“You’re not working with the authorities, are you?”
“No. I’m just here as a friend.”
“Good. You shouldn’t hold yourself out in that capacity. It takes experience in mediumship.” Helen paused. “Let me begin at the beginning, as a refresher. We think of life and death as binary, as in when you’re alive, you experience things, and when you’re dead, you don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Right now, we’re alive in a waking state of consciousness. There’s also a subconscious that governs some of what we do, like smoking, and that’s why people can be hypnotized to stop smoking. A skilled therapeutic hypnotist communicates with the subconscious. When we sleep, or we’re in a coma, we’re in different states of consciousness.”Helen’s tone turned professorial. “So there are different states of consciousness, a spectrum, if you will. Death is merely another state of consciousness on the spectrum. It’s the sensation of brain activity, but not of soul activity. Your soul lives on as a consciousness, and some people have the ability to access that consciousness. That’s the essence of mediumship.”
“I understand.”
“I believe that you have some abilities as a medium.”
Julia swallowed hard. “Are you sure?”
“No, this is not a science, and the answers aren’t absolute. I myself know people who experience a premonition or one or two visions, then never have another one. I don’t know if that’s you or not.” Helen cleared her throat. “But for present purposes, if you believe you were hearing Kay Patterson, then you were. You must trust yourself. This could be an initial contact, at her thin place.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Then you were correct.”
Julia took it as bad and good news, combined. “But I don’t understand why I didn’t see any blue, like before, with Caterina Sforza.”
“Not all souls communicate in the same way, with the same manifestations. Kay’s soul is communicating with yours in her own way. Heed her. Honor her.”
“How?”
“You know that answer. Simply allow her to reach you. You can’t force it. You’ll see. You’ll know.”
“But why didn’t she appear at the fire?”
“I don’t know.” Helen paused. “You may not be prepared to have a vision—”
“I don’t know if the fire was a vision,” Julia interrupted.
“You are the only one who knows for sure. That said, I must be frank with you. What I’m hearing from you now, and what I remember from our meeting, is that you have an unwillingness to accept your gift.”
No shit, Julia thought, then worried Helen could read her mind.
“That is not uncommon. The gift is a responsibility, and you must acclimate yourself to accepting it.”
“But what if I don’t want it? Or don’t know what I’m doing?”
“It’s of no moment whether you want it or not. Souls have an agency of their own. One cannot control other people, even after they’ve transitioned.”
Julia swallowed hard. “So you’re saying Kay will try to communicate with me, whether I like it or not?”
“I’m saying that she may try, and you would do well to allow her. She may have a reason to communicate with you.”
“She probably wants to tell me who killed her, right?”
“That seems possible.”
Julia’s chest went tight. “Has that happened to you in your cases?”
“Yes, of course.”
“How? And what do you do about it?”
