The Awakening: A Sisterhood of Spirits Novel

by Yvonne Heidt

  She opened the French doors to the small balcony to let the smoke out before relaxing in the wide armchair to meditate. Emptying her mind of expectations, she asked her spirit guide to protect her and keep her safe during the time she would be open to unfamiliar energy. It was a comforting and necessary formality before meeting with a client.

  The bell sounded over the door, bringing her out of her light, self-imposed trance. She heard her mother greet the woman and the sound of nervous laughter. Ah, a first-timer. They were always nervous.

  Sunny went downstairs and saw her mother with her arm around the young woman. Offering comfort or reassurance? Probably a little of both. “Hi,” she said brightly. “I’m Sunny. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “Eve.” She held out a hand and laughed nervously. “I’m so giddy. I don’t know why.” Then her eyes filled. “I’m such a mess.”

  “Would you like a bottle of water? Then we’ll go on up.”

  Her mother went to the kitchen and came back with a cold bottle. “It’s okay, dear.”

  Eve smiled at her over her shoulder as they went upstairs, looking for all the world like she wanted to run back out the door.

  Sunny shut the door. “We can sit at the table or in the chairs, whichever you prefer.”

  “Which is best?” Her uncertainty filled the air laced with a ribbon of fear.

  Sunny gestured toward the wide, comfy seats by the window. Her mind’s eye perceived the young man holding red roses standing behind the one Eve had chosen.

  Grief was heavy and sharp in the room, and she felt her heart contract painfully. Sunny mentally pulled herself back a step and telepathically told the young man to ease up a little because he was hurting her.

  Eve was sitting so still, it was almost as if she weren’t there at all, but for the emotion that rolled in waves toward Sunny.

  “Okay,” she said. “This is how it works. I’m not in charge. Spirit is. I have a whole speech about not always getting a reading from the person you may want to hear from, but I don’t think that applies here, since it’s already clear to me what this is about.”

  Eve sat with her hands clutched tightly in her lap. “Spirit?”

  “You could think of them as angels, God energy, or guides. I choose to call the energy Spirit or other, because for me, the terms cover all of them without all the religious connotations.”

  Sunny switched on the recorder and stated the date, time, and Eve’s name. “Please try to relax.” She patted Eve’s knee. “Take three deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Better?” Sunny smiled.

  Eve nodded.

  “Okay, there’s a man here eager to talk with you. He’s showing me a wedding ring to indicate husband? His name starts with a D. Donny or Danny?”

  “Donny,” Eve whispered hoarsely before covering her face with her hands, and she began to cry. “Is it really him?”

  “It’s okay. He wants to say he loves you and he’s sorry that you hurt so much.” Sunny waited for Eve to gather herself a bit. “He wants you to know that it didn’t hurt.” An image of a car accident flashed in her mind. “He says he was out of his body like that.” Sunny snapped her fingers. “And that there was no pain.”

  Relief showed on Eve’s face. “I couldn’t bear the thought that he suffered and I wasn’t there.”

  “He’s showing me a basketball and he’s high-jumping the rim to score through the net. Does this mean anything to you?”

  “Oh,” Eve said and laughed. “Donny loved to play, but he was so short, he was terrible at it. When he was growing up, he wanted to be a professional ball player.”

  “Well, he’s showing me that he’s very good now. Actually, he’s showing off.”

  “That’s Donny. It’s really him!”

  “Okay, now I’m seeing a Ferris wheel and a stuffed pink gorilla.”

  “Our first date.” Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “Oh God, I miss him so much.”

  “He wants to tell you that he’s okay and not to cry so much. It makes him sad to see you so unhappy.” Sunny paused. “He’s sorry that he didn’t get to say good-bye but that he’s with you. He’s not gone, just in a different place.”

  Still choked up, Eve nodded.

  Sunny continued. “There’s a young woman next to him holding his hand. She looks a lot like him. Sister?”

  Eve’s eyes widened. “How did you? Never mind, yes. She died very young of leukemia.”

  “She wants to tell you that she’s taking good care of him, okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s asking me to tell you that she would like for you to tell their mother that they are together and happy.”

  “Okay.”

  Sunny felt some of the emotional grief ease up a little. This was one of the many reasons why she loved her gift. To be able to help those who hurt and offer some comfort. “He says that it was him the other night, but he won’t tell me what he did.”

  Eve’s smile was genuine and two red spots appeared on her cheeks. “It’s okay. I know what he’s talking about.”

  Sunny let it go. Even in this space, some things were private. “He says to be happy, and that he’s always there next to you when you need him. Now he’s waving and moving back a little. Do you have any questions?”

  “No, I think you covered it. I might think of a thousand later, but I think you covered the most important ones.”

  “He’s blowing you a kiss.”

  “He’s gone?” When Sunny nodded, Eve continued. “Thank you so much. I was so skeptical when I got here. When I told my family I was coming here, they were so free with their opinions and fraud warnings that I almost backed out. It was nothing like they said, and I’m so grateful.” She leaned back in her armchair.

  “You’re very welcome. I’m glad that you came and Donny showed up.”

  “But you’re so good. Don’t they always show up?”

  Sunny clicked the recorder off. “Thank you, but no, not always. It depends on the relationship they had here in the physical world. Spirits don’t usually lie, and sometimes they say hurtful things that aren’t very nice to the people that want to talk to them. People don’t always appreciate that the dead might not say what they want to hear.”

  Eve looked fascinated and leaned forward again. “Do you tell them?”

  “Depends on their motive and what their energy tells me. Being an empath, it’s very easy for me to know if what they’re saying is truly how they feel.” Sunny was pleased to see Eve’s aura brighten a few degrees. The green heart chakra still had some murky spots, but that would take time. She would give Eve some clearing meditation exercises to do at home to begin healing.

  “What do you do if they don’t show up at all?”

  “I usually refer them to one of my partners, Shade.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s the necromancer.” When Sunny saw Eve cringe at the word, she patted her hand. “It’s nothing like the movies would have you believe. Let me explain.” Sunny pulled three polished stones from the decorative bowl on the end table and placed one on the surface.

  “This is me. I can see and talk to people who have died, in the here and now. They appear in my mind’s eye as they want to, usually coming through as they were in their prime, or the age they feel was the best for them.”

  Sunny placed another rock to the left of the center one. “This is Tiffany. She perceives people and places as they were in the past by touch, called psychometry, or place memory. Her gift also includes the ability to find imbalances and heal someone’s energy.”

  “That’s called Reiki, isn’t it?” Eve asked.

  “Yes.” Sunny smiled at her. “Now.” She placed the last rock to the right of center and pointed to it. “This is Shade. She has the gift of precognition, the ability to see events that haven’t yet happened. She also has the talent to call spirits who have crossed over, even if they don’t want to come.”

  “That sounds so dangerous.” Eve shivered.
<
br />   Sunny nodded. “She has the darkest ability of all. So you see, each of us balances out with the other, though we overlap in most areas. Past, present, and future.”

  Sunny didn’t tell her of the blood oath they had sworn when they were eleven years old. How they vowed to be there for one another until death did them part. The ceremony had been as dramatic and solemn as three children could imagine. Sunny knew that neither she nor Shade nor Tiffany would ever break that promise.

  Eve popped up and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you doesn’t seem like enough. I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted.”

  “It’s always enough.” Sunny walked her back down the stairs to say good-bye. Eve turned and waved happily before getting into her car.

  Sunny wanted to check the progress in the war room, but habit and responsibility had her returning upstairs to clear the room of energy. She thanked her guides before shutting the door.

  What would it feel like to love someone like that and not just feel the echoes of another person’s emotions? How would she know the love she felt was her own? She shook her head to clear the questions and handed her mother the recording of the session to transcribe.

  “She looked much lighter on the way out,” her mother said.

  “She did.”

  “That’s a good thing, sweetheart.”

  “I know, Mom. I’m a little melancholy. I’m not sure if it’s hers or mine.” She smiled at her mother. “I’m sure it will pass.”

  *

  Jordan hadn’t been late after all since the landlady unlocked her door in time for her to get ready and even graciously offered to take the empty boxes to the Dumpster.

  When Jordan started to explain the knock and dash activity she’d been having, her neighbor frantically rolled his eyes and ran his forefinger across his throat. Surprised into silence, she simply stared at him until the woman left.

  “What was that about?”

  “She’s very sensitive and scares easily.”

  “What does that have to do with—” Exasperated, Jordan cut herself short. “Never mind, I have to get ready. I’ll bring your shirt back.” Jordan shut the door, leaving him standing on the landing, and put her mind on work. Bremerton was a smallish town compared to Seattle. How hard could it be?

  She was right. For a first day, this one had gone pretty well. She hadn’t butted heads with anyone, which was always a plus, and nothing had instantly made her think the move was a mistake. Jordan didn’t see anyone on her way up to her apartment. After unlocking the door, she stood in the hallway and shivered. The thermostat read sixty-nine degrees. She tapped it and turned it up, hoping it wasn’t broken. It felt a hell of a lot colder than that.

  Jordan went to her bedroom closet and carefully hung up her uniform after storing her service revolver in the metal box on the top shelf. After changing into a long-sleeved flannel shirt and jeans, she resigned herself to a trip to the grocery store. There was no food in the place, and there was no way in hell she was going without coffee again in the morning.

  Traveling the staircase again, Jordan wondered what on earth had possessed her to rent a third-floor apartment. Oh yeah, it was either the view of the Manette district or the garden basement apartment on the street side of the building, complete with bars on the windows.

  Rush hour on Warren Avenue wouldn’t even be considered a blip on Seattle’s streets during the same hour. It took only fifteen minutes to get through it and into the grocery store parking lot on the other side of the bridge that connected West and East Bremerton. It was a pleasant change of pace.

  Jordan took her time going up and down the aisles. When she moved, she hadn’t bothered to pack the food that was left in her nearly empty cupboards. She left the food for the new tenant moving in, along with the takeout menus that overflowed a kitchen drawer. It was a strange feeling to have such a clean start. Almost like a rebirth after her near-death experience.

  Jordan had nothing but time to reflect on her life during her recovery and enforced inactivity. Some days, the loneliness smothered her, and on others, she replayed the betrayal and shooting over and over in her mind until rage boiled in her veins. The doctors had told her she would never walk without difficulty, and Jordan did everything to defy them and their unacceptable predictions, working hard on the physical therapy that kept her from becoming mired in her own emotional chaos.

  Jordan filled the rest of her cart, barely noticing what she put in, and got in line. What was it with these grocery stores anyway? Ten checkout aisles were built, but only two were operating at the busiest time of the day. Finally, she loaded up her truck and blasted the radio on the short drive home.

  After pulling into her assigned parking place, Jordan opened the hatch on her Ford Explorer and cursed when she realized she’d have to make more than one trip up the three flights of stairs. She’d really have to rethink the whole shopping once a month deal or consider it gym time. She made it to the top of the landing and the door opened behind her. Steve peeked out with his owlish eyes. “Just checking.”

  “On what?”

  “I’ll tell you later. Here, do you need some help?”

  Before Jordan could refuse, he picked up some of her bags and followed her into her small kitchen.

  “Wow,” he said. “Clean slate.”

  Jordan looked at the stark white walls and Spartan counters. In more ways than one, she thought. “Pretty much.”

  She put away the cans and boxes and grabbed her keys to get the rest, making sure to grab the empty bags to take back to the store on her next trip.

  Steve chattered at her all the way down the stairs and through the parking lot to her truck. “See that Toyota?” He pointed. “The blue one? That’s mine. So you know when I’m home, in case you need me.”

  Jordan couldn’t think of a single good reason why she might need the gangly young man, but she didn’t want to be rude either. “Uh-huh.”

  “How was your first day?”

  “Fine.” She slammed the hatch and pushed her key fob to lock it.

  “Don’t talk much, do you?”

  Jordan kept walking to the entrance of their shared wing, trying to stay a step ahead of him, but he had no trouble keeping up with her and asking questions.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “My mom says that I talk enough for three people.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said over her shoulder as they climbed the stairs and went through the door into her kitchen.

  Jordan stopped dead in her tracks, hardly noticing when Steve slammed into her from behind.

  Every single cabinet door stood open, and groceries she’d just put away littered the counter and floor.

  A strange sound came from Steve’s throat. “Dude. I have to go now.” He put the bags on the floor where he stood, but before he could turn and run, Jordan spun him around and grabbed him by his lapels, slamming him into the counter.

  “Who did this?” she asked between clenched teeth. “What the fuck is going on?”

  Steve’s eyes rolled in fear and she felt him tremble. “I have no idea.”

  “Was that your job? To distract me while someone broke in to fuck with me?” Oh, shit. She let him go and ran to the closet where she stored her gun. It was still there. Okay, not a robbery. She sprinted back into the kitchen and was surprised to see Steve still standing in it. Logic said he must have been the one to do the knocking. Make fun of the new neighbor to scare her. Well, he had another think coming. But, dammit, he was right behind her when she went downstairs. He never shut up.

  “Believe me, Jordan. I didn’t do this.”

  “Who did?” she asked sarcastically. The only explanation that made sense was the previous tenants must still have a key. She would change the locks tomorrow.

  “Jordan?”

  “What?”

  “I have to tell you something.”

  “Oh, a confession?” She could hear how nasty her voice was and was slightly sorry for it, but she was finding it difficult to find
an explanation.

  Steve shook his head impatiently. “No.”

  Jordan felt him watch her as she closed the cabinets, making sure they clicked closed before looking at him.

  “This building is haunted.”

  She certainly hadn’t expected him to say that. “Uh-huh, right. Get out.”

  *

  Sunny sat at the table in her small kitchen and finished the cold pasta salad her mother had left for her. She felt restless tonight and couldn’t quite put her finger on why. The house was silent, almost painfully so. She washed her bowl, wiped the spotless counter down, and wandered into the dining room, adjusting the angle of a vase as she passed it. She felt the need to look over her right shoulder, which usually meant something was coming. But what? Her spirit guides were uncharacteristically silent.

  After locking the doors on the main floor and continuing to the second, Sunny paused in the turret sitting room to straighten the already razor-sharp edges on her father’s books. It had been his favorite room, looking out toward the Warren Avenue Bridge into East Bremerton. Though he’d been gone for many years, Sunny often stood where he stood and watched the streetlights come on in the dusk, joined shortly thereafter by the twinkling of house lights.

  She wondered how many lovers were out there. True couples who actually liked each other and shared their lives as joyfully as her parents had. She yearned for that closeness, that easy love that filled her childhood home. Was it so hard to find?

  A dark cloud rolled in and blanketed the lights she’d been transfixed by. Storm’s coming.

  She wondered if that was why she was so agitated. When was the last time she’d done a reading for herself? If she had to think about it, then it must have been a long time.

  Sunny changed into a long white nightshirt. She crossed over to her sitting area and pulled a wooden box from the top shelf, taking a moment to run her fingers over the ancient symbols she’d carved into it. Here be Dragons, she automatically translated. This particular deck of tarot cards her father had given her the week before he died. Even if she knew her father’s soul lived on, it still hurt to think of how much she missed him in the physical world. Sunny shuffled her cards and placed her question firmly in her mind. “What’s coming?” Isis jumped onto her lap, and she was glad for the company.