My Best Human Friend

Chapter 10

Max fell asleep after a little while. I was kinda glad since he seemed really stressed out with everything that was going on. I sigh and stare at the sleeping boy, watching him. I was curious as to what September 21st meant. I knew it was the first day of Autumn but what did that have to do with me? It confused the hell out of me and I was hoping for some closure soon. I really wanted to find out about that date and what my real name was. I have so much to do and I have an eternity to do it. But the pain of not knowing really does suck.

I sigh, looking around the room. Finn was asleep as well, curled up in his bed and hugging a teddy bear. He still had his glasses on so I carefully took them off and placed them on the nightstand. He squirmed a little but soon relaxed and went back to dreaming. I looked out the window that was next to the bed and saw some crows sitting in the trees. I counted and saw six, all staring into the house. I was confused but I didn't really understand nor could I ever understand birds.

I turned away from the window and went downstairs to the study. I ran my hand across the spines of the books on a shelf, wondering if my past had anything to do with books. I closed my eyes and grabbed a random book off the shelf. I picked out a book with a blue cover. I opened it and began reading through it. It seemed like a good book and I was really confused when the pages had no writing in them. I was really scared. A book with no words? No pictures? Nothing... I kept flipping through the pages but nothing changed.

Until the last page...

September 21st, 2005. K~~~~ V~~~~

I stared at the writing though I had no idea what it meant. K and V? What was that supposed to mean? There were four spaces after each letter so I was guessing that it was spelling something out. Maybe... a name... The same date was there too. September 21st. However, now I had a year. If this was my death date, then I would have been 7 years old...

I stared at the date though I had no idea if this was true or not. If this is when I died, then I guess my name really isn't Isaac Viren.

"Viren... Viren... that's 5 letters..." I said to myself, wondering if that was the mystery last name of the book. Maybe those adults we saw in the cemetery were related to me if that was the case. I was really hoping that was true. Then I'd be closer to the truth. That's all I wanted. I wanted to know the truth and move on.

Then where did I die? What's my first name?

"K... A five letter word... Keith... Kevin... What other names could there be? A five letter name that starts with a K... "

"What about Kaito?" a small voice said. I turned and saw that Finn was awake, rubbing his eyes tiredly. I smile and nod.

"That's a good name..." I say.

"Why are you looking for a name?"

"Well, my name isn't Isaac. I want to figure out what it is."

"Can I call you Kaito?"

I nod, smiling. I guess I did like the name and if it meant Finn would have named me, I'll feel even better. Finn walked over to me and hugged my arm. He was really sleepy so I decided to hold him, keeping him close and giving him time to relax and sleep. I sat at the desk, humming softly as Finn curled up on my lap. He smiled and as I stared down at him, I felt as if I had been in a situation like this before.

My vision became black and I soon saw a scene with a young boy holding a little baby in his arms. The little boy had no face, nor could I even tell who either of the two was. I heard the little baby make small squeaks of delight and the boy holding the baby let out a soft laugh.

"I'm your older brother. You can call me-"

And then I was brought back to reality. I sigh, watching as Finn slept. He made the same small squeaks as the baby in my vision. But I knew that they had no connection to each other. From what I could tell, the baby was the same from my previous vision, when the baby died in the woman's arms. So then was I the older brother?

It was difficult for me to understand any of this at all. I was struggling to comprehend the fact that my name was not Isaac Viren. It was frustrating to know that my whole afterlife was a lie. I sigh, looking down and shaking my head.

"Kaito..." Finn whispers, gently taking my hand in his small one. I stared at the small child, a smile on my face. I was no longer an imaginary friend to him. For some reason, he was able to see me after a few weeks of being around each other. Maybe he's just visualizing me in his mind? But he can also hear me. I don't entirely know how this was working since I don't know much about ghosts even though I am one. All I know is that he can see me. It was... kinda weird but also relaxing. I felt alive.

"There he is," a deep, groggy voice said. I looked up and saw Max, rubbing his eyes tiredly. I chuckled and nodded, watching the male slowly shuffle closer to the desk. He sat on the desk gently petting Finn's head. "Sorry if he was bothering you. I can take him back to bed if you want."

"Oh, sure. You both look pretty tired so it's probably bedtime now," I said, smiling a little. "Um, Max? Can I show you something first? The book on the desk with the empty pages... Well, it's a little creepy, but it has the date 'September 21st' along with two words with only the first letters showing. I think it has something to do with my death."

Max glances at the book, picking it up. He looked confused as he looked through the book.

"What are you talking about? This book is full of words," he says. I give him a confused looked before looking at the book. It was still empty to me. I couldn't figure out what was going on though. Maybe it's different for every person?

"I swear, I don't see any words except for the ones I told you. It's weird, Max," I say, staring at the groggy male. Max sighs, putting the book down.

"I don't doubt what you see, however, I do think we should get some sleep now. At least Finn and I should. We can figure out what's going on with the book later. Let me just get some rest before I go insane trying to use my brain," he says with a soft chuckle. He picks up Finn and carries him out of the room. I followed, floating after the two. I stared at Max, wondering if he was going insane because of me. I know seeing a ghost can be a pretty traumatic experience. I stopped right outside of Max and Finn's room, looking down at my feet. Max was putting Finn back into bed, then made his way towards me.

"Isaac, I know you're upset, but we'll figure this out, okay? I promise, you'll be fine and I'll help you move on to a better place. We'll figure out who you are tomorrow," he says, hugging me tightly. I just stayed still, leaning into Max. I had a feeling that I was forcing Max to fix all of my problems. I hated it so much, however, there wasn't much I could do about it.

"Unless I leave," I mutter, not realizing I had said it out loud. Max gently pats my cheek, staring straight into my eyes. "Wha... What are you doing?"

"Isaac, I don't want you to leave unless you move on to wherever you're supposed to go. I won't stop helping you until you reach your goal. Please, don't threaten me like that," he says sternly, a tinge of despair in his eyes. I look away, frowning.

"I'm sorry, Max. I dragged you into my problems. It's not fair to you at all, especially since I want to make you happy. You don't deserve to go insane because of me. I can go and figure all this out on my own. Besides, what could a living human possibly do for me?"

Max glared at me, letting me go and walking over to his bed. He crawled under the covers, facing away from me. I made him mad and I didn't like that at all. I shake my head, turning and leaving.

"Goodnight, Isaac. I'll see you in the morning," I heard Max call out to me. I shook my head once again and left the house. I couldn't stay here any longer. I wanted to do this on my own. I wanted to keep things to myself instead of worrying other people. It made more sense to give Max his life back. His life mattered, didn't it?

No. No one's life matters. It won't even matter once you're dead so what do I care? He can go on doing the same old mundane things every day for the rest of his life. It won't matter because he'll die eventually. He'll die and then we'll be...

"Stupid Isaac! Just tell me who I am! I don't think this is fair anymore! Tell me my name and I'll leave you alone! Please!" I yell out at the sky. I stare at the midnight blue sky that was littered with specks of white. It must be fun being a star, exploding only to become something new again, to live a long life once more.

"Why... Why is this even happening to me? What did I do wrong to deserve this?"

What did I do?