Читать книгу Legacy: Phoenix and the Dark Star - Gerald Pruett - Страница 5
ОглавлениеChapter One
Halloween fell on a school day, and Ellen Anderson wore her vampire costume to the Savannah, Georgia high school that she attended. Half of Ellen’s fellow students were in assorted costumes as well, and when she stepped into her first class, she saw Jessica Harman dressed as super girl.
Ellen stepped up to Jessica and greeted her with, “Hey, Jess. When your dad had pulled you out of school last Monday, I expected that you’d be out this entire week.”
Jessica looked at Ellen and slightly grinned before saying, “Karla and I wanted to be here today… for costume day.”
“Mmm,” Ellen said with an agreeing nod.
“Oh, I’ve been reading my…” Jessica slightly hesitated while glancing at her fellow students—the ones who were in hearing distance—before continuing with, “my family’s diaries.”
“Learn anything interesting about your relatives?” Ellen questioned.
“I learned a lot actually.” The bell rang to start the class as Jessica was continuing with, “I learned that my great-great grandfather—Lawrence Stone the Third—came to the United States from Birmingham, England in search of his father—Lawrence Stone the Second. Lawrence Stone the Second was the big game hunter who had captured most of those stuffed animals at my house.”
Ellen slightly grinned before asking, “Did your great-great grandfather find his father?”
Jessica shook her head while saying, “No.”
Ellen didn’t hear Jessica’s answer as Mr. Guildford ordered, “Okay, class, quiet down! If you’re wearing a mask, remove it. —” Each of the three students wearing masks went to remove his or her mask. “—Ellen, take your seat.”
“Yes, sir,” Ellen said before walking towards her seat—near the back of the class.
Ellen hadn’t reached her seat yet when Mr. Guildford went into his lecture.
Not far from the high school, the attractive eighteen-year-old shaman and vampire hunter Winona (Winnie) Jocelyn Rivers was introducing her twenty-year-old boyfriend Riley and their twenty-year-old friend Brad to her Great Aunt Bonnie—her mother’s aunt on her mother’s father’s side.
Winona—as with her mother (Dakota)—was five-foot-eleven and slender. Her skin color was naturally russet, her waist-length hair was black and her eyes was chocolate brown, which she had inherited from her Seminole parents; however, Dakota was only half Seminole on her mother’s side. Winona’s skin would also darken easily without burning; however, it would return to its original russet color quickly if she would remain out of the sun for any length of time.
Riley and Brad were also vampire hunters. Riley stood taller than Winona by a couple of inches while Brad stood shorter than her by half of an inch.
Bonnie—as with her brother (Dakota’s dad)—was born in the United States, but her parents were from Holland. Dakota’s dad stood six-foot-four and Bonnie stood five-foot-ten.
After the introductions were over, Bonnie invited them to sit in the living room. Once everyone was seated, Bonnie began telling stories about Winona’s childhood. Riley listened eagerly.
Several hours later, in an upper class neighborhood, Ellen, Everett, Jessica, Karla, Simon and Karla’s date Allen went to a costume party in Allen’s minivan. The house that was hosting the party was not much smaller than Jessica and Karla’s mansion.
Ellen (as earlier) was dressed as a vampire; Everett as a pirate captain; Jessica (as earlier) as super girl; Karla as a female grim reaper; Simon as a doctor and Allen as a cowboy.
As they were walking from the minivan to the house, Karla—as if it was an afterthought—uttered, “Oh, uh, Ellen. Any more psychic visions?”
“No,” Ellen said sullenly as she glanced nervously towards Allen. Allen didn’t seem to have heard as he was talking to Simon. “Just that one and only time.” Ellen then continued barely loud enough for Everett, Jessica and Karla to hear. “Harris, on the other hand, has learned to move small objects through telekinesis.”
“Jessica and I still haven’t attempted astral projection yet,” Karla said.
“We’re still reading the books on astral projection and self-hypnosis,” Jessica added.
Ellen nodded before saying, “Perhaps I should get books on how to develop my psychic powers.”
“Or maybe you just need to duplicate the conditions of when you had done it,” Jessica suggested.
“And to do that I’ll need to be mentally linked with you and Harris,” Ellen said before they entered the house.
“Perhaps you just need to duplicate your emotions at the time,” Karla suggested.
“I don’t even remember what my emotions were,” Ellen retorted before a man at the door greeted them.
The man was handing out color-coded armbands to indicate who were the minors and who were the adults.
The house was packed with partygoers in assorted costumes, and half of them were friends and classmates from school. The other half were strangers and their ages ranged from fifteen years old to twenty-nine years old. Five thirty-something-year-old adults or older—three men and two women—were there as chaperones.
Against one of the walls of the large party room was a long table, and setting on the long table were two large bowls of non-alcoholic punch and a wide assortment of food.
On the floor next to the long table were two kegs of beer, and the five older adults were taking turns at standing next to the kegs while making sure that the minors stayed sober.
A record DJ was playing CDs on the opposite side of the room, and between the DJ and the food were dancing couples.
As the evening slowly progressed, Ellen, Everett, Jessica, Karla, Simon and Allen socialized, drank punch and danced.
After being there for an hour, Ellen had finally decided to try the barbeque little smokies.
A pallid-looking seventeen-year-old male dressed in everyday clothes stood next to the food table while talking to anyone who would talk to him.
As Ellen was walking up to the table, she noticed that the seventeen-year-old was looking curiously at her.
“Hi,” Ellen told him before she grabbed an empty Styrofoam plate.
“Hello,” the teenager said politely.
“So are you enjoying yourself?” Ellen asked as she filled her plate with little smokies.
“As much as I can.” When Ellen gave him a curious look he supplied, “I don’t really like Halloween.”
“Bad experience?” Ellen asked as she continued to fill her plate.
“You may say that,” he said with an amused grin.
“Mmm, bummer. I actually like Halloween.”
“From your vampire costume, I suspected as much,” he said. Ellen just politely grinned. “Do you really believe that vampires dress like that?” When Ellen gave him a curious look, he added, “If they really exist, of course.”
Ellen slightly grinned before answering, “If they really exist, I bet I couldn’t pick out a vampire if I was standing next to one.”
The teenager amusingly grinned as if he was thinking of an inside joke. He then gestured towards a mirror that showed his and Ellen’s reflections while saying, “At least I know you’re not a vampire.”
Ellen followed his gesture. After seeing what he was talking about she faced the teenager again. “If vampires exist, I have a feeling that them not having reflections is a misunderstanding of the facts.”
“What do you mean?” he asked curiously.
“If vampires exist then maybe witches exist,” Ellen began. “So perhaps a witch has to cast an incantation on a mirror that would make it capable of reflecting spirits and souls before a vampire’s reflection can’t be seen.” The teenager’s expression went from amusement to an expressionless one. “Of course I’m only fictionalizing and throwing out what-ifs.” When the teenager nodded with a polite grin, Ellen stuck out her hand to shake hands. “I’m Ellen by the way.”
The teenager stared at Ellen’s hand without taking it while saying, “Excuse me for not shaking your hand, but I am a severe germ-a-phobic.”
Ellen dropped her handshake offer before saying, “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. So what’s your name?”
He slightly hesitated before lying convincingly, “It’s Patrick.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Patrick.”
“Likewise,” he said. “So do you think that there are witches out there… somewhere?”
A vision of Ellen’s nightmare wizard had flashed across her mind, and in her vision, the wizard was ritually killing someone in New Orleans.
When Ellen saw that the teenager was looking curiously and slight disturbingly at her, she shrugged and questioned rhetorically, “Who knows?” She then quickly gestured towards her group while saying, “I really need to rejoin my friends.”
The teenager politely grinned and nodded while saying, “Of course.”
Ellen nodded with a grin before turning and walking away quickly with her plate of little smokies.
“Why did you lie about your name?” the teenager faintly heard a familiar female voice asking from a different direction.
The teenager faced the eighteen-year-old woman—who stood thirty feet away—before grinning and softly saying, “Vampires not seeing their reflections, unable to enter a house uninvited and bursting into flames in direct sunlight are myths as you well know, but many myths have a grain of truth to them.”
“What are you talking about?” the eighteen-year-old woman asked without moving towards him. “And what does that have to do with you lying to that girl about your name?”
“Most of those vampire myths came about after a witch or a wizard had cast his or her spell to either identify one or to defend against one. However, the real danger for a vampire against a witch or a wizard is when a witch or a wizard knows a vampire’s true name—his or her birth name. If a witch or a wizard knows a vampire’s birth name then that witch or wizard could turn a vampire into a pyre with a simple chant.”
The eighteen-year-old woman turned towards Ellen while asking, “That girl is a witch?”
“She’s a sorceress actually,” the teenager corrected. “There are two other sorceresses here too; however, they don’t suspect people here of being vampires, so you and I aren’t in immediate danger.”
“Are they... wicked sorceresses?”
“No,” the teenager said simply.
“We hunt animals; not humans, so they might accept us.”
“We won’t volunteer that we are vampires, but if they would find out then we will plea our case. Until then, don’t let them find out your birth name.”
After a short deliberation, the eighteen-year-old woman nodded in agreement.
“I had a vision,” Ellen announced gravely, barely above a whisper to her group as she stepped up.
“That’s great,” Karla said.
“Who’s that guy you were talking to?” Everett asked.
Ellen gave Everett a curious look and saw that Everett was giving the teenager his focus as he tried to see through the crowd.
“He’s Patrick, and he’s not important,” Ellen told Everett before looking towards Karla. “What is important though is that I had a vision, and it wasn’t great.”
“You’ve wanted to get another vision,” Jessica pointed out. “So why isn’t that great?”
Ellen glanced warily towards Allen before saying, “The morning after you and Karla had stayed the night at my place, I’d told you about a dream that I had…”
“What about it?” Jessica interrupted.
“With the vision that I just had, I don’t think that dream was a random dream,” Ellen explained.
“What do you mean?” Jessica asked as Ellen was noticing that Everett was still trying to see the teenager through the crowd.
Ellen moved over and blocked Everett’s view while saying, “I believe that my dream was a psychic dream.” When Everett attempted to see around Ellen, Ellen demanded to know, “Are you jealous, Everett, that Patrick spoke to me?”
With a confused expression across his face, Everett looked at Ellen. After Ellen’s question had sunk in, he said, “No, that’s not… I’m trying to see Patrick’s aura.”
In a drawn out manner Ellen asked, “Why?”
“Because earlier, I don’t think I’d seen one,” Everett explained while looking around Ellen. “And as I was trying to verify what I think I saw, the dancers were getting in the way.” The dancers were no longer blocking Everett’s view; however, the teenager was no longer standing by the table. “And now he’s nowhere in sight.”
Ellen turned to search for the teenager too, but when she couldn’t spot him, she turned back towards Everett and said, “Patrick might’ve gone to the bathroom. When he gets back… from wherever he went, I’ll introduce you two. Meanwhile, can we focus on my disturbing vision?”
“What exactly did you see, Ellen?” Karla asked.
When Ellen glanced warily towards Allen again, Karla sweet-talked Allen into getting something from the food table for her.
As Allen was walking away, Karla told Ellen, “Now you can talk freely.”
With an amused expression on her face, Ellen said, “In my vision, the wizard was ritually killing someone in New Orleans.”
“And you’re sure that the wizard from your vision was the same one from your nightmare?” Jessica asked.
“It was most definitely the same one,” Ellen assured them.
“Please tell me that you aren’t planning on going to New Orleans,” Everett quickly requested.
Ellen thought of her answer before saying, “By your dad being a detective, I wouldn’t make it out of Georgia before he put out an APB on me. Plus rushing in blindly would be foolish, if not suicidal. So we need to learn everything we can about this wizard before we plan anything.”
“And how are we supposed to do that when all we know about this wizard is from what you had seen from your dream and vision?” Everett quickly questioned.
Ellen thought for a second before asking, “Could you sketch this person if I describe him to you?”
Everett shrugged, and before he could respond with more than that, a fifteen-year-old girl dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz stepped up to them.
When Ellen and her group looked, the girl timidly looked into Ellen’s eyes while saying shyly, “He sees you… too.”
Everett, Jessica, Karla and Simon stared curiously at the girl. Ellen stared curiously at the girl as well, as she asked, “Who’s seeing me?”
The girl made a gesture as if she was listening to an invisible someone next to her before saying shyly, “When you see him—the one who is in New Orleans—he sees you at the same time.” The girl then made another gesture as if she was listening to someone before she continued. “He doesn’t know where you are at though. Not right now anyway.”
“You’re a psychic,” Ellen accused. The girl made a gesture as if she was looking at an invisible someone for the proper response. “Is there someone else here? Someone who we can’t see?” The girl fearfully shot Ellen a ‘caught red handed’ look. “I assure you, you’re among friends. So if you see someone… or some spirit that we can’t see, we will believe you.”
The girl hesitated before nodding and saying shyly, “I can see ghosts, and a ghost had come in with you.”
“A ghost had come in with me?” Ellen asked in a surprised tone.
The girl glanced at the invisible someone before saying shyly, “Yes, and she’s here now.”
“Is she my Great-Grandma Gloria?” Ellen quickly asked.
The girl glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “Her name is Eleanor…”
“Eleanor?!” Ellen echoed in a surprised tone. “Eleanor Thorne?”
The girl glanced at the ghost before nodding.
“Who’s Eleanor Thorne?” Karla asked.
“She’s my ancestor who had lived in the 1400s,” Ellen said as the girl made a gesture as if she was listening to Eleanor. “I had just started reading her volume last night, which her volume is actually the oldest original volume in my collection out of three originals.”
“Eleanor says that there’s a cloaking ritual in one of the volumes that you have,” the girl said shyly.
“Wait!” Ellen strongly requested. “What all has Eleanor told you?”
The girl glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “You like to begin by telling the person who you are informing that you’re related to Merlin and allowing the person to form his or her own conclusion before continuing on.”
“So you know what I am?” Ellen questioned.
“You’re a sorceress,” the girl said shyly. “And Eleanor wants you to cast that cloaking ritual before that wizard in New Orleans discovers your location.”
“Hold up,” Ellen requested. “Before we continue this discussion, I would like to know your name.”
The girl stared timidly at Ellen before saying nervously, “It’s… it’s Andie.”
“Nice to meet you, Andie; I’m Ellen,” she began before pointing out the others. “Meet Everett, Jessica, Karla and Simon.”
“Hi,” Everett and Simon told Andie.
Jessica and Karla just waved.
“Allen is a part of our group too, and he’s at the food table while getting something to eat,” Ellen continued.
“Okay,” Andie said shyly while glancing towards the food table.
“Now getting back to the cloaking incantation,” Ellen began. “There are actually two in my family’s volumes. One is for a large group and it has a one-minute duration so the incantation has to be continuously repeated to be effective. I’m very doubtful that, that incantation is the one that Eleanor is referring to.”
Andie glanced at Eleanor before agreeing shyly, “It’s not.”
“Now the second cloaking incantation is a permanent one and it’s for individuals,” Ellen continued. “Jess and I learned about it during our cram-session to learn as many defensive incantations as we could in one night. There’s also a warning notation next to it that was written out by one of my ancestors that the incantation has side-effects; side-effects that I’m not willing to live with, so that’s out.”
“What kind of side-effects?” Everett quickly asked.
“One-fourth of the wizards who had cast that incantation had undergone a severe personality change after the incantation was cast, and I like my personality the way it is, thank you very much,” Ellen informed. “Plus, the attraction that the animals have for me would be lost, and I’m not willing to give that up.”
“That wizard will find you if you don’t cast that incantation,” Andie warned shyly.
“Good,” Ellen retorted. “He’s hurting people, and he needs to be stopped, so it just means that I won’t have to hunt him down.”
Andie glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “Eleanor says that what you are planning is a mistake.”
“Since I’m the one who has to choose on if I listen to someone’s advice or not, the outcome of the advice solely rests on me and no one else,” Ellen began. “So if it’s a mistake not to cast the incantation, then it’s my mistake. And hey, if this mistake kills me, then it kills me and not a polar likeness of me.”
“Eleanor says that you are a fool,” Andie said shyly.
“Yeah, well, me being accused of being a fool isn’t going to change my mind,” Ellen retorted. “And out of curiosity… Grandma Eleanor. Are you the one to give me those missing pages through Spencer?”
Andie nodded before saying shyly, “She says, ‘yes.’”
“I thought it was my Great-Grandma Gloria,” Ellen said as if to herself. She then saw that Andie was acting as if she was listening to Eleanor. “Is Eleanor saying something else?”
Andie nodded before saying shyly, “Your Great-Grandma Gloria was killed by the Dark Ritual, and nothing of a person survives that ritual.”
“What does that mean?” Ellen questioned in a confused tone.
Andie looked towards Eleanor before saying shyly, “The body and soul are both changed into energy and that energy gets absorbed by the wizard or sorceress performing the ritual.”
“I didn’t know that,” Ellen said sullenly while giving Jessica a remorse look.
Jessica saw the look that Ellen was giving her and replied, “My dad had filled Karla and me in on the terrible things that our grandfather had done. So as far as I’m concern, when we performed that Dark Ritual on my grandfather, we did what we had to do to survive.”
Ellen gave Jessica a sympathetic nod before turning her attention back to the current matter.
“Anyway, Grandma Eleanor,” Ellen began while looking at no one. “Thanks for the warning, but I’ll come up with another defense other than casting that cloaking spell.”
Andie listened to what Eleanor had to say before saying shyly, “She says that before you, she had found ways to help the others who had ownership of her volume; however, not one of them was as difficult as you are being.”
Ellen slightly grinned before saying, “Your solution is unreasonable, Grandma Eleanor. So find another solution… a reasonable solution and I’ll consider it.”
Again Andie listened to what Eleanor had to say before saying shyly, “The wizard in New Orleans practices Immortal Magic, and the only solution for you not to be killed is that cloaking spell.”
“Well, that’s one solution that is definitely out,” Ellen began. “And what in hell is Immortal Magic, Grandma Eleanor?”
A disturbing expression came across Andie’s face before saying shyly, “She will explain it to you personally once the wizard had killed you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence in me, Grandma,” Ellen uttered sarcastically.
“She’s no longer here,” Andie said shyly. “She left as I was telling you what she had said.”
“Who would’ve thought?” Ellen quipped. “A sulking ghost.”
Before anyone could respond, Ellen and her group were drawn to a seventeen-year-old boy dressed as a knight wielding a sword as he disparagingly uttered, “Andie Jolene Cornell!”
As the teenager was stepping up, Ellen stepped in front of him.
“Hi, I’m Ellen,” she interjected while offering to shake his hand. Ellen’s untouched plate of little smokies was held balanced in the palm and fingers of her left hand. “And you are?”
Without shaking Ellen’s hand, the teenager gave Ellen a ‘have you lost your mind?’ look before grumbling, “I’m Robin.” He then gestured towards Andie. “And I’m here to speak with her.”
“I gathered that when you had shouted out her name as if you were cursing a dragon,” Ellen retorted.
“So why isn’t your sword drawn?” Jessica questioned sardonically. Robin turned and gave Jessica a curious look. “You will need it as you go after her heart.”
Robin gave Jessica an annoyed look before facing Ellen again and strongly requesting, “Will you please move aside so I can talk to my sister?!”
Ellen backed up slightly while ordering, “Talk with her and not down to her.”
Robin gave Ellen an insulted look before turning away from her. As he stepped up to Andie, he ordered, “Come with me to the kitchen. We’ll talk there.”
“Why can’t we talk here?” Andie asked shyly.
Robin glanced towards Ellen’s group before saying, “Certain things shouldn’t be discussed in front of strangers.”
“They’re not strangers,” Andie mumbled incoherently and shyly.
“They’re not what?” Robin demanded.
“They’re not strangers,” Andie repeated slightly more clearly.
“They’re strangers to me, Andie,” Robin retorted as Allen was returning with a plate of assorted food. “Now let’s go to the kitchen.”
“Please,” Ellen added strongly. Robin shot Ellen an annoyed look. “You can say please to me, but you can’t say it to your sister?”
“You’re not much of a knight,” Karla added. “You don’t even follow the knight’s code of chivalry.”
“You should’ve dressed up as the Tin Man,” Jessica told him. “You certainly need to ask the Powerful Oz for a heart.”
“Guys,” Ellen interjected. “Just because Robin isn’t showing us or his sister any respect, it doesn’t mean that we should lower ourselves to his level.”
“If I didn’t have respect for my sister, I would talk to her in front of you six,” Robin retorted.
“Which is what she’s actually requesting,” Simon was the one to point out. “Therefore, you’re not respecting what she wants.”
Robin shook off what Simon had said and faced Andie.
“Please come to the kitchen with me so we can talk privately,” Robin slightly begged.
“Andie, we’re not going anywhere?” Ellen told her. “So you can always return after you and Robin get done talking.”
“Okay,” Andie agreed shyly.
Robin turned towards Ellen and stared at her as if he was debating to say something.
When Robin stared longer than what Ellen thought that he should, Ellen prompted, “Say it.”
Robin took a breath before saying, “Presently you seem to be… friendly towards Andie, but my experience tells me that once you get to know her that will change.”
“Your experience doesn’t take me into account,” Ellen retorted.
“And what makes you different than everyone else?” Robin quickly questioned.
“If you knew me, you wouldn’t ask that,” Ellen told him.
“Well, I’ve been around enough people to know that when people get to know Andie, they tend to regret it,” Robin said as Ellen saw that Andie was uncomfortable with the current conversation. “So…”
“Can we stop talking about Andie as if she’s not a few feet from us,” Ellen said in Andie’s behalf. Andie grinned. “I wouldn’t like it if I was in her shoes, and I’m sure she doesn’t like it now.”
Robin shot Ellen an astonished look before saying, “There’s the first thing I saw that makes you different than most people. Unfortunately, I’m still not optimistic of yours and Andie’s long-term friendship after you two get to know one another.”
“They know about me,” Andie mumbled shyly and barely coherently.
“They know what?” Robin questioned incredulously.
“They know what I can see,” Andie said shyly.
“We know that Andie can see and talk to ghosts,” Ellen added.
“You can see ghosts?” Allen questioned incredulously.
“No!” Robin interjected strongly. “She’s on medication for her delusions of her believing that she can see ghosts.”
“I assure you, Robin, that your sister isn’t delusional,” Ellen quickly informed. “In fact, Andie had given me a message from Eleanor Thorne, and Andie couldn’t have done that if she was delusional.”
“And Eleanor Thorne would be…?” Robin prompted for Ellen to finish.
“An ancestor of mine who lived in the 1400s,” Ellen replied. “I own Eleanor’s diary, so I know for a fact that the message that Andie had given me from Eleanor is authentic.”
“Ghosts aren’t even real,” Robin insisted.
“I thought that too not all that long ago,” Simon shared. “I now know that I was mistaken and you too are mistaken. Ghosts do exist and Andie has convinced me that she can see them.”
“Robin, I don’t know what medication Andie is taking, but she needs to be taken off of them,” Ellen informed. “She doesn’t need them, and there’s no telling what harm that they’re doing to her.”
Robin sighed before facing Andie and saying, “A short time ago, Maria informed me that she saw you talking to… to a ghost.” Robin shot Ellen a quick glance. “Was that ghost… Eleanor Thorne?”
Andie nodded before saying shyly, “Eleanor saw that I could see her and she asked me to give Ellen a message.”
Robin turned towards Ellen again before asking, “And you have no doubts that Andie was talking to Eleanor Thorne—an ancestor of yours?”
“I have no doubts whatsoever,” Ellen assured him. “In fact, after receiving Eleanor’s diary—plus several other diaries—I knew that a spirit was attached to those diaries because of certain… paranormal events that had occurred after receiving them. However, I was thinking that the spirit attached to the diaries was my Great-Grandma Gloria. She… died violently sixty years ago, and she was the last one who had owned those diaries before me.”
“What kind of paranormal events?” Allen asked.
Ellen thought for a second before sharing, “Okay, well, recently I met an eight-year-old autistic boy named Spencer. Although he’s capable of speaking, he doesn’t. He does draw though… constantly.” Ellen gestured as she continued with, “Everett had met him when I did, and the day we met him, he wrote out a cryptic message for me from Eleanor. He then handed me that message while verbally telling me how to decipher it. He then—as if a switch was flipped—reverted back to his autistic self and retook his place at his drawing pad.”
“It was eerie,” Everett added.
Robin turned towards Andie before genuinely saying, “I’m sorry, sis, for not believing you. Can you forgive me?”
Andie nodded with a pleasant grin.
When Andie didn’t verbally respond, Everett questioned, “Andie will be taken off the medication now, right?”
“I would love to say ‘yes’, but my parents…” Robin gestured towards Andie before continuing, “Our parents won’t believe that Andie is seeing ghosts no matter what proof we take to them.”
“That medication might be causing her harm though,” Everett pointed out.
“I do feel… bad when I’m on it,” Andie shared.
“Andie, you will have to prove to your parents that you’re getting better,” Jessica said.
“And how is she supposed to do that?” Everett asked.
“Andie will have to pretend not to be able to see the ghosts,” Jessica replied.
“I tried that before,” Andie said shyly. “The ghosts won’t leave me alone though and it’s hard to ignore them.”
“Everett, perhaps your mom could help to get Andie off of her medication,” Ellen suggested.
Everett shrugged before saying, “We could ask.”
“How could your mom help?” Robin asked.
“She’s a third shift supervising nurse in the psychiatric ward at the hospital,” Everett shared. “So she might know of a way to get Andie off of that medication.”
“Until then, moving on to a more pleasant topic,” Karla prompted.
“One more thing before we do,” Ellen announced. “Andie. Robin. I’ll need you guys’ phone number, so I can get in contact with you. I’ll even exchange it for my number.”
Andie slightly grinned as Robin nodded while saying,” Alright.”
Ellen and Robin then exchanged phone numbers. Once Robin had Ellen’s phone number, he rejoined his girlfriend Maria on the other side of the room.
