Fire in Frost

by Alicia Rades

  “So who is the séance for?” Emma asked.

  I took a deep breath, relieved that I could share this with her without her freaking out. “Olivia.”

  “What’s up with Olivia?”

  “I honestly don’t really know. Mom said that Tammy said something about Olivia needing help, so we decided to do this to help her cross over, you know?” I wanted to tell her about Kelli and Nate, too, but Justine told me not to.

  “Wow,” Emma said in admiration. “You guys are so cool.”

  “And she kind of asked for my help,” I admitted.

  “Who? Your mom?”

  “Well, yeah. And Olivia.” I bit my lip, wondering how Emma would take this.

  “You saw her?”

  I shrugged like it was nothing. “Yeah, I saw her three times and once in a dream. She wants me to help someone, but I don’t know who. I think it’s her mom. Like she wants her mom to get over her death or something.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow night. Oh, and my best friend is so cool.”

  I smiled at this. “No, Emma, you’re cool.” I really meant this. Who could have any better friends?

  Emma and I returned to the gym for warm ups. I caught a glimpse of my mom and Teddy in the stands and waved at them, glad that they were able to make my game. I didn’t just have cool friends; I had an awesome family, too.

  The game was intense. The score stayed close the entire way. We won the first set and lost the second. Coach put me in for the last set, and I was all over the court at the top of my game. The last point of the game, when we led the score, played through my senses in slow motion. Betsy served the ball, then a girl on the other team hit it back over on the first hit. Emma dove for the ball in the back, allowing Jenna to set it up perfectly so that I could jump and, with all my arm strength, spike the ball to the other side. The ball hit the gym floor, and the home team burst into applause. We won our last game of the season, and it felt fantastic.

  As our team exited the court to allow the Varsity to warm up, Justine caught ahold of me and pulled me aside.

  “Anything?” she asked.

  Even with Nate threatening me earlier, the fun I’d had with Derek and Emma after school took my mind off of it. Boy, did I feel like a bad person at that moment. I should have been paying more attention to this issue rather than picking out Halloween costumes.

  I shook my head. “Nothing of proof yet, but something did happen.” Then I told her about how Nate threatened me.

  “That guy really has issues. I’m really sorry that happened to you, Crystal, but we have to do something soon. Kelli’s getting more distant, and I’m afraid it’s getting worse. I can’t even text her without him telling her what to say back to me. He’s so controlling.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I promised, and I really meant it.

  I found a seat next to my mom and Teddy on the bleachers. We all stayed and watched the Varsity play and were excited when the coach played Emma and she killed two serves in a row, but I was paying more attention to Kelli as she moved around the court. I caught a glimpse of Nate in the stands, but I was too afraid to watch him, scared that he’d notice I was staring.

  Oh, Kelli, I thought, how am I supposed to help you if you won’t even let your best friend help?

  The game continued, and the Hornets stayed in the lead. The whole crowd drew a breath in sync when a girl from the other team spiked the ball. It soared through the air quick as lighting and smacked Kelli in the face, knocking her to the ground. She sat in the middle of the court and covered her face with her right hand while her left supported her weight.

  Suddenly, I wasn’t sitting on the bleachers in a crowded gym anymore. The scene shifted around me. The gym dissolved, and a bedroom with white walls and sports posters replaced it. I spun around, confused. Where was I?

  When my eyes adjusted, I saw two figures sitting on the bed in the middle of the room. Both were facing away from me but seemed strangely familiar. The guy had blonde hair that was long enough to show a gentle wave to it. He seemed tall and athletic. The girl appeared young with long, dark blonde hair. She had her arm around him like she was comforting him. His head fell as if he was crying.

  “I just don’t know what’s going to happen,” the guy said. I knew that voice. He seemed younger than just moments before, but I knew it was Nate Williams.

  I walked around the bed to the other corner of the room so I could see their faces. For a moment, I was afraid the couple would react to my presence, but I reminded myself that this wasn’t really happening.

  Sure enough, I was watching Nate and Kelli talk, only they were younger, and Kelli’s hair was a darker shade of blonde. I was looking into the past. It must have been when they first started dating. Each of them had a younger look in their eyes.

  Nate’s jaw was tight, and he had a scowl plastered on his face. What was he so angry about?

  “People get divorced all the time, Nate,” Kelli said to comfort him. “I mean, my parents are divorced. Olivia’s parents are divorced. It’s really not that bad.”

  “Not that bad?” he practically yelled, his nostrils flaring. “My dad cheated on my mom, and now his whore mistress has split up my family. We had it so great until she came along. Now nothing will ever be the same.” He rose from the bed in rage, pacing back and forth as he ranted. “My mom’s too depressed to even take care of me and my brothers anymore. I mean, how can I trust her after what she did last week? You think that’s not bad? Downing pills because this family is so fucked up. That’s not that bad?” He came so close to her face that I was sure she might burst into flames from his rage.

  Despite this, Kelli kept her voice calm. “All I’m saying is things might look up in the future. You have to look at the positive side of things. It might not be as bad as you think.”

  “How can you say that?” Nate spat back in rage.

  Kelli stood to face him as her voice rose in annoyance. “God, Nate, would you just calm down for one moment?”

  And that’s when it happened. Even I didn’t see it coming. How could either of them? One moment Nate was pacing back and forth, and the next thing I knew, he was yelling, “Shut up,” and there was the sound of a slap ringing in my ears. Kelli had fallen to the bed. Her right hand held her face while her left was supporting her weight. The next moment, Nate was by her side apologizing.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I need you right now.” He put on a sad face and cuddled into her as if he was genuinely sorry.

  Don’t fall for it, Kelli, I thought, but the damage was already done. I was watching a scene that took place over a year ago.

  Tears sprang to Kelli’s eyes.

  “Please don’t cry, baby. I need you to be strong for me,” Nate said.

  “It’s okay,” Kelli said, stroking his hair. When she pulled her hand away from the point of impact, I could see a red hand-shaped imprint forming across her face.

  What? How could she not see he was evil? Tears welled up in my own eyes, partially out of frustration and partially out of fear.

  “I understand. You’re going through a lot,” Kelli told him.

  The scene shifted again, pulling me back to the present. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but Kelli was already off the floor, and the game was back in session. I stared at Kelli on the bench, a beautiful young blonde with a black eye that meant more to me than a volleyball injury. Someone had given her an icepack, and she now pressed it to her eye. How could I help this poor girl? She’d comforted Nate in his time of need, but he never let her go.

  I continued to stare at Kelli across the gym until a light figure formed in front of her. Olivia stood on the side of the court, her apparition barely visible under the gym lights. Her eyes found me in the crowd, and she mouthed those words again. “Help her!” And then she pointed a ghostly finger at Kelli.

  18

  So it was all about Kelli, but what did Olivia know that Justine
didn’t?

  I hadn’t even noticed my mother staring at me, her eyes wide. “I know that look,” she whispered under her breath, horrified. Mom wrapped an arm around me. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was comforting me or because she wanted to get closer to whisper in my ear. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I couldn’t answer. My body froze, paralyzed at what I’d just seen. My gaze locked on Kelli across the gym. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Nate had slapped her hard that first time, but what had he done since? How bad had it gotten?

  I just nodded at my mother.

  My mom shook her head. “No,” she insisted. “It’s more than that.” She gently took a finger and turned my head toward her, forcing my eyes off Kelli to meet her gaze. “You will tell me about this later,” she said sternly with the authoritative tone a mother is supposed to have yet one I hadn’t heard in so long.

  I nodded my head. I had to tell her. Now that I knew Olivia wanted me to help Kelli, I had to tell my mother.

  Tears pricked at my eyes. I was both overwhelmed by my responsibilities as a psychic and fearful for Kelli. Would Nate hurt her when he drove her home from the game? How much longer could this go on? How bad did it really get?

  Maybe I could tell Teddy about it and he could save Kelli. Why hadn’t I paid more attention to Kelli before instead of being so selfish? If both Justine and Olivia came to me about their best friend, it had to mean this was serious.

  The crowd burst into applause for the Varsity Hornet’s final victory of the season. As people slowly began to descend the bleachers, I stayed put, still paralyzed in my spot. I could still see Kelli as Coach Kathy led her into her office. I guessed it was to check out her injury in privacy.

  “Crystal, are you okay?” my mom said as she shook me a bit.

  I nodded, but I couldn’t speak.

  She glanced back at Teddy, who was also looking at me. “We’ll wait for you in the commons, okay?” she said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  I nodded again as a thank you for giving me my space. I stared at Coach Kathy’s office and waited for Kelli to emerge. My mother and Teddy left me alone on the bleachers, but there were still fans chatting on the court, so I wasn’t completely alone. I noticed volleyball players leaving the locker room from across the gym.

  I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I stood up and followed Kelli once she left the coaches’ office. When I entered the locker room, it was silent. All the other players were gone, so it was just me and Kelli.

  I heard a sob coming from behind the center row of lockers. I peeked my head around the corner to watch Kelli. She sat with her head down and gently touched the icepack to her eye, which was swollen but not too bad. She sniffled. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or because she had other issues going on.

  “Hey,” I said softly, coming around the lockers.

  She jerked her head up at me in surprise but relaxed when she realized I was just another player.

  “Hey,” she greeted with a sniffle. “Am I in front of your locker?”

  “No,” I told her, sliding down onto the bench beside her. “I actually wanted to talk to you.”

  “Oh.” She seemed disappointed. She clearly didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  “That girl on the other team really has a mean spike, doesn’t she?” I said, trying to find some way to spark a conversation. Mostly, though, I didn’t know what I was going to say to her.

  Kelli let out a forced giggle. “Yeah, she does.”

  “Um . . . are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a black eye. It’s not like I’ve never been hit before.” She hesitated. “You know, by a volleyball.”

  I gave her a sympathetic expression, yet my pulse quickened as I prepared for what I was going to say next. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was smart to confront her with this, but I knew I had to try. “That’s not really what I meant.”

  She glanced at me sideways and looked me up and down suspiciously.

  I continued. “I mean, are you okay in general? Do you need help?”

  Her expression shifted to suspicion, and her voice rose. “What are you getting at?”

  I recoiled, pushing my way down the locker room bench a bit farther for her benefit. I didn’t want to appear overbearing, although I knew I’d already crossed the line. “It’s just . . . some people aren’t convinced that Nate is good for you.” Before I could offer my help, she stood and cut me off.

  “Some people? You mean Justine. I thought you two were talking about me that day in the locker room. Nate loves me. I don’t know how Justine can’t see that. Besides, what do you have to do with this anyway?”

  I wanted to explain it to her, but I didn’t think she’d believe me. Before I had the chance to say anything else, we heard the squeak of the locker room door and voices outside. We both looked toward the door, waiting for whoever just entered the room.

  Justine emerged from around the lockers. Her gaze shifted from me to Kelli then back to me. I knew she was suspicious about what we’d been talking about, but she put on her best bubbly face to mask the awkwardness of the situation. “There you are Kelli,” she said happily. “I’ve been looking for you. How’s your eye?”

  Justine walked past me to Kelli. I knew it was my cue to leave, but I stayed put.

  “Some of the Varsity players are going out to celebrate. Are you coming?” Justine’s question was directed toward Kelli, not to me even though my team had won our game as well.

  Kelli took a few moments to answer. “I—I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to talk to Nate. He’s my ride home.”

  “I can give you a ride home, Kelli,” Justine offered.

  Kelli shook her head. “Yeah, but Nate might get mad if I wander off without him.”

  Justine’s tone grew angrier as they spoke about Nate. “God, Kelli, he doesn’t have to be with you wherever you go, nor does he have to dictate when you are and aren’t allowed to hang out with your friends.”

  Kelli hung her head, clearly aware of this fact yet too weak to fight it. “Let me just go to the bathroom, and then I’ll ask him.”

  “You mean tell him,” Justine corrected.

  Once Kelli was in the bathroom, a separate room off the locker room, Justine spoke to me.

  “Did you find something out?”

  I shifted nervously. “Um . . . I know why he started hitting her.”

  “She told you!” Justine’s voice was full of surprise. It was clear that Kelli never mentioned anything of the sort to her.

  “No.” I assured her. I lowered my voice. “I saw it. In a vision.”

  Justine cocked her head and studied my face to see if I was lying. She narrowed her eyes in thought. “You really are psychic, aren’t you?”

  I nodded because that was the only way I knew how to answer. The way she was quick to believe me rendered me speechless.

  “What did you see?”

  I lowered my voice to a whisper and told her quickly about how Nate became violent after his parents separated and how Kelli stayed to comfort him, but he never let her leave, and now he’s obsessed.

  “I knew most of that. There are even rumors that his mom tried to kill herself when it happened.”

  If she already knew all this, what was I doing here? What good were my visions if they didn’t give us anything to work from?

  “We need more than that,” she insisted.

  “Well, what do you want from me? No one is going to believe a psychic vision.”

  “I need you to find proof.”

  “But how?”

  Before she could tell me, Kelli emerged from the bathroom.

  Justine raised her voice so that Kelli could hear. She spoke casually as if we were speaking like this the whole time. “Yeah, the JV’s invited too, so you should come celebrate with us.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said, mirroring her casual tone. “But I’m really tired. I’ll see you around.”

  I
turned to leave. I wasn’t out the door yet when I heard Kelli speak to Justine. “What is up with you hanging out with her?”

  The door closed behind me before I heard Justine’s response.

  I was caught slightly off guard when I saw Nate standing against the wall near the locker room. He was watching for Kelli. His ominous eyes locked onto me for a moment, sending a wave of terror through my body.

  “Crystal!” Emma squealed as she approached me with her arms wide open. I was thankful for this distraction. She pulled me into a tight embrace. “I’ve been looking for you. Did you see my awesome serves? Some of us are going out to celebrate. Do you want to come?”

  “Isn’t that what our pizza party tomorrow is for?”

  Emma shrugged and grinned at me. “We can have pizza two times to celebrate for such a great season.”

  “I’m actually really exhausted. I’m going to go home and sleep.”

  “I wish you’d come, but I understand. See you tomorrow.”

  I found my mom and Teddy talking to other parents in the commons and told my mom I was tired. I exchanged a glance of urgency with her, and she quickly rose from her seat and said goodbye to the other parents. Teddy followed.

  Mom gave Teddy a kiss goodbye, and I waved as we split up in the parking lot when he left to go to his own apartment. Mom and I walked side by side back home but didn’t speak.

  When we finally got home, she spoke first. “Tell me what’s up. I know that face. You saw a vision of something, and it scared you, didn’t it?”

  I didn’t say anything for a long time. How could I not tell her? She had to know who Olivia wanted me to help. After contemplating how to tell her, I finally broke down and told her everything I knew.

  My mom stroked my hair as I wrapped my arms around her waist. We were sitting in her bed after I had divulged all my secrets—and my anxiety about the responsibility—while she held me and I sobbed into her arms.

  “Well, sweetie, we have these abilities so we can help people.”

  I sobbed. “I don’t know if I want that type of responsibility. How am I supposed to help Kelli and get her away from Nate? Justine said she already talked to her and that Kelli won’t say anything about him. Justine keeps insisting that I get some proof to save her, but how can I do that?”