Chapter Fifteen- Story of Secrets

"Weather man said it's gonna snow/ By now I should be used to the cold… / Living alone here in this place/ I think of you, and I'm not afraid…/ It really sinks in, you know, when I see it in stone/ Cause you went away/ How dare you/ I miss you/ They say I'll be OK/ But I'm not going to ever get over you" –Miranda Lambert Over You

The Sibuna gang stood and stared to where, moments before, a girl stood and like a ghost had just disappeared. But it wasn't just like a ghost for she was a ghost. Patricia was so overwhelmed; the note fell to the floor in a slow, heartbreaking fall. She ran upstairs before anyone had time to react. They stood another minute, just staring before they came to their senses.

"What was that?" KT asked in a loud, uncertain voice.

"I'm just guessing that Sami was farther away than we thought," Fabian said in low whisper.

"You mean…" Alfie started then made the gesture of pointing up and Fabian nodded his head slowly. "GHOST!" Alfie yelled.

"I really have no idea what's going on," Nina said as she reached down to pick up the note. "Maybe this will tell us something," she said as she started to open the flap. But before she got it open Eddie yanked it out of her hand.

"That was uncalled for!" Nina shouted at Eddie.

"Look," Eddie said pointing to the heading of the envelope, "it's addressed to Patricia, thereby, it's meant for her to read; not us. She will read it and tell us what we have to know," he said with an accusatory glance as he shoved the letter in his pocket.

"I think that this should be overruled since it's probably related to, um… I don't know… SAVING THE WORLD!" Nina shouted.

"Oh great Chosen One," Eddie said, his voice filled with sarcasm, "I think that we can respect the privacy of our friend for a little while longer."

Nina was about to shout something back at Eddie when she heard the door open and Joy and Jerome walked through the hallway acting very coupley. "Joy!" Eddie shouted.

"Yeah," she responded sounding kind of annoyed.

"You've known Patricia a really long time right?" Eddie asked.

She gave him an 'are you seriously asking me this question' look and responded, "Yes," he tone suggesting that she finally thought that Eddie had lost the last few marbles that he still had left.

"What do you know about her older sister, Sami?" He asked as Joy's face suddenly turned into concern.

"How do you know about Sami?" she asked. "Patricia never, and I mean never, talks about her. The only reason I know is because I knew her when it happened." The Sibuna five were on the edge of their seat with curiosity by now.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked.

"I don't really feel comfortable talking about this behind Patricia's back but… it might help her to talk about it with someone," Joy said looking a bit guilty. She continued, "Patricia and Piper are three years younger than Sami. They were very close growing up, but I think that Patricia was closer to her than Piper was. Anyway going on with the story… I'm not sure of the exact dates but… Sami was seventeen and the girls were fourteen and it was January," Joy stopped to think for a minute.

"What's the date?" she asked.

"January 23…" KT responded not exactly sure why she was asking.

"Why?" Fabian asked.

"Wow…" Joy said. "It was three years ago to the day."

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Let me finish the story… the girls were out late one night, I'm not sure what for , but anyway… they were driving down the road when a drunk driver began to spin out of control; Sami swerved to miss him, but he hit the back of the car. That plus the power of the swerve caused them to do donuts. The driver's side slammed into the side of a tree…" she said. "Sami was killed instantly," it was barely an audible whisper. "Like I said, I'm pretty sure that it was three years ago today. And now you know." She grabbed Jerome's hand and slowly walked out of the room showing that she was done talking about the subject.

"Wow…" Eddie said. "I can't believe it. No wonder Patricia's been acting so weird." They were all absorbed in their own thoughts when the doorbell rang. Trudy went to answer it.

In the den, the Sibunas heard Trudy's muffled voice say, "Guys, you won't believe who it is." And a young girl walked into the room.