Evelyn stood as far as she could from Tommy, just outside the kitchen in the dining room. She hadn’t been able to hear all of Frankie and Levi’s conversation, but she heard enough to know that Levi could tell that something was off.
Worse, she also saw the shadow lurking behind Frankie again. It was a phantom of some sort and it seemed to have a negative effect on him. Very much like the shadow that followed Tommy around.
The phantom near Frankie seemed to intensify and Evelyn looked around to see if there was an external force at play. That’s when she noticed Hecate outside the restaurant.
“Hey!” Evelyn called to her out of reflex. She didn’t expect a reaction of any kind, but to the oracle’s surprise, Hecate stopped and looked at Evelyn, stunned.
The oracle tried to run at the crossroads demon, but she was kept firmly in place by her connection with Tommy.
A moment later, however, Levi burst out of the back room door and raced through the dining room toward Hecate. Frankie trailed behind, and his own phantom brought up the rear.
Evelyn ran back into the kitchen and tried to get Tommy’s attention. The kitchen staff was in the midst of the dinner rush, so he was hard at work getting everything in order. Evelyn thought about focusing her energy on connecting with the physical world to get his attention, but that was a stretch. Even if she was able to somehow make a bowl clang on the counter or a cabinet slam shut, Tommy wouldn’t necessarily know what that meant. And he might not even notice it in the rush. Besides, it would take a lot out of her and she already felt herself growing weaker the longer she spent on this alternate plane.
But without that, she had no other options to draw attention to Hecate, or to follow her on her own. She tried to get Tommy’s attention by waving her arms in front of him. Tried stepping into his body to possess him. Tried reaching for him, as if she were about to lay her hands on him.
None of it worked.
She was completely invisible. Untraceable. That thought alone brought a feeling of dread that Evelyn hadn’t expected. Loneliness. Hopelessness.
The more she tried to get Tommy’s attention, the firmer the shadow lurking near him became. Eventually, it took the shape of a middle-aged man. Once he had fully taken the shape of the man, he turned on Evelyn.
“What are you doing?” the phantom bellowed at her. “Leave my boy alone!”
The power in his voice scared Evelyn, then made her shrink back in fear. The look in his eyes and the authority he carried forced her to stop completely. Forced her to obey, as much as she didn’t want to. That look sent a chill right down to her core. One that made her feel less alive, the longer he kept his eyes on her.
There was a lot that she didn’t understand, but one thing she knew for certain: the longer she was trapped—the longer this mysterious negative force had to wreak havoc—the more likely it was that she was going to die.
Levi was her only hope. Hopefully he could save both her and Frankie. If not, then this was the end for them both.