Fire in Frost

by Alicia Rades

  “I know I’m not making any sense.” She stopped and thought for a brief moment. “Maybe this will help.”

  Suddenly, I was whipped from my seat at the table, spinning out of control, everything a muddle of confusion. I was falling fast until I came to an abrupt halt. My mind was still in panic mode, but my body seemed fine, comfortable in the situation even. However, I couldn’t control my body, and when I finally focused on what I was seeing, I realized why. I was in one of Olivia’s memories, seeing it through her eyes.

  23

  I recognized the room I was in. It was vast, with a high ceiling and bleachers lining the walls. It smelled like sweat, dirt, and the familiar extras that came along with volleyball season. A volleyball net was set up in the center of the room. I was watching over it from the top of the bleachers. I could hear the hum of the ceiling fans and the thump of music coming from the coaches’ office.

  A lone girl stood at the back of the court. I watched as she tossed a ball in the air, jumped, and sent it flying across the net.

  “Awesome!” I shouted, only it was Olivia’s voice I heard. “I got that on camera, so we can study it later to see what you did right.”

  I looked over at the camera sitting on a tripod next to me. Yep, the frame is perfect so that we see what’s going on with her body. It won’t take long until she has her jump serve down, Olivia’s thoughts said in her memory.

  I looked back to the girl. The part of me that wasn’t replaying the memory—the Crystal part—studied her face. I didn’t recognize her at first, but then I realized it was Kelli, only she had darker hair and a rounder, younger face.

  Kelli threw another ball in the air and jumped. It flew straight into the net. She turned in frustration to grab another one.

  “That’s okay,” Olivia’s voice assured her encouragingly. “That’s why we stayed after practice to video tape it. We’ll figure out what you’re doing right and wrong.”

  Kelli jumped again, this time sending the ball flying crazy fast into the opposite side of the court. Kelli squealed in excitement and gave a hop for her success.

  She grabbed another ball from the cart and stepped up to the serving line, but something caught her eye by the door. She did a double take.

  “What are you doing here?” Kelli asked kindly before I even saw Nate storm into the gym.

  “You better have a damned good excuse,” he snarled, pointing at her. When he reached her, he seized the ball from her hands.

  She recoiled, stunned by his anger.

  I felt Olivia’s body shift as she sprung up from her seat in alarm, but she didn’t move down the bleachers.

  “What are you talking about?” Kelli asked calmly. “I didn’t know I needed to tell you I was staying after practice to work on my serves.”

  “Well, you should have. I’ve been waiting for you.” Nate’s voice was full of rage. He kept pointing his finger in her face. I didn’t think he saw Olivia at the top of the bleachers looking down on them.

  “I didn’t know you’d come to pick me up. I usually walk home from practice.”

  “We talked about this. From now on, you ride with me.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary.” Kelli’s voice was still calm.

  I couldn’t quite understand why, but Olivia stayed put. Her thoughts told me she was afraid this was something she shouldn’t get into.

  “Well, it is,” Nate spat. “You don’t get to hang out after practice when I’m expecting to spend time with you. You do as I say, okay?”

  “No, I don’t,” Kelli said, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her voice to challenge him.

  I didn’t know how to react in my own mind or in Olivia’s body.

  “I want to work on my serves,” Kelli said through clenched teeth as she snatched the ball back from his hands.

  That’s when it happened. A strong hand came up. Olivia bolted down the bleachers, but before she could get anywhere, I heard the loud smack against Kelli’s face. She fell to the ground. Olivia continued racing toward her.

  Nate looked up and saw me—well, Olivia—for the first time.

  “You asshole!” Olivia shouted, but it felt like the words came from my own mouth even though I knew I would never be so bold as to stand up to him like that.

  “You stay out of this,” he barked back while pointing that ugly finger toward Olivia. She was still coming at him. She was so close now.

  “You asshole,” Olivia repeated, pushing him as hard as she could. I felt the impact in Olivia’s memory.

  He stumbled back a few steps. I knew she hadn’t hurt him, only stunned him. Olivia bent to console her friend, but she didn’t make it all the way down before Nate was pulling her back up.

  “You think that’s funny?” he spat. He shoved Olivia’s body, sending her stumbling over her own feet, but she quickly regained her balance. He was advancing. “Kelli is my girl. You don’t get to judge me.”

  “Oh, I think I can,” Olivia’s voice rang boldly. I applauded her bravery and then felt her body shift as she spoke again. “I thought you were a good guy, but Kelli deserves a lot better than this.” Olivia stopped and folded her arms over her chest to show she wasn’t afraid of him.

  You go, Olivia, I thought as I experienced her past.

  He paused inches away from her. “Better than me? She’s never going to find anyone better than me. I’m all she’s got.”

  “She’s got me,” Olivia challenged. “You lousy piece of shit.”

  He raised his hands, but before Olivia could duck out of the way, they came down on her, pushing her hard into the gymnasium wall. Pain shot through her back as her shoulder blade collided with the concrete. My own conscious mind felt a stab of pain, too. Olivia’s hands came up to comfort her aching shoulder.

  “Nobody says things like that to me,” Nate snarled. “You best remember that, bitch.”

  He turned away like nothing had happened. “Get off the floor,” he mumbled to Kelli, and to my amazement, she rose and followed him. Before she left, she sent Olivia a look of apology.

  I have to go after him, Olivia thought in my mind. She started toward them. Kelli shook her head like it was just better if Olivia stayed. That’s fine, her thoughts said in my mind. I have a video of his violence, and Coach Kathy is in her office. We’ll be okay.

  I expected the memory to end there, but it didn’t. Still watching from inside Olivia’s memories, she returned to her camera at the top of the bleachers and stopped the video before packing up her equipment. She took special care of her camera as she placed it in her bag, and then she walked slowly back down the bleachers while both of our minds tried processing what had just happened. Olivia glanced up only to see the opposite end of the gym covered in stray volleyballs.

  She set down her camera and grabbed the cart, pulling it to the opposite end of the court to collect the balls. I could feel that she needed something to calm her down before she told Coach about Nate. When she had all the balls picked up, she returned the cart to the storage room and went to retrieve her camera equipment.

  Loud music was still coming from the coach’s office, so Olivia pounded hard on the door. Coach Kathy still didn’t hear, so Olivia turned the knob and entered. Coach looked up from her paperwork, smiled, and spun her chair toward her radio and turned it off.

  “You girls all done? You don’t have to put the net away because the gym teacher asked us to keep it up for badminton.”

  “Actually, Coach, I was really hoping to talk to you about something,” Olivia said.

  Coach sat back in her chair to listen.

  “About what? How are Kelli’s serves coming along?”

  “Pretty good, but I really need to talk to you about something else,” Olivia said again. “About Nate and Kelli.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  Olivia didn’t know how to say it. “It’s just . . . Nate’s done something really bad, and I’m scared for Kelli.”

  “Nate Williams? No. He’s a
good kid.”

  I should have known, Olivia’s thoughts said in my mind. Coach was friends with his mom. She wouldn’t hear any of this. But Olivia tried anyway. “No, I’m serious. You have to watch this video.”

  “Look,” Coach said, “I’ve known Nate and his family for a long time. Whatever happened, I’m sure there’s been some misunderstanding. Nate’s a good kid.”

  “But he’s not,” Olivia insisted.

  She wouldn’t have any of that. “The janitors will lock everything up. I trust you can find your own way out.”

  Olivia stared at her, stunned. I don’t get it. Does she just not want to believe he’s bad? Does she think I’m too young to understand?

  Olivia carried herself back to her gym locker in disappointment and slowly changed out of her practice clothes and into her street clothes. She glanced into the mirror to assess her injuries. Nothing. She shoved the camera into her locker, intent on showing another authority figure—maybe the principal?—the next day at school.

  As soon as she slammed the locker, my mind was falling again out of Olivia’s memory. I fell hard back into my own kitchen.

  24

  Olivia was still standing in front of me. My jaw dropped. Holy crap. There really was proof that would help save Kelli.

  “Where is it?” I insisted in urgency, staring into Olivia’s brown eyes. Then she showed me something again, but this time it wasn’t as fierce of a transformation.

  Instead, she sent me floating through town until I came above her house. I could tell which room was hers because that was the part of the house with new shingles. I floated down through her ceiling until I felt like I was standing on solid ground. It didn’t look like a girl’s room anymore. There wasn’t a bed. Instead, it was full of boxes. Her mother had turned her daughter’s old room into a storage room.

  Olivia continued leading me until I moved to the boxes. I could see into them, and I knew exactly which box the video camera was in. When I had this information, Olivia pulled me back.

  “I lit a candle that night to pray for her,” Olivia admitted in a quiet voice. “I didn’t know it would be the last prayer I ever made.”

  My heart ached thinking about what she’d been through.

  “My mom saved all my stuff, but she packed them away. The school gave her back the stuff in my locker, and she just tucked that away with everything else. She never saw the video, but now you can. You can save Kelli.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  Olivia looked at me with grateful eyes. “Thank you so much, Crystal,” she said, and then she faded, the energy in the room washing away with her. Everything went dark again.

  I released my hands from Emma’s and Diane’s, which caused everyone to open their eyes and look at me. “She’s gone,” I announced. “I—I don’t know if she crossed over, but I can help Kelli now.”

  My mom rose and flipped on the light. “What happened?”

  “You mean, none of you saw her?”

  They all stared at me and shook their heads in unison.

  “But she was standing right there.” I pointed to the spot across the table where she had stood.

  “Crystal,” my mom explained. “You’re the only medium here. We can hear spirits, but none of us can see them.”

  “All I heard was Crystal,” Emma interjected but spoke softly in wonder. “It was like a one-way conversation.”

  My mother nodded in thought. “That makes sense since this is your first time and you don’t have much of a connection to the other side.” My mom turned back toward me. “I didn’t hear Olivia say much, though. She must have shown you something.”

  I sat there completely stunned for what seemed like forever. From the seat next to me, a giant smile formed across Emma’s face.

  “This. Is. So. Cool!” Emma exclaimed.

  I offered a shy smile because I wasn’t entirely certain. Seeing dead people? Did I really want that? Emma seemed to want it more than I did, but it didn’t matter what I wanted right now. I had the information I needed. After I took a few breaths to calm myself, I told them everything I knew.

  “Do you guys think this is the right thing to do?” I asked warily. “I mean, I saw Nate hit Kelli. It was in a vision, but still. Couldn’t we just turn him in?” I was instantly reminded of what Justine had said. She’d told me that she tried to turn him in, but without any proof, there was nothing they could do. But what was I even doing? What if Kelli didn’t want help? Somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that she did by the way she was overcome with fear when he picked her up that day after volleyball practice. I wasn’t even sure there would be a case against him if Kelli didn’t want that, but maybe Justine could convince her otherwise.

  All this went through my head in a few moments. My mother’s words snapped me out of my thoughts. “This is what Justine asked you to do, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then I think you need to stick with it,” she said, and I knew she was right.

  Now that I had answers, I only had more questions. How was I going to get it? What would I do with the video when I found it?

  Emma spoke next. “Well, let’s go get it.”

  “What? Now?”

  “Yeah,” Emma said. “It’s only, like, nine. It’s not that late.”

  I figured it wouldn’t hurt, and we were only a few blocks away. “Okay,” I agreed.

  Emma and I found Derek sitting on my front steps.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  I thought about this for a moment. “Really well, actually.”

  “I’d still like to help if I can,” he offered.

  Several minutes later, Emma, Derek, and I were walking through the streets in the dark, led only by street lamps. My mom, Sophie, and Diane stayed back. They said this was my problem to deal with. I’d have been more comfortable with an adult coming along, but I had a feeling they were trying to teach me something.

  I explained things to Derek as we walked.

  I knew the house when I reached it, not just from the dream, but because in a town like this, you know who lives where. I walked up the porch steps and rang the doorbell. My best friends remained safely behind me. It took a few moments, but then I heard motion behind the door, and the porch light turned on.

  Tammy Owen opened the door. She was wrapped in a robe and slippers. Her blonde hair was wet, and she was makeup free like she’d just taken a shower.

  “Um. Hi, Mrs. Owen,” I greeted nervously. She stared expectantly behind the screen door, so I continued, not quite sure what to say. Crap. Why didn’t we come up with something good to say?

  “Hi,” she greeted with a smile. “You’re Andrea Frost’s daughter, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, I’m Crystal, and these are my friends.” I gestured to Emma and Derek. “I’m sorry it’s so late, but we’re looking for something really important.”

  “I’m not sure if I can help you.”

  “It’s about Kelli Taylor.”

  “She was Olivia’s friend. What about her?”

  “Well, I think you have something that could really help her.”

  “Why?” Mrs. Owen asked seriously. “Is Kelli in trouble?”

  I glanced back at Emma and Derek for help then turned back to Mrs. Owen. “Sort of. We were really hoping we could go through Olivia’s boxes to find it.”

  She didn’t wait for a further explanation but rather crossed her arms over her chest and glared at us. “No. I hardly know you. If Kelli needs something, she can come and get it herself.” She reached for the door.

  “Wait,” I called, but the door slammed, and the porch light went out. I whirled around to glare at my friends. “Why didn’t you guys back me up?”

  They both gave surprised expressions.

  “I’m sorry,” Derek said.

  “We didn’t know what else to say,” Emma apologized at the same time.

  I pushed past them down the stairs and started walking back toward my house. What was I thinking? Ho
w could I think she would just let me dig through her boxes?

  The only other possible way I could think to get the video was to get Justine to ask Tammy for it. Surely Tammy was still on good enough terms with Justine, one of Olivia’s best friends.

  “I feel like I should call Justine and tell her about everything we found out,” I confided in my friends as we walked. “I think she might be able to help us get the video, but I don’t even have her number.”

  Emma’s face lit up as pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I do.”

  “What? How did you get her number?”

  She shrugged. “When I got my new phone, it put in all my Facebook friends’ contact numbers.”

  “Oh, you’re friends with Justine?”

  “I’m friends with practically everyone on the volleyball team. Here you go,” Emma said, holding her phone out to me.

  I took it and hit the call button. I knew it was getting late, but it was also a Friday night, so I suspected Justine wasn’t asleep yet. She seemed wide awake when she answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Justine? This is Crystal Frost.”

  “Oh, uh. Hi, Crystal. Do you have anything new?”

  “Yeah, I have lots. I know where your proof is, but my friends and I still need your help.”

  “Your friends?” she squeaked into the receiver. “I told you not to tell anyone!”

  “It’s okay, Justine. They helped me find the proof.”

  That seemed to make it okay with her, and she calmed down. “That’s great news, Crystal. Do you have it?”

  I bit my lip nervously. “Not yet. I was hoping you could help us get it. We need someone like you who Tammy can trust.”

  “Tammy Owen?” Justine voice waivered a bit. “You mean, the proof is at her house?”

  “Yeah. It’s in Olivia’s bedroom.”

  Justine hesitated. “You have no idea how much I want to help you, Crystal, but I don’t think I can go there. Not after what happened to Olivia in that room. I haven’t even been able to pass her house since it happened. Look, I trust you. Do you think you can get it without my help?”