Page 20 of Woods of the Raven

“And then?”

“Then I came here, and I’ve been a mess, but then Cass came and it got better,” she said, smiling at her friend, “because we’re going through the same thing.”

I nodded.

“We go to grief counseling together at school.”

“That’s great.”

“But one of the things that keeps happening—”

“To me too,” Cass rushed.

Delia gasped. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Yeah, but you’re telling him and…it’s fine, just do it.”

“You sure?”

Cass nodded quickly.

Delia took a breath like she was getting ready to dive into the deep end of a pool. “Okay, so when my parents died, I started seeing things that weren’t there, and now, suddenly, it’s happening again.”

“Same,” Cass whispered. “Not things happening again, but since we moved here, I’m seeing things that aren’t there.”

“I had a doctor who gave me pills,” Delia went on, “and I took them for, like, two weeks, but they made me feel like I was in a bubble all day. I stopped seeing things, but all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn’t have the energy to do anything. I nearly flunked tenth grade.”

“I did that too,” Cass confessed. “But I didn’t have a doctor giving me drugs. I got them myself, and I almost flunked as well.”

“I’m sorry for both of you.”

“But when I moved here,” Cass explained, “with Uncle Lorne, there were no more drugs, and I started therapy, and things have been good. Everyone’s been super nice, and my English teacher even wants me to apply for writing scholarships, but…now I’m seeing things…”

“And I’m seeing things again,” Delia chimed in.

“Yeah, so it’s happening to both of us, and we’re both really scared.”

I felt terrible for them.

“I can’t tell Rita or Troy,” Delia said, her voice cracking. “It would make them so sad.”

We were quiet then, just the three of us outside in the chilly breeze coming off the river.

“Okay,” I began softly, “did you know that just because you see things that aren’t there when other people look, or disappear and reappear, doesn’t make you crazy?”

They both stared warily at me, like I’d just confessed to being an alien.

“Hear me out. Some people are highly empathic, attuned to the feelings of others, and so others can make them happy or sad.”

They both gave me slow, hesitant nods like perhaps that was possible.

“But, and this is a known fact, you can also be sensitive to other things, like changes in weather, not enough sunlight, or even…ghosts.”

Delia gasped. “Ghosts?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Cass assured me with a shake of her head. “There’s no such thing.”