Ghost of an old town

I have a theory. Finding out about the history of a place helped to understand the place better. I headed to the town library. The librarian seemed to be happy seeing me. What should have surprised me was the fact that she was expecting me. It should have surprised me, the look of happiness on her face, the young woman in probably her mid twenties, but I realised that nothing was surprising me anymore.

"Looking for the town's history?" she asked me in a cheery voice. "Well you won't find much in there. You see they decided to burn everything around eighty years back. I can tell you what you need to know if you want."

I asked the first obvious question. "Why did they burn it all?"

She cleared her throat and said, "Sometimes I speak a little too much."

"Tell me. Weren't you waiting for me?" They were waiting for Max's lover. She was too.

"How much do you already know?" She asked me back.

"How about it, I ask you a question and you give me the answer." It sounded like a threat; she took it well though." What happened eighty years ago?" If I needed information, I would get it from the beginning.

"Eighty years back there was an incident. Two men fell in love. It shouldn't have happened, but it did. That started everything. One of them did something wrong, and he was the one who started a fire. He did some pretty bad things. Finally when the town was in order, the town heads burnt the documents holding the history of this place. I guess those were related."

"Who were those lovers?"

"We don't know. Very few actually do, I think the old kin does but they never talk about it. They shred the secret with some of the new kin because they are needed to get this place going."

"Who exactly are these old kin?" The middle aged woman from last night flashed in my memory. She was not old enough to be called 'old kin', but it was not improbable.

"So, you are one of the new kin?"

"Yes, of course," The girl smiled brightly. "Obviously the old generation and the new generation are the old and the new kin.

"And you don't know the secrets?" I knew she didn't, but I was still looking for confirmation.

The girl nodded with a strange expression. "My grandfather was one of the old kin, but he was one of the outsiders. He knew some of the things, as he claimed, but I am certain he lied to us. Anyways, he made into a mission of his life that we stay out of this whole drama. Every family has some skeletons buried in their courtyard. In my family, my grandfather buried the skeletons and made sure they remained buried." She gave an odd smile.

I thumbed the book in my hand absentmindedly. The information I got was not enough. Besides, every old town came with ghosts of the past, rumours, myths and legends. Who was to say it was not all a legend to keep the mysteries of the old town alive?

The girl continued. "By the way, if you have any specific likes or dislikes, you can let me know. I will send you the books to your hotel."

"Who told you about my stay?" I said gathering my belongings. She was not going to tell me anything.

"The Master's Inn is one of the few good hotels. Besides you are with Max, so it just makes sense that he'll take you there. Here, you can write down the titles." I had lost my mood for reading by then. It was like the worst clickbait possible. It had to be a deliberate act. She intentionally confused me. Could it be a mere coincidence that the girl's information echoed what the receptionist—Vee— said in the morning?

When I reached the hotel by three o' clock, I found a police car in front of the three storied building. Max was there, talking to a police officer and the suited man from yesterday. They paused sensing my arrival. Max anxiously rushed to me and asked, "Where were you? We've been waiting for you."

"Is everything alright?" I suddenly felt uneasy. I had left several episodes of my life behind, but before doing so I had made sure to not leave anything legally questionable. "Why are the police here?"

The policeman advanced towards them and extended his hand. He had a photograph on his hand. "Do you know this woman?" Max asked me, fear and uncertainty dripped from his voice. The face seemed familiar, but that was just it. I didn't have any distinct memory of this woman. I shook my head.

"Who is she?"

The policeman answered my question. "She was murdered two nights back. We found her dead body on the ground beside the station."

"And why are you asking me about her?" I felt my frustration, anger, and confusion rushing back. "Because of this," the policeman gestured to someone else, and a man in a plain shirt and denim showed me a video clip on a tablet. I squinted at the video. It was a clip from a security camera, where among many travelling faces I found myself. Beside me was Max, and in front of me a lady. I remembered the day I whimsically decided to land on this town and was stopped by a woman. She called me....

"She thought I was her friend. Once she saw my face she realized her mistake. That was all."

Vee joined us soon. There was a discussion about the increasing crime rates and how tourists should be more vigilant. The discussion soon escalated towards the weather, sports, stock market and everything insignificant. I stole glances of Vee and Max, checked the time, glanced at Vee again to meet his eyes; my frustration was growing.

After what felt like a century suddenly I was back to my regular calm self. There was touch of a hand holding mine.

When the policeman finally left after having all our times wasted, Max narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you planning something behind my back?"

I looked at Vee. He was watching us, the usual naughty spark of his eyes was gone, in place of that there was a seriousness matching that of an elderly. His body language had changed. He was standing straight, his jaws showed determination.

I said, "I am planning to elope with you. Somewhere better, somewhere nobody would recognise us or drama will follow us."

"Arin," Max tried to say something but stopped. His eyes had found Vee, and the unspoken exchange between us. "I shall leave now. You must rest. When your friends are coming?" His cold, somewhat casual tone lacked the affection I had gotten familiar to by now.

"Don't leave. I need you," I begged him, tearing my eyes off Vee's. I begged as my life depended on it. I was losing myself and I needed him to be the anchor. I needed to tell him how my mind and heart felt at ease when I was around him. How my body woke up when I touched him. It might not be time yet to tell him the rest, but I needed to tell him as much.

He looked pained, confused, anxious. "Come with me," I said and pulled him towards the lift. Once inside, I hugged him. "I missed you."

He hugged me too. Was it in my mind or he was holding back? 'Did you?"

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He nodded, gave an assuring smile. "Come, I will tell you something."

With a ding the doors opened. A tall man was waiting for the lift, along with a woman. She had very sharp features, voluptuous curves, and waist long black hair.

"Oh, the rumours were true then. Master Maxime is truly back with his lover." Sarcasm dripped like acid from his tone, making Max wince. I stood guarding him, letting my body be the shield between the man and my lover. My protectiveness did not go unnoticed by him. "Don't worry, brother. I will not touch your lover."

"I am not your brother." the cold tone I used was something I hadn't done for a very long time.

"Funny, how the exchange between the two of you hasn't changed much, even after all these years." The woman said and immediately cleared her throat. "I mean, Max is still the timid one and Adam is still the aggressive one. What about you?" She threw me a venomous gaze, "What kind of man are you?"

Holding his hands tightly I glanced at Max and replied, "Protective." That earned me a snort.

"Can you not behave like that, please?" Max said when we reached the room.

"Like what?"

"You were so aggressive with them, and last night too." His voice was trembling. Was he disappointed? He read my eyes and explained, "I don't want you to grab any more attention than you already do. It's just a day and everyone knows about you."

"Not good for whom? Wasn't this godforsaken town waiting for your lover? Well, he is here now."