A Touch Dead

A Touch Dead

Chapter 14



I watch Chaise with curious eyes as he walks out onto the porch, but opt not to stare holes into his back while he uses the phone. Instead I allow my mind to wander to thoughts of earlier. What could I have done differently then to try and save that man? I don\'t really think there was much; even a few more seconds wouldn\'t have been enough to stop what happened. I am curious though, what if I did save him and that car never hit him and he lived. Would death just find a different way to claim him or would I have stopped it until his actual natural death was to happen. Maybe, like Chaise said this ability is evolving and wasn\'t quite done when I saw that vision. The thought scares me that this could be evolving and changing into something more then what it already is.



What about Chaise though? His ability doesn\'t appear to really be changing much. His hands though...and his arms. I wonder if it\'s painful for him. When I think back on it I remember after he touched Morgan\'s corpse he couldn\'t move his fingers, he used his other hand to hold my hair back from my face. It feels like my heart skips a beat when I think of that blackness spreading further over his body, causing him more pain. What if one day he can\'t move his hands anymore? Can’t feel anything at all? I shake my head, trying to will all of these thoughts from my mind. I think about things in too much detail and then stress about them far too much.



I glance up from my spot and see the package of smokes on the table in front of me and glance to the door seeing him still on the phone. I don\'t think he\'ll mind if I have one. I don\'t really care about smoking in here, it already smells horrid and looks like a dump anyway. No amount of cleaning will really make a difference to this place. Not with the type of people that live here, nor the people who own this place. Besides, with any luck, one day I won’t live in this shit hole anymore. I take the package, slipping off the plastic wrap and pull a cigarette from it, setting the rest back on the table. I get up and grab the lighter from the kitchen and make my way back to the living room. I stop mid walk and stare at the couch, the images of my mother dying there flashing through my mind. Instead of sitting back on it I decide to sit against the opposite wall, and light my cigarette, my eyes locked onto the couch.



“You know if you stare at the couch long enough you might end up burning a hole into it.”



I look up as I see Chaise come back in, a soft smile on his face and he sets the phone down and grabs a smoke for himself, joining me on the floor. “Mind if I steal a light?” I shake my head and go to lift up the lighter but he places the smoke between his lips and leans closer towards me. It clicks then to me, he just wants to light his off of mine. I can feel myself blushing a little bit but ignore it and lean forward, my fingers coming up to keep my cigarette from moving too much as the tip of his presses against mine. It only takes a few moments for his to catch, but he still remains fairly close to me. Not that I mind in the least.



“Thanks for letting me borrow your phone. I just wanted to call my dad quickly.” He lets his gaze fall away from mine, so that he’s looking at picture hanging on the wall before us.



“It\'s no problem, at least while I still have it in service feel free to use it anytime. Was your dad happy to hear from you?” He hasn\'t said much to me about his personal life, all I really know is that he ran away from it.



“Sure, I guess you could say that.” He speaks pretty quickly, his eyes moving to stare out the window as he takes another drag from his cigarette. I\'ll change the subject, since I think parents are a touchy subject for both of us. Not like I have any anymore though now. But it\'s like I keep saying I haven\'t even really had a mother. I know Chaise has a father out there somewhere, but what about his mother?



I won\'t pry any further into it; he doesn\'t appear to really want to open up about it as well. “You know...we could look up Jenna\'s parents and try to go see them. Maybe we will get a lead and if we’re lucky won\'t have to go back to Morgan\'s body.”



“Yeah, digging up his body is a real pain in the ass.”



I frown slight and reach out, pulling his one hand closer to me so I can look at it again. He probably doesn\'t like it being looked at so close but I can\'t seem to help myself. I run my fingers over the top of his hand and then let them linger down his finger tips to his palms. It\'s so cold, not horribly so that I couldn\'t stand to be touched by him but just cooler then normal skin. “It\'s painful for you after looking into someone\'s mind?” I run my fingers up his arm a little bit but then back down to his hand. The skin is firm, unlike the skin of my hands and arms. He seems a little tense as I hold onto his hand but he doesn’t pull away as his eyes lock back onto mine.



He nods, staying mostly silent for a few moments before speaking up. “It’s painful, but I’m used to it.”

I can’t help the slight frown that crosses my face when he says that. “I’m used to it.” He shouldn’t be used to feeling pain. Just like I shouldn’t be used to seeing people get hit by cars and dying right before me. Instead of saying something back I decide to simply change the subject to avoid any fighting between us. “You can sleep in my room tonight like if you’d like? My mother’s room is in no condition for anyone to go in so I won’t make you sleep in there. It’s getting late, so just let me know when you are tired and I will clean it up for you quickly.”



“Where are you going to be sleeping?” He questions me, as I slowly release his hand and take another drag from my cigarette.



“I don’t think I’ll be sleeping tonight-“I go to explain more but Chaise cuts me off a little too quickly.



“I know you are upset about your mother’s death and about the man earlier that you couldn’t save but you need to get some rest. Look at you; you look as though you might pass out at any moment. I’m surprised that you haven’t by now and that you are still conscious. I just want to make sure you will be alright. I don’t think anyone will hold it against you if you sleep for a few hours Aiydenn.”



I smile a small chuckle escaping after he’s finished talking. “As much as I appreciate the concern, it’s only because Morgan is here. He’s standing over there.” I gesture with my head to the right. “Otherwise I had every intention of sleeping but he’d just haunt me while I’m sleeping anyway. With any luck we’ll figure this whole thing out soon and I’ll be able to sleep somewhat normally again.” I’ve never actually slept normally, not that I’m going to bring that detail up now for him but generally I’m always haunted by the images of those I’ve seen die. It’s not horrible like it is now, but it’s enough that I wake in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, unable to stop shaking. At least I usually will get a few good hours but with Morgan I’ve only managed to get a few over several days.



I stand up, grabbing an ash tray off of the TV stand and put out what is left of my cigarette and set the tray on the table for Chaise to use when he’s finished. “I’m just going to set up my room for you.” I explain as I head down the hallway to my room. I flick the light on and head inside, glancing around. It’s not overly messy, mainly because I don’t really own very much.



I head over to my bed and take off the bedding, tossing it off to the corner for now while I grab some new sheets from the closet and start to re-make the bed. It’s not the most comfortable bed but it’ll have to do for now, it is a lot better then the couch would be to sleep on seeing as it’s got a dent in the shape of my mothers body on it.



“It would have been fine; you didn’t need to change the bedding.”



“I just wanted to put the better stuff on here for you rather then the dingy old stuff. It’s not a big deal, I’m very accustomed to doing chores so don’t worry about it.”



He comes over and helps me finish making the bed, and then takes the sheets from the floor out of the room before I can even say a thing to protest. While he’s gone I find some clothes for him to sleep in, we are around the same size, though he’s slightly taller and fuller then I am.



“These should fit for you to sleep in. If you are bored or can’t sleep, please feel free to read a book or listen to some music. I don’t have much in here but you are welcome to help yourself to it. I’ll be out in the living room if you need me. Good night.” I turn and close the door behind me, making my way down to the living room not giving him much of a chance to say anything. As I walk into the living room I grab the remote from one of the tables, and take a spot on a chair that’s off to the side. I flick on the TV, turning the volume down low and start to flip through the channels. There isn’t usually much on once it starts to get late but watching boring things on TV is better then having a staring contest with stupid Morgan.



After a couple hours of pointless TV it clicks to me that I could be looking up this girl, Jenna Neil, or at least be trying to find some information on her family if I can. I grab the missing poster we had taken earlier and the phone book and sit down at the table in the kitchen. I flip through the book quickly till I land on the N section and start comparing numbers to the one on the poster. If we can get an address then we could possibly visit the parents and try to get as much information as possible from them. We could simply lie and say we’ve seen her around town in order to gain a bit of trust, that way they might be slightly more adamant about sharing some information on her and if they know Morgan. My finger scrolls down to the last name on the list of Neil’s and I can’t help but feel relief that it’s a match to the number. If they were unlisted it would’ve been a lot harder to find them, we’d probably have more luck from visiting Morgan then.



I scribble the address down on a piece of paper and check out the bus route map I have stuck to the fridge to see where exactly it is they live. Of course it’s on the wealthier part of the town. I didn’t think she’d live in a trashy place, you could sort of tell by her appearance. I set the address and map aside and lean back in my chair. I wonder if she went to the same school that I’m attending. There is a very good chance; see as it is the only school aside from a small private school on the other side of town. Plus if Morgan moved here knowing her and was planning on going to that school, she probably would be attending there as well. Chaise did mention that Morgan was fairly well off, so if she went to the private school I think he would do everything he could to attend there as well. We could tell her parents we attend the same school and have noticed she hasn’t been but that we saw her down town. I’m sure we’ll work out the details in the morning before we leave.



Pushing my thoughts aside I get up and head down the hallway to grab the laundry from earlier take it down to the washing machine and dryer room that is on the buildings main floor. It’s early so I’m able to beat everyone and get my laundry done. This way I’ll have some clean clothes for Chaise and I to wear in the morning so that we don’t have to worry about going back to his place. The earlier we can get to the Neil’s house the better I think.



I’m snapped out of my thoughts as the doors to the machines start to open and slam shut over and over again, the lights flicker on and off as well, and water starts to leak out of the machines as well. Then the room goes cold like last night at Chaise’s house. Then the lights go out all together and Morgan flickers angrily in front of me, his hand reaching out to me before pointing out the window. I look the direction he’s pointing, the way to Jenna’s parent’s house. We must be on the right track if he’s pointing me in that direction.



His head snaps back quickly, his lifeless eyes bearing onto my eyes. He just stares at me for a few moments before his hand slowly reaches out and brushes against my cheek. I can’t help the gasp that escapes my lips as I jerk my head away, taken back by the feeling. Morgan quickly snaps back, an angry flicker before he disappears and the lights turn back on, the room slowly starting to feel warm again and the doors to the machines close.



What was that? When his fingers touched me it felt almost real, like regular human flesh. Just like what it would feel like if I were to touch Chaise’s face in the same manner. But the last time he touched me he did not feel the same way at all. The first time that Morgan had touched me I felt cold; you could tell he was a ghost because his fingers couldn’t materialize against my skin. So what’s happening that he now almost feels real?



+



I finished the laundry without another incident from Morgan and headed back to the apartment. It’s still fairly early so I decide to have a shower and then cook something for breakfast. I’m relieved that this time stepping out of the shower there is no sign of Morgan at all. I dry my hair and get dressed in some of the clean clothes before changing the towels once I’m finished in case Chaise would like to shower once he’s up.



Just as I open the door to the washroom Chaise opens the door to my bedroom. He looks a little groggy but otherwise like he slept well as he stands in the door way. He runs a hand through his hair before his eyes fall into mine.



“Morning. Did you sleep alright?”



“Yeah. How about you, any sleep at all?”



I chuckle and shake my head. “No, not last night but it’s alright. I did look up the address for Jenna’s parents though and mapped it out; it should be fairly easy to get to.”



I can tell he isn’t overly impressed by the way I said it was alright that I didn’t sleep but he doesn’t press the matter. He just has that look on his face. “Great, guess we can head over this morning and try to get this done as fast as we can, less time for Morgan to hang around that way.”



“He does get a little annoying after a few minutes. If you’d like though there are some fresh towels in the bathroom and some clean clothes. I was just going to cook something for breakfast too.”



“Thanks.” And with that he disappears with a silent click into the washroom.



+



Going through my kitchen I can’t find much of anything. Most of the fresh food has spoiled or we just don’t have anything. Going for a simple and quick thing I make an instant pancake mix and get some coffee on to brew but also boil water for tea. I drink as strong of a coffee as I can to help keep me awake and fully aware during the day, especially when I have to go to school. I set the dishes on the table and serve the pancakes just as Chaise enters the room. I can’t help but be a little jealous. My clothes fit him better then they fit me.



“Coffee or tea? I don’t have any juices unfortunately that are still good and I doubt you want to drink some of my mother’s alcohol collection.”



“Black tea would be perfect.”



I nod and pour our drinks, sitting down at the table across from him. “This is all I could find that was still good so I hope you like pancakes.”



“It’s fine Aiydenn. Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?” He questions me as he takes a sip from his tea and starts to eat the pancakes.



I laugh and nod my head, agreeing with him. “Yeah, I tell myself that everyday after I finish worrying. So, I was thinking when we see her parents today we could tell them we go to school with Jenna and Morgan and that we haven’t seen them at school recently but that we saw her down town a few days ago. We might be able to get them to open up about it plus if we mention Morgan they might be able to give us some details without us having to pry too much into it.”



“Good plan, we’ll just have to hope they won’t withhold information because they don’t know us. With any amount of luck, they will give us the lead we need to get to the bottom of this.”



I decide to wait until later to tell Chaise about Morgan in the laundry room, and the feeling of his hand against my face. We have enough to worry about right now that I think that can wait. It’s not as though Chaise can see Morgan to do anything about it anyway.



+



We decide after breakfast to catch the bus to the Neil’s house since it would’ve taken too long to walk and I probably would’ve slowed us down after a little while. The bus doesn’t bring us right there, leaving us with a few minute long walk. Along the way we just talk about possible questions to ask them and get our story straight together so we won’t appear suspicious at all to them. Before we know it we are at the end of their driveway.



“Nice house.” I can’t help but mutter under my breath. I can’t imagine ever living in a nice house like this one, let alone having parents worried enough to post flyers looking for me. We walk up the door and Chaise rings the door bell before stepping back beside me. It doesn’t take long before the door is opened and a shorter woman answers it. She’s attractive, having the same facial features as Jenna, though she looks exhausted.



“Can I help you?”



“Hi ma’am, my name is Aiydenn and this is Morgan.” I was going to say Chaise but I know he’s not living here under that name. For simplicities sake I will call him Morgan for now. “We go to school with Jenna and haven’t seen her in quite some time. We know Morgan was supposed to be starting at school here as well but hasn’t shown up yet either. We saw the posters for Jenna down town though and thought we should come by to tell you that we’ve seen Jenna.” I get two responses; the first being a raised eyebrow in suspicion at the mention two Morgan’s, and the next being hope and shock.



She quickly brushes off her stupor and steps to the side. “Please, come in.”



We follow her inside as she calls out for her husband and leads us to the sitting room. “Would you like something to drink?” She offers as her husband enters the room behind her. He’s tall, sharing the same hair and eye color as Jenna but with the same exhausted look as his wife.



“We’re okay, thank you though.”



They both take a seat across from us, hands quickly entwining together. “So you’ve seen her? How long ago? Did you speak to her? And what about Morgan, did you see him as well?”



I feel guilty lying to them like this after seeing how worried they are for their daughter but with any luck she is still alive and we will find her. “We only saw her, just a couple of days ago. Unfortunately we weren’t able to speak with her because she disappeared far too quickly before we could get to her. When did she go missing exactly?”



“It was just over two weeks ago. She had been going to meet Morgan, um, Morgan Steels,” She adds, glancing at Chaise. “-at the library since he was helping her with a project for school. They’ve been dating for a while, before we moved here. Morgan even went as far as to move here himself just to be with her. We told her to take the car but she insisted on taking the bus there to save us the gas. She never c-c-came home th-that n-night.” She paused, taking a moment to collect herself to keep from breaking down in front of us. When she continued it was almost as if there hadn’t been any glitches in her explanation. “We thought maybe she had been late and stayed the night with Morgan but then she never came home the next day either. No phone calls, nothing. We looked for her, called the school, everything we could think of but all we came out with was nothing.”



So she was supposed to be meeting him that night? Somewhere in between them meeting she disappeared and Morgan got murdered. There has to be a connection. Most likely the people who killed Morgan have Jenna or killed her as well. But why though? What was so special about those two that one of them needed to be murdered? I doubt that the parents know anything more so there really is no point in us staying any longer here for now.



“Do you think Jenna and Morgan could’ve been involved with anything bad? You know, like a gang? She just never came across as the kind of person who would just up and disappear.”



“I can assure you and anyone else who asks; our daughter wasn’t involved with gangs or anything of the sort. She is a straight A-honour student who hasn’t done a bad thing since the day she was born. If she had been in trouble we would’ve known.” Jenna’s dads’ eyes are cold and harsh but the love for her can be seen clearly within them. This isn’t a home someone would run away from if they were given a choice that much is for sure.



“I apologize, we just want to try and help find them. We didn’t mean any disrespect.” The last thing Chaise and I want to do is upset them and put any suspicion onto us so I’m trying my best not to come across as rude or disrespectful. Chaise remains as silent as he was coming in.



“We know and understand what you meant. We just want our little girl back.”



“I’m really sorry Mr and Mrs Neil but if we see Jenna or Morgan again we’ll call you right away. And we’ll keep a look out for them as well. If we find anything out we’ll let you know.”



They see us off to the door, thanking us for letting them know that Jenna is at least alive, of course that causes a wave of guilt to wash over me but I can’t dwell on it and I’m sure Chaise is the same way. We need to pursue every lead that we possibly can. And if we are lucky, we’ll provide some form of comfort for her parents in the end.



They smile and wave, but you can tell it’s a façade. They aren’t any closer to finding the daughter they love and miss. If anything, what they learned from us just caused more pain because they believe she is out there and just won’t come home to them.



+



“So, we know now that they were supposed to be meeting that night.”



“Yeah, but somewhere in between Morgan died and Jenna disappeared. I can’t help but feeling we aren’t getting any closer.”



We sit down at the bench of the bus stop and my eyes wander over Chaise. He looks disappointed that we didn’t get much else from them. He grumbles, “What if we are just over looking something important that we have already seen without realising?”



“What could we have missed though? It’s not as though we’ve been over looking the details of this. We’ll just have to go back to Morgan and see if we can get something else.” His hands ball into fists, but he pulls them back into his sleeves so I can’t really see them. He probably doesn’t want to touch Morgan again, and I wish there was a way we could do it so that he didn’t have to. I know it hurts him, despite what he’ll say to me about it.



“Maybe Morgan saw something on one of his attackers, a distinctive mark on them, like a tattoo or something that we haven’t noticed. Every time that I’ve seen his death I’ve always been focused on Morgan and the pain that he’s feeling that I haven’t really looked at the attackers in detail. If we could go back and see the vision again maybe there is a chance we’ll get the break we need.” I haven’t really thought of paying much attention to it before, I was usually too scared or focused on Morgan to notice much of anything else. If I can get something useful then we might not have to go back to Morgan’s body at all. It’s too hard to go back and dig him up all the time, and it’s especially dangerous for us if we were to get caught by someone out there with his body. He’s fairly far off of the trail but the chances are still there for us to be seen or heard.



“One problem though Aiydenn, how are we supposed to see that vision again? I doubt you’ll be able to recall it in exact detail in order to remember something we’ve over-looked.”





+



Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I\'m sorry I don\'t have time to respond to everyone personally I\'ve just been very busy these past few weeks. This chapter is a but longer so hopefully that\'ll make up for the late posting of it ^^;; hope to see everyone on the next chapter~