Katie let out her shaky breath, steadying herself. “All of them had harmless energy. They’re innocent. But there was one not like the rest.”
“One?”
“I didn’t see him. But I felt him stronger than all the others. One of them is dark and angry.” She looked at him. “And he did not want us there.”
Rand licked his lips. “They’re trapped,” he said. “Whoever this one is, it’s keeping the rest from moving on.”
“I think so,” Katie said, sniffing again. “I could sense that all the kids wanted to do was leave, but they couldn’t. They were so desperate and it broke my heart. I’ll never be able to unsee that ever again.”
Rand clenched his jaw. He never would have insisted Katie join him had he known what they were truly up against. As usual, everyone around him was affected by his cases and his life.
“How do you feel?” Rand asked her.
“A bit better.”
“Do you need to go?”
She paused to consider before she answered. “No. I’m here, so we should finish. There’s a huge problem on that ward, so I can’t in good conscience leave those children there now.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea they were there.”
“You couldn’t have known. What do we do now?”
“You said there’s the one that doesn’t feel like the others?”
“Yes. It’s very different from the rest,” Katie said.
“That’s who we need to get in contact with.”
Harold was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. “Everything all right, folks?”
“Yes,” Katie said. “I was just caught off guard with what I found up here. It’s been a while since the last time I’ve done this.”
Rand nodded at her little white lie. Despite the rough beginning, Katie would pull through with the strength and determination he’d always known her to have.
Harold, though, seemed skeptical. “You guys sure?”
“Yes,” Rand said. “Now it’s time to get to work.” He checked his watch. They had about an hour and forty minutes left before the nurses returned to their post.
“What do you need me to do?” Harold asked.
“Head to security. We’ll take the rest from here.” By Rand’s side, Katie’s eyes darted around the room, likely taking in all the spirits that had desperately hoped to see her return.
“Remember the radio. I’m only a call away.”
“Same.”
Rand knocked on Georgia’s door and Nick answered. He stood aside and let them in.
“Everything all right?” he asked, checking his watch.
“Sorry to be late. This is a colleague, Katie. Katie, this is Nick and Maria and their daughter Georgia.” Georgia sat on the bed, hands pressed underneath her thighs. She seemed uneasy.
“Nice to meet you all.” Katie had composed herself well, hiding the fact that she had recently been crying.
“This is the… what do you call it?” Nick asked.
“Clairvoyant,” Katie answered. “Yes, that’s me.”
“And you can help?”
“I am confident that I can.”
Nick sighed in relief. “Good. We’re out of ideas here.”
“What about you?” Rand asked Georgia. “How have you been since last night?” She only shrugged. “Anything paranormal going on?”
“Not so far,” she said. “But I’m sure now that you’re here something else of mine will get smashed.” Her television had not been replaced. “If you’re the ghost man, I guess that makes her the ghost lady.”
Katie smirked. “I can get on board with that nickname.”
“Do you piss off ghosts like he does? Because if you do, then maybe we should rethink this. He’s already angry enough.”
“We’re not here to make any ghosts angry,” Katie said, taking a step closer. “We are here to clear this place so they will leave you in peace.”
“Right, right, I’ve heard it all before. Can we just get it over with so I can go to bed?”
“What do we need to do?” Maria asked. “Anything?”
“We’ll try to communicate with the spirit,” Rand said. “For that, Katie will act as a medium and allow the entity to reach us through her voice. She’s done it many times before and is quite the expert, so there should be nothing to worry about.”
Rand hoped that was true. There is one not like the rest.
“Like the movies?” Georgia said.
“In a way,” Katie said. “But mediums have existed for hundreds of years before they started appearing in movies.”
“I think it would be best to have the room as empty as possible,” Rand said. “So, Nick, Maria, are you able to let us have some private time? Maybe head down to the Coffee Bean?”
Nick and Maria were clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but were pliable enough. “What about Georgia?” Maria asked.
“She should stay,” Rand said. “Since she’s been the target, it will be easier to attract the spirit and convince him to open up.”
“Like bait?” Nick asked.
“Not bait,” Rand said. “More like a familiar face.”
“Nothing will happen to her,” Katie said. “We promise. The only contact will come through me.”
The couple looked at each other for a long time before silently coming to an agreement.
“On the bright side,” Georgia said, “if I like this, then maybe I’ve found what I want to be when I grow up. A medial.”
“A medium. And please try to be more serious about this,” Maria said, kissing her daughter on the forehead. “We’ll be downstairs. Call if you need us.”
Then they were gone.
“Had I known I was coming face-to-face with a ghost tonight,” Georgia said, glancing in the mirror and smoothing her hair, “I would have put on eyeliner.”
“We want them to leave, remember?” Rand said.
“Them?”
“Him,” Rand said quickly.
He got to work on preparations, first by taking Georgia’s desk chair and two extras from her closet, then setting them up near each other in a triangle. On the floor between them, he placed a glass of water, a plate of bread, and three candles from his bag, then lit them. Incense went on Georgia’s desk and her nightstand. The sweet, powerful smell quickly filled the small room. Rand opened the door just a crack—open doors were much more inviting to spirits.
Georgia was quite interested in the set up. “Is he supposed to be like a stray? Feed him and he’ll come.”
“It’s best to have offerings ready when contacting the other side,” Rand remarked.
“Thomas liked the ice cream from downstairs. But that’ll be closed now.”
“We don’t have to be precise.”
“Good. Because that would melt.”
“Do you have a picture of Thomas?”
Georgia surveyed the mounted cork board near her bed and removed the pin from a photo among the dozens already there. It was the first time Rand had ever actually seen Thomas. It was a selfie of him and Georgia, him a few inches taller with wavy dark hair swooped to the side, matching cannulas falling from their nostrils. Rand propped the picture against the glass of water.
With the preparations made, Rand turned off the lights and instructed them to sit in the chairs, Katie at the head.
“Everyone hold hands,” she said. When they did, the trio formed a circle around the candles and offerings. The room was dark, and the only light flickered from the tiny flames in front of them. “Remember, what we’re about to do is simple and has been done for centuries, but it will only work if we keep our minds open to what we may find. Whatever happens, listen to me and do not break the circle until I tell you to.” She spoke strongly, as she always did when instructing newcomers to her séance. But, even in the flickering candlelight, he could see the fear behind her eyes. “Let’s begin.”
Rand felt Georgia’s hand tighten on his own.
“Beloved Thomas, we bring you g
ifts from life into death. Be guided by the light of this world and visit upon us.”
Georgia looked around the room. But the whole place was just as silent as before.
“Beloved Thomas, we bring you gifts from life into death. Be guided by the light of this world and visit upon us.”
Katie’s palm in Rand’s was clammy and her breathing was nervous and uneven. After a prolonged silence, Rand asked, “What do you see?”
“We’re not alone,” Katie whispered.
Georgia’s head darted left and right, up and down, for the first time uneasy.
“Who is here?” Rand asked.
“So many of them.”
The candle flames bent and danced all in the same direction, as if blown by a light wind.
“I know that you all are here,” Katie said, voice trembling, “but please, give us a sign anyway.”
The place erupted in clamor. Rapping and beatings on all the walls and floor surrounding them, like hundreds of hands banging every inch of the surfaces that made up the room.
Georgia gasped and jerked in her chair. Rand clenched her hand, afraid she might try to break the circle.
The noises ceased.
“We welcome you here,” Katie said. “But there is one among you called Thomas. We wish to speak to him.”
Katie had a sharp intake of breath, as if someone had pressed cold hands against her skin.
“What now?” Rand asked.
Katie didn’t answer. Again the flames flickered, this time so much that they were almost extinguished. But after whatever movement had caused them to shift ceased, the fire regrew.
“What is it?” Rand asked again.
“They’ve all gone.”
Rand straightened. That was new to him. Usually you had to struggle to bring spirits to a séance, then had to struggle again to make them leave. “Gone?”
“They fled as soon as I mentioned the name.”
“I don’t get it,” Georgia said. “There’s more than one ghost?”
“Let’s call them back,” Rand said.
Katie shook her head. “They won’t come. Not as long as we ask for that specific name.” Katie licked her lips. “There is one left lingering, though. She’s by the door.” Her voice was a soft whisper, as if afraid she would frighten the spirit away.
Rand glanced toward the door, but he saw no one there.
“Can you help us?” Katie asked. “Can you bring us the one called Thomas?”
Katie watched the door, and Rand watched Katie. Long moments passed as she waited for a response. Finally, Katie deflated. “She ran away too.”
“Call out for him directly, then.”
Katie fixed him with a hard look. “I have a bad feeling about that.”
“This is who we need to speak to.”
Katie took a deep breath. “We wish to speak to the one called Thomas. If you are here, please make yourself known.”
Nothing.
“Thomas, please join us here. We have come to speak with you. We want to know what troubles you so we can help you. Do not be afraid.”
They waited for a long while. Rand found his heart went from beating to pounding, and while he hadn’t been involved in a séance in a while, it was far from his first. Why am I getting uneasy?
“He’s coming,” Katie whispered, clenching his hand. “He’s in the hall now.”
Her eyes traced the wall over Rand’s shoulder. On the other side of that wall was the outside corridor. Katie’s gaze drifted along it, as if she could see through the wall. Then rested on the door. “He’s here.” Her voice was thin and terse.
“What do you see?”
“I can’t see him. But I can feel him. And it’s not good.”
Rand glanced at Georgia, who looked frightened and full of questions.
“T-Thomas. I sense you are here. But please, give us a sign.”
There was a single, huge rap from the ceiling, as if all the pipes and fixtures were about to burst through the plaster and crash to the floor.
She hesitated before continuing. “Thank you for coming. We’re here to help you. Tell us what you need us to know.”
Katie let the silence linger on. Raw nerves clawed at the inside of Rand’s stomach; he could not remember the last time he’d been anxious in the presence of a spirit.
Katie only frowned. “Thomas, there must be something we can talk about.”
Her eyes were still at the door, and she looked upset.
After another long pause, Rand asked, “What’s going on? Is he talking?”
“He refuses to say anything,” she said.
“He’s silent?”
“No.” For the first time since Thomas had arrived, she took her eyes from the door. Even in the dim candlelight, Rand saw that her tears had returned. “He’s speaking. But refuses to answer my questions. He says there is only one person here he will deal with, and it’s you.”
Usually, the spirits were happy enough to communicate through Katie. But Thomas had been stubborn up until then. Perhaps it was because Thomas was already familiar with Rand from the last cleansing ceremony.
Or angry at Rand for trying to get rid of him, more likely.
“Okay. We can do that. I’m listening.”
“No,” Katie said. “He’s only got one message for you. He keeps saying ‘follow me.’ ”
21
A new wave of dread crashed into Rand.
“Follow him?”
“He’s not saying anything else,” Katie said. “And he won’t leave until you do.”
“Don’t do it,” Georgia whispered. She looked utterly terrified. “Or let me at least come with you.”
Katie shook her head. “He wants Rand alone.”
“Right,” Rand said, pushing away any fear that may have crept in. Thomas would be able to sense it, so he had to remove it. “No problem. I’ll follow him.”
This means he has something to show me, Rand thought.
“First, though, we need to end the séance properly,” Rand said.
To the room, Katie said, “Spirits, thank you for coming. You can return to your own world.” Then to Rand and Georgia, she said, “We’ll let our hands go on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
They broke the circle all at the same time. Katie blew out the candles.
As soon as she did, the door creaked open by itself, all the way.
“Guess I’ll get going,” Rand said, standing from the chair.
“Call if you need us,” Katie said, and for the first time in a long while, looked concerned about his wellbeing.
The lights flickered in the corridor outside. The hallway was long and straight, the nurse station at the end abandoned. It looked like the power had gone out and only the backup lights were on, but even those blinked off occasionally, plunging Rand into complete darkness as he stalked down the tiled floor. It was like he’d stepped into a new dimension.
Something knocked on the wall, once just near him, again farther down, and then a third time at the end of the hallway, which echoed back to him.
He followed the sounds, moving cautiously, trying to look everywhere at once. The smiling and innocent cartoon characters on the walls looked a lot more menacing in the blinking light, like a twisted audience watching him walk toward a terrible fate.
Often, instead of speaking, spirits wanted him to follow them. They were known to lead him to any possibility of things—sometimes the site of the tragedy that kept them bound to earth, and other times it was the location of their unmarked grave no one had ever discovered.
So when a spirit beckoned Rand to follow, he knew he had to.
The radio on his belt came to life with static. “Rand, everything all right?” Harold asked.
Rand had forgotten about it already. He unclipped it and brought it to his mouth and pressed the button. “Yeah. All good.”
“I’ve got you on camera in the corridor by yourself. What’s going on?”
Rand was glad to have eyes
on him for this. “Playing a little round of follow the ghost.”
No response for a few seconds. “Your time’s almost up. Hurry and do what you need to do.”
Halfway down the hall, Rand heard the unmistakable sound of bare feet pattering on the tile floor behind him. Running straight for him.
He whirled around just as they came close, only to find no one there. Then, laughter from the other direction where he’d been walking before. When he turned back, again there was nothing.
So we’re going to play games.
He reached into his pocket and withdrew the same small recording device he’d planted in Georgia’s room and pressed the button to record.
Rand approached the beginning of the corridor, where it opened into the round nurse station area. The circular desk created a cubicle filled with computers, charts, and papers. The only sound was a telemetry machine that beeped as the lines of the heart rhythm dipped up in down, remotely monitoring a patient somewhere else on the ward.
Rand shivered as the temperature suddenly plunged to freezing, as if he’d walked into a meat locker. His damp clothes clung to him, jabbing tiny, invisible icicles into his skin.
“I know you’re here, Thomas,” Rand said to the empty room. “Show yourself.” He tightened his grip on the recorder in his hand.
Something moved in his peripheral. He turned just in time to see a young boy duck below the counter on the other side of the nurse station, out of view. Rand rushed around the circular desk, but when he got there the boy had vanished.
“Enough playing around, Thomas,” Rand said.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The telemetry machine picked up its pace, the heart rate increasing, the beats per minute shooting up impossibly fast.
Beep-beep-beep-beep
Then the machine shut off and the screen went black. The room was silent now.
Rand brought the radio to his mouth and pressed the button. “Harold, are you still watching?”
“I’m here. What’s up?”
“Are you seeing anything on your cameras?”
“Nothing besides you running around like a crazy guy.”
“There’s an apparition. He’s messing with me. Wants me to follow him.”
The Tenth Ward Page 12
