The two women left the shop and Melinda looked strangely at Delia.
"I know you said that you were going to try but this is ridiculous, how come he showed himself to you all of a sudden"
"I don't know it was weird, he didn't look like I expected" Melinda frowned.
"What do you mean"?
"Well he looked normal, a little pale but normal"
"What were you expecting, ghosts in white sheets, zombies"
"A mixture of the two really"
"I wonder why he didn't come to me, normally they can sense me" Melinda looked at her nervous friend.
"Are you alright, you look like you've seen a ghost" Delia gave her a poke in the arm
"Oh ha ha, you're a real riot" Delia smiled and carried on with her work, every now and then she looked up to see if anyone was there.
The day went by without any further problems. When they left for the evening Melinda was still feeling really good. Delia however had developed a bad headache during the day; she didn't want to bother with Melinda with it.
When Melinda got home she saw Rick's car parked outside.
"Hello there" she said as she entered her house. Rick and Jim were sitting on the couch watching a football game.
"Hiya honey" Jim said and jumped up off the couch and gave her a quick kiss, the whole time he never took his eyes off the screen.
"You two having fun" they both just nodded. It wasn't very often that Jim sat and watched a game so she let them have their fun whilst she made herself a sandwich.
"Oh honey I made you some lasagne, you just have to heat it up" Melinda smiled at her husband he defiantly was a catch.
The next day, Melinda's good feeling was still there. She made her way to work and found Delia waiting outside, she had some sunglasses on.
"Morning"
"Morning" Delia said in a strained tone.
"What's the matter"?
"I have had a headache since yesterday, nothing I have taken seems to touch it"
"Do you want to take the day off"?
"No, its okay, if I keep busy maybe it will take my mind off it"
The day was going well and Delia decided to grab some more stock from the basement. As she headed down there she began to hear people whispering.
"Melinda" she called and Mel came downstairs.
"What's up" Delia raised her eyebrows and looked at her with her hands in the air.
"You can't hear that" she said as she waved her arms around.
Mel listened for a while.
"What"
"The voices, the whispering" Melinda was beginning to get concerned about her friend now.
"Don't look at me that way I really can hear voices"
Suddenly Delia jumped and grabbed Melinda's hand. A ghost had appeared in the room. Actually he was an evil looking man with red eyes. Delia felt the hairs on her neck stand up.
"How come I can see him too" Melinda looked around at Delia.
"See who, there is no one here" Delia swung her head round to Melinda.
"Mel it's a ghost, an evil looking one too with red eyes and he is standing right there" Melinda looked around and began to panic.
"Ah Deliaaaaaa" said the ghost in a horrid voice that seemed to fill the room.
"How do you know my name?" she asked him. Melinda looked at Delia then at the empty space in front of them.
"Wait, what's going on?" Melinda asked
"Oh, I know everything about you Delia" Delia shuddered and Melinda put her arm around her, there was obviously something going on.
"We have made this happen Delia, so that you can lead us on the right path"
"What are you talking about" Delia asked confused
"In time, in time, it has been your destiny to join us"
"I don't believe you"
"You must, you have a major role to play in our future, and you have a specific task to complete before we can all be saved"
"Task, what task"
"You must kill Melinda Gordon"
The grip on Melinda's hand increased and Delia's eyes went wide.
"Delia, what's happening"?
"We will talk again soon" he said and laughed loudly before disappearing. Delia felt her heart in her chest beating so loudly; she turned to face her friend.
"What, what did he say to you"
"He said that he wants me to kill you" Melinda hugged her distraught friend as the realisation of what was going on began to sink in. She had lost her gift to Delia. She had no idea how this happened or why; she only knew that she had to help her friend by teaching her everything that she knew.
"Why would they want me to kill you" Delia said as she started to pace the basement.
"Because they have no power over me and have not been able to gain control over me, they are obviously trying a new tactic. How the hell did they give you my gift" Delia stopped pacing and looked at Melinda.
"Your gift, is that what you think they have done, aren't you angry, aren't you scared"
Melinda shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know how I feel, I'm not scared as I know that you would never hurt me and no I'm not angry. I wondered why I have been feeling so good lately"
"And do you think that this is why I have been feeling so crap" Delia said rubbing her head.
"Okay, so how do we give your gift back to you" Melinda shrugged her shoulders again.
"Wait a minute, I take it that you do want it back" Melinda said yes and nodded her head but Delia didn't feel completely reassured.
"Okay we need to go and see Rick"
"Melinda and Delia what a lovely surprise, two beautiful woman in my office"
"Rick we have a major problem" she said as she sat down on his desk.
"Cant be that bad surely" he said smiling at them.
"I've lost my gift and Delia has acquired it" he looked at the two of them then looked at his calendar.
"No, it's not April fools day so I just don't get the joke"
"It's not a joke," Delia said almost shouting at him, which got his attention.
"Tell me everything that has happened"
Melinda and Delia recounted the last few days; Rick sat and listened to everything in silence. When they were finished he was unsure what to tell them.
"To be honest, I'm not sure, give me a few days to look into it and I will get back to you I promise" Delia looked angry.
"A few days"
"I'm sorry Delia, but I can't give you an answer straight away, its possible that you were given this gift to help you understand and believe, maybe all you have to do is cross over a ghost"
"The old man" they both said.
They girls left Rick's office and headed back towards the shop. When they entered the old man was waiting there.
"He's here Mel what do I do" Melinda looked around but then realised that she couldn't see him.
"Talk to him" she whispered. Delia looked at her.
"What do I say"?
"Ask him if he needs help, you can do this" Melinda pushed her forward slightly and watched her friend.
"Do you need help with something, would you like me to pass a message on for you" The old man looked at her.
"You need to tell tem to stop feeling guilty, you need to tell them to move on or she will make herself sick" Melinda could see Delia nodding and knew that the ghost was talking to her, Melinda realised that she didn't like the feeling of being on the outside.
"Okay, I will do that for you, can you cross over now" Melinda cringed at the sentence.
"Are you making fun of me, are you going to help me or not" shouted the old man and as she shouted a glass mirror shattered and fell to pieces on the floor. The ghost disappeared. Delia looked at Melinda.
"He has gone" Delia said and looked a little frightened.
"What did he say?" Melinda asked as she went to get the broom.
"He got angry, I think he thought that I was making fun of him"
"Well it did come across as a bit unfeeling" Delia looked hurt.
"You know what I am trying my best here, I am totally new to this. I tried to help the guy and he got angry and violent you know what, forget it" Delia said raising he hands in defeat.
"Delia, you cant just ignore him," Melinda shouted.
"Why not" Delia shouted back.
"Okay you think it's so easy to ignore them, isn't that what you are always telling me to do. Fine, lets see how you get on" Melinda was angry again, how could Delia ignore some one in need of help.
"I'm going to get us some coffees" Melinda walked out angrily and phoned Jim on her way to the coffee shop.
Jim answered the phone quickly.
"Hiya Mel, did you manage to make up with Delia"
"Yes but it has become more complicated now"
"Why what's wrong" Mel sat down on one of the bench's.
"Delia has my gift" Jim was silent for a few seconds.
"What exactly do you mean, she can see ghosts now too"
"No I mean that I can't see them but she can, Rick is working on it"
"Are you all right, do you want me to come over" Melinda smiled.
"I'm not sure how I feel, I won't be much longer as its nearly closing time, I will see you soon. I love you" Melinda hung up and headed for the coffee shop. She was worried about her and Delia's friendship things were so strained.
Delia's headache was getting worse. She walked around the shop rubbing her temples, when she looked out of the shop window she could see Mel sitting on a bench on her phone, probably to Jim. Mel got up and walked to the coffee shop. Delia kept looking outside at the square, she could see an old lady looking straight at her, Delia gasped when a man walked straight through her. This was just too much to take in.
When Melinda entered the shop Delia was already dressed to leave.
"Look Mel, I'm going to go home and get some rest"
"Delia, you cant just ignore this, believe me I have tried that over the years, he will find you" Delia just walked out and headed home. Melinda wasn't sure what else to say to her friend. She closed up shop and headed home.
tbc
