If I were You (Based on a True Story)

Chapter Three

Marina

Jodie led us into her small kitchen, seeming normal for a woman with apparent mystical powers. She was also short and rake thin and talked a lot about herself. After half an hour we'd learnt how being a psychic ran in her family, that she often spoke to her dead sister, Libby, and had been visited by the spirit of Princess Diana. I needed to find a number seven to calm my nerves, but kept seeing words instead. I finally found it on a price tag on a dress she had laid on the couch. I sighed with relief.

She paused to ask us if we would like some tea. We declined and so she stood from the round table where we had been seated, then went to the sink to make herself a brew. I became all the more impatient for the reading. My anxiety flared. It could have been my imagination, but I sensed my brother Ameel's spirit in the kitchen, just as anxious to speak.

Jodie returned with a steaming mug of tea. "Right then. Let's take a look at your brother's photograph" She examined it as I tried to relax my grip on the chair. Ameel was, after all, the reason why we were visiting, so I watched Jodie close her eyes and explain how she was trying to connect with his spirit.

"Here he is. He's arrived," Jodie began. "Oh, I can see him now, a handsome young man he is." She smiled to herself, her eyes closed and roaming beneath her lids. "Right, he wants me to tell you he's brought you here. He wanted this reunion." She giggled like he had whispered it romantically in her ear. "He's a little charmer. I wouldn't have minded meeting him in the flesh." She fell silent then rubbed her hands together. "Okay I'm getting traffic, lots of people rushing by me. Was he in an accident? Was he attacked?"

"He was run over." I said.

"He was young, nineteen," Jodie went on. I was taken aback by the accuracy. Lydia, looked just as surprised, her lips were parted in wait for further proof. I still imagined Ameel looking older than his age, his cheeks revealing a few short hairs, and his long, dark hair flicking out behind his neck. I had been nine when he died. Lydia was the only person I confided in. It was fair to say, the years hadn't taken away how much I still missed him.

"He has something urgent he needs to tell you," Jodie cut into my thoughts. She arched her back and sucked in a breath, then wheezed as she gripped the table.

I looked to my friend Lydia, afraid Jodie might have contacted the wrong spirit, something sinister and not our brother at all. Lydia kept her focus on Jodie, never averting her gaze from what was happening. I half expected Lydia to grip the steak knife she carried in her handbag, ready to attack even the invisible. Lydia and her willingness to face whatever danger that might have lurked made me feel less vulnerable. She would protect me, no matter what the cost. I knew that with a certainty that lowered my heart rate.

Jodie loosened her knuckle white grip on the table. Dropping her shoulders, she panted through gritted teeth. Her eyes, though, remained closed. "Your brother. Your bother just tried to enter me," she choked out.

This time Lydia and I exchanged worrying looks.

"Are you okay?" asked Lydia. I knew she was really wanting to know if Ameel had left. Admittedly so did I. Jodie seemed used to possession, either that or she was a crazy woman who lived alone in a detached house for a reason.

"He wanted to jump right in without permission," she added, "It's a slower process than that. Never mind, he must be eager to talk." She took deep breaths and smiled as though she had forgiven him for almost giving her a stroke.

I tried to calm the shakes in my hands. After all it was just Ameel, not some foreign poltergeist. I knew that, I just had to be sure. Lydia was perched on the end of her seat, intrigued rather than afraid.