The Reluctant Medium - Chapter 2

After running some errands, I drove to my parents' house. I had a dinner date with a group of single friends that night, but I needed some place to hang until then and I knew I didn't want to be home.

Several hours later, after lying around my parents' house reading magazines and watching "happy" shows on TV to take my mind off of my current haunting issue, the sun set and it was time to go out with friends. My problems instantly disappeared as I climbed into my car and headed off to my destination.

I joined my dinner party and enjoyed some good food and conversation, trying to forget the nag in the back of my mind - "you're going to have to go home eventually and it's probably going to be there". The conversation turned to movies...and then scary movies. One of the guys in the group mentioned "The Others", a creepy ghost movie starring Nicole Kidman. I could feel my stomach turning. I lost my appetite. I pushed my plate of food forward and slumped in my seat, looking around the restaurant for something happy - people laughing, something funny, anything!

"Hey Kristin. You got quiet. What's up? Don't like scary movies?" The guy who started the whole scary movie conversation, Brandon, spoke up.

"No, I do not", I said very adamantly.

Then the teasing started in, "Ooh. Kristin's afraid. Kristin doesn't like ghosts. Poor innocent little Kristin."

"Whatever", I remarked, rolling my eyes.

"Man, I wish I could see ghosts", Brandon lamented.

I froze and my eyes shot up at him. I wasn't breathing and I didn't even realize it. All I could think of was, "You're an idiot. Are you kidding me? You WISH you could see these things? You have no idea what you're saying!" I just stared at him blankly.

"Ooh. She's giving you the evil eye", said one of the other guys and laughed.

Eventually the conversation changed and then the dinner ended. The knots in my stomach were pulling tighter, making it difficult to walk. I sucked it up and headed toward my car, trying to hide my sickening pain. My head was spinning. "Where do I go now?" I thought.

Suddenly I heard Brandon calling out to me. "Hey! Poulsen! Wait up!" I stopped and sighed thankfully. Maybe he'd invite me to do something else. Maybe I wouldn't have to go home just yet. I stopped and slowly turned around, "Yeeessss?" I drew the word out with a playfully suspicious tone and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, are you mad at me?" he asked.

I chortled, "No! I just don't like ghost talk, that's all?"

"Ah, okay. You get scared, huh?"

"Brandon", I said very seriously, "if you had the experiences I have with them, you wouldn't like talking about it either". I knew I probably sounded totally stupid, but I didn't care. I just felt so desperate at this point. I needed to talk to someone - anyone who would listen to me. I judged that he just might be it.

His jaw dropped and his eyes got big. "Are you serious?" There was an excitement in his tone. "Like when? When did you have these experiences? What happened?"

I swallowed hard, a lump in my throat, trying not to just break down and cry right there. I was so appreciative that he was interested and actually seemed to believe me. "There's one in my house right now", I managed in a breathy voice.

"NO WAY! Are you serious? Dude! Hold on. I'm gonna' call Jake and see if he wants to come over and check it out with me. You don't mind, do you?" He pulled his phone out as he spoke and started looking up Jake's number.

"Wait!" I put my hands up. "I don't wanna' make a big thing out of this."

"No. Totally. I know", he explained. "It's just that he and I talk about this stuff all the time and we totally wish we could like have a ghost experience and he'd kill me if he knew I was having one without him".

I drew in a deep breath and sighed, partially in relief at my new unknowing hero. "Okay. But just him. I don't want a big old crowd of people coming over. It's a condo, I have neighbors, it's kind of late, and I don't want to upset anyone".

"I promise we won't", he said as he held the phone up to his ear, calling Jake.

It was 10:30 PM. Jake, Brandon and I were sitting in Brandon's truck, parked in the space across from my condo, staring at it as I filled them in on the situation...and past situations - just to give them an idea of what types of experiences I had had. We sat in the truck because I didn't "want the ghost to hear me talking about it." I was just scared that it might react to it, which is just what these guys wanted. But not me. I still wanted to pretend I didn't have these experiences.

As I told my stories, I could see the guys fidgeting in their seats. Suddenly Jake threw his door open, "Okay. I've heard enough. I get the idea. Now let's go in there and check it out".

"YEAH!" Cheered Brandon. The guys jumped out and started walking briskly toward my condo. I slid slowly out of the truck, my feet numb to the touch of the ground below. I slowly inched toward my condo, my heart pounding. Brandon turned around and laughing, chided, "Come on! We're here now. You don't have to be scared". I gulped hard. I did feel a BIT protected, but they couldn't stay forever and now the fear that they might upset the ghost and I might have to take the wrath for it just built more knots on top of the still present knots in my stomach.

We entered the condo and Jake walked ahead in the dark calling out, "Hey ghostie. Where are you? Ghostie? Can you hear me?" I was the last to enter. I closed the door and felt an instant chill. I threw the light switch on and shouted, "Stop. Seriously. You're scaring me!"

The guys just laughed and whined. "Come on. You're ruining our fun. We wanna' see this thing. Turn the lights back off", Jake pleaded. Brandon grabbed me in a tight bear hug from behind. "It's okay. I'm here to protect you. I won't let the ghostie get you".

"Yeah, for now! What happens when you leave and I'm left here alone with angry ghostie?" The thought made me shudder.

"You just got the chills. I felt that", he said and hugged me tighter. "Do you want me to stay?"

"You mean stay the night?" I quizzed.

"Yeah. I could sleep on your couch. Make sure nothing happens to you in the night".

I sighed with relief. "Yes. Please!"

"Okay. I will. It's okay", he assured me.

"So where does this ghost hang out the most?" Jake asked, flashing his light around the condo, searching for a sign.

I pointed to the back hallway. "That's where it happened so far", I said. I made my way through the dark room to the couch and sat down in the corner of it, pulling my legs up around me. The guys headed down the hallway with their flashlights, opening doors and cupboards and calling out softly to the ghost. My heart started to pound again, my stomach turning. I closed my eyes and laid my head back, trying to clear my head. Trying not to feel scared. "Spirits feed off your fear" I was once instructed. "Don't let them know you're scared".

The guys eventually came out, completely disappointed. Nothing. For some reason this scared me more. I just had this eerie sense that the ghost wasn't going to give them a show, but was becoming annoyed by the extra company. I had a very strong impression this ghost wanted something out of me and didn't appreciate the extra disturbances and delay. Still, I tried to blow it off as irrational fear and the cogs in my head simply spinning overtime.

"Dude, I gotta' go. I've got somewhere I need to be," Jake excused himself. The two guys high-fived each other and Jake called out "good bye" and "good luck" to us and left. This left Brandon and I. Alone. In the dark. I threw on the lights and turned on the TV. "Wanna watch something?" I asked.

"Sure", he shrugged. "So you really think you have a ghost, huh?"

"Yes", I stated. Annoyed. Was he not believing me now? Just because it didn't jump out at him?

"All righty. Well, I'll sleep out here then and see if maybe I can see something later on".

After watching TV for a few hours, I started to fall asleep on the couch. Brandon nudged me. "You better get some sleep. I'm losing you". I rolled off the couch onto the floor and half crawled to my room.

"Night", I called. "Just take the bedding off my son's bed."

I don't remember much after that. I didn't even change into pajamas. I must have just collapsed into bed and I was out.

The morning light snuck through a crack in my curtains and hit me directly in the right eye. I suddenly squinted and moaned, rolling over on my other side. I stretched and opened both eyes, looking around my empty room. I froze in position and listened. Silence. Suddenly I remembered Brandon had spent the night.

"Brandon!" I called out. The stark silence reminded me of my vulnerability. I jumped up quickly, my head slightly spinning from the sudden change in position. I fell against my door and opened it, peeking out. There was no bedding on the couch. There was no Brandon. I breathed in quickly and sighed. My shoulders slumped. When did he leave? I felt suddenly abandoned. I peeked around the corner to the dark hallway on the other side of the kitchen, hoping to see the bathroom light on. Perhaps he was still here. But it was dark. Nothing. "Oh well". I shrugged and started to walk to the kitchen counter to retrieve my phone, intent on calling him and getting some answers.

Suddenly a book on my coffee table flew off and hit the pony wall separating the living room from the dining area. It thudded to the ground and fell open. My heart stopped, my skin stinging with the feeling of a thousand needles. I yelled out and jumped back against the counter. "What the CRAP was that?!" I panted; almost hyperventilated. My hands and feet went cold, yet I was sweating profusely. I looked around the room. "It's you, isn't it?" I said angrily. Maybe if it knew I was mad it would stop.

Instead the pages suddenly flipped back and forth, finally resting on an open spot. "That's it!" I yelled and turned around to the kitchen counter, reaching for my car keys. I was NOT putting up with this. This THING was not going to disturb my life. I reached my hand out for the keys and they scooted across the counter away from me.

I gasped. "What the..?" I retorted. I reached my hand out again for the keys and they scooted away farther. "Give me my KEYS!" I shouted angrily. I ran around the counter to the other side and grabbed for them again. They flew off the counter onto the tile floor in the kitchen. "AAAHHH!! I screamed, half enraged, half horrified. "Give me my keys! Give me my keys! GIVE ME MY KEYS!!!!!" Each time I reached my hand out, I screamed the words louder and each time the keys scooted away from me. Sweating profusely, my heart beating wildly out of control, I slumped into a crouched position and held my head in my hands and sobbed uncontrollably. "Why? Why me? Why are you doing this to me?"

All was silent. I finally peeked through my fingers and saw my keys sitting there, a few feet in front of me. I had given up hope that I'd get my hands on them until I gave the spirit what it wanted. "What do you want?" I managed in a quiet squeak. Suddenly I heard the book on the other side of the counter slam shut. I scooted over to the counter and slowly pulled myself up, peeking over the edge. "You want me to look at the book?"I whined.

The book suddenly flew open again and the pages turned wildly until it rested again on an open page. I took notice of my panting and tried to get it under control. My arms like goose flesh, I shuddered and crawled over to the book.



It was my "Cold Case Files: The Most Infamous Cases" book. I let out a whimper and clasped my hand to my mouth. "Oh my gosh", I moaned silently. "Oh my gosh. Who are you? Are you in this book? Are you one of these cases?"