Page 36 of No Ordinary Girl
But God, I love my house so much. And I missed it so much right then. I missed them all. My life had changed so much, but I was pretty sure their lives were just the same. Mom and Kylie were probably arguing over cereal – the compromise – a mix of Mom’s granola with Kylie’s Froot Loops. My dad would already be at work, sporting his work boots and hard yellow hat.
The house was even more stunning inside. Everything was perfect. It looked like a picture straight out of one of those decorating magazines my mom sometimes reads. Every single time, she gets angry.Who can afford this?She shows my dad, a tense red finger pointing at something on one of the pages. “Two thousand dollars for a chair! Can you believe that? I don’t even know why I read these things.” But then, she always keeps buying them.
I couldn’t have cared less about the pretty furniture. My eye was drawn to the pictures on the wall – such a beautiful family, happy smiling faces. Haley was a striking child, a real-life doll; all dark curls, big brown eyes, a perfect little heart-shaped mouth. Something struck me about the photos – they didn’t seem real. They seemed like an illusion. A picture can speak a thousand words, they say. It can also tell a thousand lies.
We were quickly introduced to the case investigators; Detective Brice, a tall dark man with a good head of hair, and Detective Miller, a middle-aged curly haired brunette with an edge. I was sure that no one ever dared to mess with this woman.
We were also introduced to Haley’s mother. She was so hard to read. She was many things. She was beautiful and perfect, just like her home; petite, cheerleader pretty, California blonde, and dressed very classy; like a younger Simone.
Her aura was dark and intense. I sensed that this was a woman who was usually cheerful and full of life, but now was lost. She was devastated, as anyone in her position would be.
I thought of Haley again, and my heart broke every time I did. I was sitting next to Leo on the modern velour blue sofa, and our legs were touching, barely. I felt it in him, too – he was just as heartbroken over this case as I was.
Leo is a beautiful boy. He’s also kind of amazing. But I think the real reason I fell for him, why I was so instantly kind of crazy about him, was that sweetness in him. He truly has a good heart. Good hearts are rare, but easy to spot when you do find them.
There were nine of us in this woman’s living room, tucked in fancy sofas and arm chairs. Mrs. Henderson had pulled out some extra chairs from the dining room for us. Somehow, I had ended up sandwiched between Leo and Kendra on the sofa. My nerves got a hold of me again, I couldn’t quite look at anyone. Instead I stared at the magazines on the table;Vogue, Newsweek,andRedbook.
Detective Brice insisted that we call him Matt, and he struck me as the strong silent type. Detective Miller seemed like the chattier one. “This is Simone Adler, the founder of RAMS academy,” Mrs. Henderson explained to her.
Simone started, her words soft. “The Renaissance Academy of Mentalist Studies is a specialized institution located on the coast of Maine where students from across the world… those gifted with psychic abilities, attend. The best of the best are selected to work in the investigative unit, and we work in collaboration with investigators across North America, in cases of missing persons mostly, but also in murder investigations, and theft crimes, occasionally. We’ve been quite successful so far, and have solved numerous cases.”
Mrs. Henderson, or Jenna, as I like to think of her, studied us cautiously. She looked so delicate and vulnerable. She had put herself and her daughter’s fate in our hands, and she wasn’t quite sure she could trust us. She felt a little like she was being taken for a fool. Yet, she was also desperate, and willing to believe.
Almost as if Simone could read her mind, she was quick to add, “They might be young, but they are truly amazing. If anyone can find your daughter, Mrs. Henderson, it’s them.”
Jenna studied us, her gaze darting over the five of us sitting in her gorgeous living room. Simone had insisted we all wear our school uniforms, which probably made us seem more official. Jenna’s gaze clung to mine and then Leo’s. She fixed him for quite a while. I turned to him, and he was not letting her gaze go. How could anyone not trust those sweet brown eyes of his?
Nope… no one.
She finally let go, and decided to trust us.
Simone turned to her again, and smiled sweetly. She introduced the team proudly. “Leo and Anna are gifted psychometrists. They can connect with any person involved in the case and get deep into their minds, perhaps see things that the rest of us could never see,” she explained. “Anna is new to the team, and she also has a gift for precognition which could possibly be useful as well.”
My throat went dry. I didn’t like the attention. I spotted Brianna snicker from the corner of the room, and Ace grinned slightly; a whisper of a mischievous smile; half playful, half menacing. I honestly didn’t know what to make of it.
Simone went on. “Ace is a master hypnotist, a master at astral projection. He has the ability to bring individuals back to the past, and this usually proves very useful. The mind forgets, but the subconscious never does.”
Ace, who was the only one standing, tipped his head slightly to acknowledge the room. And Brianna smiled adoringly up at him.
“Brianna is our Dreamer,” Simone went on. “The answers come to her in her dreams. Today, she will be surrounded by Haley’s family, in her home, surrounded by her toys and things. And if we’re lucky, she’ll see something tonight.”
Jenna was wide-eyed and attentive. I sensed that she still didn’t quite believe, but she was desperate enough to try anything. I imagined that to be the case with most of Simone’s clients. Simone had explained to me that RAMS does not charge for its services. She incurs all costs involved herself. She is as strange and quirky as a philanthropist can get. So if it’s free, these people have nothing to lose. And often they’re so desperate, they want to believe, and are willing to try anything. And if they believe, they make our jobs easier. I sensed that Jenna was still on the fence. We’d have to win her over and make her a true believer.
Simone’s smile faded slightly as she uttered her next words. “Kendra is a Channeler… or a medium, if you will. She can communicate with spirits, and we always hope that she won’t be able to connect in cases like this, as I’m sure she won’t here,” she added with a tight sympathetic smile.
Jenna nodded and stared at her knees for a long moment. “I’m positive Haley’s still with us. I just know it.”
I sensed it, too, but I didn’t speak up. It wasn’t my place to say anything. Although, my intuitions are spectacularly powerful, nothing is ever one hundred percent, and I couldn’t promise to this woman that her child was still alive, no matter how much I wanted it to be true.
The investigators went over all the basic information again, asking Mrs. Henderson the same questions again. She answered them in zombie-like fashion. I could only imagine how tired she was of answering the same old questions. Inside, she was screaming.
Just find my baby!
14
It was all stuff I already knew from the report: Mason and Jenna Henderson were married seven years before.
The seven-year itchcame to mind. I’d heard the expression before, but really never stopped to think about it. When the honeymoon phase is gone in a marriage, when things start to get predictable, when you start resenting your husband or wife; when everything they do drives you crazy. I thought about my own parents. They’d gone through that, too, quite a few years ago. A typical thirteen year old would never notice if their parents were having marital problems, but being a Reader, I did, of course. Now, they’re fine thankfully. My mom gets mad at my dad for leaving his dirty socks everywhere, for not loading the dishwasher right, for playing his banjo too loud. I smiled at the thought of them. Yep, their marriage wasn’t perfect, but there would always be a lot of love there.
