Sight Chapter 9: Shouldering Everything Alone

6:03 p.m. | Aislyn’s House
After finishing the meal Cailean had prepared for her, Aislyn accepts his offer to drive her home. Upon arrival she sees Commissioner DeCarlo approaching her, and walks over to speak with her.

“Sorry for the inconvenience but we are just about done here.” The commissioner says. “You can discard that crime scene tape when you enter, it was necessary to put it up while our team did their work.” She adds. “No worries.” Aislyn replies. As she chats with Commissioner DeCarlo, she notices the ghost from the station standing a few yards away.

Just like before, he appeared to be paying no attention to her and instead had his gaze fixed on the commissioner.

“I’ve wrapped up the report so I’ll be taking my leave.” Officer Turner says as he walks over, drawing Aislyn’s attention away from the ghost. “Very well, thank you Gary.” The commissioner says, addressing him by his first name.

“I hope things remain rather uneventful for you, Ms. Persefoni.” He says. Knowing myself, I doubt that’ll be the case. Aislyn thinks. She gives Officer Turner a small smile and instead says, “I hope so too.” He smiles back and takes off in his police cruiser.

“Have you contacted your parents?” The commissioner asks. “No, and I’d rather not, especially since everything is said and done now.” Aislyn replies. “Why is that?” “Well…” Aislyn begins, thinking of the best way to explain with as few words as possible. “They are both pretty busy people.” She says, hoping the commissioner would be satisfied with that. It appears she wasn’t. “They are your family, no matter how busy they are, I’m sure they would want to know.”

“They’re divorced. Both of them re-married and have new families of their own to take care of, so with all due respect Commissioner, I don’t think they do.” Aislyn says, losing a bit of patience, her family was a sensitive subject for her; the latter part of her explanation was false, but she figured it was an easier sell as opposed to the truth. She could feel Cailean’s gaze on her, and heat rising to her face. “I see.” The commissioner says; she looked as though she was going to ask something else but a voice from behind interrupts, and Aislyn is grateful for the distraction. “Hey Aislyn, Cailean, and Mrs. D!”

Aislyn turns and sees Gus; she had certainly not expected to see him, especially after the ending of their last date, but she was glad he was here – perhaps his presence would lead to Commissioner DeCarlo leaving sooner rather than later. “Augustus, what a surprise. What brings you here?” The commissioner asks.

“I came to talk to Aislyn; I’ve been calling her all day but she hasn’t been answering.” Gus says. It looked like Comissioner DeCarlo was going to ask a question, Aislyn figured she’d try to prevent that. “We’re dating.” She says hastily. “I see.” The commissioner says.

“You don’t appear surprised to see Cailean and I here?” She asks, turning her gaze to Gus. Is this woman ever not in cop mode? Aislyn thinks. “I talked to Mai earlier after Aislyn didn’t answer and she kind of vaguely let me know what happened.” He answers.

“Are you alright?” He asks, turning to Aislyn. “Yeah, I’m fine; it’s a long story, I can fill you in later.” She says.

“Mom, shouldn’t we be heading out?” Cailean asks, while Gus and Aislyn converse.

“Yes, I suppose we should.” Commissioner DeCarlo says with an amused smile, she could sense the drop in her son’s expression upon his friend’s arrival. “You seem to have some catching up to do, Ms. Persefoni, so we shall be on our way.”

“Alright.” Aislyn says, relieved she would be taking her leave. “See ya.” Gus chimes in. With a nod at both of them, Commissioner DeCarlo walks away with her son on her heels. He storms off behind her rather quickly, before Aislyn has a chance to properly thank him for all that he had done for her earlier, in addition to leading his mother away now.

Oddly enough, the ghost that was lurking around disappeared when Cailean and his mother did. Weird. Aislyn thinks… I wonder who he could be. “Aislyn?” Gus says, attempting to draw her attention back. “Oh, sorry. Want to come inside? I can fill you in.” She says, directing her attention back to him. “Sure.” He says. “But we should probably get that tape off of your door first.” He adds with a smirk. “Right.”
___

7:43 p.m.
After removing all the tape and checking through the house, Aislyn fills Gus in more thoroughly on what happened, given that he appeared to have heard some of the story from Mai.

After recounting her previous evening, Aislyn begins brewing some coffee, despite sleeping for the majority of the day, she still felt oddly tired. She figured she’d make one for Gus too; when making his she adds soy milk to his cup.

“So, about what you said outside to Mrs. D…” Gus begins.

“About us dating? I felt like it was an easy answer instead of giving a more thorough explanation as to where we stand.” Aislyn says simply, extending her hand that has the steaming mug. “Oh, I can’t drink that; I’m allergic to –” “Dairy?” Aislyn guesses, still holding out the mug. “I know, I put soy milk in your cup instead.” “What made you draw that conclusion?” He asks.

“On our dinner date, you were avoiding cheese and butter like the plague. I assumed… Am I wrong?” Aislyn says, pulling back the glass, feeling slightly embarrassed that her observation might’ve been completely off the mark… she had been drinking that night after all.

“No, no… you’re right. It’s just that… I’ve never had anyone come to that realization without me having to say it before.” Gus says astonished. He reaches out and takes the glass from her with a rather intense gaze.

“No problem.” Aislyn says as she takes the seat opposite him and begins sipping her coffee, feeling oddly bashful from meeting his stare.
___

8:21 p.m. | DeCarlo Household
“Is this how you spend your time while I’m away? Watching old movies?” Cailean’s mother asks while approaching him. “Not often, but what can I say? I’m a fan of the classics.” He responds.

“What a small world; who would’ve thought that Gus would be dating that Persefoni girl? Did you know? When you said you had mutual friends, is that what you meant?”

“Yeah, sort of…” Cailean says in response.

“I did have my suspicions about her at the start, but after speaking with her, seeing her home, and learning what a complicated life she leads, I figured I was just over analyzing as usual.” She continues. “Did she ever mention what it is her parents do for a living?”

“No, mom. We haven’t actually hung out that much… I wouldn’t know.” Cailean says, as he turns to stare outside. Perhaps it was because of her occupation, or simply because she was a mother, but his mom had a keen ability to read him like an open book. He was already tired of Chad insinuating that him looking out for Aislyn stemmed from anything other than his desire to keep Gus from treating her badly. Cailean himself just said that he didn’t even know her that well, so why…. Why was he behaving so strangely around her? And why was he so vexed to hear her say that they were dating?….

“Is that so?” His mother says with a quiet laugh. “What?” Cailean says, afraid that in the brief moment he spoke with her she was able to see everything on his mind. “Oh, nothing. Like I said, maybe I’m just over analyzing things.” She replies. Cailean sighs, No mom, I’m afraid you are not…
___

8:51 p.m. | Aislyn’s House
After finishing their drinks in an awkward silence, Aislyn walks Gus to the door. “So…” He says. “So?…” Aislyn echoes with a faint smile. He grins, “Oh, I nearly forgot to mention this, but Mai has this monthly girl get-together thing that she does, and when I was talking to her earlier, she wanted me to tell you that she’d like for you to come if you’re up for it. Are you?” He asks. Aislyn was surprised at how much she wanted to go. “I’d love to.” She says aloud. “Good, because it was supposed to be today, but she bumped it to tomorrow after she talked to Cailean earlier. She said she didn’t feel right having a party while you were going through something like this.”

At this Aislyn felt touched, a genuine smile appears on her face. “I can text you her address, they usually start gathering at around nine in the evening.” Gus says.

“I’d appreciate that.”

Gus lets out a sigh, “What?” Aislyn asks. “I wanted to talk about this earlier, but our conversation kind of steered away.” Gus says. Aislyn looks at him questioningly and he continues. “Our date kind of didn’t end well last time and–” “That’s on me, I gave you mixed signals.” Aislyn says cutting him off. “Will you let me finish?” Gus says with a laugh. “Since we’ve met you’ve fallen into the habit of cutting me off.” He adds. “Sorry…” Aislyn says with a shrug.

“As I was saying, it didn’t end well, and I’m partly responsible for that too. I was initially going to give a half-assed apology, but I’ve been thinking, and I truly am sorry… If you’re up for it, I really want to try and give us a go.” He says. Aislyn was taken aback at his honesty. She considered this for a moment. Because she was so preoccupied with Trey, Ollie, and Dee, she didn’t really have time to think about Gus or where they stood or where they’d go. She did have a pleasant enough time with him when they were together, and maybe it was that or maybe it was the lack of physical touch she’s experienced because of the ghosts she was often surrounded by, that she felt compelled to give things with Gus another chance. Whatever the reason, she didn’t care to pinpoint it. “Yeah…” She says after a few moments. “I’d like that to.”

“Great.” Gus says as he reaches out and brushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Something about his gaze was different, and it makes Aislyn’s heart skip a beat. “I guess we’re official then?” He asks. “I guess so.” Aislyn responds. “I should get going.” Gus says, he leans forward and for a moment Aislyn thinks he’s going to kiss her, but he reaches around to give her a hug.

“You sure you’ll be alright here tonight after what just happened?” He asks. “It was just a random occurrence, I’ll be fine.” Aislyn says. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to text or call.” Gus says. Aislyn could feel the smile slip off of her face as he uttered those words. It was only a few hours ago that she nearly snapped at Cailean for showing concern for her; saying yes to being in a relationship would imply talking and sharing things with a significant other. The last relationship Aislyn had ended terribly because she failed to do exactly that, and since then she had gotten used to handling everything alone. What if it was bound to happen again? Despite her desires to be next to someone who was flesh and blood and not a spirit and cold, could she handle this? What if she broke his heart or her own? Was she getting ahead of herself?

Gus begins to pull back from their hug as Aislyn’s mind runs a mile a minute. “Hey, you look pretty down for someone who just got into a relationship. You aren’t already regretting your decision, are you?” He asks sarcastically after catching a glimpse of her expression. “No, no… it’s not that. It’s noth–” Nothing is what Aislyn was about to say. It’s something she says when she feels the truth is unnecessary, which is almost always for her. But being in a relationship involves openness, and despite things just starting with Gus, she figured she’d have to start working on those habits of hers now. “I haven’t really done this whole dating thing in a while, and to be frank, I’m worried I’m going to screw it up.” Aislyn says simply.

She wasn’t sure how Gus would take that. Would he laugh at her for saying she was inexperienced, would he pity her for thinking so little of herself, or would he want to back out at seeing how far ahead she was thinking despite them just starting their relationship? “Hey.” He says, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. “Believe it or not, but this isn’t my area of expertise either. This is something we are going to go through together, if things get rocky, that’s on both of us. Don’t think you have to shoulder everything alone.” He says. At this Aislyn blushes; unsure of what to say, she nods. The proximity of their faces makes her suddenly feel hot, something she wasn’t used to experiencing. And now that she was 100% sober she wanted a re-do of their kiss, Gus appeared to be thinking something along the same lines as they both began leaning towards one another.

He lowers his hands to her waist and pulls her to him and their lips meet. It wasn’t as passionate or intense as their date night was, but it felt so much more pleasant. Aislyn could feel the wall of isolation, distance, and self-sufficiency she had built inside of her melting just a bit…

After Gus takes his leave, Aislyn heads over to her room and slips off her jacket. Despite her coffee intake she was still exhausted. As she begins closing the drawer, a warm breeze blows behind her.“J.D!” She exclaims. The pleasant feeling she was experiencing after her kiss with Gus disappeared just as quickly as it came and was instead replaced by an intense feeling of guilt for having forgotten all about J.D.

“What happened? Where have you been? I’m so sorry, I–” “Relax, sunshine.” He says after taking in the panicked expression on her face. “Trey is no more, but we can re-hash that long and boring story much later; you look tired.” He says with a grin. “I know you were at the police commissioner’s house for the day, and I’m sure you have some things you need to tell me as well, but it can wait.” He adds.

“Some is an understatement, but yes, we do have a lot to catch up on…” Aislyn says. “I feel bad I managed to drag you into my problems.” She adds. “I’ve said it before, but it was our problem. You don’t have to shoulder everything alone, Sunshine.” He says. Aislyn was feeling oddly touched for the second time today, having heard the exact same words from two different people. She’d have hugged J.D. if she could; it was times like these she was reminded he was a ghost and a part of her felt sad she’d only ever be able to relay her thankfulness in words…
___

11:34 a.m.
The first thing Aislyn does the next morning is fill J.D. in on everything that happened from the moment he left with Trey to the minute she walked back in with Gus. J.D. then took his turn to do the same, though his was a much shorter tale. J.D. had dragged Trey to the spot where his body was last seen, but upon discovering it had been moved, he instead helped Trey re-locate himself at the city morgue. When Trey saw his family there mourning him, he instantly forgot about Ollie and Dee and thought about his family instead, after seeing them, he moved “on”. At the mention of their names, Aislyn recalled what Ollie and Dee had said about the laundry room windows and ventured off to close them.
___

1:01 p.m.
After a long warm shower, Aislyn decides to go out and get some fresh air. She was feeling oddly cheerful for the first time in a long time. She notices when she finishes getting ready that J.D. is gone yet again. He was beginning to spend less time at home as of late, and as Aislyn had been pretty busy herself, she hadn’t gotten around to asking him what he was up to. Knowing J.D. however, she assumed it was only a matter of time before he’d come around and fill her in.

Aislyn begins setting off through Oldmerrow aimlessly.

Despite it being one of the initial reasons she had moved here in the first place, Aislyn had never truly appreciated how beautiful and peaceful the town was.

Beginning to get lost in memories of her hometown, she’s pulled back by a chill that comes over her. Moments later, a ghost appears inches from her face, stopping her in her tracks.

“Wow, you really can see me. Despite hearing the stories I wasn’t sure they’d be true.” The ghost says. “Listen, there’s something fishy going on around here…” He begins.

On that note, Aislyn does something she had only ever done a handful of times before… She walks straight through the ghost without bothering to acknowledge him.

“Hey! I know you can see me. You stopped in place! Don’t you care about what’ll happen if you don’t hear what I have to say? People could be in danger!” He yells as he trails behind.

Aislyn does her best to ignore his calls and march forward, in the past she’d always cave in after her initial attempts to ignore what she’d hear a ghost say, but this time she was determined to ignore him completely and without weakening her resolve. Just because she could hear and see things no one else could, didn’t mean she was obligated to get into situations she wouldn’t have otherwise if she didn’t have this ability. It was about time for her to stop attempting to salvage lives of people who no longer had any, and begin focusing on her own…
___

2:27 p.m. | Liberty Park
After about an hour’s walk, the ghost tailing her gives up and disappears. Forcing herself to ignore him had caused Aislyn immense stress, but she’d managed to do it. Would she be able to stick with it for any other ghost that comes her way?… As she gets lost in thought, debating whether the actions she was talking were the right ones, she nearly runs into some women walking in the park she wanders into.

As she raises her gaze she recognizes both figures. The elderly woman is Ms. Tidwell, grandmother to the younger teen, a girl named Nina, both of whom Aislyn had become well acquainted with due to her part time job in the library.

Nina gives her a warm smile, and her grandmother speaks, “Aislyn dearie, funny running into you here. It’s a lovely day for a walk, isn’t it?” She says. “It is.” Aislyn responds. Nina, unable to talk, nods in agreement with her grandmother’s words.

Because Nina is currently being homeschooled, she and her grandmother often come to check out various books from the library or just work in many of the study rooms for a change of scenery. Nina and her parents had been in a car accident a few years ago, and while they perished, Nina had survived, but the incident had made her mute. As her hearing was fine, she was able to respond to the things she heard with her expressions, and in addition to signing, she occasionally carried a notepad around with her so she could jot down the things she wanted to say.

“You look prettier and prettier each time I see you.” Aislyn says with a warm smile. At this Nina nods and flips her hair dramatically as if to say: I know. She leans forward to give Aislyn a hug, as she always does upon seeing her. And Aislyn returns it just as warmly. She didn’t have any siblings of her own, and had grown attached to Nina in the past few years she had gotten to know the girl.

“We’ve quite enjoyed those books you recommended to us last time.” Ms. Tidwell says. “Nina stayed up several nights incredibly late in her attempts to finish them.” “Is that so?” Aislyn says with a beaming expression. “Well, there are several other books in that series; when you finish catching up with those three I gave you last time, if you swing by the library, I can give them to you.” Aislyn says. To this Nina nods quickly and gives a thumbs up.

Nina was one of the few people Aislyn held close to her heart. Perhaps it was because she too was different like Aislyn, but in her own way. Despite her setback, she never showed any signs of sorrow or despair. Even though she was so much younger, Aislyn felt she had something to learn from Nina. After catching up with them, Aislyn had to say her goodbyes in order to make it back home in time to get ready for Mai’s girls’ night.
___

3:59 p.m. | Aislyn’s House
Just as she enters the house, Aislyn feels J.D. appear. “Wow, looks who’s here. You’ve been missing in action recently.” She says.

“I know, and I promise I will fill you in… soon.” J.D. says. Normally Aislyn would’ve been okay with that, but if there was anything she was learning from her recent attempts to create relationships, it was that the people around her were doing what they could to ease her burdens, J.D. included, so why couldn’t she? “That’s not good enough.” Aislyn says, “J.D. you know I want to help you; you can’t leave me in the dark. If you’ve found something… let me know.”

“Alright, alright.” He says while letting out a small sigh. “A few days ago I came across a little bit of info about my past…” He begins. “What? How? Is that where you’ve been disappearing off to these past few days? Trying to get to the bottom of who you are?” Aislyn asks. “Woah there Ms. twenty questions… In a nutshell, yes. Do you have time to hear the whole story?” J.D. asks.

“I have to get ready to go to Mai’s later, but until then, I’m all yours… I want to hear everything…”
__

Thanks for reading! So fun fact, this chapter was nearly twice as long, but upon attempting to post it I realized that the wordiness + excessive screenshots would be overkill so I’ve decided to split it up into two separate but more digestible chapters. So you shall get the rest of this tale next week~ Hehe, sorry about that, I’m attempting to be consistent with my posting schedule as well as relative chapter lengths… XD So despite not a whole lot happening this chapter, I’ll let you know that there’s a bit of a time skip during the next one so that shall make up for it. Feel free to let me know what you thought! Take care~
xoxo Amy