“You don’t usually stop in unless there’s trouble,” I said. “What’s up?”
Alicia knows about my magic, and she also knows about Sorren and the Alliance. “Last night, something panicked a lot of ghosts in Charleston,” she said. “You and I have seen some mighty strange things that haven’t sent the ghosts into a flurry. This did.”
“I heard something like that from Drea over with the ghost tours.”
Alicia nodded. “I’m not surprised. Valerie has some ability as a medium; that’s why her tourists always get the best glimpses of the ghosts.”
I gave Alicia a quick recap of what had happened with the memento mori. She listened intently, looking more worried as I went on. “Do you still have the jewelry box?” she asked.
I wasn’t about to handle it again, but I led her into the office, where the box sat on the corner of my desk, waiting for Sorren to come get it. “That’s it,” I said, pointing to the box. “Can you pick up anything about Tad?”
Alicia walked close to the velvet box and bent down to look at it carefully. I brought my desk chair around to the other side and she sat down then I closed the door, in case things got loud. “I can sense the spirit that is tied to the hair necklace,” Alicia said.
“Tad,” I replied. “I saw his memories, but I couldn’t actually communicate with him.”
Alicia nodded. “I’d like to go into trance and talk to him. I’ll channel him and you can ask the questions.”
“Do you need anything?” When I had worked with Alicia before, it was always part of something big, so I wasn’t sure what a ‘casual’ reading entailed.
Alicia smiled but shook her head. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine. Give me a few minutes to get grounded, and then we’ll see what Tad can tell us about what’s going on.” I watched Alicia take several deep, slow breaths and saw her entire body relax. She closed her eyes, and leaned against the back of the tall chair.
“Tad?” she called quietly. “I know you’re scared. I’m here to help, but I need to know what’s going on. If you’re there, Tad, come talk to me.”
I waited, and realized I was holding my breath. Alicia was silent, but beneath her closed eyelids, I could see her eyes flickering back and forth as if she were dreaming. She shifted in the chair, and just like that, I knew that Tad was with us. Something about her posture seemed less like her and more masculine.
“Tad?” I asked hesitantly.
“I saw you,” a voice replied. The voice came from Alicia’s mouth, but it was deeper, and the accent was different. “You fought off the bad thing.”
He meant the wraith. “Yes,” I replied. “Do you know where you are?”
The ghost was quiet for a moment. “I’m a long way from home,” he replied. “And I can’t make any sense out of most of what I see. Folks move around so fast, do strange things. I wish I could sleep. But I don’t dare.”
I could hear the confusion and weariness in his voice, and my heart went out to him. “Because of the bad thing?” I asked gently.
“It eats you if you sleep.”
“Has it always been around?” I asked. I hoped not. More than one hundred and fifty years was a long time to run from something in the dark.
“No,” Tad’s spirit answered. “It came… not long ago…” Alicia’s face mirrored the ghost’s confusion. I doubted Tad could be more specific. Ghosts don’t pay attention to the passage of time the way living people do.
“Did something happen to bring the bad thing? Did it wake up?” I struggled to ask questions the ghost might be able to answer.
Tad was quiet for a minute. “The dark has been quiet for a very long time,” he said, and I could hear the loneliness in his voice. “I rested. I didn’t try to bother anyone. If I can’t go on from here, the quiet will do.” He paused again, longer this time. “Then ‘it’ showed up. I didn’t know what was happening until it hurt me. I didn’t know anything could hurt me anymore.” He sounded afraid. “It came out of the dark, and it took a bite out of me before I knew what was happening. I… ran. I didn’t know how to fight it.” Shame tinged his words, and I remembered that Tad was a soldier. Running away had to be hard.