“Your experience doesn’t take me into account,” Ellen retorted.
“And what makes you different than everyone else?” Robin quickly questioned.
“If you knew me, you wouldn’t ask that,” Ellen told him.
“Well, I’ve been around enough people to know that when people get to know Andie, they tend to regret it,” Robin said as Ellen saw that Andie was uncomfortable with the current conversation. “So…”
“Can we stop talking about Andie as if she’s not a few feet from us,” Ellen said in Andie’s behalf. Andie grinned. “I wouldn’t like it if I was in her shoes, and I’m sure she doesn’t like it now.”
Robin shot Ellen an astonished look before saying, “There’s the first thing I saw that makes you different than most people. Unfortunately, I’m still not optimistic of yours and Andie’s long-term friendship after you two get to know one another.”
“They know about me,” Andie mumbled shyly and barely coherently.
“They know what?” Robin questioned incredulously.
“They know what I can see,” Andie said shyly.
“We know that Andie can see and talk to ghosts,” Ellen added.
“You can see ghosts?” Allen questioned incredulously.
“No!” Robin interjected strongly. “She’s on medication for her delusions of her believing that she can see ghosts.”
“I assure you, Robin, that your sister isn’t delusional,” Ellen quickly informed. “In fact, Andie had given me a message from Eleanor Thorne, and Andie couldn’t have done that if she was delusional.”
“And Eleanor Thorne would be…?” Robin prompted for Ellen to finish.
“An ancestor of mine who lived in the 1400s,” Ellen replied. “I own Eleanor’s diary, so I know for a fact that the message that Andie had given me from Eleanor is authentic.”
“Ghosts aren’t even real,” Robin insisted.
“I thought that too not all that long ago,” Simon shared. “I now know that I was mistaken and you too are mistaken. Ghosts do exist and Andie has convinced me that she can see them.”
“Robin, I don’t know what medication Andie is taking, but she needs to be taken off of them,” Ellen informed. “She doesn’t need them, and there’s no telling what harm that they’re doing to her.”
Robin sighed before facing Andie and saying, “A short time ago, Maria informed me that she saw you talking to… to a ghost.” Robin shot Ellen a quick glance. “Was that ghost… Eleanor Thorne?”
Andie nodded before saying shyly, “Eleanor saw that I could see her and she asked me to give Ellen a message.”
Robin turned towards Ellen again before asking, “And you have no doubts that Andie was talking to Eleanor Thorne—an ancestor of yours?”
“I have no doubts whatsoever,” Ellen assured him. “In fact, after receiving Eleanor’s diary—plus several other diaries—I knew that a spirit was attached to those diaries because of certain… paranormal events that had occurred after receiving them. However, I was thinking that the spirit attached to the diaries was my Great-Grandma Gloria. She… died violently sixty years ago, and she was the last one who had owned those diaries before me.”
“What kind of paranormal events?” Allen asked.
Ellen thought for a second before sharing, “Okay, well, recently I met an eight-year-old autistic boy named Spencer. Although he’s capable of speaking, he doesn’t. He does draw though… constantly.” Ellen gestured as she continued with, “Everett had met him when I did, and the day we met him, he wrote out a cryptic message for me from Eleanor. He then handed me that message while verbally telling me how to decipher it. He then—as if a switch was flipped—reverted back to his autistic self and retook his place at his drawing pad.”
“It was eerie,” Everett added.
Robin turned towards Andie before genuinely saying, “I’m sorry, sis, for not believing you. Can you forgive me?”
Andie nodded with a pleasant grin.
When Andie didn’t verbally respond, Everett questioned, “Andie will be taken off the medication now, right?”
“I would love to say ‘yes’, but my parents…” Robin gestured towards Andie before continuing, “Our parents won’t believe that Andie is seeing ghosts no matter what proof we take to them.”
“That medication might be causing her harm though,” Everett pointed out.
“I do feel… bad when I’m on it,” Andie shared.
“Andie, you will have to prove to your parents that you’re getting better,” Jessica said.
“And how is she supposed to do that?” Everett asked.
“Andie will have to pretend not to be able to see the ghosts,” Jessica replied.
“I tried that before,” Andie said shyly. “The ghosts won’t leave me alone though and it’s hard to ignore them.”
“Everett, perhaps your mom could help to get Andie off of her medication,” Ellen suggested.
Everett shrugged before saying, “We could ask.”
“How could your mom help?” Robin asked.
“She’s a third shift supervising nurse in the psychiatric ward at the hospital,” Everett shared. “So she might know of a way to get Andie off of that medication.”
“Until then, moving on to a more pleasant topic,” Karla prompted.
“One more thing before we do,” Ellen announced. “Andie. Robin. I’ll need you guys’ phone number, so I can get in contact with you. I’ll even exchange it for my number.”
Andie slightly grinned as Robin nodded while saying,” Alright.”
Ellen and Robin then exchanged phone numbers. Once Robin had Ellen’s phone number, he rejoined his girlfriend Maria on the other side of the room.
Chapter Two
Andie had remained with Ellen’s group, and as the evening progressed, Ellen would ask Andie things to get to know her, and to get her involved in the conversation.
During their conversation, Ellen learned that Andie and Robin attended a private school. Ellen also learned that Andie and Robin’s parents were both research doctors for a local facility.
Everett saw in Ellen’s eyes that Ellen wasn’t happy when Andie shared that test animals were being used at the research facility. Ellen took a calming breath before saying, “I’ll keep that little tidbit away from my uncle.”
Ellen saw a confused look on Andie’s face as Karla asked, “Your uncle would have a problem with animals being used for research?”
“Mmm,” Ellen let out with an agreeing grin. “In fact, over twenty years ago, he was an animal rights activist. About twenty years ago, he went to prison for several years for breaking into a lab, releasing the animals and assaulting police and security officers.”
“And how much do you take after your uncle?” Everett questioned in a slightly worried tone.
Ellen amusingly grinned before shrugging and saying, “I don’t know, but I won’t be breaking into labs and releasing lab animals… or anything worse. In fact, the only thing that I would do is sign a petition if one comes my way.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Everett told her with a grin.
Ellen