Behind Door Number 12

Part 2: A spiritual journey

Siska swiped her head, shaking her curls. 'Whoa. Slow down. So now you're sure about this thing's existence...about a paranormal presence? And...I need to summon it and... '

I cleared my throat. 'No. Not something—someone. A willing test subject.'

She fluttered as she mentally summed up the elements.

'Yes, you'll have to use someone as "bait",' I said, matter-of-factly.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched me fidget and then cross my legs. I offered her a little smile and then her eyes drifted from me to the middle distance.

'Cogs turning?' I asked, while I retrieved a bottle of water from a drawer and took a swig.

I glanced over at my open laptop, and she followed my gaze. 'An episode about your journey there might earn you a cult following, in and of itself. And, if there is something real, then that's just gravy.' I nodded the top of my bottle at her. 'I want you to find what's out there. You deserve it.'

Siska looked a bit stiff. 'But using someone as bait? That gives me the heebie-jeebies.'

'I know. But you're not going to take someone there against their will. Neither of us wants that.'

Siska looked at me in silence for a while. Then she smiled from ear to ear. 'Never thought you'd do something so nice for me... after all I've done. The lying and the stealing...' She sniffed and kicked an imaginary dust bunny.

'You did what you did because you were already in pain. Hurting others wasn't the goal.'

Siska huffed lightly. 'There were no goals, actually.'

'You have them now,' I said. 'And I want to be there to cheer you on for what will come next. Also, I want us closer together, like sisters should be. I know we drifted way too far apart every time you lapsed.'

'My bad,' joked Siska, averting her eyes.

'I take responsibility for that just as much as you do.'

Both of us swallowed the growing lump in our throats before taking a breather. 'When all has been said and done,' I resumed, 'the question is how much do you want to keep improving what you already do?'

'A lot.'

'That's what I thought.'

'So why were you working so hard to put me off, earlier?'

'Because if you find the spirit I'm referring to, you'll spend the rest of your life questioning your sanity. Take it from me—' I rubbed my twitch again. 'I think you can take it. Honestly, I do, but I won't lie, the psychological risks are important—'

'Ethical ones too.'

'Sure. But let me warn you that there isn't a point in looking for this spirit if you're not going to bring someone with you to lure it in. And—this is key—they'll need to be on the very edge of crossing over themselves. They have to be no more than a day away from dying.'

'But...why?'

'I don't have all the answers, sorry.'

Siska's breath caught in her throat. 'Fuck this.' As she flashed her hands up, she turned to me halfway and must have noticed my startled look. 'Err...thank you for all this,' she said, trying to soothe her tone. 'Really... for the tip-off and for thinking of me and of my work but I don't think this is going to work...it's—'

She took a step towards my desk and perched on the corner, studying my face. 'Just tell me. What the hell did you see there all those years ago?'

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