Evelyn watched as Frankie and Levi rushed into the dining room. The two of them looked around, scanning the faces of the people in the crowd.
They’re figuring it out, she thought to herself. They’re looking for me. They’re trying to rescue me!
It was the biggest rush of emotion that she had felt since she had arrived on the alternate plane, and yet it was still subdued. Like the emotion was hidden behind a veil. Detectable, but not fully present.
Frankie’s shoulders slumped and Levi stepped in closer to him. They talked quietly and Evelyn couldn’t make out what they were saying.
She took a step forward, but was met with the invisible forcefield that kept her in close proximity to Tommy, who was taking the order of a table at the front of the restaurant. She continued to push, half-wondering if maybe that was the answer for getting out of this mess: just breaking the barrier that had been placed on her.
The forcefield pushed back and she stumbled to the floor. When she scrambled back to her feet, Tommy had moved closer. She could finally make out what her friends were saying.
“…this is what I saw,” Frankie told Levi. “You saw it too, didn’t you? You saw Evelyn right here.”
Her heart burst with excitement. They were looking for her!
“Well, something went wrong,” Levi said. “What do you think it was?”
Evelyn couldn’t hear Frankie’s response. She scooted backwards by the edge of the forcefield as Tommy disappeared back into the kitchen.
She had made it to her feet when Tommy returned to the dining room. At this point, however, Frankie and Levi had taken a few steps toward the door. Frankie still kept looking into the dining room, scanning faces.
“Wait!” Evelyn called, knowing it was no use. “Frankie! Listen to me!”
She was pulled back again as Tommy went to the bar to fill out a receipt. She studied him.
I have to get out of here, she thought. I have to find a way to send a message to Frankie and Levi. Let them know that I am here. There’s obviously a way. They saw me somehow, through whatever spell Frankie had cast.
Then she got an idea. She was connected to Tommy psychically. If she touched his physical body too, and focused on taking control of his body for only a second, maybe she could use Tommy’s voice to tell Frankie and Levi that she was there and needed help.
It was a long shot. She had never done that kind of magic before, but she couldn’t just let the opportunity pass by without doing something.
Reaching out, she placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. Instantly, her vision went black and her consciousness was bombarded with Tommy’s phantom shrieking at her as terrible scenes from Tommy’s life flashed through her mind like a projector screen.
Tommy shivering at night in his room.
Tommy’s feet, sore and calloused from long-worn shoes.
Tommy’s mother dying.
Tommy going to work and being scolded for not making enough money.
Tommy sitting alone in his house.
Tommy’s father dying.
The loneliness.
The despair.
The will to live, slowly dwindling away.
The flashes passed by her so quickly that she couldn’t focus on any particular one for any length of time. Still, she felt the terrible feeling of emptiness after the images blissfully ceased.
Evelyn crumpled to the ground, feeling weakened and drained. The longer she stayed in this alternate plane, the more debilitated she became. And yet, as she watched Frankie and Levi disappear into the kitchen, she realized that she had no hope of ever getting out alive.