Page 61 of Waysider
But now, as Cal arrived at the apartment, the full moon shining above him, he hesitated outside the door. This was usually the part when he strode right in, but tonight was different. God, he wished he could knock. Cal’s hands clenched into fists.
“Hey,” someone said behind him.
Cal jumped and let out a startled, embarrassing yelp. He spun to face Laura. “Hey,” he said.
If Laura had witnessed him standing outside the door like a moron, she didn’t say anything about it. As she unlocked the door, the voyant said over her shoulder, “Sorry I’m late. I missed my bus and had to wait for the next one.”
Cal started to ask her where she’d been, then stopped himself. It was none of his business where this girl spent her time. He was here to find the asshole who’d ruined his life. “Do you have everything you need to start?” he said.
“No. Just take a chill pill, all right?”
She could hear him perfectly now, Cal noticed. He followed Laura inside and she closed the door, locking it immediately. She secured the chain, too. After she hung up her coat, Laura moved around the small apartment and turned on every lamp. Once everything was softly aglow, Laura went back to the kitchen. She took a Pyrex dish out of one of the drawers and placed it on the counter—Cal was too far away to see what was in it. Then Laura’s arm moved and she put something in her mouth.
She set the Pyrex down and walked away, passing Cal without looking in his direction. Her voice floated through the quiet apartment. “And now we wait,” she said.
“Wait for what?”
Laura turned on the TV, then went to sink onto the couch. She propped her heels on the coffee table. “For the mushrooms to kick in. They usually take twenty minutes, sometimes longer. I would’ve taken them sooner, but I’ve been in the city since this morning.”
“Oh. Okay.” Mushrooms? Cal thought, nonplussed. Wasn’t that shit usually intense? He shifted, still standing uncertainly by the door. Why did he feel like an awkward teenager again? “Can I, uh, would you mind if I—”
Laura sighed and waved him over. “Yeah, sit down, I guess.”
She didn’t sound happy about it, and Cal had a pretty good idea why. Cass had told him that the more someone interacted with a revenant, the stronger their connection became. By inviting him into her home, Laura was practically tying them together. But Cal needed her. The damage was already done, right?
“Thanks,” he said, circling the couch. He dropped onto the cushion on the other side, sitting as far away as he could. Laura still moved as if she were trying to get farther away.
“I was at the library today, and I found all the articles I could about that night,” she said, keeping her gaze on the TV.
Cal had no interest in what was playing on the screen, though. He looked at Laura and frowned. “What night?”
“The night you died,” she clarified. Lights from the screen flickered across her eyes.
Cal blinked. “Why would you do that?”
“I was hoping to read something about the guy we’re looking for.” Laura said this as if it were so obvious.
Cal had been planning to ask her if she would do exactly that. But he’d wanted to ease into his long, long list of favors. The fact that she’d already thought of it, then gone ahead and done it, made him fall into a startled silence. “Did you? Find anything?” he said eventually.
Laura sighed. “Nothing. Only what the reporter wrote from Cass’s interviews with the police.”
Cal winced at the mention of those interviews. That had been the darkest time in Cass’s life. She told the police about the boy they’d seen, and how he had yanked her into the river with him. But when they’d searched the river, there was no sign of another person. The town started asking questions. How had Cal really died? Why would Cass lie about it? They called her crazy. They’d spread rumors about her. Cass had already been ripped apart by grief, and everyone picked at what was left of her like vultures.
Laura’s voice broke through the storm cloud around Cal’s thoughts. “I did find something else, though,” she said.
The second he heard this, Cal’s pulse kicked up a notch. She’d found something? Already? “What?”
“A whole lot of information about you,” Laura countered. She glanced at him sidelong, eyebrows raised. “People were kind of obsessed with you, huh?”
Disappointment sank in Cal’s chest. Hiding it, he rolled his eyes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I just played on the football team at NYU. People like football.”
Laura scoffed and took another drink of beer. “They named a gymnasium after you, dude.”
Cal turned his head. “Wait, they did? Seriously?”
“Oh, you like that.” Laura smirked and pointed her bottle at him. “You liked the attention, I bet.”
“Well, who wouldn’t?” Cal retorted, feeling strangely defensive. “Are you telling me you wouldn’t enjoy it if you were a… a world-renowned medium?”
