The Sibyl

by James Hold

  Chapter Eight

  My day with Elliot was a fantastic blur of all the cheesy things tourists do in a big city. We went to every skyscraper, rode on the ferry, and despite my adamant refusals to do anything I had been forced to do in L.A., Elliot talked me into a little shopping. We stayed on our feet until the sun began to set over the Hudson River and Elliot began to whine about dying of starvation before we got back to the hotel. So I tagged along as he found a small restaurant with dark tables and soft lighting.

  I fell into the booth with a happy sigh as I tossed my bags aside. When Eli settled in across the table, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face as I leaned forward. “This has been amazing, Eli. Are you sure we can’t just do a travel show instead?”

  Eli chuckled as the waitress approached our table. Two drink orders later, he responded. “We are doing a travel show, Eva. We just won’t focus on local landmarks.”

  “Yeah, but I like going into places with modern conveniences.” I snagged a breadstick from the basket the waitress had left behind. “Lights and running water are huge bonuses for me.”

  “I’ll bet they are.” Elliot shook his head as he browsed the menu. “I thought we were on strict orders not to discuss the show though. Are you changing things up on me, McRayne?”

  “I’m not talking about the show per say.” I chewed on the edge of the breadstick for a second before sitting it on the table. “We’ve done very well at avoiding it all day. But there is something I need to tell you about.”

  “What?” Elliot became very interested in the menu before him. “Does this have anything to do with Cyrus being in your room earlier?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded to the waitress, waiting for her to leave the drinks behind. When she bounced away, I responded. “He was there when I got out of the shower. I’m surprised you let him in.”

  “I didn’t.” Elliot’s features grew dark as he put the menu down. He clasped his hands over it. I couldn’t help but notice how white his knuckles had become. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine, Eli, really.” I took a sip of my coke to clear my throat. “I told you Cyrus isn’t out to hurt me. He just wanted to talk.”

  “I don’t trust him, Eva. You shouldn’t either.” Eli went back to his menu. After an awkward moment, he sighed. “What did he want?”

  I shrugged. “Cyrus doesn’t think it’s a good idea if I do the show. He said I’d be putting myself in unnecessary danger by being exposed to the spirits in the places we’d be going.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him to go to hell. I signed a contract. I’m not going to go back on my word because of some freaky woman and her suicide.”

  “You told him that? In those exact words?” Elliot smirked as the waitress returned. She took our orders and left us alone. “No wonder he told you to behave.”

  “Well, not those exact words.” I admitted. “Pretty close, though. Eli, I know perfectly well what I’m getting into by doing the show. Granted, I don’t know how the whole Sibyl thing will affect it. Cyrus did say I can be trained to protect myself at our locations. In fact, I’m supposed to meet with him when we get back to start my first lesson.”

  “Tonight?” Elliot shook his head. “Not by yourself you’re not. I’ll come with you.”

  “You can if you want.” I waved the waitress over since she’d been eyeing our table for the past few minutes. “I’m probably going to skip it though. We haven’t even started talking about how we are going to do the show. We need to figure out layout. Are we going to write dialogue at all? Hell, Eli. This project doesn’t even have a title yet.”

  “I am pretty eager to get started.” Eli admitted. “Eva, there’s something else we need to talk about first. Something more important than the show.”

  I felt my heart drop as images from our encounter this morning played behind my eyes. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t want to talk about it yet. The waitress picked that precise moment to trounce on over, and I was grateful for the interruption. The delay wasn’t long enough. As soon as our orders were put down on the table, we were alone again and Eli continued.

  “What do you really think about this Sibyl story? Do you believe what Cyrus has been telling you?”

  I shrugged and remained silent. Elliot didn’t rush me. He could be very patient when it meant the outcome would be just what he wanted it to be. In this case, he wanted me to talk. I’ll admit it. I stalled by playing with the napkins and silverware. When the silence between us became too much to bare, I picked up my fork and started tapping it against the table.

  “I don’t think I have a choice in the matter. I have to believe him. I saw something yesterday. To be honest, I have experienced several things I cannot explain.”

  My words got stuck in my throat. I swallowed them down before starting over by telling him about the woman I’d seen the night before and how I wanted so desperately to join her. I told him not just about seeing Kathy Carter. I told him what she said to me as well. To his credit, Elliot just listened. He didn’t interrupt me or ask me any stupid questions. Elliot’s only response was to push the plates aside and lean forward.

  “When we get home, you should see a doctor to make sure you really didn’t hurt yourself when you fell.” Elliot raised his hand to shush me. “Listen, I get it. You’re stubborn and hardheaded. I don’t care. You need to be checked out.”

  “It’ll only be a waste of time.” I batted his hand down before taking a bite of my spaghetti. “There’s no point in zigzagging back and forth across the country when we can just leave from here.”

  I didn’t bother to tell Elliot I had no intentions of seeing a doctor. I could do just fine without them hearing my story then sneaking off to sign my commitment papers. Elliot looked as if he wanted to argue, but the fight was draining out of him. He nodded instead.

  “Then I guess we need to decide on where we’re going.” Elliot pulled his own plate to its spot in front of him. “So what’ll it be? Battleground? Mental hospital? Creepy abandoned house with a gory background?”

  “No battlegrounds. Not yet.” I swallowed and wiped my mouth with a napkin. “I don’t know much about ghosts, but common sense should tell you that being outside is going to contaminate any evidence we get.”

  “Makes sense to me, Eva. Elliot was digging into his plate of food like a man deprived. I almost felt sorry for him. “You know more about ghost hunting than you think you do.”

  “I know enough to make fun of you about it.” I smirked as he chuckled. “And no mental wards either. Connor said we had to find a way to make ourselves stand out. A mental hospital is too stereotypical.”

  Elliot gave me a huge grin for the first time since we’d sat down to dinner. “That’s my girl. Come on. Hurry up and eat so we can get back to the hotel. Speaking of Connor, I have to call him. He will want to know what our plans are going to be. Then we’ll work on the show to figure out just where we want to end up.”