TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE ... # 263

TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE
# 263
warning...adult content




~
The girl they'd just met came over to their table and sat down with them. "Where do we start?" she asked.

Steve cleared his throat, and Linda felt she should get things going to put the girl at ease. "Hi, I'm glad you came to meet us. I guess we really haven't even introduced ourselves to you, yet. I'm Linda, and my brother, Steve. My kids, Stevie and Mandy, and of course you know Ghost."

"Hi, nice to meet y'all," the girl said. "I'm Melody."

"I hope you don't feel like we're ganging up on you," Linda said. "We are as shocked as you must be, and we're just trying to figure it out, too."

"Oh, me too," Melody said. "I never thought I had a twin, ever. No one said anything to me about it. I think it's really neat, though. Don't you, Ghost?" She looked at him.

"Nobody told me, either," Ghost said, after Steve kicked him under the table, to get him talking. For someone so into words, Steve was a bit worried that Ghost had hardly talked at all.

"Have you always lived around here?" Steve asked.

"Yes, in Ozark, mostly. Here's the thing, I was adopted when I was a baby. I only found out about it a couple of years ago. That's when I left home. I mean, to never mention it in all these years, well...we never got along very well, my parents and I, so I was on my own after that. I travelled a bit. That must have been when I saw your show. Then I came back here, and I heard that they'd moved away, or died, or who knows the real story...they were just gone. So, I kept going too," she stopped to laugh. "Hah, all the way over here to Forrest City. I heard the estate was being sold. Most of my things that I'd left, I imagine got sold too. I'd only ever been back to the house once. I'm glad y'all found my necklace, though," Melody said, and smiled. "Now, where did you grow up, Ghost?"

"Uh...Missing Mile, North Carolina," Ghost said, "but first in the mountains. My grandmother raised me."

Nodding, Melody said, "Did you every hear what happened to our parents? That is, if we really are twins. I mean, I never even knew I had real birth parents."

Ghost looked at Steve, "Steve, what happened?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "You know what your grandmother wrote in the journal. Just say it. You're doing fine."

"Ok," Ghost said, then took a deep breath to begin. Steve was right...now was the time to talk about things. He sat up straighter, and pushed his hair back. He could feel the words coming back. "My grandmother passed away a few years ago, but she left a journal, telling me things. One was that 'our'? parents, her daughter, was expecting, I guess us, and her boyfriend was our father. No one approved, and she...she didn't want a baby..." he stopped, for a second, closing his eyes. "She didn't want a baby, so she tried to kill us." Opening his eyes, he saw the look of horror on Melody's face, but continued telling the story.

"Then, she ran away with him, on his motorcycle, and they both were killed in a wreck. I was left behind, to die, in a barn. My grandmother found me. I guess somebody found you...I guess our mother took you with her, anyway..." he had to stop, realizing just how tragic it all had been. Knowing now, that he had never been wanted, never was the chosen one. Closing his eyes again, he wiped away the tears that began falling.

Steve put his arm around him, and Melody reached out and held his hands in hers. Her brother's hands. She cried too, for what had never been. Steve bowed his head, as unwanted thoughts came to him. How the abortion of Ghost and his sister had hurt and damaged Ghost more, so that he was left to just die, all alone in that barn. Even now, just seeing Melody and listening to her, made it obvious that Ghost had suffered, even before he met himself, and God forgive me, he thought, damaged him some more.

Steve suddenly banged his fist on the table. "It wasn't right," he shouted. "The whole thing was wrong from the start. I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but hell yeah, I'm gonna. If they hadn't have died in that wreck, I'd go kill them now, myself, for what they did." He glared at everyone at the table, he was so fired up.

"Steve, calm yourself," Linda said. "Getting worked up isn't helping the situation, and you're scaring the kids. I'm taking them over on the other side of the room, to get them a game to play, or something. But, I'll be back. No more outbursts, do you hear me, Steve?"

"Yeah, I hear ya, Sis. It just burns me up."

They were quiet for a few minutes, absorbing what revelations had been said.

"Ghost, I'm glad we found each other now," Melody said. "Are you?"

Nodding, Ghost said, "Yes, I know now you are my real sister, Melody. I can sense it." He grinned.

Melody did too. "Me, too. There's a strange connection other than what we've said. I can feel it, too."

"Are you..." Ghost started to say psychic, at the same time Melody said, "I know things."

They smiled, and they knew.

Steve shook his head...two of them, just alike...

Linda came back to the table. "So, what's next?"

Ghost and Melody both nodded their heads. "She's coming home with us," Ghost said.

Linda looked a bit surprised. "When was this decided?" She looked to Steve, to see his reaction.

He shrugged. "Just now, I guess...uh...they have a thing..." he said. "She's just like Ghost, they know things.

Linda smiled big. "Oh how cool. That's amazing, and for sure y'all are twins." She and Steve kept on staring at Melody and Ghost.

"We're not some freaks in a zoo or nothing," Ghost said. "Stop staring at us." Melody giggled at that, which got them all laughing.

"You're right," Linda said, after a minute. "Sorry. So, Melody, you want to come with us to Missing Mile?"

"Yes, I've found family, first time ever, and I'm not losing him," she said, squeezing Ghost's hand. "I have no ties to this place, so I have no problem leaving. That is, if y'all don't mind?"

"It's fine with us, Melody," Steve said. "The more the merrier, as they say. This road trip gets better all the time."

"Yay, all I need is to grab some things, then I'll be ready to roll. Ghost can tell me all about where we're going, on the way." She got up to leave.

"C'mon, Ghost...come help me pack," she said, pulling him up. She told Steve the address to her place. "It's not far, and me and Ghost are gonna walk on over there."

Ghost looked a bit awkward, and said, "I guess I'm going with her. Come pick us up, ok?"

"Sure, go on," Steve said. "We'll be around in a few minutes." He watched them leave out the door. Linda was watching Steve.

"What is it? You look like you lost your best friend, brother," she said, and laughed. "You didn't lose him, you gained a sister...me too. I think it's great."

"Uh-huh...I was just thinking, old Kinsey and everybody's gonna be surprised. I go to bring one sister home, and we wind up bringing home two. It's weird," Steve said.

Nodding, Linda said, "Yeah, it is. Weird and wonderful, and meant to be. Let's get one more coffee, then go find them, ok?"

~

Next part coming soon!



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