‘Shouldn’t you leave the evidence for the police?’
‘The police? We didn’t have much luck with them when the brick was thrown through the window. I can’t see why they’d be any more interested now.’
‘That can’t be right. Look at this place.’ Beth stretched out her arms. ‘They have to be interested in this.’
Jonan frowned. Something glinted on the floor, something shiny. ‘What’s that?’
He reached it in two strides, bent down and picked it up. It was an old-fashioned Polaroid shot. Bill stared out of the picture, eyes dark and pleading. His skin was pale and waxy. Sweat gleamed on his forehead as he tried to stagger upright. He was in a dark room. Jonan flicked on the overhead light to see better. ‘It’s Bill,’ he whispered.
He moved the picture closer as he tried to pick up something in the man’s surroundings that might help locate him, but the bare brick wall and concrete floor could be anywhere.
A hand touched his arm, and he felt Beth lean into him, peering at the photograph. ‘That doesn’t look like the hospital,’ she said, her voice hoarse.
Icy fingers shot down Jonan’s spine. ‘No. It doesn’t.’
Jonan put the picture down and picked up a box of matches from the payment desk. He took three cream-coloured candles in metal tins from the side of the desk and spaced them evenly across the glass. He lit them, and then put a stick of sage into one of the flames. When it caught, he breathed in deeply, and then put it in a brass cup with a bed of herbs in the bottom.
‘What are you doing?’ Beth asked.
‘I want to see what I can pick up from the photo, but I’m pretty scattered right now. The candles and sage are to help me centre.’
‘I can help.’ Beth took his hand and closed her eyes.
Jonan felt the knot in his chest ease as her warm fingers closed around his. He closed his eyes, feeling the drop into trance as a welcome relief from the incessant challenges of physical life. At first there was peace and he felt a fizzing connection travelling up his arm from Beth’s hand. He focused beyond that into the air around him and the stones that lay smashed across the floor. He felt the energy of the intruder, saw Amelia’s imprint on him, and the fear and confusion that seemed so at odds with his size and confrontational demeanour. Jonan searched further, focusing on the photo and on Bill.
He could see Bill in his mind’s eye now, could feel his agitation. He could see the bare brick wall, feel the cold, hard concrete biting into Bill’s bony kneecaps. Bill looked up and seemed to recognise Jonan. His lips moved, but Jonan got no sense of what he was saying. What is happening? Jonan sent out the thought.
The answer didn’t come from Bill, but from one of Jonan’s guides and he repeated the words aloud for Beth’s benefit. ‘Bill is in trouble. He has been moved to a place that is less in line with his personal wellbeing. He is trying to send a message to you, but is not practised enough in the art of telepathy. Urgh,’ Jonan groaned, opening his eyes and doubling over to lean on his thighs. His heart raced and stomach rolled from the fear that still poured through his connection to Bill.
Beth’s eyes widened. ‘What’s happening? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine, but Bill’s fear is potent and hard to throw off.’
‘If Bill can’t contact you, can you contact him?
‘I tried, but there’s too much fog around him. Amelia’s got to him. He won’t hear anything helpful through that.’
‘Maybe Amelia has him at the hotel?’
Jonan nodded. He took his leather jacket from the hooks by the door, pulled it on and shoved the polaroid into his pocket. ‘There’s only one way to find out. Shall we go?’
Beth let out her breath in a rush. ‘Yes. At last, something we can actually do.’
It was eleven o’clock and the temperature outside was dropping. There were still plenty of people milling about outside the shop, drinking and laughing. For most people it was a normal Friday night.
Beth wished she were one of them. She couldn’t help the feeling Amelia was closing in on them with a stranglehold. Everywhere they turned, they found her. She talked through the press, sent intruders into their space, and got into the hearts and minds of their friends and the people on the street. She was in the newspapers, in people’s conversations. As they walked, they heard her name repeated from so many lips, Amelia, Amelia, Amelia.
‘If I hear one more person say her name, I’m going to scream.’ Beth hugged her arms around her middle against the cold.
Jonan took her hand.
She froze, but warmth spread from his fingers into hers, and up her arm. The world receded as her awareness focused in to that single point of contact.
She hadn’t even realised she’d stopped walking until their arms stretched, and then he stepped back towards her. His approach shielded her body from the prickling cold of the night air, setting it alight with warm awareness. She looked up.
His blue eyes were dark pools that drew her in so she couldn’t look away.
‘You’re not frightened of going to the hotel, are you?’ He reached up, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
‘Ghosts don’t scare me.’
‘But ghosts didn’t take Bill from the hospital.’
‘No, they didn’t.’
‘It’s okay to be scared. We’ve had a crazy night and we don’t know what we’ll find at the hotel. My heart is racing too.’
He took her hand and placed her palm on his chest, over his heart. She felt it beating fast through the rough weave of his shirt, felt warmth gathering between them. Their bodies blocked out the wind and her hand was sheltered by the stiff collar of his leather jacket. She felt the heat of his body through her palm and the prickling of his energy where it touched her own. His heart beat in unison with hers. She had never felt so connected to her body, or so separate from the world around her. There was only Jonan.
He moved closer. She froze as a stab of fear shot through her, but she pushed it back. She would not give Amelia the power.
Jonan winced. He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep, shuddering breath. Then he stepped back.
‘No, please, I’m just nervous. It doesn’t mean anything.’
Jonan opened his eyes and searched her face. ‘I don’t want to frighten you. I have no idea how far she pushed her fear into you.’
‘I want this, Jonan.’
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded, closing the space between them. Her long coat was a barrier she didn’t need, didn’t want. It stopped her from feeling his warmth against her, but she recognised his energy, felt the prickling against her skin under her clothes. She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the feeling of being this close to Jonan. She felt as though she had been waiting for this moment her whole life, as though something connected them across timelines she didn’t even know were there. She recognised Jonan at a bone-deep level, and yet she marvelled that they had met so recently. This moment was all there was. She would never let it go.
His lips were feather light when they brushed hers, sending tingles across her skin. She leaned into him and felt him relax, pulling her close as she melted into him, losing her sense of where she ended and he began.