Six

"Lily, you said that you can draw their portraits, right?" I asked in exasperation. After hearing our request, Lily had offered to draw us a description of the people sitting near her. Now all she'd done was their caricatures, people with big heads and tiny bodies and exaggerated expressions.

"Look, I only know how to draw cartoons, OK?" Lily protested. "I was planning to be a world-famous cartoonist. I know how they look like—"

"—but you just don't know how to draw people. Only cartoons," I finished.

"Susannah." Jesse gave me a look that said 'be easy on her'.

I sighed. Paul might be gathering his ghost army just as we speak.

"Really, they're not bad. You could, uh, picture them. Or maybe ask someone for help? I heard that some psychics could summon ghosts without having to see them," Jesse said.

I sat up straight. Aunt Pru! She had summoned the ghost of Mrs. Deirdre Fiske ten years ago. She could do it now! I flipped through the phonebook under Walden, Prudence and Carl. Yep, it was serious that time in the Winter Former.

"Hello?" an elderly lady's voice answered the phone.

"Um, hi. I'm Susannah Simon, CeeCee's friend. I've been to your house ten years ago, and you helped me summon a spirit. Now I was wondering…if you could do it again?" I gushed.

"Susannah Simon…as in, the one the news report just said? Dear, no wonder I thought I recognized that name. Of course I'll help you. It's an honour to see mediators," Aunt Pru said.

"So…when can I come to your house?" I asked.

"Oh, right now, right now. Carl is out with 'the boys'. Here's my address." I took down her address, which is near the Junipero Serra Mission Academy. I hung up the phone and got to go.

"Jesse, I'll be over at Aunt Pru's house for the next couple of hours. Take care of her, OK?" I whispered to Jesse, looking pointedly at Lily, who was doodling on some paper. Jesse nodded and I kissed him goodbye. Then I went to the garage and drove away.

My car was sleek and black, a Porsche. Jesse's was a silver Rolls Royce (they reminded him of the Rolling Stones, his favourite band). And I began to drive along the two-mile coastway, feeling the sea breeze.

The sun was just rising when I went around the bend. Suddenly, fog covered the road ahead. I switched on my front light and drove

slowly, carefully. Now I'm not sure about you, but in reality, ghosts can appear in sunlight. They just prefer the night and fog much better.

Suddenly a woman in white appeared in front of me. I slammed the brakes, and my car went through her. She reappeared in my passenger seat.

She looked mad. "Don't. Go. To. The. Psychic's. House. You're biting off more than you can chew, Mediator."
"Sorry, lady, but I think you're tackling more than you can bite. I've been a mediator for more than twenty years. While you, woman in white, have only been one for what, twenty hours? You won't have the power," I said.

Her eyes flashed, whether at the 'woman in white' remark or the bite one, I'm not sure. "Try me," she snarled, and lunged at the wheel and swerved it towards the metal railings, intending to force it over the cliff.

This was like Heather and Bryce all over again. But this time, I knew what I can do. I grabbed her before she can materialise again, and shifted her to the dreaded corridor. Her last scream died away and I sat, breathing hard, on the edge of the cliff. The metal railings were hanging on their hinges.

I took a shaky breath. Then, without warning, my car slipped over the edges. I tried desperately to brake it, but it was to no avail. And then I fell towards the roaring, big, ocean.