Chapter 12

They reached the kitchen counter. They were out of breath.

"Why are you running around?" Marco said, pulling a chair and sitting.

"Eh... Racing!" Braylan said, still panting. He too pulled a chair and sat and started gulping water.

"Easy, kid take it easy! You will choke!" Marco said ruffling his hair and Braylan gave him a delighting smile.

'Man he is so good when it comes to acting!' Jayden thought, clearly impressed. he too pulled a chair and sat opposite Braylan.

"I let you win on purpose you know. So that you shouldn't feel bad!" he said smiling.

"Yeah! So true. I didn't realize that you had some noble blood in you!" Braylan replied, snorting. Marco and Jane joined and the boys felt something different. Even if they were acting, doing something that made them all laugh was a good idea. they felt their worries reduce a bit. The lunch was a fun time. It was like the old days. They talked, laughed, and discussed while having their hamburgers and bean salad with some carbonated drinks. To cheer the boys, their parents have also ordered some ice cream sundae and that definitely did its job. The boys were in better spirits by the end of lunch and their fear and stress levels have gone down considerably.

After lunch, they returned to their rooms. Braylan jumped into his bed. It was a long day. A small nap won't hurt. He picked his phone. The book about the cursed objects was on the screen.

'𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨:

𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺…..' As Braylan was reading, he heard a loud thud from Jayden's room. He got up and walked in Jayden's room.

*******************

Jayden entered his room after lunch, ready to grab a book and read it. When he passed his study table, he saw the handprints. He and Braylan didn't clean it. With a groan and cursing the cursed spirits who made him do extra chores, he grabbed a packet of wet wipes and started wiping them. The marks were stubborn and took a lot of time to vanish.

After cleaning, Jayden sighed and chose a book, and sat in a comfortable position on the bed. Soon, Braylon entered his room.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing, Why though?"

"I heard a thud and thought you were hurt or something."

"Oh, that thud! It was caused by me. I dropped an encyclopedia from the top shelf." Jayden replied, smiling.

"Great! I am going to sleep now." Braylan left and Jayden continued reading. He was so engrossed in reading that he didn't realize a boy has just appeared in front of him.

"Jayden! Jayden!" The boy whispered. Jayden jumped and stared at the kid. It was the same ghost boy, who kept coming at odd times.

"Who are you?"

"Don't worry about me. I am a spirit. I want to help you." The boy replied. " You are in big trouble Jayden. Be careful. All times. Don't ever stop being cautious. They have chaaAAAHHHHHH..." The boy screamed in agony. he couldn't complete his sentence. The boy was writhing and he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. Jayden was shocked. It all happened so suddenly. He was staring at the spot where the boy was standing. He called himself a spirit, and he wanted Jayden to be careful. all the time. Well, he was careful. It was more like the Devils found a way to come near him. He was wondering what to do next when he heard the same laughter. It was colder and harsher than before. Jayden kept his hands on his ears. He didn't want to hear it.

"What are you doing Jayden? I am here for you! You can't escape me." A man had appeared in front of him and he was speaking to him. This one was different. He had golden locks, blue eyes, a pale pointed face, and a pointed nose.

'How many spirits exist?' He asked himself.

"You are mine!" The man whispered."I will not let anyone else take you!" He was coming closer and closer. Jayden was moving back until he hit the wall. The man stretched his hand and touched him. Both of them gasped.

***************

'𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴.' Brayalan continued reading after returning back to his room. '𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 5 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺.'

Is this it? Is it because Jayden touched it? But it still doesn't explain why Jacob could see and witness some stuff. Braylan thought.

"Hey, Jacob! I think I found something important!" He texted Jacob who replied after 5 minutes.

"What's that Bray?" Braylan sent him the screenshot of the paragraph he just read.

"But I am not sure Jay actually touched it. He doesn't remember touching it. And if it works on touching, how come I see that old creep and you don't?" Jacob replied after some time.

"That is what confuses me. I guess we will have to meet in secret. I can sneak out of the house right now."

"No! Don't do anything stupid. Any one of us has to be near Jayden and note his behavior." Jacob replied.

"All the time!" he added.

"Ok! So how will we do this project?"

"Let me make a group!"

Jacob started a group chat with Braylan and Samuel. It was decided that Samuel will be the permanent researcher as he was not very close to Jayden and he keeping an eye on him would make Jayden suspicious. They will share their reports and conclusions on this group.

****************

It looked like both of them were hurt. The man was giving Jayden a murderous stare and Jayden felt like his arm was burnt. Slowly the man started disappearing. His legs vanished, then his torso, his chest, and finally his head.

'Did I kill him?' Was the first thought in Jayden's head. His arm was sore and it was burning. He went down to gulp some water and apply some burn tube to his hand. He doubted that the burn tube will be of any help, but he wanted to give it a try.

His ears were ringing from the warning the spirit boy gave. He said that he is supposed to be cautious. But he never did anything after that graveyard incident. It was the spirits that were coming near him. And the boy was also saying something. But something happened to him. Now this man said that Jayden is his. It was creepy.

After thinking for a long time, Jayden decided that he should probably visit a church and communicate with a priest. He was sitting on the bed and he predicted correctly about the burn tube. It had no effect on his burn and it kept hurting. He decided he should take a nap and he fell into a slumber.

He could see dark entities all around him. They were trying to reach him. None of them was clear, but he knew that there was a thin boundary that protacted him. The dark entities were trying to break this boundary. Jayden was not exactly asleep. He was half asleep and half awake. A dark figure dared and started moving forward. There was a loud thud and sizzling sound. Jayden felt shaken. His energy drained and he felt very weak. Probably his protecting shield had given away or maybe it needed more strength which it took from the boy. But it surely woke Jayden up and he sat up gasping. Nothing was out of the ordinary!