Sometimes souls just fit. They were two pieces of the same puzzle.
Vivien’s piece had been Sam. She’d felt the explosion of it when they first met, and she’d felt the unbearable agony when she lost him.
Doubts crept into her thoughts. What if too much time had passed? What if she wasn’t the same person? What if it wouldn’t be the same? What if the only way they could be together again was with her death?
Vivien would die someday, obviously, but that would not be today. She didn’t want to die to be with him, not anymore. And that bothered her.
This was the grand love of her life. This was the romance-novel love story. This was a love that defied reality and broke all the rules. Every female in her family knew these things to be true.
If those facts were accurate, then nothing else should matter. She shouldn’t be thinking of Heather’s feelings, or Lorna and William’s relationship, or how much she enjoyed breathing and… ah fuck. Troy. She kept thinking of Troy.
She could write off Troy as a thought planted in her head by her friends. He had saved her. Maybe there was something to William’s damsel-in-distress theory. Not that she was a damsel who needed a prince charming to save her, but the whole psychological hero-grateful-mistaken-love thing did happen after a daring rescue.
That didn’t explain her bumbling around during the car ride. Or her attraction to him when they’d first met. Or…
“Shut up, brain,” Vivien hissed under her breath.
“Viv?” Heather asked. She and Lorna were staring at her as Vivien stood on the stage, holding one of the blue candles.
“Yeah, here,” Vivien said, handing the candle toward Lorna. “I was just saying I think it’s smart that we’re doing this here.” She gestured to the black-painted stage. “It is where Julia spent a lot of time, and I’m beginning to think maybe this is the place with the best mojo.”
“That’s what you were saying?” Heather asked as she placed the séance book on the floor. It was the same setup they’d used to call Glenn, and it had worked in this space.
Vivien nodded.
Heather arched a brow. “Funny, cause I distinctly heard you tell your brain to shut up.”
“You know, a good friend would just let me have my lie,” Vivien muttered.
“And a great friend will call you on your bullshit,” Heather countered. “If you need someone to blow sunshine up your ass, I’m sure that chick Summer is around here somewhere.”
“Omigod, Summer? I haven’t thought about her in years,” Vivien laughed. To Lorna, she explained, “She was this super-perky cheerleader who used to tell people these strange affirmations every day—like bad internet memes before the internet was a thing. Only you can feel the sunshine of your life. Breathe and enjoy today, don’t worry about tomorrow because aliens could blow us up any second. It was like she read them in some kind of calendar each morning. She was voted most likely to be sucked into a cult.”
“Oh, no.” Heather laughed. “That’s too harsh.”
“You brought her up,” Vivien said. “And tell me it doesn’t sound like it could be true.”
“Yeah, it does, but I would have said she’s the person most likely to end up writing the internet memes,” Heather said.
“Well, you’re nicer than me. I still haven’t forgiven her for what she did to you during your junior year.” Vivien watched Lorna arrange the candles on the floor around the book.
“What happened in junior year?” Lorna asked.
“Summer farted in front of a popular boy she liked and blamed it on me because I was the only other person there,” Heather said. “It was foul. Teenagers are mean.”
“Are you talking about the famous sauerkraut fart heard around the world?” William asked from the aisle below.
“Gee, memory lane is so much fun,” Heather drawled sarcastically. “I sure hope we can talk about this all day.”
“You brought it up,” Vivien said.
“Now I’m bringing it down,” Heather said.
“I am so glad we’re no longer teenagers,” Lorna said. “I don’t miss the angst at all.”
“I don’t miss school,” Heather added. “I remember calculating how many wasted hours there was each day. In elementary school, I was convinced if we all agreed to skip lunch, recess, and time spent playing stupid games in class, we should be able to leave after three hours of actual work.”
“You also wanted to skip gym,” William put forth, looking up at them from in front of the stage. “I can still remember the horrified look on our mother’s face as you presented your arguments to her.”
“That was time wasted playing stupid games,” Heather said.
“I miss the energy I had back then,” Vivien said.
“You say that like you’ve been slowed down.” Heather shook her head. “I think you’re more active now than you were in high school.”
“I can’t see her anywhere,” William said, referring to Grandma Julia. He had walked the length of the theater, studying the empty seats. “I tried feeling for her like you said, but I don’t think she’s here.”
“She’s over there,” Heather automatically pointed toward her left. “I can’t hear her, but she’s watching us.”
Vivien turned to look where Heather indicated. She wanted to see Julia like Heather did, but nothing was there.
“Anyone else hanging around?” Lorna asked.
“No. It feels like it’s back to normal,” Heather said.
“Yeah, normal,” William whispered in disbelief under his breath, still searching the seats for a sign of his grandma. Vivien was proud of him for trying, but he was still having a hard time dealing with his belief in the supernatural.
“Okay, we’re ready,” Lorna said. She had lit the candles around the book.
“Where do you want me?” William asked.
“Up here with us,” Heather said. “Grandma Julia always included other people in her séances. I think it will give her more energy to manifest.”
William pushed his hands into the stage floor and hopped his butt onto the stage without using the stairs. He swung his legs up, stood, and then came to stand between Lorna and Heather. The four of them formed a circle around the book and then sat down.
“Just read this with us,” Lorna instructed him, sharing the piece of paper Heather handed her.
Vivien glanced at the paper. It wasn’t the same words they’d used to call Glenn and Sam.
“I modified it a little,” Heather said. “I thought this one might work better on Julia.”
The spell had been one that searched for a lost child. Vivien was surprised Heather had chosen to use it. Though, all reference to a child had been taken out.
“Join hands,” Heather said. They all took hands. At the contact her hair lifted from her shoulders. She looked at William to see what effect it was having on him. He was looking upward as if he could see his shorter hair floating around his head. The lights flickered and dimmed. The candles burned brighter.
“I feel… something,” William said.
“We’re connected,” Heather answered. “Now, shh. Concentrate on wanting to talk to Grandma Julia. I know you’re nervous, but you have to push that aside.”