The Flames

Chapter Seven

Uncle Rich searched the internet for a reputable medium, eventually settling on a woman named Gloria Childs. People reported that she would say things to them that only their deceased loved ones could possibly know.

Luke and Uncle Rich were pretty impressed, but I'd heard it all before, mostly on various "paranormal investigation" TV shows. When I told them that, they reminded me of my promise to try contacting a medium.

"Well," I said in mock defiance, "I technically didn't promise anything."

"Cole," Uncle Rich scolded, "we are doing this. And we're going to go meet Mrs. Childs the day after tomorrow."

I nodded reluctantly. I also felt excited, but these guys didn't need to know that. Two days later, we would be off to Chicago.

The drive to Chicago took forever, but it would all be worth it when we sorted out the ghost issue. We were tired, but we would be well rested at the fancy hotel Uncle Rich booked a room for us at. That day we arrived at some crappy, run-down excuse for a motel. "This is the classy, five-star hotel you were telling us about?" Luke asked incredulously. Uncle Rich just shrugged. The room had three twin beds in it, which I thought was odd, as there's usually two full beds. This would work better anyway because I was not sharing with Luke or Uncle Rich.

We went to bed early so we wouldn't be tired for our meeting. Mrs. Childs had said she would be more successful with us if we were well rested. While we ate greasy, delivery pepperoni pizza, I asked Luke, "How did you convince your parents to let you go to Chicago with a man they've never met and a boy they hardly know?"

"They really couldn't care less what I do." He shrugged, and I just left it at that.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

I opened my eyes the next morning and blinked several times trying to remember where I was. Chicago, motel, right. I looked and saw both Uncle Rich and Luke still sleeping on either side of me. I knew I wasn't going back to sleep, so I reluctantly got out of bed and realized I really had to go to the bathroom. There were no bathrooms in the individual rooms, so I walked to the hallway to try and find one.

I looked for a while, but eventually gave up when I felt like I was going to explode. So I decided to find a spot to go outside. That's when I saw her. Celia was sitting on a bench in the courtyard. I relieved myself and ran back inside as quickly as I could.

When I got back, Luke and Uncle Rich were up. "Where you been?" Luke asked me.

"Bathroom," I said, not wanting to offer any more information, "Guys you won't believe this. Celia followed us here! I saw her in the courtyard-"

"Wait, I thought you were in the bathroom," Uncle Rich interrupted.

"Couldn't find it," I said, embarrassed. He stared at me, trying not to laugh.

"I was about to piss my pants!"