Chapter 4

"That'll be two dollars," Molly said. She hesitated as the pink beaded bracelet dangled temptingly from her fingers. The teenager across from her tilted her head in consideration, then forked over the money. Molly handed her the bracelet and breathed a sigh of relief. For the past hour, people had been trying to haggle with her. After her fight with Fi, she was just not in the mood.

While her son and her father had opted to stay home and test out Jack's new pool stick, the women had headed back out to the flea market again. Kathleen's friend Gwen had devoted her table to her beaded jewelry, and the fashionable accessories were quickly becoming the hottest item at the market. Gwen recruited Kathleen for help, who had in turn recruited Molly and Fi since she hadn't known about their fight. Though Fi had tried to get out of it by saying she wanted to hang out with Jack and Grandpa, she had been coerced into it when Kathleen said she wanted a "girls day out." In silent agreement, Molly and Fi had not been talking to each other the whole morning.

And here we go again, Molly thought as she looked over at her daughter. Whenever I think we might be able to get along, something happens and we're fighting again. Why can't she understand that I really am trying?

Then it occurred to Molly why Fi had fought with her last night. Nora, she thought in anger. Fi had been fine with letting me accept this over time. But suddenly she insists that I need to believe because Nora had "sensed power" in me. And of course Fi would trust whatever Nora said, because it was so typically her.

Filled with resentment, Molly pounded her fist down on the folding table, which shook. When her mother, Fiona, and Gwen looked at her in surprise, she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I...I've got a lot on my mind. I need a break." Without waiting for permission, she headed down the aisle and made a right. She hadn't been sure where she was going at first, but the further she went, it became clearer.

She needed to find Nora and tell her to stay away from her daughter.

How dare she, really? Nora knew how Molly felt about her wild ideas. Throughout Molly's childhood, Nora had tried to get her to "embrace her gift" and "continue the O'Sianhan line." While Kathleen wasn't as closed-minded as her daughter, she had told Nora to stop it on several occasions when Molly insisted that she had no interest. Even at a young age, Molly hadn't wanted to be any more different than she already felt.

But Nora wouldn't let up, especially since she had the support of Molly's grandmother Fiona, who though back in Ireland, stayed in touch often enough to know what was going on. Molly finally had enough one day and told Nora exactly what she thought of the woman's supposed "abilities." All along, Molly had held it in and just tried to humor the woman for the sake of her mother and grandmother. Then Nora started pushing too far, and Molly snapped. Harsh, bitter words were shouted on both ends. In a nastier tone, Nora had basically called Molly closed-minded, ignorant, and stubborn. Molly had called her a crazy old woman who had no right to force her to accept in Nora's ridiculous beliefs.

Then she left home, and had essentially the exact same fights with Rick. But this wasn't about him. This was about Nora, and her intention to suck Fi into a world that only existed in her head.

By the time Molly came out of her thoughts and looked around, she was fast approaching the aisle with Nora's stall. A part of Molly wanted to go back to avoid the inevitable blow up they would have should they come in contact. A larger part was too angry to do so. Still, Molly attempted to calm herself down as she walked to Nora's usual table. Maybe they could just have a calm conversation about how Molly wanted her to stay away from Fi.

Yeah, right.

Molly finally found herself standing in front of Nora's table. Surprised, Nora just stared at her for a minute. Finally, she crossed her arms and her expression turned cold. "Molly," she said, her voice stiff. "It's been a while."

"How...dare...you..." Molly spat out before she could stop herself. "How dare you talk to my daughter? You may have gotten away with trying to manipulate me when I was younger, but you can be assured that you will not be able to do the same this time around. Fiona is my daughter, and I want...no, I forbid you to speak to her again."

Molly's tone had been as threatening as she could make it, but somehow she felt it wasn't enough. Nora was angered, but she didn't seem threatened.

"I see you haven't changed, Molly," Nora began. At Molly's outraged face, she narrowed her eyes. "Now you listen to me. Despite what you may have concluded, I did not approach Fiona. Your mother brought her here to give Fiona protection. Because unlike you, she sees what is happening and knows that it cannot be ignored!"

Though it took all her will-power, Molly managed to keep her voice even. First of all, they were in a public place. Second, Molly was trying her hardest to avoid a shouting match. However, it was maybe the most difficult exercise in self-control she'd ever faced. Not only was she furious, she felt betrayed by her mother. How could she do that to me? Molly thought, then shook her head. She couldn't let herself get distracted, that was how Nora would win.

After another deep breath, Molly retorted, "I don't care if my mother's outlook has changed. Mine damn well hasn't. I do not want you talking to my daughter. Her head is filled with enough of these ideas. I don't want you adding to her confusion."

"Still in denial, I see. You must have a constant headache from keeping your eyes so tightly shut all the time," Nora replied. While Molly was shaking with rage, she seemed effortlessly calm.

Which only added to Molly's frustration. "This isn't about me," she said through gritted teeth. "Just promise me you will not talk to or otherwise contact Fiona again."

Though to her credit, she seemed to seriously take in the offer. However, Nora shook her head. "I am truly sorry, Molly, but I can not promise that. If Fiona chose not to contact me again, then fine. But she has already said she wants my help. I can not in good conscience refuse her."

Molly's curiosity broke through the fury. "Help? With what?"

The honest question seemed to lessen the tension in the air, if slightly. "Your rings," she answered. "Fiona wanted me to strengthen the connection between them, to help protect herself against evil."

Nora's answer got Molly's back up once again. "That's crazy," she snapped.

"Please, Molly," Nora insisted. Her expression had softened to one of concern. "You always say you are trying to protect your daughter. It is what I wish to do as well. If you have no belief in what I can do, fine, but just let me have your ring for the day so I can enhance it." When Molly looked like she would protest, Nora quickly added, "Besides, if you sincerely think that I do not have abilities, then what is the harm in letting me have it anyway? Unless you consider me a petty thief."

Though her longtime grudge against Nora made her want to resist, Molly considered the argument. Maybe Nora would be more inclined to respect Molly's wishes if Molly gave her the ring. "Fine," Molly retorted, and took her ring off. Or tried to, anyway. Since she never took it off, she was having trouble getting it to slide off her finger.

"Here," Nora said, then glanced around, as if making sure no one was looking. She then held a hand about a foot away from Molly's finger and chanted, "Adeinio."

The ring flew from Molly's finger and into Nora's waiting palm.

"Oh, God," Molly stuttered as she jumped a step away in fear. "What...how..."

Nora kept her cool despite Molly's utter astonishment. "It's a simple levitation spell, a basic one that you could probably do too if you..." She then shook her head. "No, not now. And I know you don't believe, but just so you know, only a force of good can take your ring from you. Evil can not touch it."

Spooked, Molly took another few steps back, unsure what to do. The "simple" display of magic had startled her, confused her. While she had seen strange things before, this was so straightforward she couldn't pretend it didn't happen. Yes, Nora had shown her magic when she was young, but the adult Molly had dismissed it all as child's fantasy.

Though she wanted to grab her ring back, Molly was ashamed to admit she was too afraid to cross the woman after what she'd seen. Since she couldn't seem to get words to come out either, she chose the only option left.

She turned and ran towards the safety of her table.

Later that day, Jack ran up from the basement to get a drink. He'd been playing pool all day, but he had no desire to stop any time soon. It was a welcome distraction from what happened in New York. For the past few weeks, the image of his baby sister hanging from the side of that roof had been haunting him. This week helped him clear his mind, especially since he'd been spending most of his time with his grandfather...and avoiding whatever drama was going on between his sister and mother.

He'd learned a long time ago to stay out of their fights. Luckily, Fi didn't bother him with that paranormal junk she loved. She knew it would take a miracle for him to admit any of it was real. But for some reason she wouldn't do the same for their mother, even though Molly was just as much a non-believer as Jack was. He never got that. Why was it so important for Fi that their mother believe her. She had her Internet friends to talk to about that stuff, didn't she? Why couldn't she just do everyone a favor and leave them out of it?

Although...he suspected that sometimes his mother wasn't as much a non-believer as she claimed to be. Oh, sure, she snapped at Fi all the time about it, but Jack had begun to sense something else in her reprimands....a kind of desperate fear. It was almost like Molly honestly believed in the demons and evil creatures Fiona claimed to encounter, but disguised her concerns by saying she didn't want Fi to become obsessed like their father had.

He didn't exactly know where he had gotten that idea. But he felt that her mother couldn't be that afraid that Fi would just have a quirky hobby for the rest of her life. And she always said she didn't want Fi dead like their father, but...he'd died in a car crash. There was no connection between that and his paranormal investigations. It had just been a horrible accident.

So what could his mother be scared of unless deep, deep down, she believed?

It was a great irony, but Jack wasn't about to point it out. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to turn her fury on him. Besides, he felt that his mother deserved to have at least one normal kid she didn't fight with all the time...and that sure wasn't going to be his sister.

As he opened the water bottle he'd grabbed from the fridge, Jack passed the living room...and stopped when he saw his mother sitting on the couch, her head back, her eyes closed. Worried, Jack forgot about his pool game for a moment and sat down on the couch across from her. "Hey Mom, you okay?"

The innocent question nearly gave Molly whiplash. She'd snapped her head up in surprise, her eyes flew open, and she jumped about an inch off the couch cushion. "Jack!" she exclaimed, a hand over her heart. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," Jack said, his brow wrinkled with concern. What's she so jumpy about? he thought. "I just wanted to ask if you're okay."

Predictably, Molly shook her head. "I'm fine..."

"Really? Because you just almost fell off the couch," Jack retorted. He then narrowed his eyes, silently asking her to remember their conversation the other day.

His message received, Molly let out a deep sigh and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. "Right. Um...it's this fight with Fi. I know we have this fight constantly, but...this time feels like it might have a different ending than the others. I'm just...confused."

Jack had to take half a minute to process the meaning of her words. That can't mean what I think it means, he thought in disbelief. Is Mom finally losing it? "W-wait..." he began as he tried to find the right words. "You're thinking she might be right about all this?"

The look on Molly's face clearly expressed regret that she'd told him she'd been having doubts. "I...I don't...I don't know!" she exclaimed in frustration. "How much longer can this go on, Jack? I've been in denial that any of it existed my whole life. Not just when I met your father. My whole life. I...I'm just tired of fighting it, Jack."

"But you do realize that it's nuts, right? None of it is real," Jack insisted, with the hope that his words would bring her back to reality. She was actually scaring him a little.

Instead of seeing reason, Molly replied, "I know. I've been telling myself that every day for as long as I can remember. But...so many in our family have believed otherwise. What's more logical, that they were all crazy, or..."

"I don't know about crazy, they just...have a different view of things," Jack tried to argue, but he had a feeling he wasn't doing much good. His mother seemed to be having a nervous breakdown. New York, his grandmother siding with Fi (which he'd heard about from Grandpa), and her fights with his sister all week, he couldn't blame his mother for letting her stress overwhelm her.

It occurred to him that this proved his theory. She really did believe, and it was all coming out in her moment of weakness.

"That's a nice way of putting it, Jack. But I've seen so many things..." Molly trailed off, a faraway look on her face. "Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can pretend they didn't happen, without losing faith in my sanity."

Jack's mouth fell open slightly while he struggled to find the right words of assurance to say. But none were coming to mind. His mother didn't seem to be in the mood to listen to reason. And there were only so many different ways he could tell her it was ridiculous to believe in the paranormal.

So he did what he usually did in an awkward moment like this...he left. "Hey, uh, Grandpa and Fi are waiting for me downstairs..."

"Oh, sure, go ahead." She stood up and nervously ran her fingers through her hair. "I should go get dinner started. Your grandmother went to the store to pick up some groceries."

Jack nodded, but his gaze had fallen on her bare left thumb. "Mom, where's your ring?"

"My what? Oh..." She said, then stared at her naked thumb. "I...I...it was getting in the way when I was making some extra bracelets earlier, so I took it off and ended up leaving it there by accident." At her son's worried look, she assured him, "Gwen has it. I'll get it back tomorrow."

While it was a strange thing to lie about, Jack had a feeling that none of what his mother just said was true. But it didn't really matter anyway, as long as she hadn't lost it. He knew how important that ring was to her. "Okay. I'll, uh, see you later."

Forgotten water bottle still in hand, Jack ran back down to the basement. To be honest, though, he wasn't thrilled at the idea of spending more time with his sister, who was the main reason for their mother's current mental condition. But he couldn't exactly tell her to leave in front of Grandpa, so he shoved down the feelings of confusion and frustration as he put on a fake smile. "Sorry about that," he called out. "So Grandpa, did you finish her off yet?"

His grandfather had been creaming Fi in the latest game, but Jack entered the basement to find his sister gone and Colin starting up a new game. "Where'd she go?" Jack asked.

"Did you get lost on your way to the fridge, Jack?" Colin teased. "Fiona decided to go to the store with your grandmother. I don't know if I can beat you at a game before they come back, but I sure am willing to try."

Jack grinned and grabbed his new pool stick from the rack on the wall. "You're on, old man."