The Medium Kid

Chapter 36

Koda stared at his ceiling, thinking constantly about his future. Connor stayed for long enough to calm him down, then said that he would visit Alfie's house tomorrow to talk about his tasks as the sidekick of the Grim Reaper. He had promised to mentor Koda after all. It was now almost 11:00 in the evening and Koda was wide awake like his body was fuelled with caffeine.

"Alfie," he whispered, feeling his warmth against him as Alfie curled up under the duvet. "Are you awake?"

Alfie grunted a response.

"I can't stop thinking about... everything."

Alfie peeled his eyes open, familiar with the feeling of a spinning mind late at night. "You need a distraction," he grumbled and turned over, making his chest press against Koda's arm and his nose squish against his shoulder. "Think about art. What will you draw in class tomorrow?"

"We don't have art tomorrow."

Alfie was silent for a moment, staring into the fabric of Koda's t-shirt. "Your bed is either really small or you're just taking up a lot of space." Koda turned on his side and Alfie didn't allow any space to sit between them. He shuffled against his crush, listening to the sound of his flustered heart. Koda was the perfect temperature to keep him warm.

"Alfie?" Koda whispered. He stared into the darkness of his room, trying not to think about the Grim Reaper.

"Yeah."

"I miss my mum."

Alfie lifted the duvet from over his head and stared up at the face he couldn't quite see in the dark, though he imagined Koda's lips curling down into sadness and his eyes looking lost. "I feel her all the time when I'm around you. She's always watching you."

"Really?"

"Of course. She's your mum and she loves you."

Koda decided to focus on the good memories of Enya. There might not be many, but she had her moments. He wrapped an arm around Alfie as he thought about his mother saying the rhyme for his granddad. 'As white as cotton, as gentle as his touch, the dove hasn't forgotten, he loves you so much.' Koda could hear his mother's voice as clear as if she whispered it into his ear.

"My mother was murdered because of me."

Alfie's eyes opened immediately. He had almost forgotten about how Enya died. Was she killed because she discovered that there was something different about Koda, which meant that someone knew about the Grim Reaper's sidekick? Had they been in danger the entire time? Was that the reason why Enya watched over her son every second of the day?

"I'm summoning your mother tomorrow," Alfie said, feeling suddenly much more awake.

* * * * *

Alfie sat outside the college when he was done with his classes. He was yelled at twice because he didn't do his assignments. If only his other tutors knew what was going on in his life, then maybe they wouldn't think he was just lazy or didn't care.

The medium sighed and crossed his legs, feeling the sun against his black jeans. The day was warm, despite October nearing its end. The sun shone, the birds sang, and Brits pooled in the sunshine, not taking the warmth for granted. Alfie watched the car park and checked his phone. His dad offered to pick him and Koda up, feeling a little absent in his son's life and wanted to catch up. Alfie wasn't sure if his dad could catch up. He had always tried to understand Alfie's mediumship, but it was always a difficult topic for Tom to accept without finding it a little odd. Alfie liked that he tried and never treated his son any different.

Almost ten minutes passed until someone hovered on the grass in front of him. Alfie looked up and almost smiled, expecting it to be Koda. Instead, he was faced with Koda's best friend.