Hand in hand, we walked toward the main doors. For the fifth time since we left Divine Magic, I glanced over my shoulder for any signs of the floating, tentacled evil spirit. I prayed that Arianna wouldn’t have any problem—living or nonliving—while watching Zach as we drove to the neighboring city of Chesapeake for this visit.
If anything happened to him… I couldn’t even think about it. I wouldn’t allow myself to think about it. It only made my anxiety and my pulse launch into the air.
Laurence pushed the call button beside the doors and waited. The windows were darkened on the outside, allowing patients to see out while not letting visitors see in. But if my memory served, there was a camera above the bell that linked to a security guard’s computer, so if nothing had changed since then, we should be buzzed right in.
“Yes?” an annoyed male’s voice huffed from the other end of the speaker.
A bit flabbergasted by his aggression, Laurence stumbled over his response. “U-Uh, yes. We’re h-here to see—”
“Hi.” I leaned more into the camera’s view and put on my sweetest customer service smile. “We’re here to visit my mother. Cecilia Bishop?” Saying my mother’s actual name felt sticky on my tongue, like I was asking about a stranger.
“Come right to the desk,” the gruff man said, followed by the familiar buzzing unlock of the doors. Once past the doors, the check-in desk and the guard came into view. He was just as I expected with a harsh-looking expression and uniform that mimicked a cop’s unless you really looked. Meant to intimidate more than enforce, I guessed.
“Arms and legs out,” he commanded. We obeyed, allowing him to pat us down for anything that could be used by the patients as a weapon. He even searched through my purse and had Laurence turn out his pockets. When he was done, he had us sign our names, phone numbers, time in, and desired patient’s name into a book, took our pictures from a little camera on top of his computer on the desk, and printed out ID tags for us right then and there. He we instructed we keep them clipped in sight at all times or else we’d be escorted out.
It seemed like a lot for a place that was supposed to be a hospital. It reminded me more of a prison, but I pushed that thought out of my head as soon as it formed.
When we were finally allowed to go on our way, we hurried down the hallway to room 309, as I remembered, before he could call us back for something more.
The place was just like I remembered. Outdated. Unkept. With peeling floral wallpaper, green tiled floors, and beige metal doors lining both sides of the halls. Every one bore heavy duty locks from the outside—just in case—and no windows. When I was younger, I hadn’t thought much of the place’s design choices, but now I couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving my own mother in such a place.
Laurence grimaced at the ID clipped to his shirt as we passed a bustling nurses’ station and hooked a left down another corridor. “All that seemed a little excessive to you?” he asked.
It took me a second to realize he was talking about the guard in the front and his security checks. “It must be a new protocol. I definitely don’t remember having to go through anything like that when I used to visit.”
Not even checking the numbers marking the doors, my feet moved me out of memory. At the end of the hall, there was another nurses’ station, and then another left turn we had to make.
“Do you think they had an incident here? Maybe someone brought something in?” he asked.
“Or someone tried to get out.”
Laurence’s Adam’s apple trembled as he struggled to swallow. “That’s a possibility but also a way more ominous way of looking at it. I’m starting to think you’ve been hanging out with Jade too much.”
I chuckled at that but thinking about my best friend brought along another thought with it, making me stop laughing instantly. Where were all the spirits in this place? I hadn’t encountered one since we arrived. Even outside. No tingles. Not even a hint that one could be lingering nearby.
That was one thing I could always count on here. There were plenty of lingering haunts drifting through these halls. They were the spirits who’d returned to their place of death because of its familiarity. On past visits, I would be bombarded by their questions, their pleas for help, but now, the place was barren.
Everything was eerily quiet, too. Even the nurses’ stations weren’t busy.
How odd.
“What’s wrong?” Laurence asked, coming closer to my side. “Are you nervous to see your mom again? After all this time?”
“Well, yes and yes. I am, but that’s not only it.” I paused and glanced down the hallway before us and then where we once came. Still, not a single spirit in sight. Worry rustled inside me. “This place is clean of spirits. There’s not a nonliving soul around.”
He gave me a puzzled look. “But that’s good, isn’t it? No one to bother you or slow us down?”
“Yeah, but that’s not normal. During every past visit, I had to wrestle myself away from them, there were so many. Now… it’s empty.”
“Huh.” Laurence shrugged, seeming more relieved than concerned. “Maybe it’s something to do with the veil?”
“But the veil thinning has been allowing spirits to cross over more often. The building should be overflowing with them, then. Not deserted.”
Another shrug. “Let’s just count our blessings and knock on some wood. We definitely don’t need any more trouble than we already have.”
He was right. Did it really matter why the spirits were gone? It did make things easier for me, after all. Better to just push forward and not think about it.
We continued at a slower pace. I could see my mother’s door just ahead on the right, and my stomach soured. I wasn’t sure I was ready to do this. Confront her again and the truth of her deterioration. And for the first time, reveal it to Laurence, someone I loved.
Would he think any differently about me? Would he wonder about my mental stability or Zach’s future? They were all things I worried about, so I’m sure he would consider it, too.
In front of room 309, Laurence took both my hands and pulled me to a stop. “Before we go in there, there’s something I have to tell you,” he began, making sure to keep his voice low to match the overall silence of the building.
I blinked. “Oh?”
“I know you’re anxious about this, but I wanted you to know that no matter what’s behind that door, it’s not going to scare me away. And when you’re ready, you can share this part of your life with me. It’s on your terms, on your time. I love every part of you. Even the dark, hidden stuff.”
I smiled up at him. That was one of the many things I loved about him. He wasn’t only a jokester, someone who could make me laugh at the drop of a dime with his favorite movie quotes or actor impressions, but he was super sweet, too. Understanding. Sometimes he said these things that were so moving—like now—that I was left speechless.
If only he could see himself like I did. He could be just as powerful of a spellcaster as Arianna if he believed in himself more. Maybe even more so.
“How did I get so lucky to have found you?” I said, pressing my face into his chest.
Since he was so much taller than me, he could rest his chin against the top of my head. Which he did often, like now. “You? With you and Zach, I’m the lucky one.”
“Speaking of Zach,” I began, “let’s not bring him up while in the room, okay? I’m not ready to introduce him to this part of my life yet.”
“I understand.”
We stayed like that for a few more minutes, enjoying the comfort of each other in such a tense and stressful situation. At least for me. When we finally pulled away, I turned on my heel to fully face the door and drew in a deep breath. Grabbing the handle, I pushed it open.
I stepped into the one-room living space, my eyes instantly going to my mother laying in the bed with layers of blankets piled on top of her. With eyes closed and body stiff, my heart clenched at the frail sight of her. She appeared dead; only
the slight up and down movements of her chest revealed she was asleep, more than likely deeply sedated by medication. Dressed in a pink muumuu, one I had seen her in many times before, her hair was hidden by a bandana and her cheeks were sunken in more than I remembered.
Walking over to her bedside, tears prickled my eyes. My visits in the past had brought out every emotion a person was capable of feeling. Anger from the moments of feeling abandoned by her, pity for her and myself, fear for her future in this place… and the list went on and on. At this moment, I was thinking about my son and how she had no idea she was now a grandmother, and maybe never would.
I wasn’t sure if I even wanted Zach to know about her, either. Was that fair of me to do? I didn’t know. But part of me didn’t want him to see her so weak and possibly get his hopes up that she’d get better when it wouldn’t happen. Like I’d done so many times before.
I couldn’t put that pain on him.
“Mama, it’s me. Katherine.” I spoke to her unmoving form like I used to. She didn’t respond, didn’t even flinch at my voice. Just continued to breathe evenly in her peaceful, drug-induced sleep.
Why had I come here again? How was she going to help me figure out how to keep this dark spirit away when she wasn’t even conscious?
Feeling foolish and embarrassed, I headed back toward the door where Laurence waited and waved him to step back into the hall. He stayed put.
“What? What happened?” he asked.
“This was a stupid idea,” I said in a rush. “I shouldn’t have dragged you here. I don’t know why I thought she could help…”
“She’s the only other Medium you know,” he answered for me and peered her way. “And your mother.”
Moving further into the room, he ushered me back inside and closed the door behind him.
“You don’t understand,” I began. “She’s too drugged to even open her eyes…”
Behind me, there was a soft grunt, then the clearing of someone’s throat and my words died on my tongue.
Laurence’s gaze lifted. “Doesn’t look that way to me.”
Slowly, I turned.
For the first time since I could remember, my mother was pushing herself to sit up in bed and staring at me with completely clear eyes. A sad smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she lifted both her hands to me, beckoning me to come to her side again.
“Katherine…” she said, her voice scratchy and as low as a whisper. “My daughter…”
Chapter 6
“Mama?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but there she was right in front of me looking right at me and talking as if everything was completely normal.
“Come here. Let me get a good look at you.” She gestured for me to come closer. “It’s been too long.”
My feet moved without permission, leading me straight into her embrace. Her boney fingers gripped my arms tightly, and a grin spread across her dry lips. Sadness weighed heavy in her gaze as if this was a bitter sweet moment for her. Which was exactly what I was thinking, too. I couldn’t remember the last time my mother had been conscious enough to even form coherent sentences, and yet here she was, holding me so firmly it was like she was afraid to let go.
“You’re beautiful,” she murmured, her voice hitching as her eyes glossed over with tears. “Absolutely beautiful.”
I couldn’t hold back my own sorrow any longer. My knees buckled, and I collapsed on the side of her bed, grief clutching onto me and making me hiccup as I cried.
I wanted to stop, but my body was working on its own, all the feelings I’d suppressed for so long bursting out of me like a volcanic eruption. But I just couldn’t believe what was happening. The last time we’d talked—really talked—like this was… Well, I couldn’t remember, honestly. There were times I’d even wonder if I might forget her voice, especially when the time between my visits became longer and longer apart.
Her arms slid under mine in a partial hug, partial attempt to hold me up. “I know,” she whispered, pain choking her words. “Honey, I know—but don’t worry, I’m okay. See? Come up. Get off the floor.”
She tried to lift me back up to my feet but was too weak to do much. I swallowed down my sobs and rose again, my legs wobbling still, and rubbed my wet cheek with the back of my hand.
“There. Better.” Her smile grew again as she looked me up and down and pretended to dust off my coat front and legs. When her gaze lifted to my face again, she said, “Oh Lord, it’s like looking in a mirror, ain’t it?” She gave a short laugh. “If I was in my thirties again, we could be mistaken as twins.”
She was right. Even though wrinkles lined her eyes and mouth, freckles sprinkled her cheeks, and she was skinny—too skinny, almost sickly looking—the resemblances between us were still striking. The same dark complexion and skin tone. The same eyes, right down to the almond shape and color. And I had a feeling that if she took off the bandana and maybe took a shower, her hair would even have the same unruly curly texture as mine.
When her eyes flickered to the right, her body tensed, as if she was seeing something she didn’t want to see. The sudden change in her demeanor had me hesitating. I followed her gaze to find only Laurence standing there patiently waiting for us to finish our moment.
“Mama, this is Laurence. My boyfriend,” I said, waving for him to come over. As he strode toward us, my mother’s eyes stayed fixed in the spot he was. But nothing was there.
Like me, my mother was a Medium, but if it were a spirit she was seeing, I’d be able to see it, too, and the space appeared empty to me. No tingles of a nearby soul along my skin, either.
But before I could dwell too much on it, Laurence leaned over and placed a friendly kiss on my mother’s cheek. I knew it was because I’d told him stories about my grandmother, and how everyone—stranger or not—had to give her a kiss on the cheek when they entered her house. It had been a must, and something I’d thought to be silly growing up but missed terribly now that she was gone. I guessed he’d been listening and wanted to show it with my mom.
She seemed to like that, giving him and then me an impressed look.
“Boyfriend, huh?” Her voice dropped again. “Is he a supe?”
Meaning supernatural.
“A sorcerer, yes,” I replied.
Her thin brows shot up at that. “Oh! A spellcaster. You look like a smart boy. What level?”
“Uh…” Laurence took a step back, instantly looking ashamed.
“He’s about to pass his level one’s.” I made sure to say it without affliction to show him I wasn’t embarrassed at all, and neither should he be. I didn’t care what other people thought about it. He’d improved so much in the last few months alone. I was proud of him either way.
“I’ve been studying a lot,” he answered meekly.
“Well, then, I’m sure you’ll pass. I dated a sorcerer once—” She turned to me. “Before I met your daddy, that is. And he’d always talk about how hard the spells were. And I believe it. Conjuring something out of nothing? Amazing.”
Laurence’s lips lifted. “Yeah, it can be pretty rough sometimes.”
She grabbed his hand squeezed it in reassurance. “You got this. I know you do.”
His smile widened.
I used to imagine what it would be like to have my mother back since I lost her. I’d come up with these elaborate situations in my head, dreaming up what it would be like to spend Thanksgiving together or Easter, to come home from school and see her in the kitchen cooking dinner or pushing me on the swings in the park. I had imagined her singing, her temper, the way she would say she loved me. Now, finally getting a moment with her, one that was nothing like I’d made up, I was on cloud nine.
It was like a Christmas miracle.
The stranger thing was that I couldn’t see any similarities to my grandmother at all, who was her mother. Grandma Abigail was strict, sometimes harsh, and her love could be hard to decipher at times, but it was there. My mother appeared more soft-spoken. The kind to
wear her emotions on her sleeve—which had been something Grandma Abigail had commented on often, seeing it as a weakness. But I didn’t because she seemed more like me in that sense.
The worry of one day being unable to control my Medium gift and ending up in an assisted living home like this tried worming its way to the forefront, but I shoved it away.
Laurence and my mother continued talking during my mind wanderings. Their conversation had gone to the terrible food they served here, and how she was dying for some home-cooked rice and red beans, to my pastry shop and my recent expansion into catering. I only half-listened, chiming in here and there when the exchanged called for it, but what I was really doing was watching the way my mother’s eyes continued to flash to other parts of the room, her lips pressed into a tight line and her jaw clenched.
Something wasn’t right.
When her gaze switched to an empty chair in the corner by the window and her entire body stiffened, I looked over to find nothing again and I frowned.
What was she seeing?
Then another thought struck me. Everything that was going on here could be temporary. An adjustment of her medicine, or the lack of it. There was a reason she was in this place. It’d be foolish of me to think she’d been automatically fixed somehow—that I could have my mom back and we could pick up where we’d left off.
My throat tightened at the realization, and pending tears rose. I blinked to keep them back. “Mama?”
When she turned to me again, her eyes had changed. Her pupils had swallowed up her warm brown irises, making me jump back.
“What the—” Laurence moved away, too.
Fear spiked through me. I’d never seen anything like this before.
“Mama?” I called to her cautiously. Her face blanked, but those terrifyingly eyes latched onto me, seeing but not really seeing me at all.
“Laurence, get the nurse,” I said to him, pointing to the red medical call button on the wall on the other side of her bed.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he ran around the bed and reached to hit it, but right before he could, my mother’s hand shot out and snatched his wrist stopping him. His eyes widened as he stared at her in disbelief. When he tried to pull back, her grip was too strong and kept him there.
Curse of Christmas: A Collection of Paranormal Holiday Stories Page 25
