Gabriel looked almost defensive. “And why shouldn’t I be?”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I respect it.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Where do you think the hauntings come from, then?”
“Like I said, I believe the spiritual world is all around us, and some places are just closer to it than others. Orion, I think, is one of those places. If there’s a veil between this world and the supernatural, the veil is thinner here. I don’t think that’sbecause ofany group of people that once lived here, though perhaps we could guess that others who came before recognized it long before we did.”
Drew nodded. “That seems fair.”
“Have I convinced you to believe in the supernatural yet?”
“No, but you can keep trying.”
“I will. What will convince you?”
“Hard evidence.”
“Good luck with that,” Gabriel said. “Turn here.”
They had left the main town square and were in a neighborhood now with old Victorian-style homes. “This is the historic Heritage neighborhood,” he said, pointing to various houses. “My parents live in this area. Many of these homes were built in the 1800s by rich European-Americans who worked in the fur trade or the logging business.” He paused by a peach-colored Victorian house. “My parents live here. The house is a hundred and fifty years old, and I grew up behind that window.” He pointed to a window on the second floor. “I saw and heard lots of things I couldn’t explain when I was growing up, and I always had very vivid dreams. Sometimes, in my dreams, I saw things that I shouldn’t have known. Like visions of history, or things that ended up happening in the day when I was awake.”
“That just sounds like your subconscious mind picking up on things you weren’t consciously aware of yet.”
“Ye of little faith,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “Let’s keep walking.”
“Okay. I don’t have little faith. I’m just skeptical.”
“I can tell.”
“Is it annoying?”
Gabriel grinned at him, his blue eyes flashing. “No. It’s exhilarating. I’mgoingto convince you.”
“You’re not there yet.”
“Ah.Yet. I’m not the only one in Orion who has reported dreams that feel more like visions. Throughout history, we’ve had many mediums and psychics live here. More than most towns. You met Irma. She can read your palm and tell you everything about your life and your future.”
“I’ve had my palm read before. They just said a bunch of generic stuff that could apply to anyone.”
“So you’re immediately discrediting Irma because of some hack?”
Drew looked down at his feet, chastised. Gabriel was quick with his words, but not unkind. Even when he challenged Drew, he did so with a soft voice that spoke more to curiosity than to aggression.
“Maybe I could rethink that,” Drew said.
“Maybe you could.” As they continued walking down the street, Gabriel pointed out the houses of his various neighbors. “Many of these houses have been in these families for generations, like my parents’. It was my grandpa’s before it was my dad’s, and before that my great-grandpa’s, going back to 1900 when my ancestors moved here from Germany.”
“They’ve been in Orion that long?”
“Yes, and my siblings and I were the first to move away.”
“But you came back.”
“I did. That wasn’t my plan, originally.” He kept talking, turning the conversation away from his own story, though Drew was more interested in Gabriel’s history than the supernatural history of the town. “With these houses being so old, they’ve had a lot of deaths in them. Back in the old days, of course, hospitals weren’t the same, and so death often happened at home. It’s interesting, studying the old etiquette of death. The things you were expected to do in a house. Many of my neighbors, and other people in town, have reported having dreams or seeing visions of their ancestors or deceased family members in their houses at night.”
To Drew, it sounded like a form of mass psychosis, and he wondered if there was something in the water. He decided not to ask.
