Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

Chapter 12

Mischa told me that I'd missed a somber trip to Bobby's after the dance. Matt had driven her home in his dad's Audi after Violet, Pete, Melissa, Jeff, Tracy and Mike had shown up. Mischa hadn't been in much of a mood to party after that.

"I mean, seriously, who does she think she is? I asked Matt to talk to Pete, but they're not really friends. I guess if he really likes Violet, there's not much we can do about it, but I mean, God! It's just so messed up that she'd go after Olivia's boyfriend and it hasn't even been a month yet," Mischa rambled.

The nurse at the front desk in the emergency room told us that under no circumstances would we be allowed to visit Candace, because she had been admitted to the psychiatric ward and we weren't immediate family members.

"This is really, really important," Mischa insisted. "It's like, life or death."

"I'm sure it is, honey," the nurse told us patronizingly. "But, it'll have to wait until she's released."

Fortunately, we saw Candace's mother in the parking lot before we drove away, and bolted out of Mischa's car to intercept her before she reached her own car.

"Mrs. Cotton!" Mischa called.

Candace's mom stopped before opening the driver's side door to her car and seemed startled to hear her former name called. She had officially been Mrs. Lehrer since we were all in first grade, but it never felt natural to call her that. She appeared to be exhausted, with bags under her eyes, and was dressed far less fashionably than she usually was, wearing a washed-out sweat suit. She carried a cup of coffee from the hospital cafeteria in one hand, and her car keys dangled from the other. "Oh, hi, girls. I'm sorry, it's been a long night. I didn't recognize you just now."

"We really need to see Candace," Mischa pleaded.

"I don't think the hospital is going to allow that. Candace is having a difficult time and can't have any visitors. She is still obsessed with the notion that this girl Violet at school has some kind of evil powers because of whatever game you guys played at Olivia's house a few weeks ago. Her doctors seem to think that game has become the fixation of whatever psychosis she's suffering. I don't think it would be beneficial for her to see any friends from school."

"My dad is a psychiatrist," I piped up. "He said you should take Candace to the University of Wisconsin in Sheboygan and have her examined by one of his former coworkers. He gave me the name of someone." I handed her the e-mail from my dad that I had printed out, which included contact information for Dr. Felipe Gonzalez. Candace's mom inspected the sheet of paper before tucking it into her purse.

"Thank you, McKenna, and thank your dad, too. I'm at my wit's end with all of this. I just don't know what to do for her anymore. Candace's dad and stepmom are driving up from Green Bay this afternoon, and I should have a better idea tomorrow of what's going to happen next."

On the drive back to Willow, I grappled with the decision of whether or not to tell Mischa about all of the weird occurrences in my house, and about the Ouija board connection that Trey and I had made with Olivia. I really wanted to share, but didn't want to end up in the room next to Candace's in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. But still, if there was a chance that Mischa was receiving messages from Olivia, then maybe her messages, combined with my messages, would lead to some kind of understanding about what we needed to do to stop Violet.

"Have you been noticing anything weird lately at your house?" I asked with trepidation. I heard my cell phone buzz in my handbag with a text message, and ignored it. Violet had been texting me all morning, wanting to see if I would join her and Tracy for a movie that afternoon, and I hadn't gathered the energy to respond yet.