“Poor Jan,” Heather said.
“Poor Martin,” Vivien added. “None of this can be easy for him.”
“Is Jan a troublemaker?” Sue asked.
“No, she’s just having a little trouble telling the difference between ghosts and livies,” Vivien said.
“Livies?” Sue frowned.
“Alive people,” Vivien said.
Sue thought maybe she was supposed to laugh, but their expressions didn’t change. “Ghosts?”
“You know you have one stuck to you, right? That is why you came to us,” Vivien stated.
Sue quickly looked around. Fear prickled the back of her neck. “No. That’s not real. The accident. I have a head injury. The doctor said I…”
“Viv, come on, a little tact,” Heather scolded.
“Trust me. Blunt is better, like pulling off the supernatural bandage really fast. Get the sting over with so we can get down to business.” Vivien arched a brow toward Sue. When Sue didn’t answer, Vivien lifted her shirt to show a bruise on her side. “Look familiar?”
Sue looked at the ring on her hand. Her finger tingled. “Hank?”
Had Hank done something to Vivien? How was that possible? She had been at his funeral. They buried him. If ghosts were real and not a hallucination caused by the accident, why didn’t more people know about them? Scientists would have said something. News of sightings would have erupted all over the internet—not just stupid light reflected dust particles people tried to call spirit orbs.
“Hank? Was that your husband?” Heather asked.
Sue nodded. “I smell him sometimes, his cologne, for no reason. I even replaced my pillows, but it’s like he’s coming into the room and laying down next to me. And then I started tasting him.”
“Tasting him?” Vivien repeated. “You mentioned your mouth being cursed.”
Lorna appeared quietly next to Vivien in the doorway, listening.
“I taste what he used to taste like after he’d been drinking and smoking, which had been almost every night.” Sue took a deep breath. Why was she telling them this? “Everything I put into my mouth, whether it’s water, a sandwich, a cookie, it tastes wrong and burns when I swallow.”
Vivien dropped her shirt to cover the bruise.
“Did I… bump you when I fell?” Sue had been so tired when she arrived. She remembered falling and them discussing moving her to a bedroom.
“Lorna transferred the injury from you to me,” Vivien said.
Sue remembered Lorna touching her when she was on the floor. Relief had come over her at contact. Her aches had lessened, and the hunger pangs had gone away.
“I’m a healer,” Lorna explained. “Really that just means I can transfer illness from person to person. I know it sounds strange. Honestly, I’m getting used to it myself, but when I was trying to help you yesterday, that bruise moved from your side to Vivien’s.”
“I didn’t have a bruise yesterday.” Sue touched her side.
“Uh, yes, you did.” Vivien gestured at her waist. “How else did I get this?”
“The last time I had a bruise-like that was months ago. It took a while to fade after the accident, but…” Sue shook her head. Was she having this conversation? Her side still ached sometimes, a residual pain that echoed in her memory, but the bruise had been long gone. “Is this some kind of—I don’t know—a bad reality television show? Tease the new widow? Scare the stranger?”
“I know it’s a lot to accept,” Lorna said. “It was for me. I can promise you, though, that this isn’t some kind of sick prank. When I summoned my husband back from the dead, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was so angry with him. I needed to give him a piece of my mind.”
“Did he hurt you?” Sue hugged her arms to her waist in a protective gesture.
Lorna nodded. “After he died, I found out Glenn had another wife. I was his second.”
“She was a piece of trashy work, too,” Vivien muttered. At Lorna’s glance, Vivien shrugged. “What? She was.”
“His first wife was legally entitled to inherit everything, and my kids and I were left with practically nothing.” Lorna had a sweetness to her, a soft-spoken natural goodness that was easy to see in everything she did. “The only good thing was that the kid’s college tuition was all taken care of, so they at least got to keep that much. I couldn’t take all the gossip about it, so I decided to move here to take a job at Heather’s theater. That’s when I found Julia’s ring, or rather when it found me.”
“Lorna is too nice to say it, but her ex was a real asshat, emphasis on the asshole,” Vivien stated. “We sent Glenn’s spectral ass packing.”
“The point is, thanks to Julia’s help, I was able to get closure,” Lorna corrected.
“And she started dating Mr. William Warrick.” Vivien grinned.
“Warrick?” Sue glanced at Heather.
“Yep, my brother.” Heather sat on the arm of the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. “Though I’m not sure that had anything to do with the ring.”
“Thanks to the rings, Vivien was able to say goodbye to her first husband, Sam. We found a message in a bottle from him buried at the beach,” Lorna continued. “And Heather was able to say goodbye to someone as well.”
Sue waited for them to elaborate on Heather, but they didn’t. They stared at her expectantly. She refused to speak.
“We can help you,” Lorna said at length. “There is a way we can bring the dead to us to talk.”
Were they insane? She didn’t want to call Hank back from the dead for a conversation. Summoning a demon from the depths of hell sounded like more fun. A devil would probably get less pleasure out of kicking the shit out of her too. “I don’t want to say goodbye to anyone. I don’t want to confront anyone. I just want to be left alone. I want the hallucinations to stop.”
“Sometimes confronting them is the only way to get them to leave you alone. Sometimes you just have to say, ‘I know you’re there. You’re dead. Leave me alone.’ And sometimes it…” Vivien rubbed her temple and closed her eyes tight. She made a strange noise in the back of her throat. Then, almost dramatically, she whispered, “Oh my god, please tell me that it wasn’t as bad as all that.”
“What?” Heather rushed to Vivien. “What are you sensing?”
Vivien’s demeanor had changed. The feistiness of her personality left her. When she opened her eyes, they were moist. She slowly shook her head. “Tell me he didn’t do that to you. Not with a bottle.”
Sue stared at the woman, horrified. There was no way Vivien could know any of what happened to her. No one knew.
Vivien opened her mouth and touched her lips.
“What?” Heather asked.
“We have to protect her,” Vivien stated. “This isn’t a normal haunting. It’s not like Sam or Glenn. Sam was confused. Glenn was just an ass. This guy—”
“Don’t,” Sue begged, not wanting anyone to know. She’d kept the secret for so long. She took a step toward the front door and contemplated running out of the house.
Lorna and Heather turned to look at her, stopping her progress.
“Whatever happened, it’s not your fault,” Lorna said.
“Who told you about that?” Sue stared at Vivien. Tears brimmed her eyes. No one was supposed to know. The secret was to have died with Hank.
“You know how Lorna put her hands on you and healed you?” Heather approached her slowly. “Vivien has the ability to understand things about people, things they don’t say out loud.”
“Ghosts, talking to dead people, magical healing, mind reading.” Sue frowned. “What are you? Witches?”
“No,” Lorna said. “Well, kind of. Maybe. I’m a healer, and I’m good at locating lost objects. It’s a new gift. I mean, I’ve always had caretaking tendencies with my family, but Julia’s ring amplified it for me.”
“I’m clairsentient,” Vivien again rubbed her temple.
Sue inched away from the woman, not wanting her to pick up anythi
ng else from her past.
“I feel what other people are feeling and understand why they might be feeling that way,” Vivien continued, “but also claircognizant because I know if things are real or not without always being able to explain how I know. My ancestors worked for carnivals as fortune-tellers and doing tarot card readings. I’ve never tried to divine the future. That seems like a tricky business.”
“And you?” Sue asked Heather.
“I’m a medium,” Heather stated. “I see and talk to ghosts. My grandmother, Julia, was the same way. It’s a family trait.”
Sue looked around the room. “Do you see them now?”
“No.” Heather shook her head. “But this morning, there was one standing on our lawn in a bathrobe waving at something that wasn’t there. He was completely unaware of me. Sometimes they’re like that, a ghost trapped in some memory.”
“And other times?” Sue wasn’t sure if she should believe what they were saying. Trusting people wasn’t exactly in her skill set.
“Other times they’re more aware and vocal,” Heather said. “And, then, there are a few who have to be forced to show themselves. They’re usually the, uh—”
“Dangerous,” Vivien inserted.
“—serious problems,” Heather continued more diplomatically, “the ones who don’t want to be seen because they have certain motivations driving them.”
Sue watched them closely. What she had experienced, all the things that led her to this place, warred with reason. Logic told her that ghosts were not real. Magical healing powers were not real. Cursed rings were not real.
And yet, here she was. With each passing second, it became harder to deny what she was experiencing.
Sue didn’t want this to be real. She wanted nothing more than to fade into a quiet and simple life.
“Cinnamon rolls,” Lorna announced, waving them toward the dining room. “No more scary talk on an empty stomach.”
Sue glanced at her luggage and then at the door.
“Don’t even try it,” Heather whispered. “Lorna will hunt you down and make you eat something. She looks sweet but trust me, that woman can mom you with the best of them.”
Usually, having people stare at every bite of food she took would have been torture. Today, Sue didn’t care. Food tasted like food, and she stuffed every morsel she could into her mouth out of fear that at any second it would turn to hard liquor and ash.
“Another?” Lorna asked, even as she placed a third cinnamon roll in front of Sue.
The haze over her thoughts began to clear as the sugar entered her system, taking with it the constant ache in her head.
“Coffee?” Lorna asked.
Sue nodded, taking a big bite.
“Maybe you should make another pan,” Heather suggested.
Sue covered her mouth and mumbled, “I’m sorry. If I’m eating too—”
“She’s teasing,” Vivien said. “You eat as much as you want.”
Sue had a hard time meeting Vivien’s eyes. She could feel the pity in her gaze.
Lorna appeared with the coffee pot and refilled Sue’s mug.
“Thank you.” Sue set the half-eaten roll on the plate. “Would it be possible to get a ride back to the hotel? I should check back in.”
“Nonsense,” Lorna said. “You should stay here.”
Sue shook her head, uncomfortable with the idea. “You just moved in. You’re not even unpacked.”
“We’ll make room.” Heather began to nod at the others for their agreement.
“I’ll give you a ride wherever you want to go,” Vivien contradicted.
“Viv.” Lorna frowned. “She should stay here with us.”
“She’s clearly uncomfortable staying with strangers. Can you blame her?” Vivien stared at her again as if she was reading Sue’s innermost thoughts. “She is magically terrorized to get here, confused and alone. We rip off those supernatural bandages, drop a few hey-guess-what-you’re-one-of-us-now truth bombs, and then expect her to want to move in and join the séance party?
Sue shivered. Yes, that was exactly what she had been thinking—more or less.
“Not move in,” Heather corrected. “Stay until we can figure this out, as our guest. That way, we can help keep an eye on things.”
I don’t need a babysitter, Sue thought.
“It’s not like she needs us to babysit her,” Vivien said. “Maybe we take her to the theater?”
Stop doing that! Sue tried not to scowl.
Vivien glanced at her but said nothing.
Did you hear that? Look at me if you can hear this, Sue thought.
Vivien didn’t look.
Lorna took a deep breath. “The theater isn’t a bad idea.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not really in the mood for a movie,” Sue said.
“There’s an unoccupied apartment above the theater lobby,” Vivien explained.
“We have the new security system,” Lorna added, directing her comment toward Heather. “If she pushes the panic button, we can be there in minutes.”
“I can call Troy and have him set up a live feed from the concessions area today,” Vivien said. “Wouldn’t take much, and we could keep an eye out that way too.”
“Are you talking about Warrick Theater?” Sue thought of the magazine pictures.
“Yes. I inherited the building. The upstairs studio apartment is completely furnished. Lorna was there not too long ago, so all it might need is a light dusting if that. You’ll have to get groceries,” Heather said. “You can stay as long as you want. No charge.”
“I can pay,” Sue said.
“No need,” Heather answered. “Doesn’t cost me anything to have you there.”
“It’s cozy,” Vivien added. “Right downtown. Great Chinese restaurant across the street. An amazing coffee shop down the block.”
“No television, though,” Heather warned.
“I don’t really like television,” Sue said. It might have been a recent aversion, but it was still true.
“Scheduled groups come in and out during the day, and we sometimes show movies in the evenings,” Lorna said. “I’m the manager, so I’ll be there almost every day, but you’ll have privacy when you want it.”
Sue started to shake her head to turn down the offer. The ring sent a vibration down her hand. She found herself saying, “All right. Thank you.”
“I’ll find the extra keys.” Heather pushed up from the table and walked out of the room. Her footsteps sounded running up the stairs.
“I’ll go by the grocery store before work and bring you some supplies. Any requests?” Lorna picked up some of the dirty dishes from the table, leaving Sue’s plate and mug so she could finish.
“You don’t need to trouble yourself,” Sue denied.
“No trouble.” Lorna went into the kitchen.
“Pick up some wine for her, too,” Vivien yelled. “A nice, strong red. She’s out.”
“Her or you?” Lorna called from the other room.
Vivien laughed. “Me!”
Lorna poked her head around the corner and asked Sue, “Do you drink wine?”
Sue nodded.
Lorna smiled and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“You’re not used to people helping you, are you?” Vivien followed Lorna into the kitchen and came back seconds later with her purse. “I don’t blame you for being distrustful after what you’ve been through, but we are here to help. No strings attached.” She came to where Sue sat at the table and touched her shoulder. “I promise you will get through this. Whatever it is, you will get through it.”
Sue nodded, unable to speak. As much as trusting anyone scared her, she felt their concern—open, unwavering, freely offered. When Vivien touched her, she imagined she knew the woman more than she should. She had a kind heart beneath her naturally sassy attitude. She understood loss and had loved deeply in her life.
Sue looked at Vivien’s hand. “What’s happening to me?”
“I’ve never been accused of being overly subtle, and, honestly, I’m too old to start trying it now,” Vivien said. “So I’m just going to lay it all out there.”
“What?” Sue’s shoulder tingled with awareness. It wasn’t attraction, but an understanding, a familiarity that she’d never felt with another person.
Friendship? Could it be that?
“There is a magic in this world that most never recognize or name, but we all seek. It connects us as humans—we suffer, we hurt, we feel loss, we endure, we need, we love, we yearn, we cope, and we have secrets we want to share with others. Call it the human condition. Say it’s because we’re social creatures who instinctively reach out to bond with others.” When Sue started to question, Vivien shook her head to stop her and continued, “That is what you’re feeling between us now. The rings amplify our connection. You can feel me if you try, and you’ll recognize that my intentions are honest, just as I can feel your fear. I don’t know how to explain what you’re feeling other than to say it’s like you’re that young girl in the horror movie hiding from the slasher under a bed as she watches his feet move around her room. You have your hand over your mouth, trying not to make a sound, too terrified to try to run. It’s like you know it’s only a matter of time before he catches you, but you keep hoping someone will make it go away. You’ve been stuck under that bed, watching those feet, for a very long time.”
That was probably the aptest description of her feelings that anyone had ever guessed.
“Don’t tell.” Sue’s voice shook as she glanced at the doorways to indicate Heather and Lorna.
“You know it’s not your fault, don’t you?” Vivien withdrew her hand.
Sue reached for her shoulder, where the sensation of the touch lingered. “Please, I don’t want people knowing. I—” Her voice cracked.
I don’t want anyone to know.
The shame she felt was unbearable.
“I won’t tell because you ask me not to,” Vivien assured her, “but I hope that one day you do. Don’t let this bury you. Whatever he did to you, you did not deserve. You have nothing to be ashamed about.”
“How…?” Sue took a deep breath. “How much do you know?”
The Fifth Sense Page 5
