chapter 17

~reno~

       I stare at the writing on the stone tablet, trying to determine how the hell Nolan was able to understand what's written on here. I do pay attention in English class, but this is too out of my league. 

       Weisz crouches down beside me. "Nolan already translated it for us and told me what we have to do to break the curse. Reading the tablet over and over again isn't one of the things."

       "Oh, I know," I say. "They're still working out how to break the curse. I'm just wondering how anyone could understand this. Then again, I'm more of a hands on kind of person and not a sit in class kind of person."

       "Oh, hands on, you say?"

       I know Weisz is trying to make an innuendo, so I just smile at him. "You and I both know I'm talking about mechanics and stuff. Though..." I lean close to Weisz, knowing exactly what to say to get him flustered. "I can show you other kinds of ways I could be hands on."

       Weisz face turns red, and he turns away from me even though I already saw the deep blush. He slightly pushes me away before he stands up. "I'm going to go help everyone else. You're being annoying."

       "You brought it up," I point out. Weisz just glares at me before he walks over to where Jamie is attempting to climb a tree. I don't even question why Jamie is trying to climb a tree. In fact, in the short amount of time I've got to know him, I would be surprised if he didn't try to climb the tree.

       Jerome and Nolan walk over to me after they took a short walk around the area to try to get Nolan's brain juice running, as Jerome stated. "Good news, I think we've figured it out. To break the curse, we have to get rid of the person who created the curse," Jerome says.

       "Okay, that's good," I say. "But who created the curse?"

       Nolan sighs. "That's the problem. We don't know who did. If I have to take a guess, I'd say the creepy ghost that locked us in the underground passageway."

       "That would make sense," I say. "Though there could be more ghosts, he is the only one we saw."

       "But he is the reason we had to look in the underground passageway," Jerome points out.

       "And we found his secret bunker there," Nolan says. "Which led all the way here, to this place. So chances are, it is him."

       "Okay, I'll take the chance," I say. "I just have one more question. How do we get rid of a ghost?"

       "Uh..." Nolan looks at Jerome, who shrugs. "I don't know. It just says we have to get rid of them. It didn't say how."

       Jerome calls everyone else over, which does make Jamie a bit upset because he just got into the tree. He jumps down before he, Sawyer, and Weisz walk over. "Does anyone know how to get rid of the ghost that was working at the escape room?" Jerome asks.

       Nobody answers. 

       "So..." Jamie says slowly. "Does this mean we're going to have to wait a week to get out of here?"

       Nolan takes his phone out of his pocket and calls someone, putting the call on speaker so we can all hear the conversation. Someone soon answered. "To what do I owe this pleasure, dear brother?"

       "Hi, Alan," Nolan says. "So I have a question. Let's say I'm trapped in this town cursed by a ghost."

       "Are you talking about Hayside?" Alan asks. "I've heard about that place. I've always wanted to go and you didn't even bother taking me? I thought we were bros. Triplets. Wombmates."

       "I didn't come here on purpose. Jerome's car broke down here. Anyway..."

       "Anygay."

       "Stop that. So to be able to leave, we need to get rid of the ghost that made the curse. But none of us know how to get rid of the ghost. I figured you would be the best person because you're all about haunted stuff and I'm convinced you summon a demon every Halloween."

       "Hell yeah, I do. Brandon's trying to convince me not to do it this year. I told him to bite me."

       "Alan. Curse breaking."

       "Oh, right, right. So you either need to find the ghost's remains and burn it, or you have to find a personal item it's attached to."

       "One item?" I ask. "Because we found a study full of the ghost's things."

       "Ooh, are you one of Nolan's new friends?" Alan asks. "Nolan doesn't really make friends. Hi, I'm Alan. I'm his favourite brother. The best brother. The--"

       "Most annoying brother," Jerome says. "Alan, I love you, but we're kind of in a hurry because we would like to leave Hayside. I know you would love it here, but we don't really find it pleasant here."

       "Boring," Alan says. "Okay, so, yes, it should only be one item that's keeping them on Earth. The thing that's most important to them. But I would check for a body first. That would be easier to find that the one thing keeping them here."

       "A body would be easier to find?" Jerome asks. "Alan, we have no idea where it could be buried."

       "Hey, have you heard of this thing called a graveyard?" Alan asks. "It's where dead bodies are buried. You never know, you could find it there."

       "Yeah, there's one issue," Jerome says. "We don't know the ghost's name."

       "Dude, come on," Alan says. "You're going to have to figure out the ghost's name if you want to put it to rest. If not, you might as well leave this alone. Or you can let a professional come and handle this."

       "No," Nolan says. "You're not coming here, Alan. It's a cursed town."

       "Yeah, and?"

       "And... W-Well... You can't because... Oh, I know. Because I asked you to dogsit Daisy, and I don't want her to come to a cursed town."

       "Good point. Alright, fine, I won't come. Just keep me updated. So yeah, find out the ghost's name, see if they were buried somewhere, and then burn their remains or item. That's it. Goodbye Nolan, Jerome, Nolan's friend and or friends. Stay safe. Or not. I don't care. Bye!" Alan hangs up the phone.

       "So..." Jamie says. "We burn the remains?"

       "After we find the body," Sawyer says. "This is going to be... Interesting."

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i was tempted to bring alan in next chapter, but i want next chapter to be the last one so i can get back to my other books and end this shortly after halloween lol.

anyway, alan is a menace. thank you.