“Remind me why we have to go back in there?” Corinne says, picking at her black yoga pants as we walk up the steps of my front porch.
She showed up sans makeup, with wet hair and clothes that indicate she likely worked out and showered right before coming over. Corinne is a natural beauty. It’s annoying, considering I actually attempted to do something with myself, and she manages to shine without even trying.
“You know I can do a tarot reading anywhere, right?” she asks, breaking into my moment of self-pity.
It’s never a good sign that the one who came to crack the code about the ghosts appears to be the biggest scaredy-cat of them all. Her fingers twist around each other in a move I recognize as the jitters.
Wednesday is her day off, so I’ve been biding my time, waiting for her help. She thinks reading my cards and the energy in the house might help us determine any other presence as well as why Billy’s stuck with me. I’ll do anything to get rid of him, including enter my home that may or may not be overrun by something truly scary.
My hand runs down my temple, over my scar. Whenever I’m fearful, I find myself feeling my battle wound, a reminder that I’m stronger than I give myself credit for.
“I can’t keep staying at Lanie’s. This is my home, and I won’t be frightened off.” I throw open the front door and take a step inside. “Besides, it can’t hurt to do the reading inside the place they seem to keep popping up.”
She grunts. “From what you’ve said, they pop up anywhere. At least Billy does. And we’ve yet to determine if there are any additional spirits.”
My mind goes right to yoga the other day and I’m immediately pissed, which isn’t a bad thing. Far better to go into a potentially dangerous situation angry as opposed to terrified.
The house is quiet, void of the otherworldly presence and feeling of dread that was thick in the air last time we were here. Thankfully, nothing seems out of the ordinary.
“Maybe we imagined it?”
Corinne glances my way, nose scrunched up likeI’minsane. “You’re right. We were probably having a shared hallucination.”
I shrug. “Could be possible. Your rosemary was probably laced.”
Her mouth opens, but she quickly shuts it, opting to take the mature route and flip me the bird.
“Classy.”
Her finger remains in the air as she stalks past me, head swiveling from side to side as she makes her way to the back of the house. I follow, ready to get this done and over with.
Corinne makes herself at home, plopping down into a chair at the head of my dining room table while I clear a space for her reading. She pulls several tarot decks from her bag, removing them from their boxes and shuffling each pile meticulously.
I watch as she absently cuts the decks and recuts, over and over, head bowed as she mumbles words I can’t make out. I don’t disrupt her process, knowing that it will only prolong things from getting started. When she’s ready, she motions for me to take a seat.
“I’m going to start with this deck asking Spirit to enlighten us on your situation and then use this one to clarify if I need it. After that, we’ll ask about the other presence that was here. Does that work?”
She’s practically speaking a foreign language. I know nothing about this stuff. I bob my head just to get the ball rolling.
“Spirit, tell us what Alyssa needs to know to rid herself of these ghosts.”
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Billy materializes right over Corinne’s shoulder, pulling one card, then two, from her pile.
Corinne tilts her head, watching the scene play out. “What’s happening? Is it Billy?”
“Mmhmm,” I say, taking a deep breath and slumping back into my chair. “He’s your problem today. I don’t have the energy.”
Corinne looks up into the air as if he’s flying overhead. “I will find a way to unalive you a second time if you touch my cards again, dipshit.”
Billy howls. “I like this one. She’s feisty.”
“And she’s serious. Somehow, I believe she could arrange a second death for you.”
Corinne pulls her thick hair into a high ponytail, rolls up her sleeves, and scoots her chair in.
“Okay, ghost and Alyssa, can we get back to this? Billy,” shecalls out, speaking directly to him. “If you want out of here, you need to allow me to work. Got it?”
He licks his lips, eyelids lowering to slits. “Can she really figure this out with those?”
