My Spirit Love (phan)

二十六 - 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻

Phil Lester opened the double glass doors of the community centre and walked towards the receptionist, propped behind an oak wood desk, positioned inside the wall. She stood on the other side of it, leaning against it and smiling at the young adult, "Good-morning." she stood up straight, looking Phil up and down as he realised she looked about his age. Probably a volunteer, "How can I help?" she asked.

"Hi," Phil anxiously began, running his palm over his forearm, "I've been told someone called Adrian Howell comes here regularly? He's about eighty years old."

She furrowed her eyebrows and chuckled, "Okay. Can I ask why you're looking for him?" she chuckled, opening a drawer.

"Uh...it's complicated. Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he runs one of the groups here. Card games, actually. Are you related at all?" she was smiling again, holding the leaflet between her fingertips as she scribbled across it on the desk with a pen.

Phil shrugged, "I guess you could say that." he'd be his brother-in-law, in his mind, if it was legal.

"Right. Here's the leaflet for the club, it's on weekly, you should find him there." she slid it towards Phil with the pen still balanced between her fingers, "I'm Louise, by the way."

He noticed the phone number scribbled against the back of the flier, awkwardly looking up with a chuckle against his tongue, "I'm gay, sorry."

Louise sighed, placing the pen to the side and shrugging, "Worth a shot."

"Thanks for the help, Louise."

"No worries." she looked to the side and gasped slightly, "Hold on! What's your name? I'm supposed to keep a register of who comes and goes."

"Phil Lester." he replied, turning away to walk out.

There was a pause before she called out again, "Wait...Phil Lester? I've heard your name before."

"I went to the local secondary school?"

"No, not that. You run a blog, don't you? Is it Phil as in Dan and Phil? My Spirit Guide?"

The boy chuckled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief, "Yeah...yeah, I am."

"Oh my god, that's so cool. You're like famous. Is Dan...here?"

He was beginning to doubt whether she saw spirits too, "No, no he's not." he didn't dare say spirits couldn't travel far from their place of death in fear of his mother finding out, "Do you see them?"

"No, but my younger sister does." she pursed her lips and he could see pain forming against her features.

"It gets better." Phil smiled. Louise nodded solemnly.

"Well, if you ever want to run anything here, you've got my number." she giggled, finally writing his name on the register.

"Thanks again, Louise."

"One last thing, Phil?" she called out for the third time. He turned back, inquisitively staring at her. She questioned again, "Why are you looking for Adrian Howell?"

He could tell she knew, but he confirmed her suspicions, "I'm in love with his brother." he smiled, "And I think I've found him."

***

The next Wednesday Phil walked to the community centre, greeting Louise briefly at the desk as she talked to another volunteer. He walked through the halls, reaching a room at the end with a simple poster advertising it was card-games night. He smiled, peering through the doorway and stepping into the room.

He felt slightly awkward at first. There were three elderly gentlemen sat at a table, one of them dealing their first hand of the night. He was five minutes early, so wondered if this was the first of the crowd. One of the men grinned, speaking up, "Hello, there!" he chuckled, "How can we help?"

Phil nervously laughed, tightening his shoulders into his body, "I'm looking for Adrian Howell, do any of you...?" he looked between the three of them.

"That's me." the person who greeted him confirmed. His features were long worn-down and the curves of his smile were wrinkled with age, but it was the familiarity of the eyes that unsettled Phil. Adrian stood up, passing the deck to the person on his left and tucking his chair under as he spoke, "How can I help?"

"Can I...uh, chat with you for a moment?" Phil asked, pointing to some chairs in the corner.

Adrian furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded, leading the young boy to the table neatly tucked away. The two of them sat opposite each other, Phil placing his elbows on the plastic table as he stared towards his fists, "This is going to be really strange." Phil admitted.

"I've lived for eighty years, not much surprises me anymore." he giggled.

"I suppose not," Phil grinned back, "But this might be up there. Do you know the name Daniel Howell?"

Phil watched Adrian's throat swell briefly as the old man nodded, leaning back on the chair, "I do." he confirmed, "My older brother by six and a half years. I was one when he went missing. But, I'm sure you know that if you're approaching me about him."

Phil nodded, "What else do you know?" he was trying to restrain his excitement for the priority of respect.

"My uncle was babysitting at the time. My parents left me and him in the house while they went to town. He played out in the front garden and the next thing my uncle knew, he was gone. My parents asked him over to demolish the well, they think he left Daniel out the front longer than he would admit. A body was never found, he might be still alive for all I know, but legally, he's dead." there was emotion behind the words, but little pain. Phil figured that even though Adrian cared for his older brother, he mourned for his parents' sake rather than his own, he never knew Dan after all.

Phil gave him a small smile, nodding as he became aware of more people entering the room. He sat forwards, sitting on the edge of his seat as his chest rose and fell, "Adrian, do you believe in spirits?"

The man thought for a while, running his aged fingers along his stubbly chin. He nodded, shrugging, "I guess you have to with the science coming forwards." his eyes slowly peered up towards Phil as his expression began to crawl away, "What are you trying to pull?"

"Nothing!" Phil defended, worrying he'd made a mistake coming here, "It's just...I do. I mean, I see them. I'm...friends with your brother."

Adrian's head rose and fell as he glanced towards the far window, "Is he doing well?"

"He is." Phil nodded, sensing a closedness coming from the elderly man, "I don't want to take up your time any more, but I have a website. Well, Dan and I have a website. This is the link, if you want it." he wrote it on the flier Louise had given him earlier in the week, sliding it towards Adrian, "Dan would appreciate it."

The younger Howell brother nodded, fumbling with the paper in his hands, "What's your name?"

"Phil Lester." he confidently responded.

"Phil...how did my brother die?"

"It was your uncle. He pushed him down the well and buried his body there." Phil slowly admitted.

Adrian hummed, sighing, "I thought that might have been the case. Thank you, Phil."

"Thank you." Phil returned, "You have my details if you want to talk again." he stood up, tucking his chair under the small tablet and smiling towards Adrian, who remained seated against the chair. He held up the flier to confirm the statement to Phil, waving his other palm to bid the young man farewell.

Dan and Phil didn't hear from Adrian Howell again, but the elderly man went home that night feeling the cease to a restlessness he'd carried with him his entire life. He didn't mind if Phil lied his way through the whole meeting, because he believed him, and that was enough to bring him peace.