Ghosts. With chloeas and need2speed.

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver sat in the driver's seat of the car after placing the vehicle in the park position. His hands gripped tightly onto the steering wheel as he stared out the windshield at the mansion. His heart was already beating more quickly in his chest

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[need2speed]

When Oliver had suggested that she tag along with them on the journey out to his old house, Mia hadn't thought it would be that big a deal. It was just a house, right? A pretty fancy and huge one, but still a house. The way Oliver's knuckles were turning white on the steering wheel suggested that it was probably more than that though.

Mia snuck a questioning glance at Chloe as she undid her seatbelt. "So," she ventured, "is this the place?"

[chloeas]

Chloe glanced back at Mia and nodded a little, she wished she had had time to warn Mia that Ollie wasn't doing too well and was pretty nervous about things but they hadn't been alone.

"It looks pretty well kept," she commented, looking from the house to Oliver and hesitantly placing a hand over his arm, rubbing it a little, "you ready to go in?"

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver didn't even notice the look that passed between the other two people in the car, and he barely noticed Chloe's hand on his arm.

"Let's get this over with." He drew in a breath, pulled the keys from the ignition and reached for the door handle.

[need2speed]

Mia could see that Oliver was pretty nervous all by herself. What she didn't know was why. But since he was being all weird, she decided she'd boost the normality levels up even more.

"Finally," she huffed, swinging open her own door and climbing out. "I've had to pee for the last ten minutes. Your house better have working plumbing, Ollie."

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I hope so," he said quietly, glancing at her sideways. Then he looked around the room, his body tense. "Nothing like walking into the past."

[chloeas]

Chloe looked around, taking a breath in as she looked inside the mansion and placing a hand firmly against his lower back, "you can do this, Ollie."

[dl_greenarrow]

He swallowed hard and glanced at her once more, nodding a little, rubbing a hand over his face. "We've got a lot of rooms to cover," he said quietly.

[chloeas]

"We should get started, then," she told him quietly, nudging him inside, "any particular place you think we should start from?"

[dl_greenarrow]

"Well, I think Mia already took a tour of the upstairs." He glanced at her and couldn't help but grin, amusement in his eyes.

[need2speed]

"I didn't snoop that much," Mia protested, nudging him with her shoulder.

[chloeas]

"Don't worry, Mia," Chloe grinned a little, glad to see Mia had a way of making Oliver relax, "I've always had this theory that mansions were designed for snooping."

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver smirked at her. "Does that mean there's a place you don't think was designed for snooping?" he teased, taking the steps two at a time.

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver nodded slightly, glancing at Chloe and then over at Mia. "Or anything that mentions 'The Traveler' for that matter," he added, opening the top drawer of his father's desk and carefully rifling through some papers, glancing over them and then setting them aside.

[need2speed]

"Okay," Mia drawled, flipping through the books. She didn't know what all this 'traveler' stuff was about, but she figured she'd find out soon enough.

[chloeas]

Chloe smiled when Mia just started researching, no questions asked and turned to the opposite end of the shelf, starting to go through books there.

[dl_greenarrow]

When he'd searched the entire desk from top to bottom and didn't find anything of relevance, Oliver moved over to one of the file cabinets, pulling open the top drawer. There were a lot of files--the usual stuff--warranties, medical records, insurance records, even a couple of Queen Industries things, but nothing that had anything to do with Veritas.

He moved to the next drawer, pausing when he spotted a file labeled 'Travel Records.' He plucked it from the drawer and set it on the desk, flipping through it.

[dl_greenarrow]

He couldn't help but smile at Mia's exclamation, and frankly now he wondered if there were other secret places in the mansion that even he hadn't known about.

Drawing in a breath, he reached into the compartment and felt around, pausing when his hand came into contact with a solid object. He pulled it out slowly, staring down at the small dark green book in his hands. It was dusty and he slid his hand over it, freeing it from the grime.

It was blank on the cover and on the back and he held his breath as he opened it.

"It's a journal," he said, looking up at Chloe and then Mia before back down at it.

[need2speed]

Mia's eye flicked from Chloe to Oliver to the book in his hands. She wasn't sure why everyone seemed to be holding their breath but whatever. It was what they'd been looking for, right?

"Open it," she urged.

[chloeas]

Chloe placed a hand on Mia's arm and smiled softly at her before looking at Ollie again, she knew Mia was impatient, but Ollie just might need a little time for this one.

"Do you recognize the handwriting?" She asked quietly.

[dl_greenarrow]

"It's my dad's," he told her, glancing at her briefly before opening it once more and flipping through the pages. The entire book was filled with his dad's handwriting, minus a few pages toward the end. He rose to his feet slowly, holding onto the journal.