Chapter 4: World of the Psychic & Holtz's Occult Books

(Later at the TV Studio…)

"This... Gee, I don't know…-father encouraged…" A voice came.

A woman by the name of Erin Gilbert, chatted with her two guests on a darkened TV studio set and claimed a father encouraged his children to wash their hair with something of their own. The point of view shifted to a cameraman looking into a camera. The lights came on and recording started on an episode of "The World of the Psychic."

"Hi. Welcome back to World of the Psychic. I'm Erin Gilbert." Erin replied, as she sat between her two guests.

"I'm chatting with my guest. Author, lecturer and psychic, Aaron Maell. Aaron, your new book is called The End of the World. Now, can you tell us when it's gonna be, or do we have to buy the book?" Erin asked in concern, as she turned her head.

"Well, I predict that the world will end at the stroke of midnight on July 4th." Aaron replied.

"This Fireworks?" Erin asked in concern.

"Mm-hm." Aaron replied.

"Well, that's cutting it a little bit close, isn't it? I mean...Just from a sales point of view, I mean, your book is just coming out, you're not gonna see any paperback sales for at least a year. It'll be at least another year before you know whether you've got the mini-series or Movie of the Week kind of possibilities. Just devil's advocate, Aaron. I mean, shouldn't you have said, "Hey, the world's gonna end in 2020"?" Erin asked in concern.

"Wait a minute. This is-" Aaron replied.

"Or better yet, 2023." Erin replied.

"This is not just some money-making scheme, all right? I have a strong psychic belief…" Aaron replied, as he pressed his finger to his forehead. "that the world will end in June." He began to look visibly shaken and adjusted his coat.

"For your sake, I hope you're right." Erin replied.

"Thank you." Aaron replied, as he handshake Erin.

"Okay, but I think my other guest may disagree with you. Sarah." Erin replied, as she turned to Sarah. "Now, you had another date in mind."

"According to my source, the end of the world will be on February 14th in the year 2026." Sarah replied.

"Valentine's Day. Bummer. Where'd you get your date, Sara?" Erin asked in concern.

"I received this information from an alien. As I told my husband, it was in the Paramus Holiday Inn. I was having a drink at the bar, alone, and this alien approached me. He started talking to me. He bought me a drink. And then I think he must have used some kind of a ray or a mind-control device, because he forced me to follow him to his room." Sarah replied.

Erin stared directly into the camera.

"And that's where... he told me about the end of the world." Sarah replied.

Erin pursed her lower lip. "So your alien had a room at the Holiday Inn, Paramus?"

"It might've been a room on the spacecraft made up to look like a room at the Holiday Inn. I can't be sure about that, Erin." Sarah replied.

"Of course not." Erin said, as she stood up and walked forward to wrap up the episode. "And that is the whole problem with aliens, is you just can't trust them. Occasionally you meet a nice one: Starman, E.T. But usually they turn out to be some kind of big lizard! That's all the time we've got for this week on World of the Psychic. Next week, though…" Erin replied, a crewman handed Erin a bald hairless cat. "Give me Ira. Hairless pets."

Erin turned her hand around to show the back of the cat.

"Weird. Until then," Erin replied, as she handed the cat back. "this is Erin Gilbert, saying:" she pressed her finger to her forehead.

Erin pretended to send a psychic message to the audience then laughed. "See you then. Bye."

Erin turned around and shook Aaron's hand.

Erin walked through the backstage offices with his producer Fred.

"Fred, where do you find these people?" Erin asked in concern.

Fred was not pleased with the two guests.

"Weren't we supposed to have the telekinetic guy who bends the spoons?" Erin asked in concern.

"He canceled. This is the best we could do at such short notice. Look, no respected psychic will come on the show. They think you're a fraud." Fred replied.

"I am a fraud." Erin replied.

Fred walked away and Erin stated he was a fraud then saw Mayor Bradley, trailed by an entourage.

"Mr. Mayor. Mayor Bradley. Bradley!" Erin replied.

The lawyer man stepped between Erin and the Mayor and gently pushed her away. The Mayor and his entourage continued on.

"Erin Gilbert." Erin replied.

"Can I help you?" The lawyer asked in concern.

"Yeah, get your hand off me." Erin replied, as the lawyer's hand off to her. "Thank you, I'm an old friend of the mayor's. I wanna say hello, give him a kiss."

"John Hargensen, I'm the lawyer." John replied.

"You're the lawyer?" Erin asked in concern.

"Well, yes. I know who you are, Dr. Gilbert, I just don't see any ghosts anywhere." John replied, as he pretended to look around for ghosts.

"That's why I wanted to talk to His Highness. See, we did a little job for the city a while back and we got stiffed on the bill by some bureaucratic bookworm like yourself." Erin replied.

"Look, you stay away from the mayor. He's running for governor next fall. And the last thing we need is for him to be associated with two-bit frauds and publicity hounds like you and your friends." John replied.

"Yeah." Erin replied.

"My daughter Chris." John replied.

"You're Chris's father?" Erin asked in concern.

"Yes. My wife Ruth and I have a daughter." John replied.

"But you and Mrs. Hargensen." Erin replied.

"My wife and I lost my daughter. It's been 3 years since we lost Chris and everyone, but thanks to the statements of the Snell, Ross, Dawson, Gogan & Desjardins, we never got full justice for them, making Chris & her friends all look bad, and making that evil bitch Carrie White look like a victim turned victimizer!" John growled, in anger.

"Carrie White?" Erin asked in concern.

"You know your big sister." John replied.

"Eleanor? Yeah." Erin replied.

"Your niece Sue. You're Sue's aunt." John replied.

"Yes." Erin replied.

"Even though we left her and her mother Margaret's grave back in Chamberlain, it feels no different, & as she's dead, we can't get justice for our children, we can only hope is that bitch of a witch is burning & rotting in Hell for what she did to Chris & everyone!" John replied with anger & sorrow also.

"How many people?" Erin asked.

"234. Carrie kills 234 people in the Black Prom Massage at Ewen High School." John replied.

"The Black Prom Massage? Look, Mr. Hargensen." Erin replied.

"I still can't believe a funeral was held for Carrie, she never deserved it! But because of your statement, not enough people complained to have it prevented! I'm sick of it, If only we could get some more justice… even though Carrie is dead & gone, what if something was to happen to your niece, George Dawson, Erika Gogan & Rita Desjardin, as they took Carrie's side more than ours, besides, their parents also took their side, even though they weren't too keen on Carrie's family as well…" John continued in anger…

John walked away and left Erin dumbfounded.

"You know, I'm a voter. Aren't you supposed to lie to me and kiss my butt? Carrie killed your daughter and her friends in the Black Prom Massage from three years ago, Mr. Hargensen." Erin replied.

(Later at Holtz's Occult Books…)

Abby and Patty looked through a book in Holtz's Occult Books. The store was full of shelves of books, objects were hung up. Abby found an interesting passage and read it aloud to Holtz.

"This one's interesting, Jillian. Berlin, 1939. A flower cart took off by itself and rolled half a kilometer. Three hundred eyewitnesses." Abby replied.

Holtz finished ringing up the sale.

"Three hundred eyewitnesses." Abby replied.

"My best to the coven." Holtz replied.

Abby turned and looked at the customer. The doorbell rang as the customer left. Holtz stepped out from the counter over to a book shelf with Abby and Patty.

"Berlin, huh? You know, you should also check Duke University studies on controlled psychokinesis." Holtz replied.

"I pulled it." Abby pointed.

She entered the bookstore and spoke in an accent. They turned and looked at her.

"Perhaps you could you help me, I'm looking for a love-potion aerosol that I could spray on a certain Penthouse pet to obtain her total submission." Erin replied.

They both greeted Erin and threw her coat onto an empty book cart.

"Hello, Erin." Abby replied.

"Hi, Erin." Patty replied.

"Hi, Erin. How's it going?" Holtz asked in concern.

"Very well. Hi, Holtz. Hi, Patty. Hi, Abby. How's school? I bet those science chicks really dig that large cranium of yours, huh?" Erin asked in concern.

"I think they're more interested in my epididymis." Abby replied.

Erin scoffed then paused in thought.

"Holtz, let's close this place up so you could buy me a calzone." Erin replied.

"I really can't do that right now, Erin. I'm working on something. But your book came in. Magical Paths to Fortune and Power." Holtz replied.

"Thank you." Erin replied.

Abby snickered while Erin held her head up high. "Good luck with that, Erin."

"Put this on my account, please?" Erin asked in concern.

"Sure." Holtz replied.

"Holtz, take a look at this." Patty replied.

"Oh, yeah." Holtz replied.

"What are you guys working on?" Erin asked in concern.

Holtz looks up. "Uh, well, we're just kind of…"

"Ahem." Abby and Patty replied.

Abby and Patty cleared throat to subtly warn Holtz.

"...checking something out for an old friend." Holtz replied.

"Neat. Who?" Erin asked in concern.

"Um…" Holtz replied.

Suddlney, there were phone rings.

Holtz was saved by the red phone and answered.

"Holtz's Occult. What? What happened? Where? Are you sure? Thank you. Right away." Holtz replied.

Holtz hung up and looked back at them.

"Guys." Holtz replied.

"What is it?" Erin asked in concern.

"Bad news." Holtz replied.

"When?" Patty asked in concern.

"The dark alley." Holtz replied.

"You sure?" Erin asked in concern.

"Yeah." Holtz replied.

"Who?" Patty asked in concern.

"The girl." Holtz asked.

"The girl?" Erin asked in concern.

"The homeless girl." Holtz replied.

"The homeless girl?" Patty asked in concern.

"She saw the ghosts." Holtz replied.

"Are you sure?" Abby asked in concern.

"Yeah." Holtz asked.

"She got in trouble?" Erin asked.

"Yeah." Holtz replied.

Erin turned to Abby and Patty.

"All right, we got a suit up." Erin replied.

To Be Continued…