The Psychic
Chapter nine
Jake
A loud knock on the front door shakes me out of my contemplation as I stare at a particularly deep crack in the wall of the lobby. What a shithole. I can’t believe my parents haven’t bothered to at least make an effort to fix this place up.
A tall, lanky guy with wild, shaggy black hair is standing in the entryway.
He reminds me of Brandon. He’s wearing what looks to be a silk robe and worn down sandals.
He has shiny silver rings on all his fingers, and a piercing in his eyebrow.
He sees me and says, “Hey, I heard that this place is in need of my psychic prowess. I’m here to assist! My name is Seth. Are you Alex?”
I stare at him for a second. I shouldn’t be surprised he can see me, that’s the entire reason he’s here. “Uh, no, I’m Jake. My parents own this place.”
His face falls a little. “Oh, right. I heard what happened. That’s gnarly, bro, I’m sorry.” I shrug it off.
“How are you able to see me?” I ask.
“Well, I’m a psychic, so I’m pretty in tune with the paranormal.
Ghosts and such. Normally it takes a bit more to woo the ghostly energies.
But this place, man. It’s off the chart.
Is this place next to a ley line by any chance?
It feels like it's calling to me, pulling me in, you know?” I have no idea what that means.
When I just shrug, he says, “Cool, no worries. I’ll investigate that later.
Hey, I’ll be right back. I need to grab my tools.
” With that he runs out the door. I turn my gaze back to that crack in the wall until he gets back.
Just as he returns with a small black trunk, Alex and Brandon come down the stairs. “I thought I heard your voice, bro!” Brandon says. “Thanks for coming out.”
“Any time, man. I’m just happy to help. Where do you want to do this? I have a few things I need to get set up before we start.”
Alex pipes up first. “This might get a little intense, so I was thinking we could do it in my room. You should have enough space in there. There’s a sitting area we can use.” Everyone agrees, so he leads the way up to his room. My palms are starting to get sweaty. It’s now or never.
Seth sets a few candles around the room and lights them before turning the ceiling light off. "It sets the mood, and aids in relaxation," he explains as he rummages through his bag, eventually pulling out an old leatherbound book. He hums quietly to himself as he thumbs through the pages.
“Ah, here we are,” he says with a lopsided grin as he quickly scans the page.
I look over at Alex as we take a seat on the couch.
His face is bathed in deep shadows. He gives me a small smile and tries to quietly soothe my nerves while Seth gets his stuff set up.
His trunk is packed full, and I have no idea what most of it is.
He pulls out a few bundles of what look like herbs and sets each one in a small bowl on the coffee table.
"This one is mugwort," he says as he lights one of the bundles on fire.
It fills the room with a thick, white smoke as he waves it around before setting it back in its bowl.
Good thing there are no smoke alarms in the rooms. "It will help you get into the proper state to access your memories.
These other two are sage and rosemary. If you're gonna try something like this, it's important to have protection. "
"They're pungent," Alex says as he wrinkles his nose.
Seth crouches down on the opposite side of the coffee table and gives us an assessing look.
“Yeah, but they're the most important part of the process. Okay, who wants to go first?” Seth asks.
“I’ll go first,” Alex replies. “Just in case something goes sideways. I’ll be your guinea pig. You good with that, Jake?”
I nod my reply. It makes me feel like a coward, but I absolutely do not want to go first. He gives me a wink.
***
Alex
I am so ready to find out how I died. I hope it was a cool death, like heroically fighting off a gaggle of burglars or falling out of a tree rescuing a kitten.
I rub my hands together excitedly. “I’m ready. Let’s do this,” I tell Seth.
“Okay bro, the first thing I want you to do is take yourself back to that night, as close as you can get. Focus on how you were feeling, anything that can connect you to that night. Were you scared, nervous, or maybe hungry? For example, one time I forgot where I put my bong. I searched it out by focusing on the smell of the nachos Brandon’s mom makes, because we always eat those when we get high together.
Think about what it is you need your mind to give you. ”
He lifts up a pendulum with a small charm on the end and starts swinging it in front of my face slowly. Is that a dick?
“Okay, I’m gonna count to three. Watch the pendulum swing, don’t take your eyes off of it. No blinking. Focus on whatever your nachos are. You want those nachos. Nothing is more important than those nachos. You want to marry Brandon’s mom so you can have those nachos every day.”
I try to do as he says but now all I’m thinking about are Brandon’s mom’s nachos. I watch the dick pendulum and try to concentrate as Seth mutters an incantation I can’t understand.
“Okay, now close your eyes,” he instructs before continuing the incantation. The language sounds old, exotic. Ancient. It makes me feel tingly. I pop an eye open and watch him for a second.
“What language is that? Spanish? French?”
“Latin. Some of these are written in Sanskrit though. Just depends on the incantation. Now close your eyes and concentrate.”
I huff. “Okay, okay. Sorry. It sounds really sexy, by the way.”
Seth chuckles and I close my eyes, trying my best to follow his direction. As he works, his voice gets lower and I have to concentrate harder in order to hear him.
After a while, I faintly hear him count down in English. “And three, two, one.” He draws out each word. “Good luck, bro,” he whispers and I’m transported back to that night.