Timeless (8 page)

I hadn’t worn the emerald Ben gave me to
school yet precisely because I didn’t want to answer these
questions. But Annie was my best friend.

“Ben gave it to me,” I whispered, not wanting
the others to overhear.

“Emily!” Annie squealed out, assuming, I
think, that it was some sort of engagement ring.

“Shhh!” we heard. The librarian looked
sternly at us from behind her large, red-rimmed glasses.

“Let’s get out of here. There’s something I
want to ask you, anyway,” I whispered.

“Okay, let me just get my things,” she said,
hastily gathering her bag and books.

I decided against checking out the book on
past lives. It was probably a stupid idea anyway.

A few minutes later, we arrived to a small
diner nearby and ordered. Once the waitress left our table, Annie
leaned over, saying in her most confidential voice: “Okay, tell me
everything.”

Even though I had dismissed the idea about
hypnosis in the library, I couldn’t seem to shake the idea that
maybe my dream was connected somehow to a past life.

“Do you remember that dream I had a little
while ago?” I began.

The waitress interrupted us to bring our
food. That was quick, I thought, and then realized we were almost
the only people in the restaurant.

“Um, yeah,” she answered, munching on fries.
“Wait, this isn’t about Ben?” she asked, pausing mid-fry.

“No,” I replied, shaking my head.

“Oh,” she said, her face falling. Of course,
she’d thought I had a great story to tell about the ring.

“So anyway, like I was saying. I’ve been
having these dreams,” I said, trying to turn the conversation back
on course.

“Yeah, about the hot guy, the knight,” she
said through a mouthful of burger. She was definitely more
interested now.

“Shh! Not so loud. Do you want the whole
restaurant to hear?” I asked nervously.

She looked around and gave me a questioning
look.

“There’s nobody here but that old man in the
corner, and he can’t hear anyway,” she said, confused.

That was true. The man looked about ninety
and sat quietly doing a crossword in a corner booth drinking
coffee. I could see he had hearing aids, and I knew that I was
being paranoid.

I gave her a very rough outline of the dream
but hesitated to tell her my speculations about witches and past
lives.

“Is there more?” she prodded.

I decided to take the plunge.

“Do you think it’s possible to experience a
past life?” I asked.

“Like reincarnation?”

“Something like that.”

I told her about the book I’d found on past
lives in the library.

She sat back, thoughtful as she munched.

“A past life. Hmmm. Maybe,” she finished.

“You think I’m crazy. I can see it in your
eyes. I should see a shrink. Or at least Mrs. Anderson,” I said a
little despairingly. Maybe I was crazy.

“I think it might be a little beyond the
school guidance counselor,” she said, laughing as she polished off
the last of the fries. Annie could eat anything and still remain
impossibly skinny.

“What would you do?” I asked.

“Honestly?”

“Of course.”

“Go see one of the para-whatever hypnosis
people that you read about in the library,” she said,
shrugging.

To her, it was simple—if you have an issue,
take care of it. But I wasn’t so sure.

“Where would I even find one?” I asked.

“Where else? The yellow pages,” she said.

Annie stood up, went to the bar, and asked
the waitress for a phone book. But what were the chances of a
paranormal hypnotist living in DeLand?

She flipped through the “P” section while I
voiced my concern on the remote possibility of finding anyone who
was a paranormal hypnotist.

“You never know. Florida attracts all kinds
of crazies,” Annie replied.

I laughed. She was right. Even here, we had
our fair share of freaks. I stopped laughing when I realized I was
in definite danger of becoming one of them.

“Here it is!” Annie said enthusiastically. I
knew then why I’d told her. Not only was she my best friend, she
was easily excitable. I guessed then that what I’d really wanted
was someone to tell me to go for it all along, to see some kook who
could unravel what was becoming an all-consuming mystery to me.

“Ramona Reynaldo, Psychic and Paranormal
Hypnotist,” Annie read out in triumph, copying the address on a
napkin.

“It says that walk-ins are welcome,” Annie
said, pointing to the ad. Why hadn’t I ever heard of her?

“You have got to be kidding,” I said, “Let me
see.”

Annie handed the phone book over to me.

There she was, only a few blocks away. I
looked at my watch. Two p.m. Her ad said she was open until three
on Saturdays. I didn’t have much time.

Annie looked at me, a grin on her face.

“What are we waiting for?” she asked.

Chapter Four

"Darkness Falls"

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark
come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God. As, in a theatre,

The lights are extinguished, for the scene to
be changed. With a hollow rumble of wings, with a movement of
darkness on darkness,

And we know that the hills and the trees, the
distant panorama

And the bold imposing facade are all being
rolled away—

T. S. Eliot, “East Coker”

The sign out front had the picture of an open
palm and read: Ramona Reynaldo, Psychic and Paranormal Hypnotist.
The neon red “open” sign flashed at us as we walked in, and I
nearly turned around to leave the moment we crossed the threshold.
She had crystals of every sort hanging from the ceiling, what
looked like strange witch costumes tacked to the walls, and books
with titles like Finding Your Inner Demon on display shelves.

The woman I took to be Ramona came out
through a beaded doorway when we entered the store. She had long,
dark hair, a black, low-cut dress, and a massive amount of
eyeliner. Altogether, not exactly the picture of a professional,
but then, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting.

I looked over at Annie, who picked up a
crystal and held it in the light.

“That’s the earth spirit, Arian, whose
vibrant spirit finds release in the prism of shining light,” Ramona
said, coming forward.

Annie stifled a laugh.

That was it. I turned to leave, despite a
strange sensation that had come over me.

Ramona stopped me with an intent look on her
face.

“I can help you,” she told me quietly.

I really looked at her then. Behind the black
eye makeup and all that hair, I believed her. She had a kind face,
and while I’d never given any credence to psychics, I felt drawn to
her, the same way I was lured to the white dress we’d found in the
mall.

She had penetrating blue eyes that seemed to
see into my soul. I looked at my sneakers, hoping to avoid her
intense gaze.

“Come back without your friend,” she told me
in a low voice so that Annie wouldn’t overhear.

I nodded my head and turned to walk out,
Annie following me.

“Did you see that?” Annie began,
laughing.

“Yeah,” I said. I didn’t want to talk about
it. I’d felt the strangest tingling when I saw Ramona—not danger or
fear, precisely, but definitely something.

Annie poked fun at her in the car, but I
wasn’t really listening. Before I dropped her off at Zack’s, I
asked her not to tell anyone about our visit this afternoon. She
looked at me, laughing.

“Chill out, Em. You’re so uptight lately. Who
cares if we went to see some crazy person anyway? We should’ve
stayed to have our fortunes told,” she said, examining her nails. I
laughed in spite of the weird feeling that I belonged in that
store, that it would be the key to unlocking whatever mystery lay
behind my dream.

Zack greeted us at the front door of his
parents’ small bungalow on the outskirts of town, his seven small
brothers and sisters yelling loudly behind him.

“Are you ready for the intense experience of
Zombie Zoo?” he said, sounding like a sports announcer telling us
to prepare for the match of the century. Dylan, his one-year-old
brother, came to the door and pelted us with a mix of pureed
carrots and oatmeal.

Annie rolled her eyes.

“I should have brought my homework,” she
complained.

“And some wipes,” I added, laughing as I
scraped the mashed food off my shoes. But my mind was back in
Ramona’s store.

I didn’t linger to watch the movie with them.
I was anxious to find out more about Ramona’s offer and,
truthfully, too eager to see if she really could tell me what was
becoming an all-consuming mystery. Maybe she could settle the past
life question once and for all.

I made my way back to town, but by the time I
returned to the store, her “open” sign was no longer blinking at
me. I took a chance and tried the front door.

Ramona was standing in exactly the same spot
as she had been when I left.

“I knew you’d return,” she began.

Of course. She was psychic.

“Let’s get started,” she said, waving her
hand for me to follow her.

“But you don’t know why I’m here,” I
said.

She raised a painted eyebrow and gave me a
look that said need you ask?

I followed her through the multi-hued,
psychedelic beads hanging from the door that led to the back of the
store. She directed me into a sitting room that looked remarkably
clinical. It had only a small settee and chair, with none of the
crystals or other junk that decorated the front room.

“Please have a seat,” she said politely,
indicating the chair opposite to her.

She sat across from me, her intense eyes
staring into mine. I became uncomfortable again. It was as if she
stared straight into my soul.

“Now tell me,” she began, breaking the
silence.

“I thought you already knew,” I retorted,
cringing inwardly at the sarcasm I heard in my voice. Ramona
ignored it, focusing instead on reading my face.

“I know generally why people come to seek me,
but the details are often not, shall we say, crystal clear,” she
finished, breaking out into laughter at her own joke.

I stared at her, not knowing where to begin.
A few uncomfortable moments passed.

“I’ve been having these dreams,” I finally
began.

“What kinds of dreams?” she asked, leaning
closer to me. I was beginning to feel more than a little
uncomfortable and inched back.

But I knew it was now or never. I took a deep
breath and began, soon finding a rhythm. I told her everything I
could remember, not just the brief sketch I’d told Annie but also
my suspicions about a past life. It was actually a huge relief to
tell someone about my fears. I had told Annie a basic outline of my
dream, but not the way it affected me. With Ramona, I held nothing
back.

When I’d finished, she continued to stare at
me, not saying anything.

After another few uncomfortable minutes, I
cleared my throat.

“Um. I don’t exactly know the protocol here,
but…”

“I’m just trying to read you,” she
interrupted.

“Read me?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s always easier if I can read your
future.”

“No, wait. I’m not here for a psychic session
or whatever. I want to understand my dreams, which seem to be about
the past,” I explained.

She smiled then, an eerie, half smile.

“The past, the present, the future—they’re
all connected. By seeing your future, I may be able to help you
solve the riddle of your past.”

I hadn’t thought of that.

“Do you need my palm or anything?” I asked.
Who knew what kind of etiquette was required with psychics?

She laughed loudly at this.

“I don’t play games, and I’m not just a
reader of palms. Besides, your eyes show your future, not your
hands.”

“So what do you see?” I said, a little
breathlessly.

“Two paths are open to you. One is distinct,
happy, a very clear future.”

That sounded promising. Despite my not having
come in to have my fortune told, I was intrigued nonetheless.

“What else do you see?” I asked her.

“A handsome man who will become your husband,
children, a nice, respectable life here. A large white house.
Definitely a cat.”

My future was looking brighter and brighter.
I assumed she meant Ben, and I smiled.

“You said you saw two paths. What’s the other
one?”

“That’s what I’m trying to uncover. For most
people, they have very clear futures. They have choices, yes, and
that can alter their future. But generally, I can read their paths
clearly, even taking free will into consideration. For you, I see
one vision, but the other…” She let her sentence trail.

I had the impression she could see something
but was reluctant to tell me.

I laughed nervously.

“No ax murderers, I hope.”

“No, no ax murderers,” she said quietly,
giving me the idea that she saw something or someone equally
dangerous.

“What then?” I whispered.

“I do see evil, but I’m sorry; it’s very
unclear.”

I gulped. What did it mean? Would I die the
way I had in my dream?

“Okay, well, thanks for your time,” I said
abruptly. I felt the need for fresh air.

I stood up to leave, disturbed by her
fortune-telling and wanting to get away from the odd feeling that
she gave me.

“Wait!” She stopped me, grabbing my arm and
almost forcing me back into my seat. “We are only at the
beginning,” she continued.

“What do you mean?”

“I can read your future, however unclearly,
but the answer you seek will emerge from your past.”

Was I supposed to understand these cryptic
remarks?

Again Ramona gave me that mysterious
half-smile.