Page 13

Chapter 13

Alex

“I think it’s time to reassess my weekday hours,” I grumbled to the empty air. There was no one in A Likely Story to hear me and there hadn’t been in over an hour. The shop had always opened at 10:00 in the morning every weekday, since the day Aunt Lizzie had established the place. Once I’d taken over, changing anything she’d created just seemed wrong, so I’d left it as it was, but maybe it really was time to consider a change.

Most of the time, I was lucky to see one person a week before noon on a weekday. The morning hours were usually when I did stocking, inventory, and all the other administrative tasks that came with running a store, just to fill the time. Maybe opening later would be a good way to save on energy bills, too? I made enough sales to keep the place open, but not enough to pay any staff, and I certainly wasn’t rolling in money. If Aunt Lizzie hadn’t paid off the loan on this place, I’d be screwed.

There was one other good thing about being in the bookstore in the quiet morning hours, though. The shop, even more than the house, brought me peace like nothing else. This place had been my safe haven as a scared child, a place to lose myself in fantastic stories of brave knights and magic and adventure. When I opened a book, my own problems and fears disappeared and I could be in a world where, no matter how terrible things seemed, there was always a happy ending.

Slipping into a relaxed headspace was the easiest thing in the world when I was here.

I settled down on the same loveseat Ori and I had sat on when they’d helped me with my focus, getting comfortable. The bell over the door would let me know if anyone walked in, and I wanted to keep working at the meditation exercises. It came easier now, but I still had a long way to go if I wanted to move past just breathing and attempt any sort of control over my ability.

Counting out each breath, I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax. Almost immediately, a soft, relaxed haze settled over me, my body and mind already learning that it was time to relax and just be.

Usually my mind just latched onto the numbers as I counted, repeating them until they meant nothing and everything became soft static. Today, though, something felt different. The static still came, a gently humming fog that permeated my thoughts, but instead of wandering into nothingness like usual, a faint image of trees flitted behind my eyes.

With everything going on, I’d forgotten about that strange experience Sunday morning. It came back in a rush now, but the urgency couldn’t break through the haze in my mind.

The smell of pine and earth and crisp, clean snow permeated the air, fresh and clean. Tiny snowflakes clung to my eyelashes, nearly invisible in the wind. I’d never felt so alive, so free .

“Who the fuck are you?”

A deep, rumbling voice jerked me out of the forest, fear stealing the breath from my chest. That wasn’t the whisper-soft question of a scared ghost. That was confusion, suspicion, even a hint of anger. Whoever this was, he was pissed.

Spirits were always harder to see in the daylight, their forms colorless and nearly translucent in the sunlight, but I had no problem spotting the man standing by the coffee table. I wasn’t short by any means, but this man towered over me by at least four inches. Dark brown hair even more in need of a haircut than my own fell in his eyes, which were a shade of pale blue I didn’t think was possible without colored contact lenses. His scruffy beard nearly brushed his chest, which I only then realized was bare, as were his feet. He wore only a threadbare pair of jeans that clung to heavy muscles.

Basically, he looked like he’d stepped off the cover of one of the romance novels I kept in stock for Chief Cornell.

“I asked you a question,” he barked, and I flinched back against the seat. Until Thomas McAvell, I’d never been afraid of the ghosts who came to me once I’d grown up enough to understand what they were. Now the feeling of a ghost beneath my skin clung to me, a constant reminder of how easy it had been to lose control of my own body.

“My name is Alex,” I replied cautiously. “Do you need me to help you?”

The man snorted, some of the tension draining from his shoulders. “Ah. You’re one of those .”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maybe he didn’t realize he was dead yet? “I don’t know why you came to me, but we can figure it out, okay? Do you remember where you were before you came here?”

“A fucking novice? Are you kidding me?” He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t come here. You came to me. Look, are you one of Ori’s people?”

“What? I mean, I know Ori, yes, but—”

“Fucking figures,” he growled. “Look, tell Ori I don’t need their help, okay? I’m fine. You all can leave me the fuck alone.”

Then he was gone, disappearing as though he’d never been there, leaving the lingering scent of pine and snow behind him.

“What the actual hell?” I breathed.

The man’s words ran circles in my head, but no matter how I twisted and turned them, they refused to make any sort of sense. I kept circling back to his question, though. ‘One of Ori’s people’? What did that even mean?

One way to find out.

I was halfway through scrawling a note to slap on the door of the shop when I remembered my promise. This wasn’t a ghost in the traditional sense, but it was close enough that I knew my friends would be pissed if I didn’t call them.

A quick glance at the clock showed it wasn’t even noon yet. All four of my ‘ghost emergency’ contacts were at work right now. This close to lunch, Raina and Camille would be slammed with customers, which left Donovan and Will.

“Hey, Alex.” Donovan picked up on the second ring, his voice warm and relaxed when he spoke. I hated to take that away, but I couldn’t break my promise to him again. I just couldn’t.

“Hey, Donovan,” I replied, and I didn’t realize just how anxious I was until I heard my voice quivering.

“What’s up? Do I need to come to the shop?” he asked, instantly on alert. I heard faint sounds in the background, like he was shuffling paperwork, probably already on his way out the door.

“Yes, please. I think I just saw a ghost.”

“I can be there in two minutes,” he said. His voice grew muffled for a moment, like he’d put his hand over the phone, but I heard him tell Will that he was taking an early lunch to meet me. Will must have understood the double meaning, because when Donovan came back a moment later, he just said, “I’m on my way now. Do you need to close up?”

“I’m going to put a note on the door right now.”

“Good. Go ahead and turn out the lights. I can see the shop from here. Thank you for calling me.”

“I promised you,” I whispered as I stuck the note on the door and turned out the lights. If I peeked out the window at just the right angle, I could already see Donovan crossing the street and coming toward me. He wasn’t running, but it was close, and thirty seconds later he slipped through the doors and pulled me straight into his arms.

“Are you alright?” he asked, gently rubbing my back as he held me.

I took a second to assess myself, something I hadn’t done yet. A faint chill shivered along my skin, but nothing like the freezing, biting cold I’d once been used to.

“I think I’m okay, actually. Really,” I assured him when he gave me an appraising look. He wanted to ask again, I could see it in his eyes, but to my surprise, he just nodded. I guess I wasn’t the only one remembering our argument and how we’d promised to trust each other.

“Alright. Where does the ghost want you to go?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” I took a step back and looked around, but no sign of the man remained. “He disappeared. He knew Ori, though, so I think I need to go see them. This has never happened before.”

“Alright, lead the way.”

***

Esoteric Oddities appeared to be closed when we arrived, both of us flushed from the cold and disheveled, but when I tried the door, it opened easily, allowing us inside.

The faint smell of old incense curled around me when I stepped in, a scent that was somehow already becoming a familiar one. Inside, the shop was dark, save for a soft golden glow from an open door at the back of the space. The quiet click of the door closing behind me seemed so loud in the silence. I’d run out my door fueled by adrenaline, but it was already fading, leaving me regretting my decision. I should just go back to work, right? Whoever that ghost was, he didn’t want my help, so why push?

I reached back for the door handle, earning a confused look from Donovan, but the second my fingers brushed the metal, Ori appeared in the doorway, backlit by the lamplight from what must be their office.

“Alex? Is everything okay?” they asked, taking a step closer. They paused when they saw Donovan, a wariness in their eyes I’d never seen before. “Detective Parker.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said with a nod. If I’d noticed Ori’s hesitation, Donovan definitely had, which meant he also would have caught the way Ori’s eyes went to our hands, where I held onto Donovan, taking some comfort from his touch.

“Same,” they said, their attention coming back to me. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m fine, I think. I didn’t realize you were closed. I’ll come back another time. It’s really nothing, probably.”

“So, it’s definitely something, then?” Ori gave me a wry smile and my vague escape plan flittered away. “I’m just working on a side project. It’s nothing that can’t wait for now. What happened?”

They opened at noon, I remembered, which was only a few minutes away. I glanced back at the door and they caught on immediately.

“Micah is in the storeroom. He’ll be able to cover the store for a bit while we talk,” they assured me, taking a step to the side of the doorway they’d come from. “You two can come back here.”

The invitation came out almost begrudgingly, but I got the feeling it would have been a lot warmer if Donovan hadn’t been standing beside me. For whatever reason, Ori didn’t like Donovan. I considered asking him to wait outside, but decided against it. I’d tell him whatever happened, anyway, and I truly was done lying and keeping secrets from him.

We followed Ori into what was, in fact, their office. A small desk butted up against the wall with a laptop and a tablet set up on it. The laptop was off, but the tablet was paused on a video of a person holding a weird little statue that I couldn’t even begin to name. Lines of shelves on the wall were the only other furniture in the small space, leaving the floor open. Ori must have been working on their project here. A line of chalk formed a circle on the wood, with a cluster of candles at one end and an array of crystals at the other.

“Um… I can seriously come back later. It looks like you’re busy,” I offered again, trying not to stare at the circle. I still had trouble saying the word ‘psychic’, let alone describing myself as one, so this pushed the line of woowoo stuff even for me.

“It’s fine, just testing something for a friend,” they assured me. Ori went to what I’d thought was a tapestry on the wall and pulled it aside, revealing a tiny storage area. They grabbed a padded folding chair and set it out for me, careful to avoid disturbing the circle. “Okay, so, what’s going on?”

They didn’t offer the same to Donovan and I shot him a quick glance, but Donovan just shook his head once before taking up position behind me, one hand on my shoulder. I fidgeted in the surprisingly comfortable chair, twisting the zipper of my jacket nearly to the breaking point as I tried to figure out the best way to explain.

“Well… okay, this sounds weird even to me,” I admitted, sighing. “I was at work and decided to try meditating again. I don’t know what happened, but somehow that ended up with a man standing in the middle of my shop yelling at me and saying he knew you, so I panicked and came here.”

Ori tilted their head to the side, one eyebrow slowly rising and for the first time, I saw a hint of fear in their dark eyes. “I think I might need a bit more detail here, Alex. A ghost came to you and said he knew me? Did he tell you his name?”

“He didn’t say. I’m sorry.” Great. In my rush to get here, I hadn’t even considered the fact that I would be rushing to tell Ori that one of their friends was likely dead.

“Just start at the beginning and we’ll figure it out, alright?” They were doing an impressive job at remaining calm, far better than I was managing.

Donovan gently squeezed my shoulder in support and I replayed the entire encounter in my head, trying to remember exactly what he’d said in that short time. “He appeared and asked me who I was,” I said, leaving out the cuss words that had accompanied it. “Usually ghosts are pretty difficult to see in the daylight, but he must be strong, because he was almost completely solid. He seemed angry he was at my store, even though he’s the one who came to me, not the other way around.” I frowned, remembering his words. “Well, he claimed I came to him, but that’s not how my power works. He called me a, and I quote, ‘fucking novice’ and told me to tell you that he didn’t need your help, then disappeared.”

Ori blinked rapidly, absorbing all that information. Surprisingly, the fear I’d seen in their eyes disappeared, replaced by curiosity and… was that excitement?

“He spoke to you? Out loud? What did he look like?”

“Like a romance novel come to life, until he opened his mouth,” I muttered, thoroughly confused when Ori laughed in delight.

“Did he have dark hair and blue eyes? Grumpy as a hungry bear and uses the word ‘fuck’ like a comma?”

“That sounds like him, yeah,” I said, and Ori grinned, which was not the reaction I was expecting at all. “Not to be rude, but did you not like him or something? Because if he came to me, he’s… he’s dead.”

“Not a chance,” Ori said immediately, shaking their head. “There’s no way he’s dead, and I’m not just saying that out of some misplaced grief or something.”

“Except he has to be, because I don’t see living people, remember? My power deals with ghosts.” Though, whoever that man was, he had been the least-ghostly ghost I’d ever encountered. I hadn’t even felt the loss of whatever energy he must have taken from me to appear. The one time I’d seen a ghost that solid had been when Charlie passed and the energy draw knocked me on my ass the rest of the night. Even then, he hadn’t been as corporeal as this stranger.

Ori paused, their dark eyes flitting to Donovan, then away almost too fast to perceive.

“He knows everything about me and what I do,” I assured Ori. Maybe they were just trying to protect my secret? “I trust Donovan with my life and I mean that literally. He saved my life when I got possessed and the ghost tried to get me to shoot myself.”

“I think I’d like to hear that story sometime,” they murmured. They took a breath and let it out on a quiet sight. “Alright. Remember how I told you there were others out in the world who were slightly different?”

Donovan’s hold on my shoulder faltered and I realized I’d forgotten to mention that part to him. Though, honestly, I’d all but forgotten until now.

“I remember you saying there were others, but not who or what they were,” I said slowly. “What, was he a poltergeist or something?”

“His secrets aren’t mine to tell, sorry. However, I will tell you that he was wrong, and he does need my help. He’s actually part of the project I’m working on for that friend,” they said, nodding toward the chalk circle. “He’s not dead, but he is lost, whether he wants to admit it or not.”

No matter how I twisted those words around in my head, they still didn’t make a bit of sense.

“Okay, now I’m the one who’s going to need more detail. What, exactly, do you mean by that and why did a ghost who’s not a ghost appear in my living room? What the hell is going on, Ori?”

***

Ori hesitated long enough for me to realize they were trying to come up with a way to explain without actually telling me anything. As a person with secrets of my own, I could appreciate the lengths they went to in order to protect their friend. As someone who’d just had an apparently not-dead dead person appear in my house, I just wanted to know what the hell was happening to me.

“Let me start by saying you’re probably not going to like my answer,” Ori finally said. I’d been expecting that outcome, but not for them to be so open about it.

“At least you’re honest.” I waved for them to continue, already bracing myself.

Again they glanced at Donovan, biting their lip in the most obvious display of discomfort I’d seen from them yet.

“Is there a reason you don’t trust me?” Donovan asked, the first time he’d spoken since he’d greeted Ori. “Nothing you and Alex talk about will leave this room. All I care about is making sure he’s safe.”

Ori winced. “Please don’t take it personally. Our community hasn’t had a great history with law enforcement in the past and that discomfort around authority runs deep.”

“Wait, what community?” I asked. “Okay. Ori. I swear on my life that Donovan is trustworthy. He’s a good person with a moral compass that’s much stronger than mine and a protective instinct that would put a German Shepherd to shame.”

“Thanks, I think,” he murmured.

I reached up and laid my hand on his, smiling when he immediately turned it so he was holding onto me. The angle was awkward, but it was worth it.

Ori watched that little interaction closely, their dark eyes lingering on Donovan, assessing him in a way that sent an odd chill through me. It didn’t scare me, exactly, but I abruptly remembered the strange feeling I’d had a few days ago at home, when my mind had wandered through the mountains and trees around Lowery’s Crossing. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d been cold the rest of that night, similar to the early chill I felt when a ghost first appeared.

“I won’t give details or names,” Ori finally said, breaking the loaded silence. “But yes, there is a small community here made of up those of us who possess abilities or those who are not human at all.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand to stop them, trying to process those last few words.

What the actual hell? For the most part, I’d accepted that I was psychic, as much as that word made me cringe to even think. I’d even accepted that Ori likely had some sort of unique ability, even if they hadn’t given me any details. But I’d assumed we were anomalies, outliers in a world full of ‘normal’ people.

Now Ori stood here, calm as anything, implying that there were enough people like me out there to have a community ? That there were nonhumans in that community? What did that even mean?

“Alex? Are you alright?” Ori asked, the concern in their voice interrupting my increasingly panicked thoughts.

“No, not really.” I leaned forward in the chair, resting my elbows on my knees and burying my face in my free hand. Donovan immediately knelt beside me, not that he had much choice when I all but dragged him, clinging to his hand. “You can’t just drop something like that on me, then ask if I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry. I forget sometimes that you’re still new to all this.”

“I’ve been dealing with this psychic crap since I was a kid. I’m not new. I’m just…” Confused? Scared? Slightly panicked? All of the above?

“That’s true, but you’re new to the community,” they amended. “If we’d known about you when you lived here as a kid, someone would have tried to help you. I’m not sure what we could have done, since your ability seems to be quite unique, but we would have tried.”

“No one knew. Just my aunt.” I peered up at him through my fingers. “There’ve been people like me here all along?”

“We were here before the town was settled by non-paranormals. Back then, this area was just known as The Crossing. The man who bought up all the land tacked his name on to appease his ego, and it became Lowery’s Crossing. Our people decided to protect themselves by assimilating into the community, but we didn’t lose our roots.”

“How is that possible? How have you stayed hidden this long?” My mind was reeling and I was likely going to have a major freakout when I finally made it home. Right now, I just focused on one thing at a time, trying to process what Ori was telling me.

“ We have stayed hidden by just making ourselves part of the town.” I didn’t miss how the pointed look they gave me when they said ‘we’. I just chose to ignore it. “It’s easy, in a town like this. Those of us that can blend in do. Those that are more obviously different have settled deeper into the mountains, where they have more room to be themselves.”

“Wait, so those ghost stories I heard as a kid are real? About that cult that lives out in the woods?” The story went that they caught and ate kids who found them, but I stopped before repeating that bit.

“They’re not a cult. They’re shifters,” Ori said, shaking their head, and they spoke so calmly that it took a solid ten seconds for me to actually realize what they’d said.

“Shifters?” Donovan repeated. “Like werewolves?” His voice was impressively even, without a hint of judgment. I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to manage that equilibrium right now.

“Shifters and werewolves are not the same thing and do not ever imply that in the presence of either one,” Ori warned. “And no, I’m not kidding.”

“They both shapeshift, right? How are they not the same thing?” I’d officially cracked. This had to be a fever dream. I’d fallen asleep while meditating and now I was in some weird, upside down world where everything I’d ever known was now turned on its head.

“Shifters can choose when to assume their other forms and they are in full control when they do. They appear fully human in that form and fully animal when they shift. Werewolves look human, but they’re ruled by the moon and for the three nights it’s full, they are forced to turn. They have no control over the beast they become and no one would ever mistake that form for any sort of natural creature. Implying that a shifter is a werewolf is an insult that will likely end in a fight, at best.”

“So, not only is there a hidden community in the town I’ve spent half my life in, but that community has its own politics and prejudices. Awesome.” Even to myself, I sounded slightly hysterical.

“Every group of people, no matter what abilities they have, is going to have some internal conflict, but in the end, we take care of each other. We look out for each other and we keep each other’s secrets, which includes dealing with our own issues and problems, without outside intervention.”

“Intervention like the local authorities?” I guessed, and they nodded.

“Exactly. I mean no offense, Detective Parker.”

“You can call me Donovan, and no offense taken,” he said. “I understand. Historically, those in authority haven’t been exactly fair to anyone they considered to be different.”

“People are afraid of what they don’t understand,” Ori said, softer than I’d ever heard them before. “There are those of us who could never walk down a street in a normal human town. Keeping our existence secret is how we’ve survived this long.”

“You don’t think it would help to have at least one or two people in town that know and could help when situations arise that can’t be handled internally?” Donovan asked. “Or something too big to keep hidden happens?”

Ori raised a single, perfectly shaped brow. “Do you think we haven’t already considered that?”

“Does that mean there are people who do know?”

I could almost see the thoughts running through Donovan’s mind as he tried to figure out which of his coworkers might know about this secret other community.

“I’m telling you both this only because, Alex, you are one of us. It is entirely up to you what you do with that knowledge. If you want to reveal your secrets, I can’t stop you and I won’t try. That’s not my business. All I can do is ask you to show the same respect to the others.”

With just a few words, Ori had me neatly trapped. “Well played,” I grumbled. “Alright, but I can’t promise not to revisit this with you down the road.”

“I wait with bated breath,” they drawled, but with a smile.

“I still think telling at least the chief of police would be a good idea, if only to help protect everyone in both communities, but you’re right. It’s not my job to out people against their will,” Donovan agreed.

The tension in the room eased and the distrust in Ori’s eyes gave way to a begrudging respect with Donovan’s words.

“Very well. Let’s table the discussion for another day and get back to your visitor.”

“Right, the not-dead one.” Honestly, I’d completely forgotten about him for a minute there, too caught up in the mess of new information Ori had thrown at me. “You said he was alive, but lost. Care to clarify?”

“What did he say to you, exactly?”

“He asked who I was, so I told him, then I think I asked him if he needed help. He got annoyed and said I was one of those . Do I want to know what he was referring to?”

Ori snorted. “Knowing him, probably not. Anything else?”

“Yeah. I asked if he remembered why he was in my house and he called me a novice and said I’d come to him, which isn’t possible, so I have no idea what he meant. Then he asked if I was one of your people and when I said I knew you, he basically told us all to fuck off and leave him alone. Then he disappeared.”

“He always said he hated drama, then he pulls something like that,” Ori muttered under their breath. “Go back, though. He said you’d come to him? What was around you? Did you see where he was?”

I shook my head. “We were still standing in my bookstore. I can’t go out looking for someone. That’s not how my power works, so he must’ve been confused and not realized he’d somehow wandered into my house. I hate to keep pushing, because I don’t want him to be, but are you certain he’s still…”

“Alive?” Ori asked when I trailed off. “I’m sure. His brother would have called me if anything happened. I’ll double-check, though, because I can tell you still don’t believe me.”

There was an old landline phone sitting on the tiny desk in their office, and Ori quickly dialed a number. They were surprisingly calm, considering the circumstances. I didn’t want their friend to be dead, of course, but I didn’t see the living, so there really weren’t that many other options.

“Hey, Lil. Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to check in.” Ori paused, a little smile quirking their lips at whatever the other person said. I leaned in a little closer, but I couldn’t make out the other half of the conversation or discern who Ori was talking to. I didn’t know anyone named Lil, though. A few months ago, I would have said I knew everyone in town at least by sight, but now I found myself wondering if I knew a damn thing about the town I’d made my haven.

“Yeah, that’s what Tir said. That’s part of why I was calling, actually. Have you seen your brother today?” Ori paused, then sighed. I hadn’t even realized they’d tensed up until the tension released and they leaned back in their chair. “I figured you would call me if anything changed, but I just wanted to be sure. If he gets cranky, tell him I’ll come over and sage his house again.” Ori chuckled at the person’s response before exchanging a few pleasantries and finally disconnecting.

“Who was that?” I asked, practically vibrating with curiosity. Only Donovan’s hand on my shoulder kept me from jumping out of my chair. “What did they say? Is your friend really alright?”

“Take a breath,” Ori laughed. “That was my friend Lil. I guarantee you don’t know him. He’s Rian’s brother and looks out for him. Rian is currently at his house right now, being an asshole. He’s as fine as he gets and not even close to dead.”

Great. Had being possessed somehow opened some metaphysical door and now anyone with any kind of ability, living or dead, just wander into my life? “I’m glad he’s okay, but I don’t get it. How did he find me if he’s not dead? That’s not how any of this works.”

“Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?” I frowned, unsure if I liked the look on Ori’s face when they asked that.

“Are you sure that’s how your power works?”

“I’ve been dealing with this for almost nineteen years, so yes, I’m pretty sure I know how my own ability works.”

Ori turned in their chair to face me directly and I decided that, no, I did not like the look on their face.

“I’m saying this as your friend, Alex, so please don’t take this personally,” they said, which did not bode well. “But, as you said, you’ve been ‘dealing with’ your power. From what you’ve told me, you suffer through it, do what you need to, then try to act like it doesn’t exist the rest of the time.”

Of course, I immediately took it personally. “Anyone who was in my shoes would probably do the same. Who wants to spend their days seeing dead people?”

“I’m not blaming you. All I’m trying to say is that you can’t be sure that’s the extent of your power if you’ve never tested it. It’s been a passive ability, something that happens to you. I’m just suggesting that perhaps there might be more to it.”

“Like what?” It came out sharper than I’d intended, but I couldn’t help myself. If what Ori said was true, then everything I’d thought I knew about myself was wrong. I absolutely could not handle an existential crisis on a random weekday afternoon, especially not after just recovering from the fallout of fighting with Donovan.

As if thinking his name summoned him, Donovan wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind in a loose hug, his chin resting on my head. I soaked up the silent support, clinging to it as I tried to keep it together.

“I’m not sure, but I think Rian was right.” Ori spoke cautiously, like they realized how close I was to falling apart. “It sounds like you found him , because I know him and he’d never go to anyone for help, even if he’d lost a limb and was bleeding out.”

“That was graphic.”

“But true. So if he didn’t seek you out, then the only other option is that you found him.”

“Why, though?” I protested and even to my own ears, I sounded whiny. “I’ve never been able to find someone like this, especially not while they’re still alive. It’s always been the other way around. It’s just not possible.”

“How do you know? Have you ever tried to find anyone? Have you ever tried to actively use your ability?” they countered.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t have to. We both knew the answer to that. I’d spent over half my life hiding from this power, doing the bare minimum to avoid being stalked by ghosts, then hidden it away in the back of my mind until the inevitable next time. I heard the echo of Camille’s voice in my head from the day we’d first come to see Ori.

“You’ve resigned yourself to it.”

Ori and Camille were right. I hadn’t accepted my ability and I certainly hadn’t tried to learn to control it. They’d given me the tools to learn, but for the most part, I’d ignored them, falling back on my old reluctant resignation.

“I’m not judging you, Alex,” Ori said, softer now. “You’re right. If I were in your shoes, dealing with something like that with no one to support me, I’d probably do the same as you.”

“He does have support, though,” Donovan countered, hugging me tighter. “Not just me, either.”

“I do now, but Ori’s right. Most of my life, I was trying to deal with this alone.” I breathed in and out, the slow breaths I’d been practicing, and they both stayed quiet until I could center myself. “You really think there’s more to what I can do?”

“I do. It may be too early to say, but to me, it seems like your ability isn’t speaking to the dead so much as it is finding the lost,” they said. “I can’t begin to guess the extent of it, but as your friend, I’ll help you test it as much as you’re willing, if you’ll let me. And you have a community that would gladly lend what knowledge we can, if you’ll let us.”

Could I do this? Did I want to do this? Until now, my power had always been something to be avoided, to lock up in the back of my mind. As I’d told Ori, it was something I suffered through, something I endured until I could go back to pretending I was normal. If what they said was true and I started expanding my ability, there would be no more pretending. There would be no going back.

“I need time. This is too much right now. It’s all just… I can’t…”

“I get it, Alex. Believe me, I get it. There’s no hurry. Take your time and think about it as long as you need. I’ll support you either way.”

“You know I will, too,” Donovan murmured in my ear and despite the turmoil in my head, I took comfort in the support they were both showing me.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “Ori, I’ll let you know if anything else happens with Rian.”

“Lil and I would both appreciate that,” they said with a gentle smile. “If you decide you want to look into your abilities, I’ll be here, but know that I won’t judge you if you decide not to. It’s your life and I’m your friend, no matter what.”

A tangled mess of emotions followed Donovan and me out of Esoteric Oddities. My head ached, overfilled with too much information.

“Do you want to go home?” Donovan asked quietly. He still held my hand, a steady anchor in the storm.

“I should get back to work. You probably should, too. I think we took up your whole lunch break.”

“I don’t mind. I’m glad I could be here with you.” He stopped on the sidewalk and faced me, his free hand coming up to my cheek. “If you need anything, I’ll be right down the street, okay? And whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here.”

Turning into his touch, I brushed a soft kiss to his palm. “Thank you.”

“I love you, Alex.”

“I love you, too.” More than I could ever express with words, I loved this man. I carried that love with me back to A Likely Story, holding it close while I worked and pushing everything Ori had said to the back of my mind. I’d deal with all of that later and, for the first time, I wouldn’t have to deal with it alone.

I could get used to this feeling.