Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen by K.D. Peters

reached over beside us and picked up the small box I’d brought back from the house.  “Yes, they.  So, have you gotten to look in here yet?” he asked me.
                  “I did a little bit.  But I had to stop when I heard that thing coming.” I replied.  I decided not to mention at the time about the voice I’d heard coming from my pendant.  I figured that it was enough that he already knew about the stone glowing.  And he hadn’t seemed that surprised about it.  In fact, he spoke like he knew exactly how that had happened.  Without thinking about it, I reached up and held the pendant.  It still felt normal in my hand.  I just didn’t get it.  What in the world had happened to me in that house?
                  My attention was brought back by Chris speaking.  “I see.  Well, I guess this is the best place to start then.” he said, putting the box between us and opening it once again.  I watched as he pulled out the first envelope, then the picture of the woman with the name Faith Evans written on the back.  “So this is her.  I’m not sure I see much of a resemblance.  But you do favor him more." he continued.
                  “So what?  Am I related to them or something?” I asked him.
                  “Well, somewhat.  But it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Chris admitted.  As I watched, he pulled out the pictures from the other envelope and looked at them.  It looked as though he was studying the two men.
                  I looked at the picture of the woman again.  I really couldn’t say that I looked anything like her.  But with the way Chris was talking, I must have been related to her somewhere in my family history.  “So what exactly is complicated with all of this?” I finally asked him.
                  “Well, I’ve been trying to think of the best way to explain all of this without it sounding completely insane.  Though I'm not quite sure I can.” he admitted.
                  “Look, I just saw a burning ghost woman who probably has been dead for years.  Trust me, nothing else can sound anymore insane.” I told him.
                  He actually laughed a little at that one.  I couldn’t help but think that he looked extremely cute doing it too.  But I quickly shook it off.  This was definitely not the time to think about a guy being cute.  “Yeah, I could see that.  But like I said, this is a bit more complicated than just saying you’re related to them.  Although I guess I could start with telling you a little bit about this woman and the men in the pictures with her.  I just hope you’ll believe me when I do.” he said.
                  “Didn’t you hear what I just said?  I don’t think I have a choice.” I replied.
                  Chris quietly laid the picture of the woman down in between us, shaking his head with a small smile on his face.  Guess I was enough to really amuse him now.  “I’m sure you looked at the name on the back of this picture.  And yes, it’s the name of the woman.  This woman, Faith Evans, lived in that house back in the early 1930s.  She was the widow of a detective from Manhattan, and she moved into that house with these two men, who were supposed to be brothers.” he explained, adding the pictures of the men on opposite sides of the woman’s.
                  “I guess I could see that.  They do kind of look like they could be related.” I reasoned.
                  “Actually, they weren’t.  They’re just of the same kind, and happen to have a lot of the same features.  At least, enough to fool the casual onlooker.  It was really no coincidence that the Evans woman came to live with them either in that house.  It was set up that way after they did her the favor of getting rid of her husband for her.” Chris explained.