Chapter Seven

At some point during the drive home, Fiona had disappeared from the backseat making the rest of the ride blissfully silent. Grateful for the reprieve, Jody focused on relaxing her taut muscles. The delightful peace within the car aided her efforts immensely.

Slowly pulling into her driveway, Jody came to a stop. Despite the peaceful respite, the constant bombardment of the energetic little girl’s unfamiliar energy had left her verging on hysteria. A cackle fraught with panic escaped her lips. The nightmarish sound so creepy, it sent tremors of dread running down her spine. Oh, God help me! I’m losing it. Genuinely afraid for her sanity, she tried to regain control by forcing her fists tightly into her eyelids. She understood what was happening to her and around her, but had no clue how to stop the momentum.

The little girl seemed to be holding her hostage, sapping more of her strength with each encounter. Her experience with Fiona had taught her quickly that the price for being dragged into a constant altered state was more than she could afford to pay. She had no idea how to escape the danger of being so far removed from the rational world so frequently. Something had to happen soon to stop Fiona’s interference in her life. If the intrusion didn’t cease, she feared she’d no longer have the strength to separate herself from the thin veil that kept the dead at bay. She could end up lost in the mist between worlds. Ultimately, she feared she’d lose her ability to distinguish between the essence of the mundane and esoteric. She wasn’t fooling herself. She understood that would mean the end of life as she knew it, mentally and possibly even physically. For the first time in many years, her gift had now placed her in grave danger.

People often believed that when someone was capable of speaking with the dead, any and all answers to their questions were at their disposal. That was simply crap—the biggest cosmic joke of all. If that were the case, Jody wouldn’t be in the trouble she was in now. She’d learned early on that the Universe works in mysterious ways and provides help not when wanted but only when needed.

Clutching the steering wheel, she squeezed her eyes shut, and started her breathing mantra. She would use all the techniques in her arsenal to regain a little control over her life. “I can do this,” she stated with resolve and tightened her fingers on the wheel. “I’m strong.” Breathe in. Breathe out. “There’s a reason this is happening, and everything will work out in the end.” Breathe in. Breathe out.

After allowing herself a few more moments of positive reinforcement, she pivoted to step out of the vehicle. The car forcefully jerked forward, jolting her back to reality. Slamming her right foot on the brake, the realization hit that she’d not only failed to put the car in park but hadn’t even turned it off.

“That’s just great!” she yelled, violently hitting the steering wheel with the palm of her hand. The angry outburst did more to calm her frayed nerves than anything else she’d tried so far. Once again, Fiona had proven to be too much of a distraction. She had to gain the upper hand soon, or she’d end up hurting herself, or even worse someone else.

Using the force of her anger to slam the car door, she effectively sealed herself inside. The hot interior of the vehicle wasn’t an ideal refuge, but at least peace and quiet could be found here. Her objective was to take full advantage of the calm while she could.

To separate herself from her psychic abilities, she stilled her nerves and focused what was left of her energy on allowing her ordinary, everyday senses to take over. This exercise was a type of reverse meditation that served to ground her when she felt out of control.

Becoming more conscious of her hearing, a mockingbird’s beautiful trill calling its mate crept slowly into her awareness. Listening to the sounds of her neighborhood, she worked to visualize everything she heard, playing it like a movie in her head. In the distance, a dog barked. Her sense of touch and smell started to respond as the breeze picked up and kissed her skin. The sweet scent of honeysuckle wafted through the car and tickled her nose. She immersed herself in the tranquil reality of the world around her.

To her surprise, a butterfly joined her in the car. There was something mystical about the beautiful creature sharing the same space. No matter how infinitesimal, she welcomed the sense of serenity with open arms. She’d take what she could get.

Calmer now, Jody reflected on how her abilities had impacted her throughout her life. She tried to find a correlation in her past which would help her hurdle this new uninvited snag. Even going as far back as her childhood when nothing had been in her control, there’d never been an experience like this one with Fiona. Good spirits or bad, they’d contacted her and then always moved on, never to be heard from again. Because their visits were brief, only a minute amount of her energy had been stolen. No spirit had ever attached itself to her before. This was new. There was nothing in her past that would help her deal with the dangerous complications Fiona now forced upon her.

Somewhere in the distance, children’s laughter caught her attention and had her feeling a little lighter. She tried to imagine her body stretching to the limits and joining in their joyful play. In doing so, she felt a slight pull at the corners of her lips as they rose in a grin. She took solace in the fact the world continued to go on around her as if all were well and normal. The world outside her car gave her hope. But she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that a come-apart of gargantuan proportions would soon blacken her horizon.

Over the last twelve hours or so, she’d learned beyond a shadow of a doubt that this situation wasn’t going to go away on its own. She’d have to go far beyond her comfort level to figure out how to help Fiona move on. At this point, she was willing to beg, borrow, and steal to get the information needed to make that happen.

The Universe obviously had a change of plan in store for her. She didn’t have a choice. She’d have to man up, stop the bellyaching, and stop fighting the transformation, whatever that may be. Like it or not, her only way out of this situation was to charge through full speed ahead. Since she didn’t have a clue where to start or what course of action to take, the time had come to ask the big guns for help.

Allowing her reverence for the enlightened, higher powers to shine through in her voice, she started her entreaty. “Please guide me in this situation with Fiona. Provide me with the wisdom and knowledge to do what must be done to help her.” She closed her eyes, picturing her spoken plea being carried off on the warm desert breeze. Well, that’s it then. All she could do now was wait for intervention on her behalf.

Exhausted and thinking only of the nap she planned to take, Jody dragged her tired butt through her front door. When she found Fiona making herself right at home, her surprise at the little girl’s intrusion had her silently cursing. Nothing should surprise her anymore.

The reason for her meltdown sat on the living room couch, occupying herself by lifting her legs and then letting them fall. With each upward pass of the child’s feet, Fiona’s little Buster Browns kicked the underside of the coffee table making everything on top jump. She wanted to laugh at how normal this act would be if Fiona were still alive.

With the kid so close by, Jody felt faint even before the door closed behind her. Bone-weary fatigue that Fiona’s presence always seemed to cause immediately kicked in. As yet unnoticed by the little girl, she stood in place and weighed the benefits of sneaking out the door and hiding for just a bit longer.

Just as Jody started to turn and leave, dizziness enveloped her. The air seemed to ignite with flecks of light as if someone had twirled a lit sparkler in front of her face. As she delighted in the glistening spectacle around her, an unexpected surge of adrenaline traveled quickly through her body. The boost of spiritual power was a shot of pure, bright white energy. A special gift had been bestowed on her the likes of which could only be granted from Heaven above. The impact surged through her like a bolt of lightning. Not only did the offering serve to renew some of her hollowed strength, but it also left her with the first inkling of how she could get through this mess. As the hair on her arms rose and stood at attention, little pricks of excitement built deep within her.

This entire mess boiled down to the simple fact she’d been fighting for control. Her ego had gotten in the way. She had to stop looking to the past for answers. They weren’t there. Up until this point, Jody had believed she couldn’t help Fiona until everything fell into the proper place. Business as usual. All she had to do was change her way of thinking. No longer having the luxury of waiting for fate to deliver Fiona’s mother and father to her, the situation now called for her to take charge of bringing them all together.

Jody would have to think outside the box when working with the little girl who’d become a problem child. To survive this quagmire, she’d just have to accept the change and move forward accordingly. Liking her new role in the needed change wasn’t a requirement. As this revelation hit her, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her stupidity.

Even though her feelings about this new path were somewhat conflicted, the time had come to abandon her comfort zone. Light at the end of the tunnel had just appeared where Fiona was concerned. That was indeed an excellent turn of events.

Because she hadn’t had to face the unknown in years, she couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved. Change was always a tricky prospect. Her unknown could very well be fraught with spiritual and physical danger. Jody couldn’t help but chuckle at her foolishness. I’m already in hell. How much worse can my life possibly get?

Before acting on the new course of action, she took a moment to silently thank the higher powers that be for providing her with the needed answers.

Change was no longer on the horizon but right here in front of her and currently sitting on her living room couch. If she took too much time to think about what was to come, she’d be too scared to continue. She’d just have to dive right in and hope the learning curve wasn’t too steep.

The time had come to sink or swim. Let’s hope I don’t drown.