Page 4

Chapter 4

Alex

T he following morning, Donovan’s suggestion still ran circles in my head, no matter how I tried to distract myself.

From the windows of A Likely Story, I could just barely see the street sign for Race Street, but the post office on the corner hid the storefronts on the small side street. A small boutique took up the corner building, followed by a tiny unit for the Crossing’s lone tattoo artist. The crystal shop took up another small building, with the only dog groomer in town on the far corner.

Most of the owners of those businesses were acquaintances, at least. Melissa, who ran the boutique, bought classics off my shelves from time to time to decorate her shop. Bel, the tattoo artist, was a regular at Buns ‘n’ Roses and had a wicked sense of humor, according to Rachel, one of the baristas. The groomer at the far end, Quinn, was a regular, but also one of the shyest people I’d ever met. He was always unfailingly polite, but I got the feeling that he worked with dogs to avoid dealing with people as much as possible.

The crystal shop, though… Try as I might, I couldn’t think of the name of the owner. I made it a point to at least know who my fellow small business owners were, yet somehow, I couldn’t put a name or even a face to them. Come to think of it, I couldn’t even come up with the name of the shop itself.

“That’s a very serious thinking face. Should I come back?”

I’d apparently been so caught up in trying to remember that I didn’t hear the door open or Camille walk in. Donovan would just love my situational awareness.

“You’re fine,” I assured her, shaking my head. “What’s up?”

She held up a bag and a cup in response. “Lunch time.”

“Already?” I glanced at the tablet on my counter, shocked to see it was nearly one o’clock. “Damn, I lost track of time.”

“Is everything alright?” Camille asked, putting the bag and cup on the counter near my elbow. Despite being friends for a few years now, she didn’t come around the counter like her girlfriend always did. Instead, she leaned against the solid wood, elbows on the counter and her chin resting on her hands. She unzipped her heavy coat and I caught a glimpse of the evil eye necklace hanging around her neck. I’d never given it much thought before, but now it caught my attention.

“Yeah. Actually, you might be able to help me.”

“You know I’m always happy to do what I can.”

“Because you’re an awesome person,” I said, just to make her smile. I loved Camille, and she deserved every single compliment in the world. “I was just wondering about the crystal shop down on Race Street.”

She tilted her head, long blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. “Esoteric Oddities? What about it?”

“How did I not know that name?” I’d have thought I’d remember a name like that. “Do you know who owns it?”

“Sure. Ori Castellos has run it as long as I’ve lived here,” she shrugged. “They’re pretty nice, too, once you get to know them. I’ve never met anyone who knows more about crystals and magic.”

Lowery’s Crossing had a population hovering around ten thousand, maybe fifteen thousand when tourists came through in the summer months on their way to the mountains. I’d lived here for six years as a kid, moving in with Aunt Lizzie when I was twelve years old, then visited frequently while I was in college. I’d moved back permanently almost seven years ago, at age 24, when my aunt died. I knew most people by sight and, thanks to the gossipy baristas I saw every day, had at least heard of those I didn’t know.

Not once had I ever heard the name Ori Castellos.

“I’m surprised I’ve never met them before,” I said slowly, searching my memory and again coming up blank. Part of what Camille had said finally registered, though, and I blinked at her. “Wait. Magic?”

She tilted her head. “You’re literally a psychic, but you’re going to be skeptical about the existence of magic? Haven’t you spent half your life in Lowery’s Crossing?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Alex, within a month of moving here, I’d heard at least a dozen stories about the strange happenings around this town.”

I didn’t roll my eyes, I wouldn’t disrespect Camille like that, but I did sigh. “Everyone always gets so superstitious about mountain towns. When I was younger, all the kids talked about the witches out in the woods and swore they heard the howls of werewolves under the full moon. None of that is real, though.”

“I agree with you about the werewolves, at least,” Camille said with a soft laugh. “But witches are very real. Not the ones on TV, with pointed hats and magic potions, but witchcraft, as a practice, is quite common these days.”

“You’re right, sorry. I guess I just didn’t realize it was common enough that we’d have a shop like that here in town. I’m also surprised that it’s been open this long and I’ve never been inside or me the owner.”

“Considering your skepticism, it’s not that shocking,” she said. “Are you wanting to learn more about crystals and things like that? I’d be happy to share what I know, or I could introduce you to Ori, if you wanted.”

“It’s just something Donovan and I talked about yesterday. After everything that happened, I’m realizing that I’ve never really tried to get any sort of control over my ability.” I slumped forward, resting my elbows on the counter and mirroring Camille. “That asshole Nate used crystals and those weird symbols to banish Charlie and keep him out of my house. I didn’t even know that was possible.” Thinking of Charlie brought with it a familiar twinge of bittersweet grief.

“There are quite a few ways to protect a home. I can stop by and do it for you any time you’d like.”

It was tempting. I couldn’t deny that. If I blocked them from entering my house, would they be forced to leave me alone for good? Would they disappear when they couldn’t draw off my energy? I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go to bed at night without that tiny nugget of worry in the back of my mind that I’d wake to a ghost in my bedroom. To never again go out in the dead of night in search of a dead body. It sounded like pure bliss.

Right on the heels of that thought, though, reality came crashing in.

What would happen to those people if I didn’t help them? Would they be able to move on, or would they be trapped here? Would their bodies remain missing or hidden forever? How many families would suffer, waiting for news of a loved one that never came?

Could I live with myself if I let that happen?

“I don’t want to bar them completely, but… I don’t know, maybe something to help me focus? Or maybe they have something that can teach me how to get some control over this?” I slumped forward on the counter, letting my forehead rest on the cool wood. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Camille. I don’t even know if there’s anyone else out there who can do what I do, so how do I even know what to look for?”

A gentle hand touched my head, stroking through my hair, soft and soothing. “You let your friends help you, first of all,” she murmured. “We’ll see what we can find and we’ll experiment until we figure out what works for you. If you don’t feel comfortable going to see Ori, I’ll go talk to them and at least see what kind of information I can come up with.”

I turned my head just enough to peer up at her. “What did I do to deserve such awesome friends?”

She laughed, tugging at a lock of my hair in a move she’d picked up from Raina. “That’s easy. You’re a good person and a good friend. Now, sit up and eat your lunch. I need your opinion on this new sandwich. We’re thinking of adding a lunch menu beyond just savory pastries, but we’re still testing the waters.”

“It’d be nice to have a little variety.” I did as ordered, sitting up in my chair and reaching for the bag she’d brought. “What’s the drink today?”

“Your usual. Raina decided to save the experimental drinks for next week. The sandwich is roasted vegetables, sundried tomato pesto, and goat cheese on ciabatta.”

I paused in the middle of unwrapping the sandwich. “Where did you even get goat cheese in Lowery’s Crossing?”

“I had to take a trip to Denver to get it,” she admitted. “If it’s not a fan favorite, it won’t make the permanent menu, but I’m hoping I can get enough people to give it a shot. I’ll die of boredom if we just do turkey and cheese sandwiches or something.”

If I weren’t getting it for free, I’m not sure I would have tried it, either. Not that I’d tell Camille that. I took my role as guinea pig seriously, especially since it meant my friends fed me most days.

“I think I want to at least talk to Ori and check out the shop. If you have free time in the next week or so, would you want to come with me?” Maybe I was just being a chicken, but I didn’t want to go alone, and Donovan would be even more clueless than me. It seemed smartest to take someone who at least knew what she was talking about.

“I’ll stop by your house tomorrow after we close, if you’d like,” she agreed easily. “Ori stays open fairly late. Raina will probably come, too. She’s not as into it as I am, but she likes their incense selection.”

“You’re the best. I’ll give you a review of the sandwich in the morning when Donovan and I stop by for breakfast.”

“Have the two of you spent a night apart since you got back from visiting his family?” she teased, blue eyes twinkling. She and her twin Will shared that devilish streak, though she was more subtle about it than her twin.

“Nope, and I’m perfectly fine with that.”

“I’m sure you are.” She shook her head, still smiling. “I’ve got to head back. I’ll do a little research tonight when I get home and let you know what I find in the morning.”

Buns ‘n’ Roses was only a block away, but Camille bundled up like she was preparing to trek the length of Antarctica. After a quick hug, she was gone, leaving me alone with my lunch and way too many thoughts.

***

By the time I closed up the bookstore the next day, I’d already had second (and third and fourth) thoughts about this whole venture, but it was too late to back out after I’d already agreed to go with the girls. Donovan and Will were both putting in extra hours on the Perez case, so after Donovan left my bed this morning, I’d rattled around the empty house alone. Louis had been clingier than usual, like he knew something was bothering me, and followed underfoot no matter where I went. A few extra treats on my way out the door distracted him enough for me to leave.

Weekday mornings were usually slow, leaving me free to focus on the administration side of running the store. Once again, I silently thanked my aunt for not leaving me with a mortgage or lease on this place. Things would be a lot tighter if I had to worry more about losing the building.

I’d been exchanging emails with Anya Marx about setting up Drag Story Hour at the shop, which would hopefully draw in some new business. A lot of parents brought their kids to A Likely Story in bad weather to take advantage of the well-stocked kid’s section, but that didn’t always end in a purchase. Most of the time, the kids just played with the puzzles and flipped through picture books for awhile until they got bored.

The sun had already begun its descent when Raina and Camille walked into the store together, arm in arm and giggling about something that would probably make me blush.

“Perfect timing,” I said, powering down the tablet that I used as a cash register. The big clunky thing Aunt Lizzie had used was now in storage and no longer taking up half the counter with its bulk. It was one change I thought she’d appreciate.

I bundled up in my thickest coat before we left and even then, the first touch of cold air on my face made me whimper. I loved living in the mountains, but sometimes the wait for winter to let go was maddening.

“I did a little research last night,” Camille said. She walked in the middle, with Raina on her left and me on her right, closest to the road. “There are a few sites I trust to have decent information, usually.”

“Did you find anything interesting? Every time I tried to look, I ended up on some website that wanted my credit card information in exchange for a 90 second reading from the world’s best psychic medium. After the fourth one making that claim, I gave up.”

“You lasted longer than me,” Raina said. She walked arm in arm with Camille still, huddled close to her girlfriend for warmth. “After the second one that played new age elevator music on full blast, I let Cami handle it.”

“You just have to know where to look. I’ll send you some links,” Camille said with an easy shrug. “I don’t know if any of the people claiming to be psychic are telling the truth or not, but most of them said the same thing.”

“Meditate?” I guessed, trying not to groan. I’d seen some variation of that advice on nearly every website I’d checked out. Yoga was another popular one, usually followed by a ‘buy a subscription to my yoga instructional videos for only fifty bucks a month’.

“No, which is probably a good thing for you,” she teased, giving me a playful nudge. “They say that the first thing you need to do is accept your gift.”

“What does that even mean?” I frowned, glancing over at her. “I know that I can do this. It’s not like I’m pretending it’s not real. I’ve accepted it.”

“No, you haven’t. You’ve resigned yourself to it.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, so suddenly that the girls walked a few more feet before realizing I wasn’t with them. Camille’s simple words had more power than a gut punch and she’d knocked the breath right out of me.

“Alex? Are you alright?” Raina asked. They came back to me and I found myself in the middle now, protected on both sides by my friends.

“Sorry, your girlfriend just kind of blew my mind.” I managed a weak laugh, shaking my head. “You’re right, Camille. I never thought of it that way before, but you’re right.”

“Alex…” Camille hugged me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“I hate what I can do, but I do it anyway because I have to. I thought that meant I’d accepted this stupid ability.”

“I don’t blame you for feeling like that,” she said softly. “I think anyone in your position would. If you truly hate it, though, I think it will be difficult to ever gain any control, because you’ll be too busy resenting that you have to.”

I peeked over at Raina. “You just had to go and fall in love with the smartest woman in the state, didn’t you?”

“Yep!” Pride shone in the smile she gave Camille, along with the kind of deep, abiding love that made my eyes well up. I adored these two.

“Okay, so accepting is the first step,” I said and Camille released me so we could keep walking. Lowery’s Crossing was small enough that we were already almost there. “Anything else I should know?”

“Well, there are some crystals that are supposed to help you focus, and several people recommended meditating.” Camille winked at me, unimpressed by the dry look I shot her. “What? It could be worse. Quite a few of the recommendations involved certain substances that will help you ‘see into the beyond’.” Her attempt at a faux-mystical voice fell apart when she started giggling, drawing Raina in and leaving me shaking my head.

“I’m not going to start popping 'shrooms to help me see dead people,” I said, which just set off another round of laughing. “You guys are lucky I love you too much to call you crazy.”

“Please, our crazy is why you love us,” Raina scoffed. “Come on, there’s the shop. Let’s get in out of the cold and see what we can find.”

Trepidation slowed my steps, but Raina and Camille bustled me inside before I could change my mind.

The front section of Esoteric Oddities looked much the same as the windows. Plants hung from the walls and roof, while shelves along the wall held all manner of items. To the left was a variety of incense and all the paraphernalia to go with it. To the right were crystals of every size, shape, and color imaginable. They sat in boxes, in mesh bags, some stood alone, some in clusters. Further back were more shelves, some holding books, others with things I couldn’t even begin to identify.

I was immediately overwhelmed.

“Camille. It’s been awhile.”

The warm voice caught my attention before I could spiral too far, and I focused on it. In the rear of the shop, against the wall on the right, a small counter jutted out and behind it sat someone who could only be Ori Castellos.

Even perched on a tall stool, I got the impression that they were shorter than me. Dark hair fell well past their shoulders, held away from their face with jeweled clips. I couldn’t say for sure, but I would guess they had some Filipino heritage. Tattoos swirled up their arms, disappearing beneath a loose short-sleeved shirt, and expertly applied rainbow polish glittered on their nails.

No matter where they went, Ori would stand out in a crowd, and yet I knew for a fact that I had never seen them before in my life.

“Hi, Ori.” Camille herded Raina and me over to the counter, her smile warm and relaxed. “I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I stopped in. We’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“I’ve seen the lines at the bakery. Congratulations,” Ori replied. They had a faint accent, but nothing that sounded familiar to me. “Raina, it’s a pleasure to see you. And you’re Alex Copeland.” They turned to me, dark eyes taking me in from head to toe.

“Um… yes?” I coughed, clearing my throat. “I-I mean yes. I am. Alex. That’s me.” I pressed my lips together, stopping the nervous flow of words before I could make an even bigger fool of myself.

Thankfully, Ori just smiled. “I visited your bookstore awhile back. I’m glad to see it stayed in the family, after Lizzie passed.”

“You’ve been there?” That was news to me. The only way I would have missed such a memorable person would be if they’d come in while I’d been in the thick of my relationship with Nate, when he’d convinced me to stop spending so much time at the shop so we could be together. At the time, I’d thought it was romantic and agreed to hire on a local teenager to help. “I’m sorry I missed you.”

They waved it off. “Water under the bridge. But what brings you in here today? I have to say, you seem a little uncomfortable to be here.”

“I convinced him to stop by with me,” Camille said, looping her free arm through mine. “We were hoping to get more information about the different qualities of crystals and what they do.”

“Was there something in particular you were looking for?” they asked, watching me with an odd look in their eyes, like they knew something I didn’t.

“I’d heard that certain things can enhance psychic abilities and help focus them,” I said before Camille would respond. The plan had been to let her take the lead and not mention what I could do, but for some reason, I wanted to tell Ori at least a little of it. Surely someone who ran a spiritual shop like this was used to people coming in asking about becoming psychic?

Some of Ori’s reservation faded and their smile became a bit warmer. “It depends on what, exactly, you’re looking to do, but yes. Are you trying to activate latent abilities or control an existing one?”

“That. The second one,” I nodded and Camille took a step closer for support, with Raina at my back.

“Can I ask what you can do? You are under no obligation to share any information, but it will help me find what will help you best if I at least have a general idea.”

This was it. Telling Donovan had almost been easy, in a way. He’d already been inclined to believe me. Raina and Camille hadn’t doubted me for a second and Will had seen a ghost possess me, so of course he was going to believe. This would be the first time telling someone I didn’t already trust. In a town this small, they’d either laugh at me or tell someone and by tomorrow morning, the gossip mill would be churning out the rumor that Alex Copeland had finally cracked and gone nuts.

Besides that… I’d just met them. Could I truly trust Ori with this? Camille seemed friendly with them and they seemed nice enough, but trusting them enough to talk about this felt big. Did I really have that much choice, though? I couldn’t get any further on my own, I’d proven that, and Ori seemed confident enough. This would be a massive leap of faith, but I needed the answers they might have.

“Everyone’s power is their own and many choose to keep it hidden. I don’t blame you for doing the same,” they said, misinterpreting my silence as a refusal.

“No, it’s not that,” I assured Ori, then paused, replaying their words in my head. “Wait. What do you mean? Are there other people that can see ghosts, too?”

Shit.

“You can see the dead?” Their brows rose in surprise. “I’ve actually never met anyone who can do that. Well, not anyone on this side, anyway. That’s quite unique. I’m sure I can help you, though.”

I didn’t miss how they neatly glossed over my questions. And what did they mean by ‘not anyone on this side’? What the hell had I just stumbled into? I had so many questions.

“Alex is really private about this, so we’d like to keep this between the four of us,” Camille said, glancing around the shop. Thankfully, we were alone. I really should have checked before spouting my secrets like an idiot.

“Naturally.” Ori leaned forward, resting their elbows on the counter, eyes bright with excitement. “So. Tell me everything.”