Everyone woke up the next morning, cleaned up, and then relaxed. Today was Sunday, which is a stress-free day. After the drinking last night, they needed some time to sit around and do nothing for a while. Hangovers are never nice to anyone, except for Ember, Phoenix, Gabriel and Ailon.
There has never been a time when anyone has seen them hungover or drunk. It didn't matter what or how much they had to drink. The next day, it would be as if they didn't drink at all. It was something their friends envied about them.
Everyone unanimously decided to spend the day at Ailon's house. No one was willing to drive anywhere until their headaches disappeared. So, they spent the rest of the day, after clean up, either sleeping or watching videos. The four people who weren't affected by last night's activities went to the pool to 'make some noise', while the rest had quiet time.
By the time everyone left, no one really noticed that one person in their group had changed. Their usual bright and spontaneous selves were much quieter than before. Their hands would clench and unclench ever so often as they fiddled with the phone or walked around. Their eyes, sometimes dull and unfocused, would occasionally flash a sharp light they never had before.
But soon, that person also left. This left Ember and Ailon at the villa, relaxing by themselves. Ember was still on vacation, and Ailon was preparing to travel abroad. He had work he needed to finish with an overseas company.
"Hey," Ailon began, "did you notice Logan?"
Turning away from her phone to look at Ailon, Ember said, "No, what's wrong with him?" She knew Ailon wouldn't ask such a question for no reason. As goofy as he is sometimes, the man notices the smallest things sometimes. It makes him both a great friend and a pain in the ass when you want to hide something.
"He seems...different." Seeing Ember about to answer, he waved his hand. "It's not because he is hungover. We've seen him hungover before, and he isn't like that. He seemed dazed most of the day. The guy was pacing a hole in my carpet."
He pointed to one section of the carpet that looked like it had been stomped into nothing.
Damn, did he use a steamroller on the carpet?, Ember thought to herself. She thought about what Logan was like today. She didn't really take note of it because she doesn't normally spend time with him. As obnoxious as he was last night, she assumed it was the liquor talking. But now, according to Ailon, it seemed something was going on that she didn't take notice of.
"Maybe he just wasn't in the mood to talk, or something happened that he is worried about?"
"If something happened, he wouldn't have paced my carpet flat. And that was only from the few times he walked on it. Unless he weighs a ton, I don't see how that could happen." Ailon grimaced, switching his gaze between the normal part of the carpet to the part that was pressed down.
She watched his eyes flickering between the completely different sections of the carpeting and couldn't help but laugh. She knew he didn't actually care about the carpet. She was the one who decided to put the, in his words, ugly carpet there. The rest of the floor was hardwood. Ember was the one who decided she wanted the carpet because sometimes she might want to lie on the floor.
So, said, so done. The carpet was used more than the actual couches in the living room. She would usually pull down one of the cushions to rest her head. She also made sure that the carpet was a no-shoes area. Because who wants to lie down where outside shoes have been?
"You and I know both you don't care about the carpet, so why are you really asking? I know you, if you didn't notice something, you wouldn't have said anything"
Ailon's lips twitched slightly. "Well, I thought he might be possessed. You know, the board was saying it wanted to take him."
"Didn't you already say you did it with magnets? Almost took the guy's eyes out, in case you forgot."
Ailon sighed, "Em, the planchette was plastic, remember. How am I supposed to use magnets to move plastic?" He held up his hands, exasperated.
Shock rippled through Ember's eyes. She was thinking to herself that if Ailon didn't do the magnet trick, then someone else must have done it. But it wouldn't make sense for Ailon to confess unless he was sure it wasn't anyone else. We won't even talk about why magnets were in his socks or why he took the blame.
To Ember, everyone was having fun, so even if Ailon confessed, she expected someone else to bring up the planchette being plastic and how they were able to do whatever they did. There wasn't a need to hide anything. There are so many possibilities besides what she thinks Ailon is suggesting.
"I know what you're thinking, but Em, I know it wasn't anyone else. I was watching everything"
She rubbed her temples, still not believing what he was saying but slightly taking it seriously. Since he said it wasn't anyone else in the room and he himself didn't do it, that means there is a problem. Granted, everything inside her was screaming not to believe him.
"You said it wasn't you, then who was it? An actual ghost? Ghosts don't exist."
"Just like people don't have superpowers, but look at us, Em. Even though you might think the tricks are lame. Those tricks are still things that ordinary people can't do. So, maybe there really is something out there. I know you used authority when you were summoning the spirits yesterday. What if it actually worked?"
"Worked? You think that can summon ghosts?" Ember looked at him incredulously. She didn't believe for a second that something like that would happen. And even if it did, that would be one of the most incredible things she would have experienced.
Ailon sighed. He knew this wasn't about to go anywhere. "Alright, you don't believe it. I won't say anything else. Let's leave it at that. Whether there is something wrong or not, we'll know later."
And with that, they ended the conversation. Ailon knew he wouldn't be able to convince her, at least not right now. Unless it happened to her, it is unlikely Ember would believe something like that. But right now, he needs to find a way to convince her.
Ember didn't stay long after that conversation. She wasn't angry with him. She just felt she should leave to think about it. His telling her that she could use authority to summon made her feel apprehensive and somewhat excited. She wanted to give it a try, but she preferred to wait until Ailon came back from his business trip to really talk about it.