After a while, she went back up to the house and called Martin at the care center. Then she called the police.
After she’d called the police, she called Rebecca again. To her relief, the phone rang.
“Hello,” Rebecca answered.
Hearing her voice was the best sound Kayleigh had heard in a very long time. “Please come over, Rebecca. We need to talk, and we need to get a medium or someone over. I’ve found the body of the little girl.”
“Oh, my God, you did?” Rebecca gasped. There was a long pause. “God, Kayleigh, I’m so sorry for leaving you like that, but I wasn’t… I wasn’t myself. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Everything’s going to be all right. I promise,” she said. “Are you okay? Are you mad at me?”
“I love you. I just want you back.”
†
Twenty minutes later, Rebecca was there. She cried when she saw Kayleigh. They held onto one another for a long while, whispering apologies and how much they loved the other. Then they sat side by side outside on the patio swing while Kayleigh told her everything that happened after Rebecca left and about Martin who’d shared his story and left the photos. Together, they studied the photos.
“Catherine looks just like you, Kayleigh.” And she did even in the black and white pictures. “So he thinks you’re Catherine,” Rebecca added in a murmur. “Then I must be the threat for him. He thinks Catherine’s cheating.”
She couldn’t believe how much anguish Kayleigh had endured during the night and promised to never leave her alone again. They also listened to the tape together. Rebecca finally understood that running away would be easy, but they could never rest knowing that these ghosts used to be flesh and blood and just needed help.
“Do you still have the number for that medium Bert suggested?” Kayleigh asked.
“Yep. I actually called her early this morning. She said she’ll come today.”
“That’s wonderful news. Thank you. If she brings sage, I’ll strangle her myself.”
“Or lock her in that bathroom of ours.” Rebecca said, her eyes twinkling. “We’ll be okay, baby.” Rebecca placed a comforting arm around Kayleigh’s shoulders.
†
The police came to remove the remains of Carrey and Martin promised to give her a proper burial right next to their mother. Kayleigh knew the little girl would finally be laid to rest. She hoped they could help Joshua cross over as well.
After the police left, the medium arrived driving a Harley. Maggie Fletcher looked scary with her spiky black hair, and her many piercings. Nevertheless, Kayleigh was grateful for the promised help. After introductions were made, the first order of business was to give Maggie as much information on the house as they knew, along with everything that had happened to them, so that she’d know how to approach the issue.
“It’s important that you want the spirit gone and never even acknowledge that he ever existed. Talking about it will make the spirit think that you miss him and want him back. We have to let him know that he’s not welcome here and for that you have to be sure that you want him gone,” she repeated. “You have to be strong-willed. Spirits can feed off weak-willed people, and it gives them more strength. Can you both agree to all this?” she asked while chewing wildly on the gum in her mouth.
Kayleigh and Rebecca were both very eager to agree. Once everything was over, they never wanted to talk about it again.
“How do we go about this?” Kayleigh had to admit she was scared, but she wouldn’t let her fear stand in the way. She wanted her life back, and she wanted everything back to normal.
“We sit right here, at the table.” Maggie strolled casually toward the kitchen table, like this was an everyday experience for her. Kayleigh and Rebecca followed her diligently, and sat down on opposite sides of the round table. They studied one another anxiously, not sure what to expect.
Maggie chose the seat between them and reached her hands across the table so that Kayleigh and Rebecca could each take one. She nodded at their hands. “We need to hold onto one another’s hands throughout the ritual. Whatever happens, don’t speak and don’t let go. We’re stronger as a circle. Remember, whatever happens, never let go of one another’s hands.”
Rebecca reached over with her free hand and took hold of Kayleigh’s on the table.
Before Kayleigh had a chance to chicken out, Maggie closed her eyes. Her eye shadow was dark blue-black. Then Maggie started to talk loudly. Kayleigh jumped at the unexpectedness of her loud voice but focused on not letting go. Her palms started sweating, and she wished she could wipe them quickly, but it was too late.
“I call unto you, restless spirits.” Maggie repeated the same sentence continuously until she started breathing heavily. Her chest heaved, and her lips grimaced as she inhaled and exhaled loudly. It felt as though the temperature in the room dropped by at least twenty degrees. She saw Rebecca shiver across from her.
Maggie suddenly threw her head back, then she stopped breathing for a moment, and everything went quiet—eerily quiet. Maggie’s head came down in slow motion, turned toward Kayleigh, and then her eyes flew open. She stared straight at Kayleigh, and spoke in a deep voice. “Caaatheriiine…” the voice whispered in a gravelly voice. “Come with me.” Maggie’s hand gripped Kayleigh’s fingers in a tight vise, causing tears to spring to Kayleigh’s eyes.
Maggie’s voice returned to its normal timbre. “This is not Catherine,” she said. “You need to cross over to find your beloved Catherine.”
“No!” The ghost screamed through Maggie, still staring straight at Kayleigh.
Maggie spoke again. “The other side is open. Catherine is waiting for you. You must go there.”
The faint light in the kitchen started to flicker, and the table shook like a herd of wild horses galloping across a meadow. The noise was unbearable, and it took all of Kayleigh’s willpower not to let go of their hands in order to close her ears to the noise. The kitchen cupboard doors started swinging open and shut, with glasses and cups sliding from the cupboards, and breaking as the doors slammed into them.
“You must cross over!” Maggie shouted this time. “You must go now!”
A cup flew past Rebecca’s head, missing her by only a couple of inches. Kayleigh ducked and it missed her too. She held onto Rebecca’s hand as hard as she could, or else she was afraid she would let go and run out of the house. She could see Rebecca’s chest moving up and down rapidly as she breathed.
“Joshua, this is not Catherine. You have to cross over. Catherine is on the other side.” Maggie repeated the words again and again, and just as Kayleigh thought it was a waste of time, the noise stopped. The room was quiet, the only sound that of Kayleigh and Rebecca’s heavy breathing. Maggie was slouched in her chair, leaning over the table for a few moments. Then she let go of their hands and looked up at them as if nothing had happened.
“I love my job,” she said with a tinge of sarcasm.
“Is it over now?” Kayleigh asked with disbelief. “It can’t be that easy, can it?” She looked at Rebecca, whose hand was still clasped in her grip. Rebecca frowned and shook her head.
Maggie got up from her chair, but before she could say anything, she was pushed by an invisible force. She flew across the room and hit the wall with a thump. Her limp body slid down the wall. Both women ran to her and crouched down to see if she was okay. Maggie sneered at them. Her eye color had changed. She reached up with her one hand and pushed Rebecca. Rebecca tumbled back and hit the floor hard. Kayleigh turned and reached for Rebecca, but Maggie gripped Kayleigh’s arm. The deathly grip was so tight, there was no way that Kayleigh could free herself.
“Come with me, Catherine,” the deep voice spoke again.
His spirit had entered Maggie. “I’m not Catherine!” she shouted. Maggie’s eyes, which were Joshua’s eyes, looked sad. “You died many years ago, Joshua. Catherine and Carrey died too. You need to go to them. They’re on the other side. I don’t know what you must do. Don’t you see a light or something
?”
“I love you, Catherine,” the deep voice said again, sounding confused.
“I’m not Catherine. My name is Kayleigh. Look at me.” Kayleigh suddenly felt dizzy, her legs gave way and she slumped down onto the floor. Just as everything went black around her, she found herself in a different place. She stood in an endless white field. The air surrounding her was misty, and she couldn’t see farther than a few yards. She just somehow knew that she was in the spirit realm located between the earthbound plane and the Other Side. It was the sound of his breathing that made her jump around. The man from the pictures, Joshua, stood behind her. He had tears in his eyes when he spoke again.
“I missed you so much, Catherine.”
He was sobbing now, as he gently wrapped his arms around her. He was warm and felt like a living human being. Kayleigh hugged him back for a short moment but then pulled away.
Kayleigh began to cry, too. “Joshua, I know you love Catherine, but look at me. I mean, really look at me. I’m not Catherine.”
Joshua frowned as he focused on her for a long while. “Why are you saying that?” he whispered with confusion in his eyes.
“My name is Kayleigh. You died many years ago, and Catherine died, too. You have to cross over. Go to her. She’s waiting for you.”
Kayleigh saw movement behind him and looked over his shoulder. There they stood— Catherine and Carrey. Catherine was young again, and Kayleigh couldn’t believe the resemblance.
“They’re there.” Kayleigh swallowed and pointed to the spot where Catherine and Carrey stood, hand in hand. Joshua turned and looked behind him.
“Catherine?” Joshua spoke softly. Kayleigh shivered as she watched him stumble toward Catherine, looking back at her, before continuing on. “My love? Catherine?”
“Yes, Joshua. It’s me.” Catherine cried as she hugged her husband that she’d lost so many years ago.
Joshua then let go of Catherine, bent down and held onto Carrey. He sobbed as he just held her for a long time. After a while, he lifted Carrey up and hugged his wife and child at the same time. Kayleigh swallowed back tears of happiness as she watched the family reunited.
When Joshua finally turned around, he looked at peace. “Thank you,” he said, his voice now soft and tender. A bright light swirled around them, like a tornado of lights, and in an instant, they were gone.
When Kayleigh awakened from her vision, she found herself back in her kitchen, lying on the floor. Rebecca was above her.
“Are you okay, my love?”
Kayleigh tilted her head up at her. “He’s gone,” she said. “He’s finally gone.” Rebecca helped Kayleigh get up. When Kayleigh was back on her feet again, they held onto one another.
“Don’t mind me, I’ll help myself up.” Maggie coughed as she used the wall as leverage to stand up. “What happened?” she asked with a frown.
“He’s gone,” Rebecca said while helping Maggie into a chair. Kayleigh told Maggie and a shocked Rebecca what she’d seen.
Maggie frowned at her. “Seems like you’re in the wrong career, my dear. You did this all on your own.”
“No, I prefer working with animals.” Kayleigh laughed before continuing, “But I couldn’t have done this without your help. Thank you.” Kayleigh picked her purse up from the kitchen counter. “What’s your price, by the way?” she asked as she lifted out her checkbook.
“A real medium doesn’t put a price on her services.” Maggie shook her head, but then quickly added, “We do however accept donations.”
Kayleigh laughed. “We all have to survive, right?” She wrote out a check for Maggie.
Both Kayleigh and Rebecca couldn’t believe it was the same house. It was as though light and warmth had entered and replaced the darkness. The house smelled of roses, and it felt filled with love and peace.
Kayleigh and Rebecca hugged Maggie goodbye and thanked her for all that she’d done and at such short notice, too. Maggie left with a look of satisfaction on her face.
†
After Maggie left, Kayleigh and Rebecca cooked a light dinner. They took the meal to their bedroom, sat snuggled next to one another on the bed, and started in on their meal.
“So where have you been?” Kayleigh asked.
“I slept in my CD store, on your red couch. Well, I didn’t sleep at all, actually. I sat and stared at the wall all night long, regretting leaving you here all alone. I hated myself.”
“Why didn’t you take me along?” Kayleigh asked in the most non-accusing tone she could muster.
“As soon as I walked out the front door, I turned around to fetch you. Just as I did, I saw the door slam shut. I thought at the time it was you shutting me out. I know now that it wasn’t, and I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am. I wish I could turn back time and take you with me,” Rebecca said softly.
“It’s all in the past now. Gosh, I can’t believe how much has happened in the past twenty-four hours. It’s like a whole lifetime has passed.” Kayleigh took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. She wanted to shut all of that out now. It was all over, and she knew with utter certainty it would never happen again.
After they finished their meal, Rebecca took their plates and left the room. Kayleigh leaned into the pillows, thinking of everything that had happened that day. She was so relieved that she had Rebecca back. A few minutes later, Rebecca returned and climbed in next to her.
“Promise me one thing, Kay. Even though everything is over, please, can we move into my house now? As soon as the vacation tenants are out, we should leave here.” Rebecca placed her palms together, as if praying.
“When are they going?” Kayleigh asked.
“Next weekend. Another group of people were booked after them, but I told them there was a mix up of dates and refunded them. They were only too happy to get their money back.” She laughed. Kayleigh felt giddy hearing that sound. She’d missed Rebecca’s laugh so much. Even though they were only apart for a few hours, it had felt like a lifetime had passed.
“Can we start packing?” Kayleigh jumped up and made a beeline for the cupboard. She removed a suitcase from the top shelf and dropped it onto the floor.
“Let’s pack tomorrow,” Rebecca said and laughed.
“Sounds good. I am in desperate need of a shower, and I can’t think of anything that would feel better right now.” Kayleigh walked out of the room.
She got to the downstairs bathroom, which still had the lingering smell of roses. She undressed while she let the water run warm. She stepped into the shower and let the hot water soothe her tired muscles. She hadn’t slept properly in quite some time and could feel the exhaustion laying heavy on her shoulders. A body behind Kayleigh made her jump around. She giggled with relief when she found a naked Rebecca behind her.
With a crooked grin, Rebecca apologized for scaring her. She lathered some soap onto the sponge and washed Kayleigh’s back. Afterward, Kayleigh carefully washed Rebecca’s healing back with the same sponge.
“You were so brave today,” Kayleigh said.
“Oh, no. You’re much braver than I am, Kay.”
“No, I’m not. I didn’t have the guts to leave,” Kayleigh admitted. “I was afraid to move when you weren’t.”
They both were quiet for a few moments. “I miss Sarah. She’s so much a part of us,” Rebecca said. “What do you think she’s going to say when she gets back, and we don’t live here anymore?”
“She’ll be happy. I think this has all been just as hard on her as it’s been on us,” Kayleigh said as she washed the rest of her body.
Rebecca squeezed some shampoo into the palm of her hand and worked it into her hair. “Were you able to speak to her today? With all the drama, we never called last night to hear if she’d landed safely. Bad mothers.”
“I called her this morning. She was very excited that her new baby brother was born last week.”
“That must be so amazing for her then. I’ll call her tomorrow.”
They finished showerin
g and then ran up the stairs to get to bed. Their whole house still smelled of roses. Amazingly enough, they weren’t afraid anymore at all.
Kayleigh dropped her towel and searched for pajamas in the cupboard. She bent down in front of the cupboard in order to find them. Rebecca came up behind her. She’d dropped her towel to the floor, too. She reached for Kayleigh and touched the lower part of her back softly. She trailed her fingertips along Kayleigh’s back and slid to Kayleigh’s front. She found Kayleigh’s firm breasts and hardened nipples and stroked them until they were painful.
Kayleigh straightened and turned around to face Rebecca. Their mouths met, their lips parted, and their skin was still warm from the shower and got warmer as Rebecca pulled Kayleigh tightly against her. Rebecca’s tongue came out from between her parted lips and they tasted one another. Kayleigh moved her hand up to grip the back of Rebecca’s neck. She couldn’t get close enough. She’d wanted this for some time now and her whole body ached for more. She moved her hips against Rebecca’s. Rebecca groaned and lowered her hands to Kayleigh’s hips.
They backed up from the cupboard and found the bed. Rebecca climbed onto the bed and Kayleigh fell on top of her. Kayleigh’s hips found a slow rhythm, synchronized to Rebecca’s thrusts. She trailed kisses down to Rebecca’s breasts and sucked a nipple into her mouth. Rebecca cried out. “Yeah, my baby, make love to me with your mouth.”
Kayleigh slid downward and sprinkled kisses along Rebecca’s stomach. Her lips found Rebecca’s mound. Rebecca parted her legs and invited Kayleigh’s tongue inside her. Kayleigh licked and sucked slowly until Rebecca pleaded for more.
“Oh yes, baby, make me come. Please,” Rebecca begged as she drove her hips upward to meet Kayleigh’s mouth.
Kayleigh kept sucking and moved her head slowly from side to side. She could feel Rebecca’s urgency grow with every passing second, but she continued at the slow rhythm with which she’d started. Teasing, torturing her. She could feel how swollen Rebecca had become and her warmth tasted sweet. She prodded with her tongue over Rebecca’s swollen skin and then sucked again, playfully. Rebecca’s breathing became ragged. She grabbed Kayleigh’s head to move her even closer. Her hips moved at a rapid pace now. Kayleigh’s mouth could feel Rebecca pulsating. Rebecca cried out as her body heaved and her hips thrust hard up against Kayleigh’s lips. Just as Rebecca climaxed, Kayleigh inserted a finger inside her warm wetness.
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