“I know what I’ve heard,” says Carson, her lips tight in a thin line. “But I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because you were the other closest person to Callie, and she believed in you.”
He winces.
What has Carson heard?
I glance up at Reena and see her raised eyebrows. Then she gives me a sympathetic shrug. “They do go on. They start to have experiences that we don’t know about.”
“I hate that part,” I say, turning back to my friends.
“Yeah, it really sucks,” Reena mutters.
“Fine,” says Nick, and I can tell he’s making an effort to be calm. “So go ahead already. Prove me wrong.”
“I will,” says Carson. And then she closes her eyes.
“Guardians of the spirit realm, hear my plea . . . ,” she starts. She says it with a straight face, taking this very seriously as she always has. “Bring Callie McPhee to me. Other souls who hear this call are not welcome. Only Callie McPhee may enter this sacred space.”
“Cars,” I say, talking over her as she keeps chanting those words. “You don’t need this whole setup. I’m already with you, right here!”
I look back at Reena, who’s leaning against the wall with her arms folded. She’s smiling indulgently.
“I know she can’t hear me,” I say, preempting any chastising. “But it’s hard not to just talk to her.”
“She can’t hear you, but the more you try to connect with her, the more she’ll feel you,” says Reena, which is so comforting. “Talk away. It can’t hurt.”
“You should be a Guide,” I tell her.
She laughs. “You really don’t know me that well if you believe that.”
“I know enough.” I smile with gratitude. Because Reena is a real friend—she’s helping me connect. And I know I can do it this time.
Carson’s still chanting with her eyes closed, and it seems like Nick is falling asleep. His head is slumped forward at a weird angle.
I focus all my attention on Carson, pouring all my energy toward her. “This isn’t going to work,” I say to her softly. “It’s not because I don’t want to come back—I’d give anything to be alive again, to be heading out on our next adventure and to let you film my latest stunt. I’d even do dumb séances like this with you. . . .”
I look over at Nick and feel a surge of affection. Okay, he’s being sort of an ass, but he’s here. He’s doing that for Carson.
“Cars, you have to help Nick deal with this. You’re strong—you always have been. Stronger than me and stronger than Nick and maybe even stronger than my dad.”
I pause on the last word, and when I fall silent she stops chanting, too. She looks straight ahead, almost right at me.
“Cal, are you here?” she whispers.
“Yes!” I shout.
“If you’re here, give me a sign, Callie, please.”
She’s not hearing me. I need something more. Maybe I can try the candles—I’ve already made that work once at the fire pit. I lean over to the one with the rainbow wax at the left of her circle and concentrate. Birthdays, trick candles, the night with Nick. Whoosh! It’s out.
“Awesome!” Reena shouts. “That’s the way to do it.”
With pride, I beam back at her.
Carson stares in wonder at the thin stream of smoke trailing from the wick, but I can tell she’s still unsure. So I lean to the right toward a thicker scented candle she has burning, and I manage to blow out that one, too.
“You are here!” Carson clasps her hands near her heart. “Oh my gosh, I knew it.” She glances back down at the book. “Hold on—stay here, Callie!”
Nick lifts his head up. “Huh?”
“Were you asleep?” Carson huffs. “Nick, Callie’s spirit is here! She blew out both candles!”
Nick frowns and checks the windows—closed. “If that happened, it was probably the air from the AC,” he says.
“It was not,” she insists. “Now pay attention, you lush.”
Quickly, she flips to another page. “Shoot. We need something of Callie’s.”
“Huh?”
“We need something of hers to place in the circle.” Carson scans her room.
“Would this work?” Nick holds up my amber heart pendant, and Carson’s eyes light up.
“Perfect.” She places it between them and starts reading another incantation. “By the light of the moon and the branch of the tree, I call the soul of Callie McPhee back to me. . . .”
“Carson, stop with the stupid chants,” I say. “They’re not why I’m here. I came on my own. This is all just fake-magic nonsense.”
But she doesn’t stop—she still can’t hear me. “By the light of the moon and the branch of the tree, I call the soul of Callie McPhee back to me. . . .”
She pauses. “Say it with me, Nick,” she commands.
He gives her a look like Are you effing kidding me?
“Please,” she pleads. “For Callie.”
He sighs deeply and bows his head, making a curl flop over his brow. Then he joins in as they slowly say these ridiculous words together.
“By the light of the moon and the branch of the tree, I call the soul of Callie McPhee back to me. . . .”
I look back at Reena.
She shrugs. “Hey, they’re trying. It’s more than anyone did for me after I died.”
“I know Carson seems crazy right now,” I say, speaking loudly over their chants. “She’s just a really determined girl and—”
My voice locks up. I can no longer speak. As Carson and Nick continue chanting, I start to feel a buzzing inside. It starts in my center—right beneath my heart, like something’s shaking my core. The vibrations increase in intensity, rattling the deepest part of my being. I experience the sensation of dropping into space, like I can’t hold on to anything around me. You know that feeling when you’re about to fall asleep but then you wake up suddenly, like you just had a sharp fall? It’s like that, but it’s not stopping. I’m falling and falling and . . .
What’s going on? I can only think the words; I can’t voice them.
My vision goes black. I hear a high-pitched noise, and I feel severe pain throughout my body. I’m shattered, pulled apart, all my bones are broken. I can’t breathe, and air is rushing around me—people are moving quickly, running and shouting. Can I really hear them, or am I just imagining voices? I think I hear my father.
I panic and my heart races—not in the exciting way, like when I’m taking a calculated risk, but in a full-blown freak-out. There is light and wind and sound whirling around me like I’m trapped within the center of a tornado. Fear. Raw, jagged fear pierces through me like a sharp blade, slicing open my sense of balance, my rational thought, my understanding of everything around me. I experience more absolute terror than in the moment I died. That instant just rushed past me, but this one is terrifyingly prolonged.
Just as I think I might lose my mind, I feel a soft pull, like in the tidal pools at the beach, where it seems gentle but it’s actually carrying you far away. I give in to the pull, willing it to rescue me, and when I let it take hold, the pain disappears.
My eyes flash open and I’m back in my prism, in my bed, with Reena hovering over me.
I sit up, bracing myself with my hands, and take a deep breath. “What the hell happened?” I ask her.
“I’m not sure,” she says slowly. “Lie back. You’ve been out for a while.”
Why is she treating me like I’m fragile?
“I’m fine,” I say, staying upright. Truthfully, I feel full of energy, like I could fly right now if I tried.
“What do you remember?” she asks.