SECRECY

Chapter 14

But, as it turns out, I didn't even have to go to him. He came to me.

Not that I'm bragging about it, or anything.

It was after school the next day. I was, apparently, the only one home. Mom and Andy were both working, Jake and Brad went to the beach to—what else?—surf, and David was over some person's house, doing a project—actually, I think it was a girl's house (Shannon, I think the name was).

So, yeah, I was alone. Now, normally this would be the perfect opportunity to have Jesse over, but, of course, he was working.

When the doorbell rang, I didn't even think anything of it. Probably one of the neighbors, or something, I thought.

But when I went to answer it and opened the door, I soon found out that it was not one of the neighbors.

It was Paul Slater.

How wonderful.

I shut the door right in his face, but he stuck his foot out, stopping the door from completely closing.

"What?" I said, opening the door again. I completely forgot about being nice enough to ask him about the whole ghost fiasco. "Haven't you already done enough?"

He smirked. I noticed that he had a little swelling on his right eye, and a little bruising. "Not really." His voice was all nasally, most likely a side-affect of having his nose broken.

"Then what," I said, losing my temper, "do you want?"

He stepped a little closer to the door, silently telling me that he wanted to come. Well, no. That was not happening. Not a chance.

"I think we need to have a little chat, Suze," came his cool, nasally voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I think we've done enough chatting for a lifetime, Paul. But thanks for the offer." And I was about to shut the door again.

But he put his hand on the door, predicting my moves. "Not about that, Suze. Its about...something else."

And, just like that, I remembered what I saw him looking at yesterday. My father—my dead father.

I think he noticed the sudden comprehension on my part, since he said, "Ah. I thought so."

I blinked. "Thought what?"

He completely ignored me. "May I come in? I think we should sit down and talk about this."

I gripped the doorhandle hard. "No, you may not come in. We can sit down out here and talk about it."

He looked at the wicker chairs on the front porch and shrugged. "Alright."

Actually, I was hoping he would insist on coming in and I could just shut the door in his face and not have to worry about it any longer. But then I guess that wouldn't help me with finding out if Paul is a mediator or not.

As he started to walk over to the chairs, I groaned. What am I getting myself into here?

I closed the door behind me, first making sure the door wasn't locked. Then I went over and sat myself down in the chair farthest away from him, which, mind you, wasn't even that far away.

Paul just looked at me for a few moments with a smirk on his face. Or, as much of a smirk as he could manage with his nose being broken.

It was really pissing me off, so I just went, "What?" in a really rude voice.

"Nothing," he said, his smirk, if possible, widening.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay. Well, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I think you know, Suze. You just don't want to be the first to admit it."

I blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You are a shifter, Suze. Plain and clear."

I blinked again. "A what?" I finally managed.

"A shifter." Noticing that I was still not comprehending what he was saying, he added, "Or, as I think you call it, a mediator. But you aren't a mediator, Suze. You're a shifter."

Yet again, I blinked. "And there's a difference...?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, there is a difference. A mere mediator can only see and speak to the dead. A shifter can do far more than that."

"Like...?"

"Come over my house tomorrow and I'll show you."

Outraged, I said, "No! You think I'm that stupid? Just because we now have something in common does not mean I'm going to suddenly want to go out with you!"

"Okay, okay," he said. "Point taken. But I was serious about the whole shifter thing. We can shift to different planes of existence, move through time, and move things with your mind. There's a lot more, too."

I think this whole blinking thing is becoming a habit. "Okay, Paul. Seriously, its not funny. So you can stop joking now."

"Suze, I'm not joking. I am totally serious here."

I still didn't believe him. I mean, moving through time? Impossible! "Prove it to me, then."

He groaned. "What is it with you women?" Noticing my not so nice expression, he said, "Fine."

And before I could protest, I noticed the magazine on the little wicker table in front of me start floating. I swear, I almost screamed.

I quickly looked at Paul and he was looking at the magazine. It looked like...oh my God.

He was doing it. But...how?

Then, suddenly, the magazine just flopped back down on the table. Paul looked back at me, all the while smirking. "Now do you believe me?"

"I...think so. I mean, at least about the moving things with your mind part."

"Good," he said. "Because there's a lot more that I can teach you."

"Wait...how do you know that I'm a shifter, as you say, and not just a mediator. How can you tell?"

"I figured you'd ask that. I can't really explain it, I just know. I guess you could say it's a shifter's intuition."

I cracked a smile. "What, like a woman's intuition?"

He smiled a little, too. "Something like that."

Then I remembered the other mediators in my life. Jesse, Father Dom, Marta...

"You know," I said, "it's not just me. There are more of us."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. The priest."

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "Um, not just Father Dominic...Jesse is one, too. And so is his sister."

"Wait, what?" He sat up straighter in his chair. "De Silva has a sister?"

"Actually, he's got five. And yes, he's a mediator and so is his sister."

Paul was silenced for a few minutes. Then he just smacked himself in the forehead. "Of course! That's how the ghost pulled him off of me! I can't believe I didn't make the connection before." He stopped and looked at me. "Wait, which one of his sisters is a mediator?"

I hesitated. Should I really be telling him this? Ah, well. "The oldest one. She's two years younger than Jesse is."

"And her name?"

Again, I hesitated. What if he starts harassing her? "I really don't think that's a vital piece of information..."

"Suze, its just a name. What, you think I'm gonna go after her?" He leaned in closer. "You're the only girl for me, Suze."

Oh, great. Now I'll never get rid of him.

I sat back in my chair. "Okay. I think we're done here, Paul."

Slowly, he sat back in his chair. "Come on, tell me her name."

I groaned. "Fine, her name is Marta, all right? Now can you leave? I have better things to do."

And, surprisingly, he got up and left. Well, not before saying, "You'll come to me eventually, Suze. I know you will."

Ugh. Why must my life be so complicated?

I admit, this chapter wasn't really that exciting, or long, for that matter. But, well, bear with me here. I promise I'll try and make the next chapter a little more exciting. So...review, please.