Still in slumber, Frank hid his nose under a blanket in hopes to fall back to sleep. Judging by the dimness of the room, it was still early in the morning- and it felt so warm under the blanket that he sleepily wished he could lay like that for days, until better weather arrived – warm and sunny and… When he woke up again, rain was drumming outside.
Frank groggily stared at the window with water streams instead of snowflakes on it. The streets would be slushy today and it killed the last bits of desire to get out of bed, go outside and follow the idea of yesterday's evening. He wondered if he should just give it up and think up something else.
Coward, his inner voice taunted him. That made him throw the blanket away- leaving him gasping at the chilliness of the air.
Half an hour later and a cup of hot tea fuller, he walked out into the street and rushed to the nearest tube station, with the only stop at a local Boots to get a sandwich. A barbeque chicken wrap caught his attention. "Barbeque chicken minus the smoke in your eyes and the British rain," it promised and he couldn't resist, given the drizzling weather.
It was five minutes past ten when he exited Bond Street station. Despite the early hour of a nasty January day, shoppers have already started to crowd the Oxford street, but luckily for Frank most of them were walking past a large and rather brandish department store. The fewer people saw him, the less humiliated he felt for going for it.
The Christmas decorations were changed to "sale now on" signs. On the way to escalators, Frank overheard a woman telling her friend that "that's the three words every woman wants to hear most of all; who needs all those I love you's and be my wife's when you have 50% off Gucci, darling." Women.
Anxiously, Frank walked to a small black-curtained corner on the ground floor, just across the decorations department where he had encountered that 'just psychic' woman and got the "Wishing you a miraculous Christmas" card almost a month ago.
What prompted him into coming back there, he couldn't understand. Was finding the e-mail from Gift4U miraculous? Well, it was a miracle he had been so dumb not to check Joe's mails sooner, because he thought he was smart. Or was coming back home from Chicago empty-handed and broken-hearted again a miracle? Only if surviving through that pain of losing twice could be thought of as miraculous. Desperation was the only reason to come back to the place.
A woman behind the counter smiled at him, "Can I help you?"
"Hi," Frank forced a polite smile in reply. "I was wondering if I could have a…well…."
"A reading? You are lucky today, dear. Usually we're booked to the fullest, but a client fell sick and Melanie is available for half an hour. Lucky circumstances for you," she beamed at him.
"Brilliant," Frank hoped his joyful voice didn't sound too fake. Booked to the fullest? People gone crazy?
"Melanie?" the woman called. "She is really powerful, you'll love her," she added quietly to Frank.
A middle-aged Asian woman looked from behind the curtains and smiled at the early customer, welcoming him into a tiny space behind the curtains, with only a table and two chairs. The lights were dimmed, creating a mysterious atmosphere. Frank took a seat and wondered – and not for the first time this idea had crept into his mind – if he was a psycho to spend £50 on this.
"I don't bite, so don't be so uptight," Melanie said to him from across the table with a smile. "I know that guys don't come here with light problems, but I'll need you to focus on whatever terrible has happened to you."
Frank said nothing as he shifted in his chair, determined not to give a single hint. If she was any good, she'd have her own ways to see 'whatever terrible has happened to him'.
"I'll do clairvoyance, but will look into cards before that to get a better understanding of what's torturing you, alright?" at his nod, Melanie put the pack of card on the table. "Divide this into three piles, whatever way to like, just think of your problem while you do," she watched the nervous-looking man do the trick in silence.
Thinking of his problem has become his second nature, Frank thought sadly as he finished with the task.
Melanie turned several cards over and watched them in silence for some time. "Dark picture for you, indeed. What the cards tell me is that there was a wheel of fortune for you, sometime in summer, but it wheeled away from you. Took the happiness away. Took someone you loved very much away from you."
Tell me something I don't know, Frank thought. What a waste of time and £50.
"Looks like you've moved across the water. But it's still going downhill for you. That someone was… not a girl, it's a boy, about your age."
If she said it was a boyfriend, he'd stand up and go, he decided.
"The boy from your family. Brother."
This was not a question, but a statement and Frank's annoyance turned into curiosity.
"He's suddenly out of your lifeline," Melanie raised her eyes at him. "You've come to ask about him, not yourself."
Frank nodded.
"He died, but you don't believe it. Well," she sighed heavily, "if you had his hand to do the cards, it would be much easier to say. You see, the cards tell the story of the person who's shifted them, but they can't tell for someone else," Melanie said with an apologetic look on her face.
"So- you can't tell then?"
The woman closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "You didn't just go by this place and thought to come in. You've come deliberately, so my guess is that- someone could have told you about a girl near you?"
Frank felt cold at the words. "Yes," he whispered, suddenly nervous. Could this be true the ghosts of dead people followed him? The thought sent shivers down his spine.
"She knew both of you well, you and your brother. Died very young, saving your lives…. Lots of fire, terrible, terrible death."
"Can she say- say if he's-"
"I don't hear them, I can only see the pictures they're sending to my mind. I can see you and her in this store, lots of Christmas thing around….you and her while you're sleeping- she must have tried to get to you through your dreams, but you've shut everyone out, shut your mind to everyone."
"What about my brother?" Frank asked, his heart drumming in his chest.
Melanie was silent for a moment and then shook her head, her eyes still closed. "There's a picture of someone between heaven and earth, she keeps showing it to me. As if he's in between."
"What does it mean?" Frank asked hoarsely.
She shook her head again. "I-I don't know. She- they, the gone, they can't talk much."
"What does she mean?"
Melanie opened her eyes and looked sadly at him, "I don't know the answer."
"Is he dead or alive?" Frank pushed fiercely.
"He could be and he could be not. 'In between' may mean many things for them. He may be near death, fighting for life, or," she paused, "he may be a lost soul, stuck in between two lives."
Frank put his face into his hands in desperation. Why couldn't he get an answer to a question as simple as that – was Joe dead or alive? The answer would take just one word, why couldn't he know it? Please, Iola, Frank begged, closing his eyes. Please, tell me, tell her. Please, I must know.
"A lake, a very big lake," Melanie broke the silence. "Does it tell you anything?"
Frank shook his head in dismay.
"It's cold, there's snow around, it's winter. You and someone else are there, driving a lot."
The trip to Chicago, Frank realized. On the way, they drove past Lake Erie.
"I see you by…some kind of a motel with some red sign, you and another man."
Fenton wasn't a fan of motels, but he and Frank had no other choice one night when they searched a deserted area of Northern Ohio and it was too late to drive to Cleveland in search of a better hotel to get some sleep.
"There's some kind of a house, a small one, right by the lake, not too far from the motel," Melanie swallow and opened her eyes to look at Frank, "Do you recall anything?"
"The lake and the motel I do, but the house…no," he shook his head. There must be thousands of small houses by Lake Erie, most of them deserted in winter and awaiting summertime tourists. They checked several of them and were able to talk to only four people, none of whom saw Joe. "What's in the house?"
Melanie didn't speak for a minute. "She isn't sending me any more pictures," she said at last. "She's just keeping this small house in my mind."
The small house it is. By Lake Erie. Not too far from the motel with the red sign. "Is there anything else you could say?" Frank asked quietly.
"That brother of yours, quite a unique character. People usually have one angel-guard, but he has two – that girl, in heaven now, and you, here on earth. You were born before him for a reason, you know? So you'd be there since his day one in this lifetime. He's very protected."
Frank chuckled bitterly, "Doesn't look so if he's missing."
"It wasn't your fault. You're a protector, but that doesn't mean sticking to him 24/7. All things happen for a reason, to teach us something. From what I saw from the cards, you've pursued dangerous things in life. Like attracts like. The dangerous stroke back."
And they said being good paid. "What's the lesson then?" Frank asked.
"That's only you who'll know," Melanie shifted more cards and nodded at the last of them. "There's a revelation coming your way soon. It doesn't say what it will be – if your brother is in between here or out there. But it's in a house by a lake where you'll find the answer."
Author's note. Two actually. One - yes, I read 'The Shack' and no, the next chapter is far from that (in fact, it'll be one just chapter away from the truth, finally). Two –I don't encourage anyone to solve their problems with clairvoyance. Remember that this is a piece of fiction.