First Time for Everything #3
Mack and Brandon arrived, Mack coming straight to me. I hopped up and hugged him, because hell yeah, please give me a hug. I needed a hug. Mack looked me over, but he seemed proud more than anything. “Ma petite chère, you did fine, I can tell. Your aura’s steady.”
Abby piped up with, “I saw the ghost totally evaporate, so I think she got him.”
“I’ll do a sweep outside to double check.” Mack regarded me for a long second. “All right?”
“He mostly scared the shit out of me,” I admitted. “He rushed me and was trying to hurt me. But I’m okay, I got the better of him.”
“I do understand. It’s jarring, to say the least.” He shook his head and then turned to the rest of the family. “Enchanté. Mackenzie Lafayette, FBI. I’m Gwyn’s mentor. Who might you all be?”
Skylar did introductions for people, and I could tell the adults were relieved to have a fully trained Medium in the house. I wasn’t the least bit insulted. I also felt a lot better with Mack in the house.
Brandon encouraged me to sit again, giving William the chance to wrap up while Mack gathered up all of the ghost kids, and checked the backyard. The kids had apparently been hiding nearby, under William’s guidance, which all things considered was likely prudent.
Which left me the question of where to pass them?
Mack returned to the living room with all of the kids in tow.
Quite the age range. I would say the oldest girl was near my age, the youngest boy maybe six.
So sad to die that young. They were excited now, chatty, talking over each other and watching me with open curiosity.
The living room went from full to crowded real quick.
Mack gave me a proud smile. “Gwyn’s exorcism was perfectly done, so no worries there.”
Oh thank god. I didn’t want to repeat that experience.
Mack turned to Isabella and asked, “Do you have a hallway that leads to a doorway by any chance? Or some dimly lit place that we can borrow?”
She thought on that for a second before pointing upstairs. “The second story hallway leads to a bathroom at the end of the hall?”
“That sounds perfect.”
It really did. Could we use an open area? Sure, but with a doorway, it gave the ghost a visible target to center themselves on. It just worked better, in my experience. Mack always set up with a doorway if he could and I absolutely understood why.
We all trooped upstairs and I helped put candles down, making a runway. Brandon had brought the LED tealight kind, which I honestly preferred, as it created less mess.
Finally, all set up. I turned to the nearest child, who was maybe twelve? Hard to guess exact ages. He looked a century old, he had that style of clothing, including suspenders to keep the pants up. “Hi, would you like to go first?”
He eyed the setup a little nervously. “I guess? I don’t know what to do.”
“Just walk with me,” I said with a smile, holding out a hand. “I’ll boost you. That doorway, once we reach it, will connect to the next plane—once you’ve stepped through, you’ll be home. Anyone waiting on you?”
His eyes were on the doorway now, longing, hopeful. “My parents.”
“Let’s not keep them waiting, yeah?”
Eager now, he put his hand in mine. I steadily walked him down the center of the lights and I could see the doorway gain its own glow, which was a good sign. The second we reached it, I could hear two voices call out in pure joy.
“Ezrah!”
With a delighted laugh, Ezrah blew right through that doorway, hands reaching out for his parents. Damn, always felt good when I knew a family was reunited. He had good parents. They’d been waiting on him this entire time.
Turning, I walked back and asked cheerfully, “Who’s next?”
With Ezrah so clearly succeeding, the remaining kids were much more eager to try.
I had three hands reaching for me and randomly chose one, setting them up on my left side, hand in mine, and I repeated the journey.
This little girl, too, had parents waiting on her.
An older sibling too, from the sound of it.
She was calling for them even as she raced through.
It turned out to be the case for every child. Someone was waiting for them on the other side—parents, grandparents, older siblings, even in one case a best friend. Which, hell yeah, loved that for her.
The kids all done, I walked back to William. “You ready to go, sir?”
His smile was bright, stretched from ear to ear. “I am. Thank you, young lady, you really are exceptional at this. FBI probie, Skylar said? You’ll be great at it. Thank you for the help. I finally feel all right with leaving.”
“You’re very welcome. Honestly, thank you for staying. Those kids really did need your help.” Not to mention that damn baddie.
Mack offered a hand. “Last goodbye?”
William took the offer, taking Mack’s hand, and was able to say a final farewell. Lots of tears in everyone’s eyes, including mine, but I think they knew too this separation was temporary.
Once done, I did the honors, taking William down the path, and wasn’t expecting much when we did reach that door.
But to my surprise, every child I’d just passed was still there—waiting, making sure William made it too.
He beamed at them as he stepped through, to much celebration, and I heard him being peppered with questions even as the door shut behind him.
Wow. Some days, I seriously wondered if being a Medium was worth it, as it was a lot of hassle sometimes. Fighting off the bad ghosts wasn’t my idea of a good time. But today? On days like today, it was totally worth it. Being able to help multiple families reunite would always be worth it.
I turned back to the living and relayed, “All of those kids waited until he made it through, too.”
Isabella put both hands over her heart, tears visibly in her eyes. “That’s so sweet. They clearly loved him. Gwyn, Mack, Brandon, thank you so much for this. You turned a terrifying event into a heartwarming story.”
“We’re happy to help,” Mack promised her.
“I feel bad about calling you out on a Saturday.” Gary ruffled the back of his head, eyes mostly on me. “Do I pay you…?”
Brandon negated this with a wave. “No, we’re FBI, this is all part of the salary. Don’t worry about that, sir.”
“Wouldn’t take a penny anyway,” I assured him cheerfully. “I love feel good moments like this one. Just, next time something ghostly happens, text Skylar or Abby, they can get ahold of us.”
“Sure can,” Abby confirmed. “Mack and Brandon are my teacher’s brothers. It’s how we all know each other.”
Gary gave a huh. “That does make more sense. If I can ever return the favor, let me know. It really means a lot to me that you’d let my father have that final conversation. He died so suddenly, we never got the chance.”
“I’m super happy to do it, trust me.”
Made me wonder, though, did the FBI not advertise the spookems department? So few people knew we existed. Maybe they should do, like, ads or a website or something?
I think someone needed to put a bug in Sylvia’s ear.
Brandon’s phone rang and he answered it with an easy, “Hi, Sylvia.”
Uh-oh. I didn’t just accidentally summon her, did I?
His brows beetled a little together. “Where is this? West Virginia? Oh. Yeah, no, that does sound bad. We’ll get packed up and on the road in the next two hours. Sure, just email it to me.”
I looked at him with dismay. So, in other words, I’d had a free and clear weekend where I could have done anything I wanted, but because I put the thought into the world that I was bored, we got handed a case? After I just did an exorcism and passed fifteen people?
Universe, do you do takebacksies?