Human vs. Phantom

Chapter-6 Episode-3 Nostalgia

Chapter-6

Episode-3

Nostalgia

2010, Edinburgh, Texas

“how old are you? You barely look like you are eighteen.” The blond girl on the counter with little freckle around her nose and cheeks asked Reeve. She was taking the interview for the part-time job at her father’s fast-food restaurant. The restaurant was a spot for many locals to order the most delicious fast-food in the city. Reeve’s friend recommended him for his position as he was moving out of the city for college.

“yes, I am seventeen.” The almost six feet tall, but beard not yet fully grown boy answered, he was wearing a loose mid waist blue denim, blue converse, and a red checked shirt.

“where are your parents?” the girl asked.

“I don’t have one.” Teen Reeve answered.

“you don’t live with them, or you just don’t have one?” the girl again asked.

“I don’t have them.” He monotonously answered.

“you go to school?”

“yes”

“We want someone who will work here for a long time, you cannot leave before at least six months.” The girl told him.

“Okay, that’s cool for me.”

“you cannot skip work, and if you do you must have someone at your place.” She conditioned.

“perfect.” He replied.

“perfect then, come to work starting tomorrow.” The girl said, “I am Juliane, you will be working with me.” She told.

“I am Reeve beaver.” Reeve introduced himself.

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Reeve started working in that restaurant. Juliane was his boss’s daughter. His job there was to clean the dining area and the tables after the restaurant are closed for the day. And like in the present, in the past to he was diligent in his responsibility, be it taking care of his brother or anything else. That time for Reeve was the most difficult, his baby brother who was always depending on him was growing up and making his own life away from him. Maybe that is just how a mother would feel when his son left to live his life. He worked in the evening and at night. And at the day he studied, practiced with his uncle, and took care of his brother.

Slowly as he worked in the restaurant, he and Juliane became good friends. She was five years older than him and was a college graduate. For him, she was the only one he could share his feelings with. The thing he could tell no one, he could tell them to her without the fear of being judged.

At the time Reeve was doing his best to do what he believed would have made his parents happier when they see them from heaven. He was determined to give his brother the life their parents wanted to give them both. After their parents passed away, their custody was given to their uncle Charles, the younger brother of their mom. Charles was a hunter, the best he was, he taught them about this dark world.

“How was your day?” Juliane asked him when he came to the restaurant for his shift. He looked tired and down.

“just so so,” he replied with a low and exhausted voice.

“what? did something bad happen?” she again asked worriedly.

“nothing bad. It’s just that I hate school. I just want to graduate high school and start making more money.” He replied. Doing so many things with the school was tiresome when you have no one to share your feeling with who can understand you.

“you don’t wanna go to college?” she questioned.

“no, I don’t, I have to earn money to send my brother to college.” He replied to her.

“you have a little brother?” she said.

“yeah, he is still young but I want him to be an educated citizen like our parents were. And I will send him to the best university. So, I need to earn for that.” He sounded resolute.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Now,

The door opened, with a beautiful blond lady standing in front of them, wearing pastel grey bottom pants with a white high-necked blouse. Her hair was slightly wavy and was wearing a no makeup, makeup look. She looked sophisticated in her attire and also in her posture, not at all like a woman or a girl but like a poised business lady.

“Hey Julie” Reeve hugged her as he recognized her as his past buddy.

“Reeve,” she said back, “it’s so nice to have you here” she hugged him back.

“anytime” Reeve replied. “this is my brother I've told you about. Remember?” he again said.

“hii Mrs. Kendrick,” Jim spoke out.

“Hii, Jimmy, and please just call me Julie, I like it that way,” the lady said at which Jim slightly nodded his head.

“you remember his name?” Reeve asked shockingly.

“of course, I remember him, you talked about him so much all the time at work that I could never forget about him.” She replied.

“you did,” Jim asked gazing at Reeve. “what did he tell you about me?” he asked Juliane.

“come on dude, some other time,” Reeve whined.

“he told me how smart you were in your academics, and so much more but I think he is not too comfortable to talk about it, I’ll tell you about it when he is not with us. But one thing is for sure, your brother loves you very much and he cares about you a lot.” She spoke.

“so, how is it going for you, Reeve.” She again asked Reeve.

“just doing the job.” Reeve hoarsely answered. “you have changed a lot, I must say.” He again added. “you used to be a kick-ass tomboy back then, but look at you now, you look like a lady.”

“yeah, getting married hit me like a truck.” She joked.

“about what you said about your daughter on the phone, what is going on?” Jim intervened.

“to be honest with you boys, I don’t know for sure.” She answered.

“what do you mean Julie?” asked Jim.

“two days ago, I started noticing something weird about my daughter, she was behaving so weirdly, it was such a big difference that it scared the hell out of me,” she explained to them.

“What did you notice?” Jim asked. He knew that his brother cared for this woman, he can see it in his brother’s eyes, how he was excited to see her. So, for his brother he was gonna do his best, even if it turns out to be nothing.

“in the beginning, it was just, small things like she would behave irritated or disinterested whenever I would talk to her, but I let it slide thinking that maybe she had a tough day and maybe she is tired, but then she started demanding foods and snack that she never even wanted to try no matter what I say.” She told them.

“That wasn’t enough, she started beating up kids at school, but believe me she was never like that, she was very sensitive. She cried when anyone bullied her, she can’t bully others.” She said tearfully.

“she would constantly stare at me, without winking once, when I am doing something in the kitchen or anything else. And that stare is strange. It has a weird feeling about it.” She tried putting her emotions into words, which was getting harder for her.

“and you know her eyes, it isn’t the same anymore. We even consulted two psychologists to examine her mental condition but it didn’t make much difference, they said that she will be fine and it is just because she doesn’t have many friends, it's nothing big. But I know how big this is and so does my husband Thomas. We are too worried about her.” She spoke.

“if I may ask, can you tell her what kind of things she is eating right now?” Jim asked in a calm voice soothing her.

“ahh…. ah yeah sure,” she got a bit baffled with his demand but still answered, “she asks for spiced foods all the time, which is not something she ever ate before, and she at in all in a large amount, the amount that she used to eat in a day or two, she eats it in a meal now and still asks for more.” She told them. “and the weirdest thing is that just a few days ago, she never liked milk but now she asks for milk and cream all the time especially cream, in just these few days, she has drunk about six big packs of heavy cream.” As she told them this, Jim looked to his brother as if something clicked in his head.

“I'm sorry Julie but can we have something warm to drink? It was pretty chilled outside.” Jim asked.

“yeah sure, coffee will be fine?” she offered

“oh yeah, we love coffee.” Jim spoke.

“what was that Jim?” as Julie went to make them coffee, Reeve questioned Jim.

“what do you think is going on with her daughter?” Jim questioned back.

“ghost possession, or maybe a spirit,” he said but again added. “no, it can be a spirit, she hasn’t done anything a spirit would do. maybe a foodie ghost, who just want to eat.” Answering his own question.

“I have a theory in my mind, and I am gonna have to prove it first, so let’s see if what I am thinking is right, or yours,” Jim said out.

“here is your coffee, would you like some cookies with it?” Juliane asked giving them both their cup of milk coffee from the tr she was holding in his hands.

“yeah sure.” They both said together.

“ah Julie, can you call your daughter here?” now just Jim said.

“yeah sure,” she answered.

“Julie, come downstairs. We have guests, come, and greet them.” She called for her daughter.

The little girl who looked so much like her mother came walking down the stairs and sat on an over-sized chair beside them.

“Hey, Lily how’s it going?” Reeve asked.

“we’re good.” She answered uninterestedly.

“Hey Julie can you give Reeve some sugar, he likes his coffee to be a bit too sweet,” Jim asked Julie.

“Yeah, just a second.”

“what are you doing?” Reeve whispered to Jim.

“Just wait and see.” He answered plainly.

She came to the room with a bowl of sugar in her hand, it was so full that a leap of it can be seen in the bowl. She came to them and said, “here, how much?”

“just a spoonful,” said Reeve.

Jim suddenly moved his hand which hit Julie’s hand making her lose the bowl she had in her hands and the sugar fell on the beautiful grey rug, the grain of it spread across the room.

“I'm really sorry, I accidentally hit our hand.” He apologized.

“it’s okay I'll clean it……” she said but,

Suddenly the little girl came on her knees and started picking up every grain of sugar from the ground. Just as it all happened, Jim and Reeve gave each other a long stare. Reeve’s expression was like he was asking his brother, “was this your theory? I don’t get it.” and Jim’s expression was as if he was saying, “my theory was right. I must know what is going on here.”

“baby what are you doing, get up, I’ll clean it up,” Juliane asked her daughter.

The little girl was unaffected by her mother’s words as if the words were inaudible to her ears, poor Juliane, she tried to stop her daughter but she wasn’t listening to her, she kept picking up the grains one by one. Through the time Juliane would look at Lily than to the boys with hopelessness and gloominess on her face, she was embarrassed and shocked. All this went on for some minutes until every bit of sugar was back from the floor to the ceramic bowl which was unbroken as it just hit the rug.

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