All Roads Lead to Ruin

She shook her head, "Just... Ugh. Nevermind." Just as she let silence pass, the kid who had been watching them's eyes flashed red and she jumped, "Holy shit. Creepy demon kid. Red eyes." she nudged Seth hard in the side.

Seth looked over at the kid, staring at him for a few moments. "That's not a demon." He said as if it were obvious. The kid hopped off the swing, turning and running somewhat in their direction, into the street. Seth pushed the paper into her gut, causing her to look down. One of the pictures in the obituaries was of a child- that child. When she looked back up, the kid was nowhere to be seen. Another look to the paper would reveal the kid died by a hit and run, on this street- keener eyes would notice a greasy, dark stain in the middle of the road and a woman crying on a bench near the playground. "Yeah... kids creep me out."

Layla shuddered, "So why are we seeing him?"

He frowned. "Sometimes... people leave reflections. Of what they were. Or what happened. It doesn't matter. I don't think he's hurting anyone." He replied to her, tapping the paper. "Did you see it?" He asked, apparently referring to something in the obituaries.

She nodded, handing it back, "How often does that happen?"

"No, not that." He said, shaking his head before pausing. "...Well. A lot, I guest? Ghosts aren't hard to make. Most are just closer to... phenomena, I guess, than malicious beings." He said. "But given the right circumstance, they can become very malicious."

Her stomach sank into her abdomen, "Are my parents like that?"

He took a moment to think. "Do you still have anything of theirs?" He asked.

She nodded, handing him a ring from her hand, "I have mom's engagement ring. It survived the fire."

"Have you seen your mom?" He asked, turning it about in his fingers.

"In dreams." she admitted, "When I can sleep. I feel her more than anything."

He shrugged, casually tossing her back the ring. "Nah. If anything... well, nevermind. Even if they left a ghost, its just a ghost. It's not, like, them, you know? They pass. What makes them them. The soul. Not to get all spiritual on you, or anything."

She nodded in silence, sliding the ring back on her finger.

"Anyway, now, look," He said, pointing to the obituaries. "What else is weird?" Everything looked normal. After an extended glance... nine out of twelve deaths were from people out of town. All from the same town, though. "What's weird?"

"This is where people come to die..?" she asked slowly.

He grimaced slightly. "Sort of. I guess. They're all from the same town. Pretty young. Not much else tying them together, by the looks of it though. Yet."

Layla nodded, "What about their families? Where they went to school? Friends they hung out with? Maybe there's something besides just the town. Why would they come here, anyways?"

"I dunno." He mused, tossing the crumpled remains of the burrito foil in a trashcan. "Find out where they're buried. Lets ask them."

Layla blinked, "What, like Ouiji board kind of stuff..?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah... kind of." He replied, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pockets as he walked on. "C'mon. We gotta pick up some stuff." He said, nodding sideways at a local market that he began to walk towards.

Layla shoved the paper under her arm, trailing along behind him.

He turned to her as they entered the store. "I need you to grab some stuff. Get us five tiki torches, some coriander, sage, and fuel for the torches, and meet be back at the register. Cool?" He asked, stopping as if he were about to head the other way. "Oh, and, some salt. Sea salt. Not iodized. Just in case."

She paused, typing everything in on her phone to remember, "Okay... I think I got it all."

"Good, then get it all." He called over his shoulder as it he walked off, in the direction of the meat section it seemed.

Ten or so minutes later he caught back up with Layla at the register, holding a jug of dark, viscous fluid with a flimsy, grimy barcode sticker stuck haphazardly on the side. "You got the stuff?"

She pointed to the full cart, "Think so. You didn't give me cash though, so I haven't checked out."