Crossing Over | ✔️

CHAPTER 8: "How? An ouija board?"

Adam pulls into Granny Rose's driveway and stops.

"Can I come in?" He asks unsurely.

"Of course, do you think I'm leaving you out here in the cold? And besides, she'll love the roses you brought for her." I say and he releases a nervous chuckle as we make our way out the car.

Adam insisted on stopping at a florist before coming here. He said it only seemed decent.

We walk up to the door and knock. Almost immediately the door flies open and Granny Rose stares at me with a loving smile.

"My Claire is here, I had a feeling that you'd be stopping by." She says and engulfs me in a hug. I hug her back and she smells exactly the same; like lavender detergent, vanilla scented candles and rose cream. I smile as I take in her warmness and loving nature

"Now who's this? I don't remember Brad being this handsome." She comments sharply and my eyes widen while Adam's previous nervous chuckle is turned into booming laughter.

"Grandma!" I exclaim, too shocked to say anything else.

"What I may be old, but I have eyes. Now, who are you?" She asks with a friendly smile.

"My name's Adam Bennett, and these are for you, Ma'am." He says politely and hands her the bouquet of yellow roses. She seems impressed by the gesture and hugs him.

"Nice to meet you Adam and I love roses, yellow ones are my favourite. Call me Granny Rose, everyone does." She says in a friendly tone and gesture for Adam and I to enter.

"Brad never brought me roses." She says in a whisper, but Adam still hears it and suppresses another wave of laughter.

"Granny." I hiss and she just giggles as I walk in.

As always there's a distinct scent of freshly baked goods in the air. Very cliché, I know, but my Granny is, apart from the ghost stuff, a very cliché Granny. You know the ones who make fresh cookies, knits and spoils you rotten with any types of food. My stomach grumbles at the thought of food.

"You kids must be hungry." She says as we settle around the kitchen table.

"Yes, Granny we were supposed to go to lunch, but I wanted to stop by." I answer and she sees that I need to talk to her.

"We can talk afterwards, but first I'm fixing both of you a plate of my lasagna which just came out of the oven. Like I said, I had a feeling that you'd stop by. There's lemonade in the fridge, which you can pour for you two." She says, but I shake my head.

"I'd rather make us some hot chocolate." I say shivering and Adam silently agrees as I get two mugs from the shelf.

"So, Adam, I never heard Claire talk about you. Did you guys meet recently?" Granny asks and after receiving a nod from me, Adam tells her the story of Allison.

While he's telling her, I notice that he isn't bitter about it anymore. There's obvious traces of grief in his voice, but he sounds less angry since when I met him. Some of his burden has shifted. I watch him as he tells Granny of the story and I can't help but be amazed. His wearing a simple jean, hoodie and leather jacket, but the way he talks is just mesmerizing. The way his lips move when he talks or how he moves his hands if he explain something, how his face light up by the mention of Allison's name-

"Claire."

I notice a beat too late that they're both looking at me. Adam slightly smirking and Granny with a knowing look on her face.

"Yeah? I ask, but my voice comes out raspy."

"The kettle finished boiling." Granny says and I refrain from face palming.

"Oh, yeah, of course." I mutter and continue working, ignoring that dumb fangirl part of my brain.

I set the hot chocolate down in front of Adam and we start eating after gran said grace.

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After we ate and washed dishes, we moved over to the living room. Adam set the fireplace, which instantly warmed me up.

"So, honey, what's troubling you?" Granny asks and I retell the events of last night. She listens and looks at me with a worried face.

"This sounds like an evil spirit or even something like a poltergeist. You shouldn't interfere or have contact with it." She says in a stern voice, but something in me disagrees.

"I don't think it's evil-" I start, but she cuts me off with a stern voice.

"You don't know the difference between good and evil. This doesn't sound like a friendly encounter. If it returns, banish it like I taught you and take this." She says and takes a golden necklace off from around her neck.

It has a delicate gold chain and a small turquoise pendant attached to it.

"This is my pendant, which I use to protect me against evil beings. It will protect you. I got it from my grandmother, your great-great grandmother, who then got it from her grandmother. This has been a shield against evil for a long time in our family." She says and I nod and hold it tightly in my hand.

"Thanks Granny." I whisper and she smiles.

"I know I come off harsh, but I just want to protect you." She says and I nod understandingly and hug her.

"Claire, we should probably go before the snow storm gets too bad." Adam says, sounding bad for interrupting.

"He's right, I don't want you kids caught in the ugly storm." Granny says and hugs me again.

"Okay Granny, I love you." I say and she returns it.

"I love you too my sweet child." She murmurs and walks over to Adam.

"It was lovely meeting you Adam, take care of her for me and do visit again soon." She says and hugs him.

"It was nice meeting you too Granny Rose." He says gently.

"I like him much more than Brad." She jokes again and I roll my eyes as Adam laughs.

"Oh my goodness, let's leave." I say jokingly and she laughs and gives us some cookies for the road. We get into Adams car and drive off.

"I like your Granny Rose. She is definitely right about a lot of things." He says with a bright smile and a humorous tone.

"She's quite the character and almost always right..." I mutter and he looks at me questioningly.

"You think she's wrong about it being an evil spirit?" He asks, hitting the nail on the head.

"Yes, she wasn't there. The spirit sounded scared and in distress, not like it had evil intentions." I say, thinking more clearly about the encounter.

"Okay, so what are you going to do?" He asks as I play with the pendant around my neck.

"I don't know... I have to contact it." I conclude.

"How? An ouija board?" He jokingly asks, but that actually gives me an idea.

"That's maybe not a bad idea." I say and he looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Look, I wasn't serious...." He says carefully.

"Well, I am. I never actually initiated the first move to contact the ghost, so I wouldn't have the faintest idea of what to do. And an ouija board is the next best thing." I say and he still looks unsure.

"What if it is an evil spirit?" He asks gently.

"Then it'll possess me and I'll die." I deadpan, but he looks scared. "Adam, I'm joking. I have this to protect me." I say holding up the pendant.

"Come on, add the mall to your GPS." I say and he reluctantly puts the mall in as a stop.

I really hope this will work...