Page 30 of Ghost of a Chance
That meant ignoring the way she made his heart stutter and his palms sweat, pretending that one night with her was enough.
* * *
Kirsty felt a little sick to her stomach.She’d never conducted a séance before.Sure, she’d played the Ouija board game as a teenager, but that wasn’t the same thing at all.Besides what little she and her mother could find in their books, all she had to go off of was what she remembered from shows likeBuffyandCharmed.
Closing her eyes, she steeled herself.She needed to just do this.She had already committed to it.Now she had to get into the spirit.All of this medium nonsense was much easier when she wrote about Eva Clare doing it.
Her hands sweated.She wiped them on her thighs and then cleared her throat.Gia watched her eagerly.
She took her time setting the table up.Discreetly she checked her phone and the wikiHow séance page she’d decided to use for tonight.
“Jasper, I know you’re eager to talk to Paul and find out why he hasn’t moved on.We can assume that means you believe in what we’re about to do.”Her research indicated that believing in the séance was necessary to get a result.“Gia, do you believe in ghosts and the afterlife?”
“Uh, totally.I have a Ouija board and everything,” she said.“Let’s do this.”
“Ouija isn’t the same thing.”Never mind that she’d just thought the same thing.“So, you two are the sitters while I’m acting as the medium.If I’m successful in contacting Paul then you’ll be able to ask him questions while I channel him.”
“Perfect.There’s so much I want to ask him, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“I think the simpler the question the better.Something that has a yes or no answer,” she suggested.The wiki page had also suggested that.Plus it would be easier to moan ayesornowithout raising too much suspicion.
She was going to hell for this.She was sure of it.She didn’t even believe in hell as a construct, but she was definitely going down there for masquerading as the ghost of a dead man.Probably to endure all the layers that Dante had sent Faust through.
“Okay, so like…do you have unfinished business?”Jasper suggested.
“Totally stuff like that.But maybe more specific, addwith me.You both should jot down your questions before we start.Then you won’t forget it in the moment.”
“Uh, I don’t know the dude,” Gia pointed out.“What would I even ask him?”
“He might have beef with Jasper depending on what his unfinished business is.You’re a neutral party in case he’s temperamental.”
Gia and Jasper bent their heads together and jotted down their questions on the paper that Kirsty provided.She’d banned phones except her own, citing that modern devices would interfere with her channeling.Of course, that didn’t apply to any of the cameras they needed to film…but for now, no one was directly calling Kirsty out on her contradictions.
It was decided that, since the book was the focus, they’d suspend a smartphone over the table using a rig Dan set up earlier in the day and then use the proper film camera placed on a tripod far back from the scene to get all three of them in frame.
“We’re ready.What now?”Jasper asked.
Kirsty surveyed the room, eyeing the heavy mixture of lit taper candles in different colors including white to invite spirits in, blue which enhanced communication, and orange which welcomed positive spirits and kept negative ones away.She didn’t have any incense but improvised with cinnamon she found in the kitchen and dusted in a small bowl.
“Do you have a photo of Paul?”
“On my phone,” Jasper said, going out into the hall and coming back with it.
“I have a pocket printer.AirDrop it to me and I’ll go print it out,” Gia volunteered.She left and then returned a few minutes later, handing it to Jasper.
“Let’s put the photo in the middle of the candles on top of the textbook.Also it’s important to stay calm, we don’t want to frighten him off if we get him.”
Jasper seemed lost as he stared at the photo.His expression was inscrutable, which given that he was normally a bit easier to read told her volumes.For his sake she hoped this séance worked not just for her own credibility.If ever a man needed closure it was him.
Gia leaned over Jasper’s shoulder and touched the photo.“He was cute.”
“Yeah.Cute, smart, kind, Paul was all of that and more.”
“You need a minute?”Kirsty asked.She didn’t know how she’d feel if it were her trying to talk to Gia.She’d be a mess.
Jasper gave the photo one more look before placing it where she asked him to.“I’m good.”
She doubted that but wasn’t going to let on that she saw through him.Right now they both needed this séance to work.She had to concentrate on that.If she could…who was she kidding…her chances of actually connecting with Paul were very slim.But maybe something would happen to give Jasper some closure.
