Tom was in the middle of teaching a class when his phone rang. Normally he would've had it turned off, but had a situation been dire enough, it would've gone off anyway. Ignoring it for the time being, Tom went back to lecturing about Newtons Laws. A minute later, the phone rang again and Tom let out a sigh.
Walking over he inspected his phone on the desk only to realize it wasn't his phone at all that was ringing, but rather the department's phone. Well, really it was his and Matheson's department, not the physics one. Rubbing his face he glanced at his students who were giving him curious looks. A call on that line could only mean one thing.
"Class dismissed," Tom said, "I want an essay on what we talked about on Friday."
The class grumbled as the packed up and filed out of the room. Tom watched them leave before leaning against the desk and staring at the phone. It was the first call he'd gotten since everything had happened, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to pick it up. The phone kept on ringing, and Tom kept on starting.
Letting out a sigh, Tom eventually answered, "Hello?"
"Hi!" A woman's voice said. "Is this Dr. Buckley?"
"Speaking." Tom wasn't sure what caused him to pick up this call, intuition told him it would lead to something interesting, and he always trusted his instinct.
"Oh, thank god!" the woman said. "I don't normally call twice cause it's rude, but it's important. Are you still doing that psychic investigating?"
"Not really," Tom said, "but I can see what I can do. What's your name?"
"Allie Baldwin," the woman said, "I'm calling in regards to my sister, Mary Chase."
"What's the issue?" Tom asked, sitting down in a chair and staring out the window.
"Well," Mrs. Baldwin said nervously. "My sister is a hermit, first of all. Hate's being around people and won't leave the house. I came in today to check on her and found all the windows blown out."
"You said that your sister was a self proclaimed hermit," Tom said in a bored voice, "Could it be that she had a psychotic break? Seems like you're looking for a psychologist, not a physisit."
"That's what I thought at first too," Mrs. Baldwin said. "But then..."
"Then?" Tom prompted.
"Well," Mrs. Baldwin said, "this might sound crazy, but when I found her she was completely unharmed from the windows. No cuts from the glass or anything."
"It's possible she did it on her own and was careful about it," Tom said.
"I asked her if she used a baseball bat," Mrs. Baldwin said. "She said no. My sister is many things, but she doesn't lie. Not about important things."
'Everyone lies no matter what,' Tom thought.
"So you think because of this, there was a psychic occurrence?"
"Are you doubting my story?"
"Not at all," Tom said, "I just want to get all the facts straight."
"Oh, well kind of, yes."
"What do you mean, kind of?" Tom was feeling like this was a huge waste of his time.
"Well," Mrs. Baldwin said, "Like I said, she was completely unharmed, and was sitting in the middle of the living room floor with a perfect ring of clear ground around her. And then when I tried to question her, she got mad and my purse moved without anyone touching it."
Tom stiffened at her words. That sounded all too familiar to what he'd gone though. His mind wandered back to the night before when he'd gotten that odd cry for help. It couldn't have been a coincidence, could it have?
"Dr. Buckley?" Mrs. Baldwin asked, "Are you still there?"
"Yes," Tom said, "sorry, just thinking. Is there anything else you'd like to mention?"
"I think my sister is possessed by a ghost honestly," Mrs. Baldwin said, and Tom rolled his eyes. Not this type of thing again.
"Then why not consult an exorcist?"
"I don't like them," Mrs. Baldwin said, "ever since I watched the movie."
Tom refrains from rolling his eyes again and flinches as a bird smacks into the window. Getting up, he peers out of it to see it was just dazed; thankfully.
"So are you going to come and check this out?" Mrs. Baldwin asked, sounding concerned.
"I might have to think about it," Tom said, watching as the bird shook off it's shock and flew off. "I haven't done it in a while."
"Oh," Mrs. Baldwin said, sounding disappointed.
"It wouldn't be that hard to get back into though," Tom said, briefly wondering why he was saying such a thing.
He'd told himself that he wouldn't do any more psychic investigating since Silver, but in all honesty, he hated how normal and predictable his life had become. At least when he was doing the investigating things were semi different. It was all the same at the end though, the person ended up being a fraud and Tom was left feeling empty inside. He didn't know why this time would be any different.
"So you'll do it?" Mrs. Baldwin asked, relief clear in her voice.
"Why not?" Tom said. "We can discuss price later when I get there. Where is it?"
Mrs. Baldwin told him an address and Tom wrote it down on a scrap of paper.
"I'll be there in a few hours," he said. "Just hang tight until then."
"Thank you for doing this," Mrs. Baldwin said.
"No problem," Tom replied before hanging up. He wondered what he was getting himself into this time.
