MY AUNT sits back amazed, folding her arms. "For how long?"
"Since I was a kid."
"Devyn. This whole time? And you never said anything?" Her expression turns pained. "Not even to me?"
"I was scared," I reply defensively. "I didn't want to end up..."
"Like me." She puts her head down, scratching her scalp. "Shiit, can't say I blame you."
"That's just it though, Ti. I am you now. I started talking to a murder victim and I need your help. They've got the wrong guy."
For a moment, she mutters under her breath. But then her honey eyes—the same ones as my father—regard me with maturity. I'm no longer just her brother's quiet, awkward daughter. I'm her equal. We share an experience now.
"Listen, Devyn. Meddling in spiritual affairs can be dangerous. I've learned some hard lessons over the years."
I swallow. "Like what?"
"You and I are what the world calls mediums, but we are actually so much more than that. We're gatekeepers."
"Gatekeepers?"
"More or less." She pauses when a nurse trails by and then lowers her voice. "You know that feeling you get before a spirit shows face?"
I nod. "Yeah it's a heaviness in the pit of my stomach. Sometimes I even get goosebumps."
"Mhmm, well that same feeling, when channeled correctly, can open up a whole wormhole, linking spirits to the Primordial Light. To take those souls home."
"Primordial Light?"
"The first light of the Universe. The Big Bang."
I scratch my head. "So is this Light like Peace? How do you know all of this?"
"There's an entire community of people like you and me. Our kind has been around for years, Devyn. We just hide in the shadows and often suffer through this gift alone. I learned everything I know now from a spiritual woman I met in my late twenties. She taught me that we'll never truly understand the magnificence of the Universe, but one thing we can be certain of is that there must be a balance between light energy and dark energy."
"You mean like good and evil?" I ask, thinking of the harmless ghosts versus the dangerous ones.
"One can certainly interpret it that way, yes. And when I was your age, I got so caught up leading souls to Peace that eventually the bad souls tormented me until I let them through, too." She shakes her head. "The results were catastrophic. Light matter can't accept dark matter. It's just the rule of space. So after leading dark matter spirits to the Light, I started to get very sick and eventually lost my gift for almost a year."
My eyes bulge. "Oh no!"
"That's why you have to be smart about which spirits you reveal yourself to and which ones you don't. The moment my gift returned, I took that as a second chance from the Universe. And I haven't messed up like that since."
"I call the bad ones demons," I say quietly, stirring my spoon through completely melted gelato. "I used to be very good about never letting them know I could see them. They've always scared me. But then last night, I was at my friend's vigil and I...I got distracted. One of them saw me interacting with my dead friend."
"That's not good, baby. You sure it was a dark spirit?"
"Oh I'm sure." I bite my bottom lip. "Ti, tell me what to do, please. I'm afraid he'll come back."
She sighs. "He will be back, that's no question. Prepare your heart and mind for an assault, baby. Those types of spirits always get ugly first before they leave you alone for good. They crave to be whole again. Pure."
My eyes water as fear grips the back of my throat. "How do I protect myself?"
"I'd tell you to use sage but on a dark matter spirit like that, sage does nothing. The most effective thing you can do is turn on all your lights and keep a flashlight on your person. Dark spirits hate light since they're the antithesis to them. I've found that flashing them directly in the eyes is even painful for them."
"That's a neat tip."
"And if that doesn't work, you can always tell him that if he doesn't leave you alone, you'll summon the Dark Energy to come and vacuum him away."
"I can do that? Summon the Dark?"
My aunt frowns. "No one I know, including the gatekeepers in history and myself, have figured out how to do that yet. It's not to say it isn't possible, though. But as far as threats go, it sometimes works."
"Oh," I reply with disappointment.
"Devyn, I won't lie. Our gift is emotionally and physically taxing. I wish you hadn't inherited this. It's the whole reason I keep needing places like Canyon Springs. The meds don't 'fix' me while I'm here, but they do weaken the apparitions. And I need breaks in between helping all these souls reach the Light—self care, me time, whatever it's called these days."
Now ain't that something.
All this time my aunt has used these behavioral facilities as a damn mental vacation.
"So what about channeling?" I ask, reinvigorated. "Can I help my friend remember certain details from her life?"
My question hangs in the air as Atheena grows still. I know in my heart it's possible. Channeling spirits is what got my aunt in trouble as a teenager. She told my grandmother that she could channel Kennedy Jackson's last moments alive, a five-year-old dead girl who had been trending in the news that week.
"Yes," Atheena finally says. "You can help your friend remember. But it comes with a price." The breath she takes seems to rattle her lungs. "You'll experience every moment with her."
The pounding of my heart stops at my throat. Every moment? I shudder, recalling the fragments of Peewee's last moments. She said there was a brief struggle in the bathroom before he slammed her head and drowned her.
"And how do I do that?" I force myself to ask.
Aunt Atheena sighs. "If you're trying to catch a killer, you need to revisit the crime scene, baby. It's really that simple."
"That's it?"
"Take your new friend, walk the premises, and let that tingling in your stomach guide you to the strongest pull. Then, stand there and close your eyes, thinking of the victim. The rest should fall into place."
"Really?"
"Oh, and burn eucalyptus. It will clear your senses. Open your third eye."
I catch sight of the redheaded woman, who wanders to the couch where the men play chess. "How come you haven't used sage on her? Doesn't she annoy you?"
My aunt laughs. "Who, Susan Kelly? Heavens, no. That poor soul is the only thing keeping me from losing my mind in here."
I snort, but I know the feeling. I haven't seen Peewee since the vigil and as angry as I am about what she did, an even bigger part of me misses her. I still want justice for her.
"Why haven't you led Susan to Peace?"
"Susan's been haunting this facility since 1994 and the Universe is perfectly alright with that, which means so am I. She actually used to be a patient here so the renovations to this place always upset her, but she's as harmless as a fly."
"Oh."
"She'll let me know when she's ready. When you've been doing this for as long as I have, it becomes instinctual."
I take a look at my phone, realizing the time. I don't have all day. Ace's life is still on the line and Peewee's on the lam. I've got to track her down.
"Do you think you could teach me more about this? I mean, after you check out."
My aunt smiles wide. "I'd like nothing more than to help you discover your true potential."
After throwing away our gelato cups, I meet my aunt with a hug. "Thank you for being so cool about this. You have no idea how much better I feel."
"You're never alone in this, Devyn. I'm here for you. Even though I'm stuck in this center until I get out, I want you to call me if you need anything. Especially with that dark spirit after you."
"Thanks. I'm taking your advice. I'm going to keep a flashlight and point it directly in his eyes."
"That's my girl."
We clap hands and hug each other one last time.