"You still care for her."
"She's my twin, I will never stop!" Kate snapped back, her stare flicking back upwards.
The pique passed quickly and Evelyn just watched her calmly as she sank back into the sofa.
"That is good, because I work for the departed, Miss Grange, not the living. I aid them, so what they require comes first."
"I know."
Kate sighed and closed her eyes: she was tired, but she needed answers.
"Have you spoken to her?" the question came with a mixture of fear and old pain.
"Yes, as I promised, I went to your parents' house this morning, and I have spoken to Amy."
Her need was stronger than her fatigue and Kate opened her eyes once more to watch the composed, but more serious expression before her. She did not ask, she just waited for the consideration behind Evelyn's gaze to bear fruit.
"We discussed you and what it was to be conjoined. I did not realise how fundamental your attachment was until Amy told me you shared half your body with each other."
"From the pelvis down," Kate expanded, her tone neutral even as the memories hurt.
"Amy misses you too," Evelyn revealed how insightful she was.
"Two souls, one body, our mum used to say."
Kate's words whispered away as she fought to keep away the old loss. It would not stay down, though, and she gasped away a sob.
"I'm sorry."
Embarrassment joined her emotions.
"I don't normally talk about this to anyone."
"Take your time, Kate," Evelyn's lilt comforted her.
"We never wanted to be apart, we were going to share everything all our lives."
It all began to bubble out of her and Kate didn't want to stop it.
"But then the car hit us. I've never felt so alone as when it was all over, after the doctors had separated us. Amy wasn't part of me anymore. 'Brain dead,' they said, 'nothing else to be done.'"
Kate bit her lip before she confessed any more, keeping the rest of the pain from that time inside. She wasn't looking at Evelyn anymore, but she heard her breathe in deeply.
"I think it is time for the two of you to meet again."
~*~
Margaritte drew the car up into the drive of the Grange family home and Evelyn checked on her client sitting next to her in the back seat. Kathryn Ellen Grange, rich, lonely, grieving thirty-something, was hunched over herself, looking out at the big sash windows of the expensive residence as if a ghost was going to leap out of one of them at any minute.
Good – the herbs were working.
"Are you alright, Kate? We can postpone if you need more time."
"No." She rubbed her eyes – she'd been crying again – even better. "I need to do this. I need to help Amy."
"And that is what we are going to do," Evelyn promised and smiled up at the shadow moving in the front bedroom window.
Kate didn't see, too busy with her own pain, she had no idea the agonies the dead faced. She merely climbed out of the far side of the car using that baggy old cardigan as her shield, eyes downcast, vulnerable, just as Evelyn wanted her. She too exited the car and waited for her client at the front, taking in the atmosphere of the place as she did so. The presence of the departed was obvious to anyone with even a tiny instinct for the supernatural, the house was positively humming with Amy's presence. It had not been difficult to contact her that morning and Evelyn had to wonder how one who claimed to be so close to her sister had failed to notice before.
As Kate came to stand beside her, she was rubbing her forehead again—conditions couldn't have been better. Dismissing Margaritte with a wave of her hand, Evelyn stood beside Kate, looking up at the house as the car backed out of the driveway. This was best done alone.
"Amy is confused, angry," she dropped the truthful bombshell and was satisfied when Kate gasped, then sighed. "I must ask before we go in, will you trust me to help her, to help you both?"
Kate nodded, eyes till downcast.
"Will you answer all my questions, Amy's questions truthfully?"
She nodded again.
"And follow my instructions completely?"
Another affirmative, and this time Kate looked up at her, just a flash of resolve in her eyes.
"Thank you," Evelyn smiled softly, it always reassured the living.
The flash of power dissipated from Kate's expression, back to the vague worry, and Evelyn made her move.
"Shall we go in?"
Making sure Kate led the way, Evelyn began the questions.
"I'd like to go back over some of the things you told me before. Tell me again when you first realised Amy was still in this house."
Kate's hand was shaking as she put the key in the yale lock of the front door. She sighed again. Her voice was small when she replied.
"I inherited the place four months ago, when Mum died. I came down from London to try and sort stuff out, and I ended up staying the night in Amy's and my old room. I used to find all her bits and pieces comforting, that's why Mum never got rid of them after…, but that night I couldn't sleep at all, all I could think about was Amy. I thought it was just being back, but when I got up to come downstairs for some water, I felt like someone was beside me on the stairs."
Kate pushed the door open and just stared into the hallway and up the wide mahogany staircase. Behind her, Evelyn nodded respectfully to the girl who was standing in the twilight halfway up the stairs, glaring down on her sister. Amy was an unusual shade, her upper torso being much more defined than her lower body, which, even to Evelyn, was translucent and smoke-like.
"Is she here?" Kate checked anxiously, eyes wide, body trembling,
"On the stairs," Evelyn murmured in her ear.
"Amy."
The woman was almost wailing, it was rather pathetic really, but it suited her purposes, so Evelyn let Kate's little demonstration of guilt carry on as she hastened onto the Persian rug in the hallway. The place oozed upper middle class, and one of those trappings brought Kate to a halt by appearing in mid-air in front of her and landing with a thud on that same carpet. It was a small brass horse. Evelyn stayed back, observing as Kate knelt down awkwardly, right knee first, and then struggling with her left. Amy took a step down the stairs too, left leg first, Evelyn noted. The girl's eyes were blazing as Kate slowly reached out and touched the horse.
"It's so cold."
She drew back a moment, then reached out again, closing her fingers round the metal.
"Why this object, Kate?" Evelyn prompted the memories as she quietly closed the door on the outside world.
Kate paused, head bowed, seemingly unsure of whether to lift up the horse.
"There are two of them. Daddy saw them in a junk shop the day the midwife told Mummy she was having twins and he bought them as a celebration."
Kate picked up the horse and held it to her.
"One faces left, the other right, they're a pair, just like us, Daddy used to say."
"And whose is this one?"
Kate looked down at the animal in her hand. She whimpered.
"Left, this one faces left, so she is Amy."
Kate hugged the horse to her again and Amy completed her descent of the stairs. The girl smiled; Kate shook, her breath forming a cloud in the air above the brass. Evelyn was almost sure her client was sensing Amy close by, but then Kate looked up and across at a pair of doors to the side of the hallway that were pushed back.
"We keep it on the mantelpiece in the dining room."
Kate's eyes were shining with new tears and her whole body was tense as she stared into the dark room. Evelyn stoked the fear she saw there.
"Do you want to go in?"
Kate grimaced. Evelyn waited.
It was Amy who swung the moment, though, because she walked past her sister and into the dining room. Kate struggled to her feet then, still clutching her token, and limped after the girl. Evelyn counted slowly to ten, listening to her client shuffle around the shadowy room, the hairs
on the back of her arms telling her of the building tension.
This was going to be easy.
Quietly, Evelyn followed when her counting was done and, stopping just inside the doors, she reached across to the light switch. Gentle golden light sparkled down from a small chandelier which hung above an oval dining table and lit up a tableau that could not have been more perfect. Kate was standing at the fire place on the opposite side of the room, stroking the horse she had placed on the mantel. Amy was sitting at one end of the table, her wispy legs dangling off the carver chair that was far too big for her as she pawed at the thick velvet cloth that covered the rich wood. She was growing impatient, the chill in the air told Evelyn that without the scowl that was sent her way.
"Kate."
Evelyn drew her client's jittery attention and smiled generously as she was given a wide-eyed stare. Perfect.
"Kate, Amy is sitting at the table."
Evelyn indicated to what was for Kate an empty chair and the woman proved there was still more blood to drain out of her face. She was wobbling now as the herbs and fear worked together.
It was time.
"She wants to talk to you, Kate."
Instant denial, a shake of the head, arms folding around her body, but also an unbidden smile ghosted over Kate's face.
"I can help you talk to Amy, Kate."
Evelyn took a step towards the table then and placed her hand on the back of one of the dining chairs. Shoulders hunched, tears ready to flow, Kate looked from Evelyn to the empty chair and back again.
"She's really here?"
Evelyn just nodded.
It wasn't unexpected to Evelyn that when she finally crossed to the table, Kate went for the chair on her side that was furthest away from Amy. She sunk down heavily, finding the tablecloth fascinating even as she glanced every so often at the far end of the dining room.
"Just relax, there is nothing to be afraid of."
Evelyn settled smoothly into the seat opposite and smiled. She laid her hands out on the table, palms up and shivered herself as Amy's chilly attention focused on her action. She shrugged the cool feeling off with a little gasp and calmed herself as Kate looked up at her.
"If you want to help Amy, take my hands."
Slowly she was obeyed and Evelyn sat on her anticipation as, inch by inch, Kate slid her fingers over the table cloth. Her client's trembling ran up Evelyn's arms as she caught those fingers in her own, gently curling them into her palm until Kate would not have been able to unhook the touch even if she had known what was to come. Evelyn deepened her smile as the world grew yet colder and their breath clouded the air over the table.
"I'm freezing," Kate whined, shifting in her seat and eying the end of the table nervously again.
"Don't worry, Kate, Amy is just excited about talking to you."
"How?"
"Just relax, close your eyes and breathe with me, in…and out…in…and out…"
Kate's breath staggered in and out of her slightly open lips, hardly relaxed, but she did close her eyes, which was what Evelyn wanted. Closing in on her quarry, Evelyn reached down through the physical contact. Kate started then, eyes flicking open in shock, and she would have let go if Evelyn had not had such firm hold of her hands.
"Wha-?" she asked, but her gasp was airless.
Reassessing her client's sensitivity, Evelyn regrouped quickly, smiling and meeting that startled gaze with a calm stare.
"In order for you to hear Amy, I must lend you some of my talents," she lied. "We must connect on a spiritual level. It may feel a little unusual, but there is nothing to worry about."
There was doubt in those grey eyes then, and Kate remained taut. Evelyn knew people though, and she could see the need behind the fear.
"You contacted me, Kate. You wanted me to help Amy."
Bit by bit, as she held Kate's attention, Evelyn saw and felt the resistance shiver away. She waited until the final tension in Kate's fingers was subdued and only then did she continue.
"Close your eyes, Kate, and feel my spirit."
The air was glacial now and goosebumps rose on Evelyn's arms as she watched Amy walk up her side of the table to stand behind her. Kate shuddered too, but her senses were turning inward as Evelyn slipped her consciousness out into the second body. She had done this enough times that she was used to the sensation of two heartbeats, of the warmth from a living soul as she entwined the chill of her own with it. Kate mewed and her presence resisted, but it was far too late. Evelyn couldn't help the laugh that broke from her lips as she trapped her victim: the power was intoxicating.
Kate's eyes snapped open and she tried to pull away, but there was no parting their bodies now. Evelyn watched her calmly for a moment, waiting for the realisation, waiting until those frightened eyes opened with recognition and shock. Kate slumped in her chair as she looked over Evelyn's shoulder.
"You see," Evelyn told Kate rather than asked.
"Amy," the whisper was both reverent and afraid.
"I want my body back!" the girl snarled with all the impatience of a spoilt ten year old.
Kate shook her head, but, oddly, she didn't struggle, transfixed by her sister; Evelyn was impressed. She flexed her fingers to bring Kate's attention back to her and then she felt resistance again.
"Don't fight me, Kate, this will be easier on you if you let it happen."
"Let what happen?" the obvious question came, barely audible as Kate denied what she had to have already guessed.
"I did tell you I work for the departed," Evelyn decided to explain, eking out the moment of domination. "When I spoke to Amy this morning, I offered her my services. You see, you have no idea how cold and lonely it is when death abandons you, when the light never comes. All you want is to touch, to breathe, to be part of the world, and that's what Amy wants. She wants to live again, and she needs your body to do that."
"No!"
Kate pulled away again, but there was no strength in the movements. She panted, eyes rolling in her head as Evelyn maintained her touch. It was time. Amy recognised the moment as well, because her presence slipped into Evelyn, running through her own spirit, down the conduit into the waiting body. Power prickled into Evelyn's senses; this little one was strong, she would make a good ally, and she let the girl surge through her and into their host. Twin sought twin, and, despite the living's initial resistance to the dead, Evelyn recognised the difference in this meeting to others she had managed as Kate's presence flared at the presence of her sister.
Evelyn dallied in the moment, delaying her withdrawal as the dance of souls held her attention. Amy was the stronger, she could feel the sheer will sparking off the girl, but Kate did not surrender, instead she welcomed. Two spirits entwined like they had always been together, warmth rising where there should have been cool. It was such a strange experience that Evelyn did not realise she was trapped within it until she felt the twins close around her. She jerked away, but Kate's, or were they Amy's eyes, snapped open, no sign of the weakness of before and her fingers hooked more tightly with Evelyn's.
"What are you doing?" Evelyn demanded, her skin prickling with something she had not felt for a long time, so it took her a moment to realise it was fear.
"Hello Mary."
Evelyn froze as the twins, she was sure now, it was both of them, spoke the old name she had tried to forget.
"Let me go."
"Like you were going to let me go," Kate, just Kate, teased, then tipped her head to one side in a childish gesture that was all Amy.
"How?" was the only question left.
The twins grinned.
"Two souls…" Amy began.
"…one body," Kate finished.
"Why should that change…"
"…because one of us died?"
Evelyn tugged at the vice-like grip on her hands and her soul as panic began, small in her belly, but swiftly began to rise. It was worse though when that smile opposite disappeared, replaced with something between anger a
nd righteousness.
"Mary Bunel, we work for the living, and you stole this body eight years ago. Evelyn wants it back."
Movement caught Mary's attention off to her left and she struggled even more as she recognised the pale image of the real Evelyn Edness gliding across the room. It couldn't be, she'd left her broken, cowering in the old barn with the board, life draining out of her. The fear was still there, Evelyn hung back, so Mary curled her lip and snarled. The twins' nails dug into the palms of her hands then, but it was the pain in her spirit as they clamped down on her that forced Mary to collapse back into her chair.
"No, this is my body," she objected, but her voice came out as puny as a child's.
The twins shook their head.
"You have a choice, Mary. In order to give Evelyn her body back, we can fight you, and you will lose, we will destroy you utterly, no life, no death, or," the table cloth slid slowly up the table, revealing a board, one with ornate, but peeling lettering on it; Mary moaned her recognition, "or you can return to possess the thing you came from."
Mary whined as the back of her hands were pressed down against the old spirit board.
"No, don't make me go back," she begged now.
"Your choice," the twins warned and their presence closed further around Mary, tightening, making the world dim.
Mary lost control of her body, feeling herself swoon and unable to stop it. The back of her neck also prickled with Evelyn's presence, life hovering behind her, waiting for surrender. Darkness rose to claim her and she tried to scream, but the body was no longer hers. Mary looked into the nothing that the twins had ready for her, and she felt the cold prison below her hands that had held her for so many years. Death beat oblivion and so, finally, she surrendered.
~*~
AmyKate felt Mary finally let go of Evelyn's body and instantly they reacted: Amy pushed her out into the spirit board and Kate slipped into Evelyn, reaching out to the timid spirit who had needed their help. Evelyn gasped as Kate drew her back into her own body and she quickly let go, returning to be with Amy. As Mary disappeared back into the board, they snatched Evelyn's hands up off of the nasty toy and swept it sideways with a sharp mental push. The board smashed into the far wall as, between them, the twins used way too much energy, but it was a very satisfying sound as it landed on the carpet with a dull thud.
Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law Page 4