Levi had managed to get Frankie into the back room without too much disturbance to the diners in the restaurant.
This whole night has been crazy, Levi thought to himself. It’s a wonder any of them even come back.
He propped Frankie against the icebox, who slumped to the floor, limp. Levi rolled his neck to try to work out some of the knots forming.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked blankly. “Why do you want to sell your soul?” It took all of his effort not to yell at him for it. They had discussed this already.
“I have to sell my soul,” Frankie repeated. “That’s the only way I’ll get to see my wife.”
“Because you’ll be dead?”
“Yes!”
“Okay.” Levi let out a deep breath, trying to control his own anger, while also figuring out how best to help his friend. “Okay. Where did you see her? When did she tell you? Was it…in a dream or something?”
“She was standing right there!” He pointed to the corner.
Levi looked over his shoulder, but didn’t see anything. His eyes lingered, but still nothing was there. “Is she standing there now?”
“Of course not. She’s not here right now.”
“Well, where did she go?”
Frankie shrugged. “I don’t know! But that’s not important. What’s important is that I need to find her again. I have to be with her forever and the only way I can do that is if I make a deal with Hecate. Trade my soul for an eternity with my wife.”
“And you got all of this from your wife?”
“Yes!”
Levi rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Frankie, I don’t mean this to be rude, but your wife’s dead.”
“That’s why this is the only way for us to be together!”
“And this doesn’t seem at all suspicious to you?”
“No. Why wouldn’t I want to spend eternity with my wife?”
Levi thought about Frankie’s behavior over the course of the day. For the most part, it had seemed normal. But the exhaustion was new—Frankie seemed to be more tired than an early wake-up would warrant—and now he was seeing things. Based on Frankie’s behavior outside, Levi thought it was safe to assume that Hecate was behind it.
“Okay, I need you to really think this through,” Levi started. “Don’t shoot it down right away. Really think about it.”
“I need to see my wife!”
“I’m not talking about that. Listen, don’t you think it’s a little odd that the woman that you remember from the 70s is suddenly here? I mean, your time period is the 80s, and she was dead when you came to my time. That’s a ten year difference.”
“So?”
“So why would she be here? Did she cast a spell in the 70s to take her back to this moment?”
“No. She—she died.”
Levi nodded and smiled. Frankie was finally getting it. “Right. That’s what happened. It was terrible and tragic and you never truly got over it. Of course you want to see her, but Frankie, this isn’t her. Whoever—or whatever—you’re seeing is not the woman you love.”
Frankie shook his head and scooted away from Levi, turning away from him. “Then maybe it was her ghost.”
“In 1924? Before she was even born? I may not have magic, but that seems like a stretch, even for you.”
Silence.
Levi sighed again. “Frankie, don’t you think it’s possible that you’re being manipulated? Like I said, you never really got over her death. Someone bad, like Hecate, could be using that to their advantage. Maybe Hecate only sent Marie’s image to get you off her trail. It sounds like she wants to convince you to trade in your soul. And once you do that, it’s too late.”
Frankie was quiet as his friend talked. But the silence meant that the gears were turning in his mind. Levi decided to hold off on saying anything else so that Frankie could warm up to the idea that what Levi was saying was the truth.
“You may be right,” the witch finally admitted.
Levi smiled. “It doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Frankie shook his head. “No. There’s no way—natural or supernatural—for Marie to genuinely be here now. Maybe in my time her spirit could show up to communicate with me, but she couldn’t come back to 1924. That’s impossible.”
“Good,” Levi encouraged. “Keep that in mind.”
“And I think you’re right about Hecate,” he confessed. “She honed in on my weakness and exploited it.” Frankie rubbed his head. “She’s still trying to. I mean, I see Marie right there.” He nodded toward a spot a few feet away, but Levi saw nothing.
“Hecate’s messing with your head.”
Frankie nodded. “And I need you to keep me focused. Her influence is waning, but it’s still there.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We need more information.”
“Okay.” Levi looked to his friend. “Where do we get that?”