Page 36 of Everlasting

She laughed. “You want to try that again, but a little slower this time. Maybe, like a whole sentence instead of the longest word in the English language type thing?”

My hands were shaking as I looked right into her eyes and then I stood and started to walk toward the door. I couldn’t do this. There was no way I believed. The address had been right though. How the hell would I have known that. I turned back and Avalyn was just standing there. “I’m afraid,” I admitted. “If this is… if you’re for real… then I – I really talked to my brother last night in a dream.” A lone tear managed to fall and I felt it as the damned thing tracked down my cheek before falling off of my chin somewhere into my clothing.

“Believe it or not, I understand. My life, I grew up in this house. With a father who could talk to ghosts and a grandmother who could do all sorts of things.” She smiled tightly at me. “There was a time when I wanted nothing to do with them, with this, with a world where any of it was possible. Hell, I struggled so hard that I even had myself checked out out to make sure I didn’t just come from a family of schizophrenics who made a living off of their mental illness.” She laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “So, when you tell me that your dead brother came to you in a dream and sent you to me, I believe you.”

I narrowed my eyes on her. “You did understand me,” I accused.

She grinned at me. “I figured it out about the time you started panicking. Look, I’m not going to force you to stay, but if you want the answers you came looking for, I think you should. What would it hurt?”

“It could hurt a lot if I take false hope away from here.”

“I promise not to give you any,” she said so nonchalantly that I had to do a double take. She held her hands up in the air in the symbol of surrender. “I’m not a fan of bullshit,” she finally said, and I nodded my head and turned to walk back over to the table once more.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to expect here,” I admitted.

Avalyn turned a bit, seemingly startled by something as a quick, “Oh!” slipped free from her lips. She seemed to be preoccupied with something on the other side of the table before she nodded her head and then spoke again. Only, this time, her attention was not on me as she spoke. “There’s a man here,” she claimed. I don’t know why, but my stomach flipped then flopped over again as my mind went immediately to Deck. Was he gone now?

“Your brother,” she stated while still staring off into nothing.

“My brother?” I questioned. And Duh! That’s who I came to see and I’d just told her that.

“Toby,” his name left her lips on a whisper. I was stunned, momentarily and then I got a little angry.

“Prove it!” The demand was out before I could reign my temper in.

Avalyn waited just a moment, as if she were listening to someone else, and then she turned to look at me as she recited what she’d been told. “Everything will be okay, Ever. Me and Jason will protect you. You’re my sister and that’s my job. Jay will do it because he’s my friend, so it’s his job too.”

“Oh my God!” I couldn’t stand. My wobbly legs wouldn’t hold me up any longer. There was a chair beside me and I literally melted right into it.

Avalyn took the seat beside mine and put my hands in hers. Then, she started to tell me how everything would work as we communicated with Toby. He could hear me just fine, but she would be speaking for my brother.

My head was spinning by the time we were done with the back and forth question and answer session. The things I learned were that the woman wasn’t the only one holding Deck captive. I think we’d all suspected that, but it helped to know. He also made sure I knew that Deck was not there of his own free will like the woman who had him was attempting to make me believe. I didn’t have the heart to ask him about the baby though because it already felt incredibly awkward to be chastised about doubting my husband by a strange woman who was supposedly speaking for my dead brother. Good luck wrapping your brain around that bit, because it was one of the reasons that I still thought I might be going crazy. This woman knew too much though. There was no way this wasn’t real, unless she was a plant, and how the fuck would they have been assured I’d go see her. I’d never bothered with a psychic before in my life.

We made arrangements for Avalyn to update me if Toby found a way to get her more information and then I had to leave to go pick up the girls. As I was on my way, I gave my phone the voice commands to search for private investigators that weren’t necessarily local to here. I found one near Detroit who would do what I asked for the fee that I offered and that was good enough for me.

What the hell did I need a P.I. for? Well, knowing my family, they would have me committed to a hospital on a 72 hour hold the moment I mentioned that I talked to Toby, then they’d go search down and try to destroy Avalyn. It wouldn’t matter that she refused my money and just wanted to help. They’d think I finally lost it all together. Instead, I now had an investigator acting as my front for the information I was about to hand deliver.

When I got to the girls’ school, I had to wait in the pickup line for another 15 minutes before they would come out. I ended up sending a text.

Ever: I hope I’m not bothering you…

Ava: Just feeding fucks on the lawn

Ever: That sounds personal

Ava: Damp it! This ducking phone hates me.

Ever: Looks like your phone is confused about ducks and fucks.

Ava: lol I was feeding actual D U C K S on my lawn.

Ever: I knew that from the beginning, it was cute watching you fight autocorrect. Lol

Ava: You’re a brat!

Ever: Would you mind if I talk to you once in a while about things? If I tell the people in my life that I talked to my brother today, they’ll think I’ve gone completely insane and lock me up. If I don’t talk, I’m afraid I’ll burst.

I waited a moment, and nothing came back. Then my phone rang in my hand and startled me to the point I dropped the damn thing and had to become super-bendy woman and contort myself to try to get it out from under the seat I was sitting in. I had giant, milk-filled boobs! They did not mesh well with the steering wheel that was in the way. When I finally managed to squirm my way to the phone and lift it triumphantly in my hands, the ringing stopped. I glanced down at the screen to see who had been calling only to watch it light up and ring again.

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