Chapter 8 Admission
507words
"Yeah, he was testing his equipment, and now he thinks there's a ghost hanging around," I explained, then frowned. "And what do you mean by that? Is there's some kind of story I should know about?"
"The previous people who lived here, an elderly couple, swore it is because of the stuff that kept disappearing."
"Or there's a thief on the island?" I suggested.
"You don't believe in this stuff, do you?"
"Well, no, but I try to entertain it."
"My brother doesn't either, but he's one to talk," she rolled her eyes.
"How come?"
Her eyes widened as if she had realized something. "Uh, you know, being all weird and stuff."
"Right." I nodded, pretending I didn't notice her sudden demeanor change, holding up a bottle of cherry soda. It was a possibility her brother was weird. It wouldn't surprise me. "Want some?"
"Sure." Her face lit up. "And what about your mom? What does she think of all this?"
I forced a smile, pouring Ember a glass of soda. "Well, she's a cryptozoologist."
I didn't expect Ember to know what that was, so I continued to explain. "Her life's mission is to find proof that fairies, mermaids, and the chupacabra exists."
"Mermaids?" Ember blanched. "She's out looking for them?"
"You could say that." I placed down the bottle on top of the table and cringed, sure I had lost the only hope of having a friend. "Are you okay? Look, I know it's a lot to—"
"There's nothing in the waters here, trust me. We've had locals searching for years, so we'd know. She should try the mountains. I've heard of a lot of Yeti sightings."
"Yeti? Isn't it supposed to occupy places it snows a lot?" I stepped back, trying to remember what Mom had told me about the furry, white thing. "Besides, I've never heard of Yeti sightings in this part of the world."
She shook her head. "I meant the other one. The brown, furry one."
"Bigfoot?"
"Aha!" she held up a hand. "That's the one. I've seen it too, and you know what? We don't have stuff like bears and such to rule out the possibility of something else."
I blinked. If I didn't know any better, she was trying to steer us away from the water. "Is there something wrong in the water around here?"
She shifted in her seat, searching the floor before glancing up at me. "To be honest, yes. I don't want to tell you this, but people tend to get very sick when they spend too much time in the water. And there's a lot of poisonous snakes. If you venture even deeper, sharks too."
"But that's common everywhere."
"You should tell your mom her best chances are the mountains. You can ask any of the locals or even my dumbass of a brother. He'd tell you the same."
