The Medium Kid

Chapter 26

"I don't understand." Alfie walked backwards until he bumped into the couch and sat down. Nothing made sense. Why would he draw wilted flowers in a stick figures hand and name him Koda when they hadn't even met yet? "Connor, tell me what's happening before I unintentionally kill you."

"You drew that when you were little," Koda said quietly, staring at the crayon drawing. "How did you know?"

"I don't know- I didn't know. I don't remember doing it."

Molly, seeing their distress, moved to sit down in between the boys, reaching up to rub their backs. Koda looked like he was going to pass out, and Alfie looked like he would put a foot through her canvas, or more likely, Connor's head.

"Connor, we need to know what's going on," she said sternly, to Alfie's surprise. But Alfie's grandmother- Molly's mother- had been a medium, so Alfie could only imagine the things his mother had dealt with and experienced. "These boys can't take more secrecy. They may be in danger, but it's a threat to their health if you keep them in the dark like this. I can't protect my boy if I don't know what he needs protecting from."

Koda felt it again, the twang of jealousy because Alfie had a mother who loved him and showed it with pride.

"Very well." Connor's blue cloudy eyes pointed to somewhere near Koda's feet. "The story is true."

"The story?" Alfie questioned.

"Your story." Connor lifted a finger, pointing in the direction of the drawing. "That story." Everyone's gaze turned to the stick figures. The sun was glaring through the window, illuminating the orange crayon. "Molly, tell me Alfie's story." Connor rooted himself to the edge of the couch, leaning forward with a sense of eagerness and exhilaration.

"Alfie used to tell me that he would one day have a sidekick boyfriend. He said that the stick figure he always drew next to him was a sidekick for the person who sucked souls out of people, and that's why they were going to be such a good couple because the boyfriend took the souls, and Alfie helped the souls with their unfinished business." Molly was staring at Koda from the corner of her eye. "How can that possibly be true?"

"How can it not?" Connor sat back and felt for his coffee cup. "The evidence is on your walls, in your vases, in Alfie's stories."

Koda had never felt suffocated by air until now. His ears were ringing, and his chest tightened until his lungs struggled to inhale. "I don't understand," he whispered. "How can that story be real?"

"In this day and age, how do you know if anything is real?"

Alfie looked up, fixing his eyes tightly on Connor. "Stop it." The bitterness in his tone rolled easily from his tongue. "Stop confusing Koda. Stop confusing all of us. Connor, you clearly know what's going on, so just tell us! Stop with these stupid responses where you edge around the real answer."

Molly rested a hand on her son's knee, squeezing it to tell him to calm down.

"Alfie, the answer is right in front of you. The flowers die when Koda is near them, your soul-sucking boyfriend that you made up when you were little is named Koda. It's obvious, isn't it?" Connor said before taking a small sip of his drink. It had cooled unnaturally fast. It was almost icy, but he didn't mention that.

"What's wrong with me?" Koda didn't know if he wanted a reply.

"There's nothing wrong with you." Connor frowned staring somewhere in front of him. He could see faint outlines of where he assumed they were sitting from the direction of their voices. "You're very special Koda Oaks. You're special to the medium community, you're special to a certain someone, and you're special to Alfie."