“It’s not going to be easy,” she takes my hand. “We have to stay focused, but first, we should set up your room to perform a protection and cleansing ceremony.”
“Yeah, okay,” I nod. “I’ll get the salt and sage.”
“And candles,” she calls out as I walk toward the kitchen. “Find the holy water, too.”
***
I strike a match, lighting three pillar candles as Sylvia sits on the floor across from me, both of us surrounded by a large circle of salt.
I look up at her and shake my head. “I’m not sure where to begin, I’ve never tried to close a portal before.”
“It can be done,” her lips tighten, “but, it won’t be easy, none of them have any desire to leave.”
“Great, just what we need. A butt load of pissed off spirits who’ll want revenge,” I swallow.
“They won’t know who did it, but yeah, there’s a chance you could be the attraction for any stragglers,” Sylvia explains, taking my hand. “Hopefully, we can remove all of them all at once.”
“What about them?” I blow out a breath. “I mean, I know Liv and Becca will no longer have power over me, but I also don’t want to deal with their wrath, either,” I admit in barely a whisper.
She leans forward. “One thing at a time, Elise,” she squeezes my hand, giving me a small smile. “Your immortality also provides another advantage.”
I tilt my head. “What’s that?”
“Your aura, it’s completely different,” she explains.
“But you just said spirit could still be attracted to me…”
“Yes, but for entirely different reasons,” she interrupts.
“I don’t understand.”
She raises her brows. “You no longer look alive to them.”
Gulp.
“I don’t?”
Sylvia’s smile widens. “Nope and it’s possible Liv and Becca won’t be able to see you at all.”
I look away, recalling the past couple of days and glance back at her. “You’re right,” I nod. “I just figured the spirits left because of Ascot’s abilities and the portal, but…” I drift off.
“See? They don’t see you the same way,” she confirms.
“This is crazy,” I glance back up, “I’m not sure how I feel about it to be honest.”
“What do you mean?”
I sigh, “Well, if they don’t see me in the same way, will I lose my abilities to help them move on?”
“Not at all,” she smiles softly. “Although, you will have to refocus your intentions when helping them.”
“Huh? You lost me.”
She leans in. “Meaning, now that you basically seem like one of them, they’re going to have a harder time trusting you,” she explains. “The good thing is you’ll have a much better perspective on who and how you wish to help.”
“I didn’t think of it like that.”
She chuckles. “You’ve hardly had time.”
“So, I’ll kind of be like a ghost spy,” I smirk.
She raises her brows. “Exactly.”
My eyes go wide. “So, I’ll have to go up there,” I look up at the ceiling, “and weed out the good spirits from the bad?”
Her nose crinkles and she slowly nods. “I’ll be with you if it helps.”
I pull in a deep breath. “It does,” I exhale. “They see you the same way, too, right?”
Her mouth twists. “Mostly,” she nods. “But, the veil is thinner around me. That’s why you’ll have to gain their trust, you will be a conundrum to them at best.”
“Great,” I shake my head and lock eyes with her. “Liv and Becca,” I whisper, “What if they can see me?”
She blinks several times. “They are connected to you in a different way, but I believe your new state of being will throw them off, hopefully for good.”
“God, I hope so,” I close my eyes.
Sylvia takes in a breath and I glance up. “If we can close the portal, there’s a good chance they will leave with it,” her brows push together. “Wait, how will we get in?” she asks.
I give her a grin, reaching into the pocket of my jeans. “With the key of course.”
She smirks and shakes her head approvingly. “Perfect, because we need to heavily arm ourselves,” she takes my hands, “are you ready?”
Chapter Ten
Ascot’s key slides the deadlock easily as I turn the knob and walk in. Sylvia is right behind me, watching, protecting and before I can go much further, I see an odd cast of light coming from down the hallway. I’m drawn to it but not in a good way. It frightens me and before I realize it, I’m reaching out for Sylvia. She silently takes my hand and I hear, “I’m here, do not be afraid,” in my head. I slowly nod, acknowledging her words but can feel my heart starting to beat faster as I approach Ascot’s bedroom.
Defensively, my eyes dart all around, the strange light becoming a brighter yellowish green before I hear the muffled voices of what sounds like hundreds of people talking and whispering all at once. An overwhelming feeling of confusion, sorrow and anger consumes my thoughts, yet the sensations aren’t mine, none of them are. Sylvia tightens her grip around my fingers and I swallow. She’s scared too and I look back at her but she stays invisible to me. I can only feel her hand in mine as I force myself to keep going, abruptly stopping at the threshold of Ascot’s bedroom.
I gasp, sucking in a breath. It’s as if the entire universe is encompassing a small corner of his room. It’s beautiful, intelligent and moving with a cascading swirl of mostly yellows and greens with touches of pinks and white—a timeless revolving door for spirit, to move from this dimension to the next.
A few of them pause and walk into the room, two actually seeing me, their expressions curious and confused. I stand in awe, speechless and frozen. I thought knowing what to do would come naturally, but I have no idea. I’m paralyzed, my eyes captured, like a moth to a flame, completely mesmerized by this new world.
One of them turns and begins to walk toward me and I blink, taking a step back. He tilts his head, astonished, his sandy brown hair brushing against the collar of his soiled long-sleeved shirt, his tan suspenders and tattered, brown pants covered in what looks like fresh blood. “You can see me?” he whispers, eyes beginning to water.
I can only nod, flinching when an overwhelming sharp pain suddenly shoots down my back. I try to stay strong and fight through the agony, allowing him to show me more, his memory rushing in my head as quickly as the pain.
Field after field of cotton flows in the wind, workers are hunkered down, their hands cut and bloodied as they pick the white, fluffy blooms.
He died there.
His tractor began rolling on its own but he tried to catch up, losing his footing. The wheels instantly crushed the lower half of his body, and he lie hidden beneath the tall cotton stems…alone, and slowly, unable to scream for help as he bled out. It happened over a hundred years ago, a few miles from where we’re standing now, when this area was only farmland.