Page 133 of Girl Between

“There are lots of reasons spirits may not answer us,” warned Marjorie, her tone calm but edged with something Dana couldn’t quite place.

“No, it means my daughter is alive!” Miriam insisted, her voice rising.

Dana laid a calming hand on the woman’s arm. “Miriam, I know it’s what you want to believe but?—”

“But nothing!” Miriam interrupted. “Elizabeth is alive! This proves it! Unless you’re telling me your friend is a fraud.”

"That’s enough!" Marjorie said firmly, her voice cutting through the tension like a blade as she rose to her feet. "I am no fraud, and I will not suffer fools.”

“Prove it!” Miriam called.

Marjorie paused, eyebrows narrowing. “You have more lost souls to commune with?”

“No but?—”

“I do,” Dana said, interrupting the feuding women. She quickly slipped the thin gold band from her finger, holding it out to Marjorie. “Please, it belonged to my mother.”

Marjorie didn’t argue. Instead, she took the offering and the three women resumed their position around the bowl of water. Marjorie traded the teeth for the ring and began the ritual again. “We seek your guidance, lwa. A sister stolen, lost from this world, traveling to the next. If she be with you, let her speak through the veil."

Again, the room fell silent. Then the water began to quiver, rippling as the leaf spun, faster and faster, until all at once, it plunged beneath the surface, sinking to the bottom with a force so strong, Dana’s mind was pulled with it.

Her vision swayed as a wave of frigid air overtook Dana and the room went dark. She gasped for breath as though she were beneath a frozen lake. Darkness tunneled around her as muffled voices echoed from the shadows, until suddenly a blinding light emerged. Dana stared at it in disbelief as the light dissipated into a familiar face.

“Mom?” Dana barely recognized her own voice as she whispered the foreign word.

The figure in the pulsing light smiled serenely at her. It didn’t answer, but Dana couldn’t explain the unnerving sense of calm that cradled her. Then all at once, she was back in the bookstore, staring at the ashen faces of Marjorie and Miriam.

Tears streamed down Miriam’s face as she squeezed Dana’s hand. “You were right,” she whispered, gazing toward Marjorie. “She’s the real deal.”

Marjorie sat taller. “There is much your mother longs to say, but most importantly, she wants you to know she has found peace, and she wishes that same peace for you.”

Dana nodded, quickly swiping at the tears welling in her eyes. “Thank you.”

"That’s enough for tonight," Marjorie said firmly, handing the ring back to Dana.

She stood quickly, her legs unsteady beneath her. She helped Miriam to her feet. The older woman was trembling, her face pale but her eyes still holding that fragile flicker of hope. Dana wanted to tell her that it wasn’t over, that they would find answers, but the words felt hollow even in her own mind.

As they stepped back into the dimly lit bookstore, the normalcy of their surroundings felt almost jarring. The air was lighter here, the familiar scent of old books a small comfort. But Dana couldn’t shake the sensation that something had followed them out of that room, an unseen presence that lingered just out of sight.

She checked her phone instinctively and saw a missed call from George. Her finger hovered over the screen, hesitant to call him back just yet. Whatever had just happened felt too raw. She needed time to process it—or perhaps to forget it entirely.

The séance had left Dana feeling as though the air around her was heavier, her chest tight with the weight of her emotions. Dana turned to thank Miriam and Marjorie.

“I should be thanking you,” Miriam said, her gaze lingering on Marjorie. “I know my Elizabeth is still alive. Thank you for renewingmy faith to keep searching.” She turned to Dana, pulling her into a quick, yet fierce embrace. “Promise you’ll call me if you discover anything new.”

“Promise,” Dana agreed, before watching Miriam hurry across the street to her awaiting chauffeur.

Marjorie faced Dana when they were alone. “It goes without saying that what happened inside these walls doesn’t leave them, understood?”

Dana nodded.

“That includes sharing any of this with my son.”

“I won’t tell George,” Dana replied.

“Good. Then I’ll see you tonight.”

“Wait!” Dana called. “Did you see her, too? My mother?”