Summoner: The Book of Dimension

58 The Reunion To Josh’s Funeral

The moment Peter arrived at the town, he thought it wasn’t as bad as how he thought it would be based on people’s reactions when he was on the way there.

The only weird he experienced so far was the locals there were giving him subtle creepy vibes, which, he understood because some people are intimidated by outsiders. More than that, there was nothing much for him to tell the town was hunted.

The town was not populated and it was even almost deserted. The town was not as modern as the city where he lived. There were few modern-looking houses, but they were rarely seen there. The town was mostly composed of old houses and mansions that reminded him of the Middle Ages from one of those historical photographs.

There were not many houses there for him to see, anyway.

Perhaps it was the way it looked old and deserted that made people think the town was hunted.

After a few minutes of driving and manually locating the mansion since the navigation was not accurate, he saw the mansion from afar. And when he saw it, he felt weird. The mansion looked quite the same as the mansion from Edgar lee’s villa.

The setting of the mansion was quite the same, too. It was established on a remote-located mountain. There was no other house but a small bungalow down the mountain. He knew the mansion was there since the person inside that small bungalow was a caretaker of the mansion.

With the backpack on his shoulders, he got out of the car. While he had the chance, he looked at the exterior of the mansion. Compared to the one at the villa, the mansion looked a little smaller. Not that everyone would notice anyway. He could say based on what he could remember.

Peter wondered how was Josh’s life living there. It didn’t look too fancy but it looked classic. If he was to tell, in all the houses and mansions he had seen so far in that town, Josh’s mansion could be considered as one of the houses that people would think a wealthy family could live.

Based on the look of the mansion, he could say that the mansion was just newly built. Josh also mentioned one time that he used some of the money he inherited from his late uncle to build a new house. He guessed that was the reason it looked quite the same as the one from his late uncle’s villa.

If the villa wasn’t burned down back then, Josh would’ve lived there instead. It would’ve been better since that would mean he was just in a neighboring city. It would be easy for them to meet up.

Shaking his head to brush away his thoughts, he took a few steps to the side to close the door of his car.

He jumped a little when he felt something touch his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a grinning familiar face. “Hey, Pete,” he greeted.

Peter smiled widely and initiated a brief hug while they patted each other’s backs. “You scared the heck out of me,” he complained.

“What are you scared about?” Ray asked with a chuckle.

“The mansion looked the same as the one from the villa. I was thinking about it and you suddenly silently tapped on my shoulder. You scared the s**t out of me,” Peter explained and noticed there was a lady behind Ray who was just watching their interaction. “Hey,” he greeted her.

Ray looked at the woman behind him and smiled before he looked at Peter. “Yeah, by the way, this is Linda, a friend of mine,” he said. “She was one of my father’s employees and turned out she was an elementary classmate of Josh. I asked Emma if she could come and she said it was fine.”

Peter nodded in understanding and offered a handshake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Peter. Peter Cohen.”

The woman nodded with a smile. “Nice to meet you, too. My name’s Linda Fletcher. Ray told me some things about you,” she briefly shook his hand and let go.

Peter looked at Ray with a grimace. “What did you tell about me?” Ray just grinned at him and winked. “Bastard,” he said to Ray. The woman just watched them with amusement.

Ray looked at the mansion and nodded. “It sure looked like the mansion from Josh’s inherited villa. It reminded me of that time when the villa was still not burned down,” he said.

Linda interrupted. “What happened to his villa?”

The two guys looked at each other and Ray just smiled at her. “Long story short, three years ago, the four of us did something stupid and accidentally burned the mansion down.”

Peter was thankful at how Ray saved the explanation. The woman nodded and excused herself so she could go inside the mansion.

He patted Ray’s shoulder. “You did a good job explaining that,” he chuckled.

“We don’t need to tell her about the summoning,” Ray said.

Peter nodded. “You’re right,” he said and looked at the mansion before he patted Ray’s arm, “Let’s go.”

Finally, the two entered the mansion and they were welcomed by the faint bright chatter of people from inside. Peter was glad to hear that since he didn’t know how he would react if he would hear the sobbing and wailing of people.

“Where’s Josh’s body?” Ray asked nonchalantly. It was weird for Peter to hear that. He accepted his close friend was dead, but he was still new to hear things like that. Ray realized what he just said. “That’s so weird. I can’t believe I’m saying that now.”

“I don’t think I’d ever get used to it either,” Peter said with a faint smile. “Emma said he’s at the lobby of the mansion,” he said.

“I don’t think I’m ready to see him yet,” Ray said.

Peter sighed. “So do I.”

“Guys?” someone who came from the living room called them. The two turned to the owner of the voice and it was Zack.

The two walked to Zack and they each gave him a hug. Zack was holding a glass of what looked like whiskey with ice. It wasn’t much and it looked like it would only take a few gulps or sip until it was empty. Peter noticed it so he asked, “You’re drinking?”

Zack sighed. “I was meant to get a glass of water, but it feels like I will drown to it so I asked if I could get few sips of whiskey,” he said and shook the glass, the ice clinking against the glass. “Do you guys want some? Just for something we could have for a while. I don’t think I’m ready to see Josh in a casket.”

Peter didn’t think Zack would feel the same. If there was one of them who wasn’t that close to Josh, it would be Zack. He wasn’t as affectionate as the three were to each other, but he stayed as a friend.

The two agreed and Zack guided them to the living room to give them some whiskey.

The three decided to stay there and talk about their lives so far after they separated right when they graduated.

“What? You’re just the President of your father’s company? I thought you’d be the CEO when you graduate?” Peter asked Ray and couldn’t believe that Ray wasn’t in the highest position yet.

Zack nodded. “Yeah, I thought you were supposed to be the heir of the company?”

Ray sighed. “My Dad said I wasn’t still ready to be on that position and I can’t replace the current CEO yet, that’s why he placed me on that position first. It’s okay with me since I don’t want to be put on a high position when I’m still not prepared for it.”

“What about you, Zack? You said you started with your video game shop in Japan?” Peter asked. “Aren’t you happy that you achieved your dream?”

Zack smiled. “It’s ecstatic. My shop was loved and I’m just planning to open another branch there. If it’s successful, I’ll let someone handle my business in Japan and come back to our city and live there to open another branch. I kinda missed our city,” he said pertaining to the city they lived when they were still in college.

Peter was happy to know about his friends’ dreams.

Ray chuckled and looked at Peter. “I didn’t actually expect peter would be that famous as a writer. I mean, you’ve got the potential, but boy I didn’t expect you to reach that high,” Ray said and he was actually the first to finish his whiskey. He didn’t want to be drunk so he didn’t ask for more.

Peter shook his head. “Me, too. The starting was always hard. It was even difficult to sell a few books. Not much people are paying attention to my work.”

Zack grinned. “He could be this generation’s Stephen King,” he joked.

“I’m no Stephen King. We all know he’s a legend,” Peter chuckled.

After their catch-up talk, they decided to go to the lobby. They needed to see him anyway.

But when they arrived there, Peter’s eyebrows creased in confusion. Emma wasn’t there when she was supposed to be there.