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Underneath the books were a pair of Barbies. One wore a scuba diving outfit, and the other wore a doctor’s coat. When she was little, she had dreamed of being a heart surgeon, but soon realized she didn’t have a stomach for it.
Given her current trajectory in life, the universe clearly had a dark sense of humor.
The box was full of what at first glance would appear to be a random assortment of junk, but for Cassie, it was a gateway back to her childhood. Lisa Frank folders and Tamagotchis were shoved to one side. On the other, a binder full of Pokémon cards she’d spent years collecting. One summer, she’d used a month’s worth of allowance to buy as many packs as she could. Her mother thought she was irresponsible, but her father had slipped her an extra ten dollars to get a couple more.
Cassie frowned as she realized she needed to decide which toys to hang onto and which to donate. The Pokémon cards were worth some money, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to part with them.
Cassie opened the flaps on the next box and caught her breath. Laura’s teddy bear was at the top, face down, waiting for her to rediscover him. It was the same teddy bear Laura used to give her when she got upset. The same teddy bear Laura had been holding in her recurring nightmares. The same one the little boy had handed her in this morning’s dream.
Cassie reached out but stopped just short of touching the bear’s matted fur. It didn’t look dirty, but he had soaked up a lot of snot and tears over the years. His white ears were tinged gray, and she knew without turning him over that his stomach would look the same. The brown of his back and sides was less vibrant than she remembered, but he emanated the same warmth and comfort he always had.
Cassie flipped him over and let her hand linger on his arm. She was half expecting a vision to hit her, but she found herself staring into his brown eyes instead. He’d seen better days, but his tattered appearance was nothing more than a sign he’d been well-loved by both sisters.
What Cassie hadn’t expected was a memory to hit her instead. It was almost as strong as one of her visions. As she stared into the bear’s grungy face, she remembered one of the last times she ever held him in her arms. It had been the night Sarah Lennox disappeared. Laura must’ve thought Cassie had needed the bear’s comfort, even if she didn’t understand why. Their parents had separated the two and brought Cassie into the other room by herself. There, they sat her down and explained that Sarah wouldn’t be coming over to play anymore. When Cassie asked why, her parents shared a glance and nodded their heads in unison, as though they’d been waiting for this and had practiced their answer ahead of time.
“Honey, something very bad happened to Sarah.” Her mother must’ve been tasked with the role of breaking the news. “Someone did something they shouldn’t have, and now Sarah is gone. But try not to be sad, okay? She’s in a better place.”
“A better place?” Cassie knew what that phrase meant. She was old enough to understand death, but she’d never dealt with it personally. It would be another fifteen years before she felt its icy breath on her neck. “She died?”
“Yes, honey, she died.”
Cassie remembered being confused because when she looked past her parents to the other side of the room, Sarah Lennox was standing there, patiently waiting for Cassie to come out and play.
9
Cassie thudded down the stairs, fear and excitement racing through her veins in equal measure. She gripped Laura’s teddy bear in one hand and had the other flung out for balance. The buzz of anxiety had ceased, replaced with the singular blare of an alarm that drove her to find her sister.
She spotted Laura in the living room, gripping her coffee between her hands like it was the only thing holding her to reality. She opened her eyes when Cassie’s weight shifted the couch cushions, and even then, it looked like the last thing she wanted to do.
“I’m giving you fair warning that I’m not in a good mood today.” She slurped her coffee. “Someone—I’m not saying who—kept talking in her sleep last night.”
Cassie already had her mouth open to rehash everything she had remembered, but this made her come up short. “Wait, really? What was I saying?”
“I don’t remember. It was mostly mumbling. Do you always talk that much in your sleep?”
“I’m not sure. It’s been a while since anyone was in a position to tell me.”
Of course, that made Cassie think about Jason and how she’d be more than happy to offer him the opportunity. She’d texted him a few times since running into him at Van GoGo’s, but their conversations had remained superficial. She kept promising herself that when she returned home, she’d do everything in her power to give them a real chance.
“Well, I’m in the position of telling you it’s annoying.”
“Maybe it was because of the ghost in my dream last night. Which I guess is another thing I never told you about.”
“More secrets?”
“Unintentional ones, I promise. We had a lot going on.”
“Am I going to need another cup of coffee for this?”
“Probably.”
Laura held up a finger and drained her mug, then left the room and returned a minute later with a fresh cup. She settled back into the cushions and let the steam warm her face. “You may proceed.”
Cassie took a deep breath. She and Laura were closer than ever, but it still felt strange to be so open about her abilities and all that accompanied them. David had been by her side for years, and there were still times she struggled to tell him everything.
But if the last few weeks had taught her anything, it was that she needed to be more vulnerable with the people she cared about. David. Her parents. Laura. And maybe even Jason.
“After Novak died, my abilities faded, but the one constant was the ghost of a little boy who would stand in the corner of my room every night. He never spoke, but he would stare at me for hours.”
