Four Walls (Book One) ✔️

Chapter Two

I knock on the Fitzpatrick's front door. On the other side of the oak, I hear a female voice. A taller, curvier version of Ada greets me.

"Who are you?" she demands, placing her hands on her voluptuous hips.

"Layla," I reply. "Ada's expecting me."

"Whatever. Come on in." She steps aside. "My sister's upstairs. It's the first door on the right. Just listen for screamo music."

I make my way to Ada's room. Sure enough, she is listening to Silverstein. She's sprawled out on her bed, a sketchpad in front of her.

I announce my presence with a gentle knock. She looks up from her drawing and smiles.

"You made it!" She leaps off the bed. For a second, it seems like she's going to hug me. To my relief, she doesn't. "There's something I want to show you."

She takes my hand and drags me out of her bedroom and down the hall. We stop at a linen closet.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

"I've been dabbling in magic recently," she says with a straight face. "I'm learning a new spell, but it takes two people. You're the coolest person I've met at Starkton fucking High School, so I figured you'd be the perfect person to help me."

"You want to me to help you do a spell?" I stifle a laugh. "I don't think that's possible, Ada."

She glares at me. "I didn't take you for a skeptic."

"I do believe in magic. I don't, however, believe that any random person, such as myself, can read a spell and make something magical happen."

After seeing Damian's superhuman ability firsthand, there's no way I couldn't believe in magic. I just don't believe that Ada's "dabbling" is anything other than a spooky pastime.

"I don't think you're random, Layla," she murmurs, her brown eyes glistening beneath the fluorescent lights. "Will you try it with me?"

"Ada, I—"

"Please," she whispers.

"Why me?" I cross my arms over my chest. "I don't get it. We just met."

"Like I said earlier, there's something special about you. I can feel it." She reaches into the closet and takes out a Ouija board. "I have, like, a sixth sense about these things. Come on."

I follow her back into her bedroom. She shuts and locks the door before spilling the contents of the cardboard box onto the floor. She sets up the Ouija board, and my heart races.

I don't know why I'm scared. This isn't real magic. She's obviously deranged.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Ada inquires.

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not sure."

She grazes the planchette with her hand. "Have you ever lost anyone?"

My thoughts immediately go to Inessa, Moira's mom and Damian's grandma. She died two years ago. Although she wasn't my grandmother, she was the closest thing I ever had to one. I was devastated when she passed.

"Yes," I answer.

"Would you like to contact them?"

"No."

Ada smirks. "Why not?"

"Because the person I'm thinking of had a long, happy life," I explain. "Her death wasn't sudden, and she has no unfinished business here on earth. She has nothing to say to us."

"We could try." She puts both hands firmly on the planchette. "Care to join me?"

I place my hands over hers. "I'll humor you."

"I'll be the one to speak. Who are we contacting?"

"Inessa Forbes."

Ada takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. "Almighty spirits, can you hear me?"

The planchette remains still, but I feel a slight breeze on the back of my neck.

"Almighty spirits, may we speak to Inessa Forbes?"

To my horror and astonishment, our hands are pulled toward the word "yes."

"Almighty spirits, I offer myself as Inessa's vessel. I believe she has a message for Layla."

I notice that her hands and arms are shaking. My own body feels fatigued, like I just sprinted for miles.

All of a sudden, she begins to speak a language that I do not know in a voice that is not hers. Her eyes shoot open, except they are not her dark brown orbs. White irises meet my gaze as a wicked smile pulls at Ada's lips.

She blinks, and her eyes go back to normal, but something still seems... off.

"Ada, are you okay?" I ask. "This isn't funny, you know."

"Ada isn't here right now, sweetheart, but she'll be back soon," a high-pitched, all too familiar voice says.

"Oh, my god!"

"Don't be scared, little heart," Inessa assures me. When she was alive, that was always her nickname for me. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now."

"Why me?" It would make sense if she wanted to speak to Moira or Damian, but me? "I don't... I don't understand."

"You have to tell somebody, sweetheart." It's still Inessa's voice, but Ada's eyes fill with tears. "You can't keep this secret any longer. It's going to kill you."

I freeze. "How... how do you know?"

"I've known for a while, even before I died," she replies. "I never had an opportunity to discuss it with you. I wish I did."

I move my hands off the planchette and stand up, ready to run through the door and out of the Fitzpatrick's house.

"It's okay, little heart," she tells me. "I'm looking out for you. I want you to get out of that house while you still have a chance." She pauses. "Before it's too late."

"Damian and I made a pact," I inform her. "After we graduate, we're escaping this wretched town. I'm getting away from my dad once and for all."

Ada's lips curl into a warm smile. "Oh, my sweet Damian. He's always been a good boy."

"He's great. There's no one like him."

"That's why you need to tell him the truth. You need to tell someone the truth. My family will protect you."

I shake my head, remembering all the times CPS came to my house when I was a kid. "I can't, Inessa. If people find out, I'll get taken away. I may never see Damian or Moira or anyone I care about ever again."

"My time is up, little heart," she whispers, her voice sounding less like hers and more like Ada's. "Please... stay safe."

Ada falls to the floor.

"Ada? Ada!" I kneel down beside her, trying to shake her awake. "Come on, Ada. Please get up."

Her brown eyes slowly open. "Did it... did it work? Did your spirit use me as a vessel?"

I study her face. "You really don't remember, do you?"

"I had a feeling I might not. The spell said I'd be a vessel, but nothing about if I'd remember the experience." She sits up and begins to disassemble her Ouija board. "But it worked, right? Were you able to talk to Inessa?"

I force a smile and shake my head. "I'm sorry, Ada. It didn't work."

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As I lie in bed, I think about what Ada—Inessa—said. She knew things that Ada had no way of knowing.

Ada really does possess some sort of magical ability.

Maybe she and Damian are connected somehow. Maybe there's an entire world of supernaturally-inclined people.

From the kitchen, I hear a loud crash. Eight years ago, I would have rushed out of bed to investigate, but I know better now. If Hank sees me, he'll be livid.

Hank Dodds is a bastard, and Inessa was absolutely right; I need to get away from him as soon as possible.