The silence in the room is heavy as I try to gather my emotions and deposit them back into whatever void I’d stored them in.
“Juni, does mom have any insight into Mary? Since they are both...ghosts.” I still feel ridiculous saying the word.
“Mary keeps herself separated from other entities. She has made herself untouchable in their veil and as such cannot be influenced, bargained with or reached in any manner,” Juniper answers without hesitation, fiddling with the top of her cane. “She is singularly minded with only one goal, which has brought us here.”
“This is it. Nothing more to discover with the information we have. We are just left with what we’ve found out so far against this unprecedented being,” Ian remarks with a sigh, grabbing his apple again and taking an absentminded bite, the crunch echoing through the kitchen. “Awesome.”
“In all my misgivings of coming back here for the reunion I gotta say—this particular situation never occurred to me. Sticks and stones? Sure. Getting too drunk and passing out on the dance floor? Maybe. But this? Shit,” Kayla arches her back in the chair and we all can’t help but snicker at the absolute ridiculousness of it. Even Juniper cracks a smile, leaning forward and resting her forehead against her hand, That night we all hunker down in our separate areas, all contemplating the danger we’ve found ourselves in. Everything is uncertain, too many questions and scenarios to ponder with not enough information and it makes us all withdrawn.
I am awed by Ian, who is risking his life for people he just met. Putting himself on the front lines when he is likely the most egregious of all of us to Mary. The one with no part to play besides being a foil and a complete wild card. He will monitor the situation from another room, and had painstakingly hidden a camera in the den and the basement where we plan to confront her.
In the morning I try to text and call Mario to no avail, and it appears that he had thought better of going to the hotel to try and commune with Malvina. I hadn’t expected much from it anyhow.
Mary is set to arrive at 2pm, and we all sit nervously, weighing any scenario we can come up with, but it feels so fruitless. We want no no possibility of her arriving early and seeing him, so at 1:30 Ian steals from the room to go watch from afar upstairs, tucked in Juniper’s room.
The house is painfully still, and I feel like I can hear my own heart beating frantically in my chest at 1:49pm when there is a soft knock upon the front door. I look at Kayla who nods encouragingly, her eyes stoic, though I know she is frightened. Juniper blows out a nervous breath and grabs her cane for support.
I walk to the door and inhale deeply, centering myself before I swing the door open. She stands there rigidly, on the front porch, looking lovingly at the bushes of oleander that dot our yard before meeting my eyes.
In her black leggings and body hugging, cinched black tunic she’s so sleek that it’s almost feline. Her hair hangs loose, the waves in it reflecting the sun like red gold as she gazes at me with a sexy smirk.
I lean forward to embrace her and she smashes up against me, her breasts squeezing into me so overtly that I have to hold back a gasp. She pulls back to observe me and I obediently lean forward and brush my lips against hers. Her scent is still uniquely Kat’s and it's confusing to reconcile that I am not interacting with her, just a bad imitation.
She is unwilling to let a brief kiss suffice so I submit to an exploratory kiss, as she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me impossibly closer. I allow my body to be confused and mildly aroused, hoping that it will make this more authentic. I tell myself it’s Kat, closing my eyes, taking in her warmth.
I am relieved when Juniper clears her throat from behind me and I pull away. Mary takes in Juniper coolly, and seems to switch quickly to affecting warmth as she walks forward greeting her and going in for a hug. To Juni’s credit, she is able to remain composed, despite who she knows is actually touching her.
“It’s so wonderful to see you again, Juniper,” Mary lies, holding her at arm’s length and looking her over. She sees Kayla over her shoulder and struggles to retain her restraint.
She walks away from Juniper to approach Kayla, who is now standing, ready to receive her.
“Kayla,” Mary says, slowly appraising her from head to toe. “What a surprise to see you here. I thought you’d taken your leave.”
“I was really enjoying seeing you all again so decided to extend my vacation. I’ll be leaving tomorrow,” Kayla assures her, watching carefully as Mary shrugs and turns on her heel where she greets her own reflection in the antique old mirror that hangs there. I struggle to remain impassive as she approaches it with a bit of wonder on her face.
“This old mirror is still here?” she asks, looking at me as I nod. “I believe your mother told me this is a very valuable antique.”
“It is. It’s been here since Magistrate John Madison,” I say, watching her stiffen slightly at his name before she approaches the mirror, looking at herself eerily in it with a small smile at the edges of her full lips.
“Hmm,” she says, fingering the border of the mirror carefully. “You should put it away. We wouldn’t want it to break, now would we?”
“Do you want a drink?” I ask, changing the subject as she continues to almost hypnotically gaze at her reflection. “Wine?”
At the suggestion she seems to break out of her trance as she turns to me, expression one of graceful contrition. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other
