Let It Be

Chapter 14: The Truth, Part I

I followed Sam up the porch steps and into the house. Emile was making tea in the kitchen, and sighed with relief when he saw me. Offering me a steaming mug, which I ignored rudely, he asked me to take a seat on the couch. Sam paced the room, looking almost like he was going to be sick.

Emile disregarded him, sitting down next to me on the couch. "Abby, this is important, and I need you to be completely honest with me. What happened when you came over earlier?"

I hesitated before I answered, my arms crossed haughtily in front of my chest. "I found Sam's wallet at my house and thought I'd bring it over. I knocked a few times and no one answered, so I checked out in the backyard. I saw the door open to the shed and decided to look in there. I had just gotten there when Sam scared me, and I lost my balance and fell. And... yeah."

Sam stopped pacing and anxiously joined in on the conversation. "Did you go all the way under?"

"I don't know. I think so."

"What happened when you fell in?" Emile asked.

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"Anything out of the ordinary?" he clarified.

I looked away and played with my long, beaded necklace. I was still dressed as a flapper, a sexy one at that, and it made me feel even more unsteady. "Maybe."

"Come on, Abby, stop fooling around!" Sam cried, and I flinched.

Frustrated, I shouted back, "Sam, this is so incredibly weird! Just tell me what's going on!"

Emile cut in before Sam had a chance to respond. "We need to hear what happened first, okay?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, trying to put on a defiant act, so they wouldn't see my intense confusion and overwhelming fear. "Fine. It was weird. The water starting churning around and got really hot for a second, but right when I thought I couldn't stand it any longer, it went back to normal. And then Sam pulled me out before I could even move."

Emile muttered a few choice words under his breath. "I'm pretty sure that means it's done, Sam."

"What's done?" I asked.

Sam looked at his cousin in disbelief. "How much done, Emile?"

"Not all the way, but enough," he responded. "I've seen something like this before. I need to talk to the Council, but I'm pretty sure this means she gets to choose if she wants to be or not."

Sam put his hands in his hair, pulling in agitation. "Did anything weird happen when you got out?"

"Um, yeah: you guys were freaking out."

Annoyed, Sam rolled his eyes at me. "Anything else? I mean, did you see anything weird?"

I pulled my eyebrows down. How had he know that I had seen something strange? "Well, yeah, sort of," I admitted, thinking about the last hour I'd spent silently observing people at the haunted house. "It's ridiculous, but people seem kind of... shiny. With, like, clouds of color around them. All different colors."

"Well, there you go," Emile said slowly to Sam. "It's the same as before. She's got a year to decide."

"A year to decide what?" I inquired.

"Are you serious?" Sam shouted, making me start in surprise.

Emile looked sad when he nodded. "Yes."

"DECIDE WHAT?" I repeated, much louder.

"Go ahead," Emile prompted his cousin. "Tell her."

Sam put his head in his hands, sinking down into the couch. "How am I supposed to do that?"