“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 theyknew.”
He swallowed hard, dread filling his stomach. “They knew?”
“I don’t know why I think that. But something in me says that theyknewthey 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 stillthere,just a bit further away.
He was not alone. Yep…but he would feel better if he could still see Noble…
