They were all sitting around Aunt Lily's table in near darkness as Aunt Lily explained what was going to happen. French was getting more annoyed by the second. Everything that came out of that woman's mouth sounded like something straight out of a B rated movie. And of course, she had charged them for the deluxe package.
Only Angie seemed to share his disdain for this whole experience, so he kept his mouth shut. If only for Buck's sake. He didn't want to be the reason the woman finally kicked them out.
"Please," She finished. "Join hands on the tabletop." When they complied, she turned out the lights, then turned on a red lamp to illuminate the room. She then opened the dish she had laid in the middle of the table and asked them to focus on it.
"The strength of our emotions and the clarity of our minds will light her way." She said.
They all focused on the dish, and she fell silent to focus with them.
"Something's happening." Steve said, and they all leaned in closer to see.
Jesse and Angie were the first to notice Buck's absence, as they had been holding his hands. Slowly, they all turned to where Buck had silently left the group and was walking towards the living room. They all watched as he walked away from the light, into the darkness.
French felt uneasy, he was unsure why Buck had left the table, but it was making him nervous all the same. He glanced around quickly and saw that the whole table seemed to share his sentiment.
Bang! The sound of a gunshot resonated from the TV, which was suddenly flashing, blinding after the darkness. Random images started playing, skipping from one scene to the next.
French was the first to move, not wanting Buck in there alone, though it was just a TV and likely one of the so-called-medium's tricks.
But as the images kept flashing across the screen, they started to feel almost familiar somehow…
"It's a message." Buck told them. "From Rachel."
French had come up beside him by now, standing just behind his left shoulder. The others were close behind him.
"What does it mean?" Steve asked him.
"I don't know…" Buck admitted. He watched the images on the TV, translating what he thought he could decipher. "She's escaping." He told them.
"It's a mirror." Steve said, eyes wide.
"Hands…" Buck trailed off.
"Going through it," Jesse chimed in. "Going through something."
"What the fuck…" Steve whispered.
"She's…" Buck started.
"Blind." He and French finished together.
French finally had to admit there was more going on here than a fake medium could pull off. She had no way of knowing what images would mean something to them.
"Okay," Jesse said. "Blind."
"Could be OA!" Steve said excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jesse said, almost as if in a trance. "Wait a minute! A blind woman, comes out a bunker… and she can see, and she goes into another dimension!" He yelled out.
Steve sucked in a breath. "Holy shit! Yo, OA's alive!"
"Get 10% off!" The TV said. It out of place after the darkness and drama of the last message.
"Wait, there's more." French said, trying to calm Jesse and Steve down into focusing again.
"And for one day only, only, only, only-" it started repeating itself.
"Only…" Angie and Steve said.
A clip of a game show gave them their second word. "Safe." Buck and French said it together.
"B…" They all started. "B… A!"
"That's you." Steve said, as if BBA wasn't already aware.
The TV finally gave them the last of the clue. "Only safe for BBA to go." They all put together.
"Only safe for BBA to go." They repeated. Then the TV went dark, showing only what looked like some sort red flower and their reflections. French noticed in their reflections for the first time that he was holding onto Buck's hand. Whether he had taken Buck's hand or Buck had taken his, he didn't know. But he was grateful for the comfort it provided, and he squeezed his hand tighter.
They all turned to BBA, and she slowly walked forward, inching her way past them and towards the TV. "What's happening?" Steve demanded. From who, French didn't know. He didn't dare look away from BBA.
Distantly, French heard Aunt Lily scream, "Betty, look away! Stop!" But no one moved forward, no one could move.
They all held their breath in trepidation as BBA reached for the TV… Her fingertips made contact, and it shattered.