The feeling of the morning sun shining across his face once again would cause Mitch to stir until he finally shot up out of his dreamless sleep. “What?” he shouted out as he looked around, finding himself back in Jasper's home in his bed.
“What happened?...” He asked no one in particular as he pulled himself out of bed, finding his body felt heavy and sluggish when he tried to stand up.
It took a few moments for his body to respond properly and begin moving the way he wanted it to.. “Must have overdone it.” Recalling the last thing he remembered was the feeling of the darkness encroaching as he tried to make it through the door. “Really overdid it.”
There weren't even any nightmares, just a dreamless sleep that left him waking up in a cold sweat bathing in the morning sun. It was rather unpleasant, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now other than get out of bed and see how everyone else was doing.
Stumbling through the halls he kept a hand on the wall to keep himself balanced. Finding it was slowly getting easier but felt like his body was actively trying to go against what he told it to do. The stairs were where the real pain showed, his legs aching as if he had run a marathon the day before with each step he took.
When he finally made it to the bottom floor, he would have heard some chatter from the dining room. Approaching he could make out the voice as distinctly as Jaspers. He talked in a hushed tone “Yeah..” he said quietly “Gonna need her to move here quicker at this rate, this job is going to be pretty big.”
There were a few obligatory “Yeah” and “Mhmm”’s as he seemed to be talking on the phone. “That's good to hear, I’ll be there to collect her later then.” He finished, which gave Mitch the go ahead to knock on the door.
“Morning…” He grumbled as he pushed the door open to step inside. He saw Jasper sitting at the dining table with a large amount of paperwork stacked up to his left and a far smaller stack on his right.
“Good morning.” Jasper replied, pointing to the seat across from him with an open hand “Take a seat. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a ton of bricks.” He replied sleepily, pulling out the chair and grunting in pain as he had sat down too fast, causing his muscles to writhe in agony.
“That’s to be expected.” Jasper replied, returning to the paperwork as he talked with him “You really overdid it last night.”
“It was pretty hard to keep it going for that long in the first place.” He sighed, leaning his head down onto his palm as he rested his elbow on the table “What’s all this paperwork?”
Jasper flipped the sheet he was working on to check it before he transferred it to the smaller pile on the right. “This is the paperwork to do with bringing Lara into the family, I need to document everything that happened, what we saw, what we did, and what we found out researching her past through all these forms.”
“Looks like a lot of work…” Mitch responded, staring at the pile that had to be at least two hundred sheets of paper from his rough estimation.
“You learn to deal with all the boring paperwork.” Jasper laughed, shooting a more than happy smile at Mitch “Do you remember what you saw when you were in there?”
He thought back on last night for a few moments, visions and snippets coming back to him of the moments he got to the door, mostly only able to recall the voice. “I don’t think I managed to make it inside… but I did hear someone on the other side of the master bedroom door.”
Jasper placed his pen down and held both of his hands together and rested his growing bearded chin atop them “Do you remember anything they said?”
“Yeah, he said something about everything being set up for next thursday… Getting camera crews in and stuff.” Mitch recalled, rubbing his temple to try to soothe the oncoming headache.
“You should get back to bed and rest.” He assured him. “I called your parents and told them you wouldn’t be back today cause you got sick.”
Mitch leaned his head into his hands “This is all a bit much…”
“Things like this are always serious matters I understand, but you can’t push yourself too much or you'll end up burnt out twice as fast.” Jasper said as he stood from his seat, walking around to pat his back “Let’s get you back up to bed.”
Mitch checked his phone and realised it was still quite early, shaking his head and holding up a hand to him “No, I can’t keep missing school over stuff like this. I’ll fall a bit too far behind… There’s only so much I can study in my own time.”
Jasper looked slightly dumbfounded by such a response but then laughed at him and slapped his back hard, which as always would cause him to splutter and grab his chest “H..hey!” he gasped “Watch it!”
“If you’re strong enough to go to school you are strong enough for a good ol’ pat on the back.” He continued, helping him up out of the chair “I really think you should take the day off.”
Mitch shook his head in response and rubbed over his shoulder as he rotated his arm to stretch the muscles “I can’t keep falling behind if I want to get into medical school.”
“I’m sure one more day won’t make that much of a difference.” Jasper tried to reason, sure he missed more days than others but his grades were more than enough to make up for it along with several calls that had happened some time ago between Jasper and the school.
“How is that going to affect me when I am in college?” He asked seriously, after a few stretches.
“Let me get you a jolt tonic at least.” Jasper said. He left and returned almost instantly with a bottle of that horrid tasting energy drink.
“Thanks.” Mitch said as he took the bottle, uncapping it and downing the contents as fast as he could to hopefully not taste it. All it would taste like was liquid salt with a powdery consistency. It was far more potent than the sweet tasting energy drink like alternative but he needed the extra kick.
He slammed the bottle down when he finally managed to finish it, gasping for some air before he said “I can’t get into the habit of ‘just one day won't hurt’... It adds up over time.”
Jasper eventually conceded to this point and nodded “Well that is a very mature way to look at the topic.”
“Thanks.” Mitch chuckled, “It’s the trauma.”
“Very grim way to look at that too.” Jasper laughed loudly “You have the family morbidity!” He followed him up the stairs holding a hand behind him in case he fell. Jasper knew well how strenuous what happened last night could be on the body and what it could cause after all.
“Well, you can’t tell me that seeing the dead and helping with your parents' work didn’t have some traumatic effects on you growing up.” Mitch replied, occasionally buckling on the stairs but regaining his balance before Jasper needed to catch him.
“It does force one to mature far earlier than they need to, yes.” Jasper agreed. “But you should still try and take some time to enjoy your youth, you only get that once after all.”
“I don’t have time to enjoy my youth.” He sighed in response, sharing a glance with Jasper once they made it to the top of the stairs “I need to put the work in and assure myself the future I’ve always wanted. Hell… Sad way to look at it, but maybe I’ll be as useful as you are to the family, as a doctor.”
“That’s only for if you plan to keep breaking the rules.” Jasper said sternly, pushing down on his head and messing up his hair once again. “I won't let that one happen.”
Mitch groaned as he tried to fix his usual messy head of hair back into the state it was before “Hey, not cool it took me a long time to get it like that.” He said.
Once they came to his door he just opened it and went in, saying “I’ll be fine getting to school, no need to worry.” before he closed the door so he could change into his spare uniform that he kept over here. By now the potion was kicking in and he had gotten a boost of energy. While it didn’t get rid of the pain it let him feel energetic enough to even run to school.
“Don’t be scared to call in sick if it gets too much.” Jasper said from the other side of the door “Get them to call me if that's the case.”
It was only a few minutes before he was dressed up and out the front door with his bag, at this rate he would be a few minutes late but he felt that dealing with that was better than not going in at all.
Approaching the front door he saw the usual substitute teacher standing outside to deal with those who were late. “Why are you late?” He would ask as he stood atop the staircase looking down at him.
He had to resist everything in his body to reply “Because I am.” But he knew it was a bad idea to be a smartass at school. “Slept in.” He simply explained, “Alarm didn’t go off.”
“You mean you forgot to set it.” He said with an authority that grated at Mitch, an aura of smugness that comes from being in a position above those he dealt with.
“Yeah, sure.” Was all he said as he tried to walk past him as he ascended up the steps.
“Journal first.” He replied, holding out his hand in front of him.
Rolling his eyes now he pulled his bag off his back and dug through to hand over his journal. The substitute took a quick flick through it to the back where he wrote something down into one of the pages. “First late in a while, two more within the month and its detention.”
“Yes, I know the rules.” Mitch said as he held out his hand to get it back.
“Better watch the attitude too.” He responded, handing it back after he closed it. “That can get you in a lot more trouble than being late.”
“Yes, I know the rules.” Mitch repeated, placing his journal back into his bag before going to his registration class.
The school day itself was rather uneventful, outside of his muscles screaming in agony when he sat down or stood up. During lunch while he sat off on his own as he often did, he was approached by one of the senior girls who sat across from him. He knew her as Emma and it wasn’t the first time she had tried to get him to open up more “Over here alone again?” She asked, a wide grin across her face that was almost contagious.
“Yeah, I don’t mind it all too much.” Mitch replied as he leaned against the table. “Can sneak in texting my gramps when no one is looking my way.”
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“I heard you were very close with your gramps.” She said as she took her lunch out of her bag, clearly intent on staying with him this break. It wasn’t the first time she butted her way into his lunch and while Mitch knew she had clearly good intentions he tried to be as vague and annoying as possible so she would leave him alone.
“Yeah, we are really close.” Mitch explained. He didn’t exactly want to make friends in the normal working world. It was even harder to consider spending time with the normal people in school after what had happened with Lara. He certainly didn’t want to wind up dragging his schoolmates into this world that he had full certainty changed him.
“Well, what do you do outside school?” She asked, opening her beaker and placing it down on the table. “People always say you go to that old manor, I’d assume your grandad is the old man that lives there then.”
“Yeah, that's him.” he nodded, having finished his food before she got here since he was starving. “The rumours that the house is haunted are pretty funny. He gets a good laugh out of them.”
“Good to hear he doesn’t let them get to him.” She responded, though it wasn't long before she was on the point she came over for “Thought about my offer?”
Mitch nodded, drumming his fingers along the table in time to a song he had stuck in his head the last few days “While it’s very nice of you guys to offer, I’m swamped with studying and helping my grandfather with his work outside of school.”
“Awh come on.” she replied with the pleading eyes of a small puppy. She had been trying to win him over for some time and it wasn’t the first time she asked him to join her and her friend Shaun for a night out. “It’s just a movie. I’ll never ask again if you don’t enjoy it.”
Mitch mulled it over now that the idea that she would leave him alone after was on the table. “Alright.” he eventually said “But it’s gotta be a weekday, I got weekend classes up in Dublin.”
Her face had lit up at his response, surely a relief after months of hounding to try to get him out of his shell. “No bother, how does Friday sound then?” She asked, already taking out her notepad to make the plans “I’ll get Shaun up to date with the plans.”
He could only imagine what she must have been thinking. He had been known as a hardass ever since their first year in secondary school, and that he pushed everyone away who tried to talk to him so she had been the first to get him to agree to come on a night out, or really spend any time outside of school with them. Deep down he had wanted to agree sooner but most of the time he was bogged down with study and work.
With a simple answer a plan was set in motion, a plan that he had to be held to now or he would have been known as the biggest asshole in school… Or a bigger one than usual that was.
He said his goodbye’s to her and returned to his normal classes once lunch had ended. Once the classes were over he made sure to take a note of the plans into his phone calendar. “Friday… Let’s hope it's fast.” He thought to himself while he walked down the street.
He wasn’t exactly into the idea of spending his Friday afternoon out with people he didn’t really know but he considered it to be for the better since he was able to get her off of his back which saved more hassle in the long run.
When he made it back to the manor he pressed the buzzer and waited for the awful joke that always accompanied it. He was rather surprised when the gate opened without so much as a childish giggle from the intercom. “No joke today?” he asked.
To his dismay this was what Jasper was waiting for as he promptly responded “I've got a great joke about construction, but I'm still working on it.”
As the cackling began Mitch could only pout “That was terrible.” He responded, moving away from the intercom to head up through the garden.
Jasper was struggling to contain his laughter when he came in through the front door, he was leaning on the wall beside the indoor intercom. Though the jokes often were the worst he had ever heard, it was always a nice thing to see Jasper act like this much of a child over something so silly.
He never let him know this of course because that would only feed his ego even more when it came to these god awful jokes he more than likely spent a large time coming up with or looking up.
“I won’t be around Friday night to help with work.” He said bluntly, having found it was much easier to get it out there as soon as possible so he can plan for what to do.
“Oh, now why would that be?” Jasper inquired. Mitch could only imagine him taking out a little notebook and pen so he could jot down anything he said to turn into a joke at a later time.
“Made plans to go out and see a movie.” Mitch replied “They said they’d leave me alone if I went just once.”
“A date?” Jasper asked, through his tone Mitch could already see the wide grin spread across his face as he stood behind him.
“Not a chance.” He promptly began to explain so he didn’t have to turn around and see that. “Going out with a few people who have asked me to hang out before. I agreed to Friday night just to get them off my back.”
“I’m sure.” Jasper replied, once again in a tone that was close to infuriating as he could imagine the over exaggerated wink that would follow. By now he didn’t even need to look at Jasper to know what he was doing behind his back.
“Think what you want of it, it won’t change the fact I’m gonna be away Friday night.” Mitch ended before he walked into his room and closed the door. He could hear Jasper laughing on the other side of the door that got quieter as he walked away.
Friday was something he had been dreading the last few days. It had been playing on his mind while he was studying, practising his spirit walking, even when he was doing something as simple as having dinner. He was worried that something might slip, maybe he would say the wrong thing at the wrong time and then a whole new investigation would begin.
Classes were worse because during lunch he was able to see them sitting off together and occasionally would try to wave him to their table, though he made sure to give a polite wave but stay to himself.
He had worked with ghosts a large part of the last year, and trained to be able to deal with them for several years prior and this meetup somehow felt far scarier than any abandoned manor or factory that they had to exorcise.
When the time finally came to get ready he decided to make himself look nice for the night. He spent time after school shaving off his stubble and despite one or two minor cuts it was an overall success. His father had also helped him by showing him how to use the iron without burning his clothes, like the one incident that he promised never to mention again.
Putting on his jacket he took one last look in the mirror in the bathroom to make sure that he was all ready. He had opted for a leather jacket that his father got him some time ago that he didn’t wear too often along with a black T-shirt underneath and a simple pair of jeans. Opting out of the duster that Jasper assured he would look good in due to the fact it made him look like a flasher and his public image was bad enough.
He shot his father a quick “Thanks for the help!” Before he opened the door and went out. Just outside the door he did one last check. Phone, wallet, keys, all there so he was ready to head out to where they said they would meet.
The meeting spot was decided to be a diner on the main street that led up towards the cinema so it was easy for them to get from place to place. Emma was already waiting by the time he got there. She sported a casual outfit of a thick jacket for the cold night and black pants, having tied her long black hair back into a ponytail. “You decided to actually show up.” She actually sounded quite shocked, waving him down when he got close.
“I promised at least one night.” He replied as he kept his hands in his pockets, mostly holding onto his wallet and phone out of paranoia that someone might try and slip them out when he wasn’t looking.
“Shaun got us a table already.” She said as she ushered him inside.
“About time.” Shaun shot with a warm smile. He was a rather kind guy, on the more chubby side who often offered to hang out when they first started school together. Mitch had always refused under the guise of being too busy. “Busy as always?” He asked and Mitch wasn’t able to tell if it was a jab or playful jest. Perhaps both.
Once the very brief introduction was over Emma got to her questions. “So, why are you always off on your own?” She asked.
Mitch had a feeling it would have been one of the first questions asked so he had been prepared to answer. “I often spend so much time working outside of school I don’t have time to hang out, so It’s easier to just sit alone.”
“What would you even work at?” Shaun added, occasionally scratching his chin which he had not bothered to shave. Though it fit with the rest of his look as his red hair was quite unkempt and almost looked like some invisible force was pulling it in different strands.
“I work with my grandfather, we travel a lot during the afternoons to work on different projects.” He knew it was only a half answer but he couldn’t exactly tell them everything.
They would take a few moments to look over the menu and put their orders in with the waiter before some idle chatter began.
“Awh man that movie is great!” Mitch found himself saying as the topic shifted to Shauns obsession with classic horror.
“I know, right?!” Shaun enthusiastically almost shouted back leaning forward on the table “The special effects still stand up to this day, an absolute classic!”
Even on topics he found he was completely ignorant of, he was still enjoying the conversation. Adding a quip here and there and managing to get the same level of eye rolling from Emma with some of his grandfather's jokes. Shaun on the other hand would have been in stitches by them, hardly able to contain his laughter at times.
This was another fact he must never let Jasper know about, lest he inflate his ego.
Though it was all idle and often mindless chatter Mitch could find himself enjoying it, a feeling of calm shared with others that even allowed him to forget about his worries.
The meal was nice and the movie that followed soon after was fun, Mitch always loved cheesy horror movies and after a bit of talk at the table they had decided on a new horror that had come out a few days prior.
Out of the meal and movie, the movie may have been what he considered a low point. The movie itself was fine, but being cramped into a large room full of other people in the dark was something that made him feel uncomfortable.
At the end of the movie they had all walked out into the street again, idling by the carpark for a moment while Shaun was going on about the twist ending that he wasn’t expecting and how amazing it was.
Mitch wasn’t sure if it was just working with actual spirits, or that he had watched an obscene amount of horror movies but he had seen it coming from nearly the beginning.
“It was a pretty good movie” Mitch said once Shaun was done, though he didn’t really enjoy it that much he didn’t want to come across as rude.
Shaun was once again excited to talk about it because he started “Awh man that movie reminded me so much about P-Normal! It is so much like something he would report on.”
Mitch felt his stomach drop at the mention of the blog. “What’s that?” Mitch asked, feigning his ignorance.
Shaun seemed more than happy to explain as Emma said “Here we go again.” placing a hand atop her forehead in a comic sign of disbelief of how often Shaun got excited about this.
Here we go indeed Mitch thought as Shaun took a moment to bring up the blog on his phone and show it to Mitch “This guy travels around the world looking for all the secret haunted places he can find and investigates them.”
“Oh yeah?” Mitch asked as he leaned in to see the front page, just examining it.
“Yeah!” Shaun said as he turned the phone back to scroll through again “He’s in Ireland at the moment, not too far out of carlow!”
“You seem really into this guy, has he found anything cool?” He had stuffed his hands into his pockets to be able to hold and fidget with his keys as they talked. Luckily neither minded the insistent jingling.
“Yeah, he found some runes and stuff in some house that was abandoned. He is going to talk more about it next Thursday and man, I can’t wait to see what he found.” He put his phone down after and leaned back against the wall beside the theatre “Keep an eye out on the site, he has a big post coming to do with it.”
“You know anything about the guy?” Mitch asked, while an innocent question in any normal context would help find out what he has been up to.
“He is pretty open about who he is, just gotta read through the blog” He began, at least this time he didn’t scroll for an example. “He is from some rich family so his mom funds all his travelling.”
“Figures, no one who makes enough money to do that would have the time to go about it.” Emma said with a roll of her eyes.
“Aww you guys are no fun.” Saun responded as he crossed his arms. “Just enjoy the idea of something being out there. Sucks if it was just us.”
Mitch would take his phone out to check the time before he said “I think I should head back though. Was a fun night.”
“Well, hopefully you have a good weekend.” Emma replied as they all began saying their goodbyes.
“I’ll see you guys in school Monday then, you both have good weekends.” He said, turning to walk back towards his home on the other side of town. Luckily for him the town was constantly lit at night and everything was within walking distance so it only took him around twenty minutes to get back home.
He shared some greetings with his family when he returned and met his father and mother in the living room. “So, how was it?” His father asked, pausing the movie they were enjoying to look back at him.
“It was pretty fun.” He said as he sat down on an armchair on the other side of the room “We went out for some food, talked and had some fun before we went to a movie.”
“Well sounds like a good night out, have fun?” He asked as he leaned over to unpause the movie when they were all comfortable.
Mitch had to think about it for a few moments before he eventually nodded “Yeah, I had a lot of fun. Might do it again.”