really knew them enough to tell him what he wanted to know.
Then again, he supposed he didn’t really know what he even wanted to know.
“I knew your grandparents well, but never could guess their ages. I would have sworn they were my age, but I know they couldn’t be as they’d been running the library even before I was born.
Can’t help but think that Cassity must have been a late-in-life miracle for them.
Though, I suppose you were also one for your parents. ”
Ollie frowned at that, slightly confused, considering his parents had died at twenty-nine, the same year they had him, which wasn’t especially late in life to have a baby.
“To be honest, I knew Cassity better than Amelia. At least in life, as I only met her once before I died. Afterwards, I watched them together in the diner whenever they came in. Cassity, though, I’m pretty sure he was maybe three years older than my oldest younger brother.
..though he was homeschooled, as far as I know.
“To be honest, I usually ran into him in that big library of yours, when my brothers and I were wandering around. I’m sure I must have gotten his age at one point, but I can’t remember now.
” She chuckled fondly. “But your father was always getting into something. All good fun rather than outright trouble, mind you. But let me tell you, if something screwy was going down in town, or at the library, he was no doubt involved in some way.”
Older than her oldest younger brother? Wait…no, Irene shouldn’t have ever met his parents. They’d been twenty-nine when they died in 1994, so they wouldn’t have even been born when she died in 1962!? How was that even possible? But what if…it was?
What if Irene really had met them while still alive?
Well, if she did then, according to Irene’s timeline, Ollie’s father and mother would have been at least fifty by the time he was born, and now the late-in-life baby comment made sense.
And yet, not at all, because based on the pictures he had of him with his parents, neither of them looked older than late twenties, if that.
But now that he thought about it, it probably had something to do with that pesky ‘no longer aging’ thing Noble had mentioned, which he had blocked from his mind until that very moment.
The thing he had stopped Red and Noble from explaining further…
Ollie supposed it wasn’t as if the way he thought they’d died had turned out to be reality, so…he supposed their ages being a lie too shouldn’t be that shocking.
He took a careful deep breath. “So…can you tell me more about what they were like? Apart? Together?”
“Cassity…he was quick to laugh, and never in a hurry to get angry about anything, unless it mattered. I will say this, despite the trouble he liked getting into, he always seemed pretty mature for his age, though nothing compared to how Amelia was.
“Amelia…I can only assume she was of similar age to Cassity, but it was like…she knew too much. I don’t know how to explain it.
But it didn’t always seem like she was focused on what was going on around her, as if there was more that everyone else didn’t see, but she did.
I’d say she was a serious person, yet kind and thoughtful.
“Now, to be clear, this is mostly based on my observations as a ghost, as like I said, I didn’t know her well when alive. She moved here for work, earlier in the year I died, and I only met her once… You know, thinking back to that meeting, the way she looked at me was…odd?”
“Odd, how?”
“At first, she stared at me as if she was looking straight through me, her gaze blank and startling, and then it was like there was this misplaced sadness any time I was caught in her gaze.”
Ollie winced at that. While he didn’t know what powers his mother had, if one of her affinities was to the… What was it again?
Ah—The Knowing! If she had an affinity to The Knowing, and it happened to be the opposite of The Unknowing—which he was guessing at—then it was possible his mother had realized Irene was going to die.
And since Ollie definitely didn’t want to have a conversation about that, as he wouldn’t have any of the answers Irene would want, he instead asked, “And together?”
“Together…” She smiled. “Happy. They were very, very happy.”
Ollie smiled back, feeling happy tears prick the corners of his eyes. “They were?”
“Mhmm…” Irene hummed, but then her smile suddenly dropped.
“Except for the year they died. Before that, it was like they brought out the best in each other. But that year…that horrible year… I don’t know…
I mean, I was dead at the time, but anytime I saw them during that time, I swear… It was like they knew.”
He swallowed hard, dread filling his stomach. “They knew?”
“I don’t know why I think that. But something in me says that they knew they were going to die…”
His heart started to race and he licked his lips as he asked, “Did you…hear them say something that would suggest that? Any conversation that was odd to you?”
“No… I…” Her brow furrowed as she sighed and said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart.
I’m afraid that while some memories seem almost crystal clear, others…
are nothing more than just vague feelings and impressions.
The only thing I get from that year is my own sadness…
and this certainty that they knew something was going to happen, but I can only really explain the first part. ”
Ollie took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “It’s okay… I’m just grateful you could tell me as much as you could.”
He had learned a bit more about his parents…not too much. Just a slight bit about their personalities…and now he also knew that their ages, and likely his grandparents’, had been a lie.
Oh—and that his powers had possibly been sealed after their death, considering he had apparently interacted with Irene as an infant.
As for everything else, thinking over it now, he technically already knew they'd realized they were going to die, since they had planned their whole fake death and had apparently died…so he could live. At least, that was what Red had told him.
Noble cleared his throat softly, before whispering, “Don’t look around, but someone is following us.”
“What? How do you know?” he whispered back.
“Sounds of footsteps and breathing that aren't ours.”
He frowned and forced himself to listen, Noble remaining silent, obviously realizing what he was attempting. But just like the previous time he tried using his enhanced Ceaseless Hunter hearing when outside, he started to get a headache from all the noise.
Stupid dumb bugs. Not that bugs weren’t important for the ecosystem, but they were a pain in the butt when one wanted to hear anything else!
“I got bugs,” he huffed.
Noble chuckled. “You’ll figure it out eventually, Baby.”
Irene frowned. “What do bugs have to do with us being followed? Do you want me to see if I can get close enough to check who it is and come back?”
“No, stay with Ollie. I’m going to pretend I've forgotten something in my truck and come back around,” Noble whispered, before coming to a stop. He slipped his arm from around him as he projected his voice slightly louder than normal. “Shit, I forgot something in my truck.”
Louder or not, Ollie had to say, the man sounded pretty natural. And since Noble had succeeded, it meant he would too… Maybe… It was just a little lie, no big deal. He had this!
Clearing his throat, he looked at the man and tried to summon all his acting courage. “D-did you? W-want to go back and g-get it?” He winced as he managed to both stutter and sound fake as can be.
Ollie barely suppressed his distressed whine as he watched Noble struggle not to laugh.
After managing to contain his humor, the man pressed a quick kiss to his forehead and said, “You keep going, I’ll catch up.” He then turned back and pretended to go back the way they came.
Clearing his throat again when Noble disappeared out of view, he hesitantly looked around, his nerves fraying now that he was alone. Well, he wasn’t completely alone; Irene was still there.
Yep…he was at the point in his life where even ghost company was apparently better than none at all. Though, he supposed, it wasn’t just her anyway. Noble was still there, just a bit further away.
He was not alone. Yep…but he would feel better if he could still see Noble…
The ghost smiled at him. “Ready to keep going?”
He just nodded, as it was probably less crazy for him to do that instead of responding out loud, now that he knew he was being watched. Then again, whoever it was had possibly just heard his one-sided conversation anyway, and had no doubt just witnessed him nodding to himself… Great… Perfect!