Page 12 of Ghost of a Chance

T he reaction to the word séance —from someone who claimed to be a medium, no less—was exactly the reason why he hadn’t sought out any help to get rid of Paul earlier.

There was something about it that brought to mind Hollywood theatrics and con men.

Of course Kirsty didn’t look like either of those, but still.

Her mouth tightened. “Are you sure you want to go through with it?”

“Want to? No, but I think it’s what we need to do.”

With an expert at his side, he was confident that this would be key in helping Paul move on.

What if this was fake? Or she was a fake? That everything with the book was a result of him slowly going insane. Still his options were limited and dwindling. A part of him hoped that Paul would be about to speak about the past to Kirsty so he wouldn’t have to relive it all by himself.

They were all sitting in the study two days later. Kirsty had insisted she needed time to prepare herself and the room for the séance.

For the last few days she’d used sage to purify the space. Sat quietly in her room for hours doing who knew what and then she’d emerged this morning wearing all black jeans and a turtleneck like a sexy cat burglar and declared today was the day.

She put on a purple kimono that had mystic symbols on it. Like the all-seeing eye and moons and stars. Her hair was braided into one long plait that fell over her shoulder ending on her left boob, something he was desperately trying not to notice.

The room itself had large windows framed by heavy blackout curtains.

In preparation, Gia drew them shut, blocking out any residual light from the street, making the room feel heavy and very dark.

There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves down one wall jammed with framed pictures of strangers, board games and knickknacks collected from around the world.

An overstuffed leather couch faced them with two armchairs on the other side.

Everything looked antique and well-worn. There was normally a low square table between the seats, but Kirsty insisted it needed to be moved.

“How about we skip the séance?” Jasper asked, coming back in to wait for further orders to make the room just right for talking to the dead . Now that the moment was here, he was nervous.

“Yeah, and do what?” She glared at him over her shoulder as she pointed to the corner of the room where Dan wanted to set up the camera. “Not there. That’s the place I’m going to banish unwanted spirits to. It’s close to the window so they can leave.”

“Gia, open the curtains a crack and then the window behind it,” Kirsty ordered.

He couldn’t help but clock that, despite her insistence, she didn’t seem superconfident about how this all worked. “I’m sorry you were pressured into doing this. If this isn’t your area of expertise…maybe we can try to find another expert.”

“It’s not my area of expertise at all. Do you know of someone else?”

“No. You seem so tense.”

“I’ve never done this with an object before…just want to set the expectation that séances aren’t a guarantee. I don’t want you to be let down.”

“I won’t be. I’m just glad that you’re trying something. I really believe in you.”

Her face softened but otherwise she didn’t even acknowledge it. “Do you know how to build a fire?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Start one in that fireplace.” Gesturing to the large stone-faced one on the wall opposite the bookcases.

“I was a Boy Scout.”

“Of course you were.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Just that you give off goody-goody vibes.”

“We can’t all be Ms. Goth Girl.”

“Suits me. I’m not really a joiner.”

“You’re unique.”

Slight pink tinged her cheeks before she angled her head toward the fireplace, turning back to her preparations. The braid she had her hair in swung out as she pivoted away from him, and he was tempted to catch it and stop her from dismissing him. But he was smart enough not to follow through.

Maybe her prickly personality would be enough for Paul to ditch this earthly plane and move on.

He lit the fire at Kirsty’s request, then shifted the furniture around so they could bring in the kitchen table.

They draped it with a cloth Kirsty uncovered in the dining room cabinet, after knocking away some of the dust. It had black and navy stripes with an old puddle of wax in the center.

Not very occult looking, but it would do.

The lamps scattered throughout the room flickered as he went to get to the book.

“Are any of you allergic to different scents?” Kirsty asked the room.

Jasper shook his head as Chewie padded in and nudged his hand before curling up at his feet.

“I am. But I can finish setting up the camera and then wait in the hall. Jasper, you know how to start and stop the recording?” Dan verified as he edged his way to the door.

“I do. Will you keep Chewie? I’m not sure he’ll stay quiet while we’re filming,” Jasper said.

“Sure.”

Gia came back into the room dressed in a lime-green turtleneck and a miniskirt in a matching plaid.

Who even made lime green and bright yellow tartan?

She had black leather boots and a bandanna wrapped around her head like a headband.

Apparently this adventure was turning into an episode of Scooby-Doo .

She gave him a once-over. “Are you wearing that?”

His UVM hoodie and jeans were comfy. “Unless you object.”

“Kirsty, do you think he should change?”

Kirsty glanced up from her bag, a bundle of candles in different shapes and sizes in her hands. “He’s fine. Did you wear that faded hoodie when you were a student?”

He nodded.

“Perfect. That will give Paul something familiar to hone in on,” Kirsty said.

He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as she glided around the room, rearranging objects and pulling dccor out of her bag.

When she bent over, he couldn’t help but notice the way the kimono fluttered around her lithe frame.

The room was taking on an occult feel and Kirsty shone in it.

Her nerves were starting to abate as the room came together.

He tore his eyes from her. This was business, he reminded himself.

His nerves were starting to settle down as well. She was probably here for publicity for her book. He got that. He’d seen what her career meant to her.

Also knew what she meant to him. Kirsty was the key to everything, and he was determined to make sure that this worked. Whatever it took.

That meant ignoring the way she made his heart stutter and his palms sweat, pretending that one night with her was enough.

* * *

Kirsty felt a little sick to her stomach.

She’d never conducted a séance before. Sure, she’d played the Ouija board game as a teenager, but that wasn’t the same thing at all.

Besides what little she and her mother could find in their books, all she had to go off of was what she remembered from shows like Buffy and Charmed .

Closing her eyes, she steeled herself. She needed to just do this. She had already committed to it. Now she had to get into the spirit. All of this medium nonsense was much easier when she wrote about Eva Clare doing it.

Her hands sweated. She wiped them on her thighs and then cleared her throat. Gia watched her eagerly.

She took her time setting the table up. Discreetly she checked her phone and the wikiHow séance page she’d decided to use for tonight.

“Jasper, I know you’re eager to talk to Paul and find out why he hasn’t moved on. We can assume that means you believe in what we’re about to do.” Her research indicated that believing in the séance was necessary to get a result. “Gia, do you believe in ghosts and the afterlife?”

“Uh, totally. I have a Ouija board and everything,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

“Ouija isn’t the same thing.” Never mind that she’d just thought the same thing. “So, you two are the sitters while I’m acting as the medium. If I’m successful in contacting Paul then you’ll be able to ask him questions while I channel him.”

“Perfect. There’s so much I want to ask him, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I think the simpler the question the better. Something that has a yes or no answer,” she suggested. The wiki page had also suggested that. Plus it would be easier to moan a yes or no without raising too much suspicion.

She was going to hell for this. She was sure of it. She didn’t even believe in hell as a construct, but she was definitely going down there for masquerading as the ghost of a dead man. Probably to endure all the layers that Dante had sent Faust through.

“Okay, so like…do you have unfinished business?” Jasper suggested.

“Totally stuff like that. But maybe more specific, add with me . You both should jot down your questions before we start. Then you won’t forget it in the moment.”

“Uh, I don’t know the dude,” Gia pointed out. “What would I even ask him?”

“He might have beef with Jasper depending on what his unfinished business is. You’re a neutral party in case he’s temperamental.”

Gia and Jasper bent their heads together and jotted down their questions on the paper that Kirsty provided.

She’d banned phones except her own, citing that modern devices would interfere with her channeling.

Of course, that didn’t apply to any of the cameras they needed to film…

but for now, no one was directly calling Kirsty out on her contradictions.

It was decided that, since the book was the focus, they’d suspend a smartphone over the table using a rig Dan set up earlier in the day and then use the proper film camera placed on a tripod far back from the scene to get all three of them in frame.

“We’re ready. What now?” Jasper asked.

Kirsty surveyed the room, eyeing the heavy mixture of lit taper candles in different colors including white to invite spirits in, blue which enhanced communication, and orange which welcomed positive spirits and kept negative ones away.

She didn’t have any incense but improvised with cinnamon she found in the kitchen and dusted in a small bowl.

“Do you have a photo of Paul?”