Devoured (13 page)

“What?” she says, and I’m so happy she answered, tears prick my eyes.

“Nicki? Can you come over tonight? I really, really need to talk to you.” She doesn’t say anything and my heart starts to pound again. “Nicki? Please.”

“What, is Ari too busy drinking bubbly in the pool?”

“I don’t know what Ari’s doing, but I’m sorry about last night, I was a total jerk.”

“Go on.”

I’m about to completely lose it. I’ve been through hell the last few days and now I have to suck up to Nicki just to get her to talk to me. I take another deep breath. It’s not Nicki’s fault Remy is haunting me, but if all goes well, she’ll be a heck of a lot more sympathetic.

“And I don’t want any time to go by without us talking it out. I want things to be okay with us.”

I hear Nicki clicking her tongue in her mouth—something she does when she’s trying to make a decision. “I want that too,” she says quietly.

Relief washes over me. I feel guilty that I’m not telling her the truth, but right now I’d sell my soul if I thought it’d solve my Remy problem.

“So you’ll come over? Say around seven?”

“Sure, whatever,” she says and hangs up.

She’s still mad, but at least she’s coming over. I scroll through my contact list and stop at Luke’s number.

“Megan?” he says, picking up on the first ring.

“Yeah, we’re on—seven o’clock. My house is at forty-two Ivy Way.”

“I’ll see you at seven.”

“Good, because you’re my last hope, Luke. If this doesn’t work, I’m voluntarily committing myself and asking for heavy sedation.”

“Megan, what happened?”

“You know that vision I showed you—the girl?”

“Yeah.”

“Remy showed me the
events
leading up to it, and I … I heard the knife cutting through her.”

“Oh, God.”

My shoulders shake as my face contorts. Tears flow and I can’t speak.

“Megan? Are you still there?”

I take in a jagged breath. “Why is she doing this, and h-how am I supposed to act like nothing’s wrong? If it weren’t for you, I’d feel like I was losing my mind.”

“We’ll fix this,” he says with such confidence I almost believe him. “But if Ari calls you, don’t tell her I’m coming over. I had kind of a weird conversation with her yesterday after you left.”

I sniff. “I won’t say anything. And thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that.”

I put the phone in my purse and take out my compact. God, I look like crap. I brush some powder on my red nose and head for the parking lot. I look up at Rapunzel’s tower, the one Luke added the extra touches to.

Here’s hoping Luke will be my knight in shining armor.

TWELVE

Nicki looks back and forth between Luke and me with one eyebrow arched high. “Okay, so which one of you is gonna say, ‘April Fools,’ so we can all have a big laugh, and then I can go home?”

I guess I’m not surprised by her reaction. I’d probably say the same thing if I were her. Luke reaches out, squeezes my hand, and nods for me to keep going. “This isn’t a joke,” I say calmly. “We’re
totally
serious and we really need you to help us.”

Nicki puts her hands out in front of her. “Just stop right there; I’ve been
more
than tolerant with you and your boyfriend drama, but using me to test-drive Luke’s ghost-hunting prowess on
Remy
isn’t even remotely funny. And honestly, if for some reason you actually do think Remy is wandering around haunting things, you need a serious reality check and a full refund from Dr. Macardo.”

Luke and I exchange looks. He pulls on the knees of his jeans nervously. I’d warned him she was going to be tough, but even so, I’m getting mad.

“You want a reality check?” I say. “How about accepting the fact that you could possibly be wrong about something? Just because
you
don’t want to believe in ghosts, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I know this all sounds crazy, but—”

“No, it doesn’t
sound
crazy, it
is
crazy,” Nicki interrupts. “And if I’d had any idea you were planning on ambushing me with
ghost boy
here, I would’ve called your shrink myself. Not that your sessions seem to be working real well, but maybe you two can get a group rate or something.”

“Hey!” Luke says. “This isn’t an ambush, this is about helping Megan and Remy. All we’re asking is for you to have an open mind.”

Nicki glares at Luke. “
Open mind? Are you for real?
You ask me over here under false pretenses, and then think I’ll gladly sit around some freaking crystal ball so you can test your ghost-hunting ability on me? There are meds for this stuff, you know!”

Luke shuffles his feet. “Actually, I’m not really trained to use a crystal ball yet; I was going for more of a conduit kind of scenario.”

I hang my head. I knew things might go badly, but not this bad.

“Oh my God!” Nicki laughs crazily. “Here’s a novel idea: Why don’t you guys call your good friend
Ari
and see if
she
wants to play haunted house, because I’m not interested!”

“Nicki,” I say quietly, trying to stay calm, “it has to be you. She’ll come to you—you were Remy’s best friend.”

“That’s right!” she yells. “And if Remy was really here, she would’ve come to me!”

“
That’s
why you didn’t believe me in second grade, isn’t it?”

“No!” she says, but the look on her face says otherwise. “I didn’t believe you because people don’t come back from the dead!”

“Nicki, Remy didn’t come back—
she never left
. She showed up right after the accident, and she’d pop up every now and then over the years. But lately she’s been showing up more and more, and if you could see her, you’d know she needs help. We think she’s waiting for my dad to, you know, so she can move on to
wherever
. But unless we can make my mom see her, too, it’s not gonna happen.”

Nicki stares at me for a second, then rolls her eyes. “I’m outta here!” She stands up to leave, but Luke rushes over to her and takes her hand. “Let go of me!” She starts to pull away, but then her shoulders relax and she turns to him.

I know Luke’s working his empath mojo on her, and I hold my breath, waiting to see if he can break through the wall she’s put up.

“We’re telling you the truth—we need your help,” he says slowly. “I know you’re feeling conflicted, but I also know a part of you wants to believe us. Even if you think we’re crazy, what harm is there in humoring us?” He pauses. “Remy would’ve come to you if she could,” he says quietly. “The ghost world isn’t like ours. They’re dealing with the past, present, and future all at once, and reaching out to even one person is hard. Megan’s her
twin
.”

Nicki’s face screws up, and then she looks at the ceiling. “Remy’s
gone
.”

Tears streak down my cheeks. “She should be, but she
isn’t
. Please, Nicki, help me. Help Remy.”

Nicki purses her lips. Luke leads her back to the couch. “Just let me try it—that’s all I’m asking.”

I cautiously sit next to Nicki. She’s breathing hard and I tentatively put an arm around her shoulder. She leans into me and I burst into tears because I know she’ll stay. “Thank you.”

Nicki nods against my shoulder and I look at Luke with wide, teary eyes, not sure what to do next.

He takes a deep breath. “Okay, um, this is the first time I’ve tried this, so bear with me. And we, uh, need to be linked.” He reaches out for Nicki’s hand again.

Nicki stiffens for a second but lets him take her hand, and then I feel her relax.

“I’m going to call her, and if we can get her to appear, I’ll, um, well, I’ll try to pass the sight on to you, Nicki. My grandmother said if we both concentrate, you should be able to see her.”

Nicki scoffs. “When this doesn’t work I want you two to get some help.”

“It’ll work,” I say. It has to.

“Open your mind to the possibility—believe it can happen,” Luke tells her. He clears his throat. “
Remy?
It’s me, Luke. There’s someone who wants to see you. Are you here, Remy?”

I scan the room, but there’s no sign of her.

“Remy?” he calls again.

“Remy?” I echo.

Please let this work.

“Remy, Nicki’s here. She misses you,” he continues.

Nicki sobs and slides an arm around my waist.

I look around the room—nothing. I look over Nicki to Luke.
Where is she?
I mouth to him.

“Nicki, what did you and Remy like to do?” Luke asks.

“I don’t know. We’d play with Megan, and … I don’t know.”

“The shows,” I say. Remy inherited Dad’s smooth singing voice, and she and Nicki were always putting on shows. They’d let me rehearse with them, but when it came time to perform for our parents, I was always demoted to ticket taker/usher. “Nicki, what if you sing to her? What’s one of the old songs?”

Nicki shakes her head. “You gotta be kidding me if you think I’m gonna sing right now!”

My brain scrambles, trying to remember a song—any song. “
Remy?
Do you want to
sing
with Nicki? You can put on a show.”

I catch my breath as Remy appears, soft and unfocused near the fireplace. “There,” I whisper, pointing. “Do you see her?”

Luke squeezes Nicki’s hand, and she sits up. “No. This is so stupid, this …” She cuts herself off and leans forward, staring at the fireplace.

“That’s it,” Luke says. “You’re looking right at her.”

“He likes to dance,” I sing a bit off-key. “In the Bahamas.”

“In his pajamas,” Nicki sings in a whisper, her eyes wide, staring ahead.

I struggle to come up with the next line. “The island life is so fair.”

“You could see his underwear,”
Remy sings, and then giggles. She walks toward us—right through the coffee table. “A show!” she says, smiling from ear to ear. “We should charge a dollar this time.”

I catch my breath. “
Do you see her?
Can you hear that?”

Nicki takes her arm out from around me and reaches toward Remy. “Oh my God, yes. Braids, purple dress. I can’t believe it.”

Remy takes a step closer, and the air around us ices up.

Nicki stretches forward as if trying to see whether Remy’s solid to the touch. Her fingers pass through her and she gasps, no doubt feeling the intense cold that forever wraps itself around my sister. “
Remy?
It’s me,
Nicki
.” Her body shudders, wracked with tears. “Remy.”

“Nicki’s here,” Luke says. “Remy, try to see her, she’s right next to Megan.”

Remy cocks her head, and then her eyes open wide.
“Nicki!”
She smiles for a second, and then her face clouds over. Her features sharpen, coming clearly into view.
“Nicki! Don’t go there! It’s bad! Make a wish, Meggy, make a wish. No, Nicki, no!”

Remy trembles and turns to me. “Meggy, it’s bad. She’s gonna die. You’ve gotta help her!
You gotta help her!
” Water starts to drip from the hem of her dress.

Nicki turns to me, her eyes as frightened as Remy’s. “Wh-what is she doing? What’s the matter with her?”

Oh, shit. I hoped Remy wouldn’t slip into panic mode with Nicki! I even convinced Luke not to warn Nicki about Remy’s out-of-control tantrums so she’d be more open to this whole thing.

“Remy, calm down,” I say. “We’ll put on a show, we’ll sing more songs!”

“No!” Remy says, starting to rock on her heels. She shakes her head and I hear the water from the river splash and roar by—just like the day of the accident.
“Bad! Bad! Daddy’ll help. She’s gonna die.”

“What’s wrong?” Nicki yells. She jerks her head around the room. “What’s that? The water noise?”

Luke drops Nicki’s hand and stands up. “
Remy, it’s okay
, Nicki’s okay.”

“Daddy, help her!”

Suddenly the door opens and Fergus trots in. He looks at Remy and his tail drops down between his legs. He barks twice in her direction.

Remy scowls and shakes a finger at him. “Bad dog,” she says as she disappears from view.

Mom follows him in, shutting the door behind her. “We won! We beat that little troll of a Brussels griffon and the bichon too!”

Nicki, Luke, and I are frozen in our spots as Mom stares at us.

“H-hi, Mom, that’s great,” I say, knowing it’s obvious Nicki and I have been crying and she’ll be wondering why.

Mom puts her purse on a chair and walks slowly over, eyeing us suspiciously. “Is everything okay?”

Nicki looks at me, her eyes about to pop.

“Ha, yeah, Mom, of course everything’s okay. We were, uh, just watching a show, and it was intense. So intense, we had to turn it off.”

“Oh,” she says, still giving us the eyeball. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Huh?” My head whips around to look at Luke and then back to Mom. “Oh!” I force a smile on my face and hope I don’t look as crazed as I feel and that Mom won’t notice the puddle of river water Remy left behind on the floor either. “This is Luke, he works at Land of Enchantment painting scenery and stuff.”

He takes a few steps toward Mom and holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you.” He shakes her hand and his brow furrows. “That’s funny, you look really familiar.”

Mom smiles. “I
was
featured in the entertainment section of the
Conway Daily Sun
not too long ago with Fergus here.” She reaches down and scratches Fergus behind his ears. “We do canine freestyle—it’s a combination of obedience training and dance to show off the bond between a dog and his handler.”

Luke shakes his head. “Um, I don’t think I saw that, but maybe …” His eyes flash with recognition. “Did you have an appointment with my grandmother this morning?”

Mom raises her eyebrows, looking puzzled. “Your grandmother?”

“Amador’s Psychic …” he starts to say, but he looks at Mom’s horrified expression and stops. “Maybe it was the article.”

Mom’s face reddens. “Oh, well, actually I was there, but it was nothing.” She smiles broadly. “The White Mountain Freestyle Club is having a raffle and I was”—she brushes the side of her nose and looks away from me—“soliciting businesses for raffle donations.” She nods her head. “I got a gift certificate. To raffle off.”

She bobs her head up and down a few more times, and it’s so obvious she’s lying. “I’m going to get my things. Wait until you see the trophy we won. It’s so big I had to get help getting it into the car.” She turns abruptly and heads out the door.

Nicki flops onto the couch and buries her face in her hands. “Oh. My. Freaking. God!”

I jump up and rush to Luke. “My mother was at your house? Do you know what this means?”

His eyes light up and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am—she was there asking questions about Remy!

“She believes you,” he says. “Or—”

“Or wants to,” I say, finishing his sentence.

“People!” Nicki snaps. “Can we please talk about what just happened instead of whether or not your mother got a psychic consultation along with her freaking gift certificate?”