You're Not in This Alone

The ten of us that had not been “invited” to Grace’s… episode sat around the kitchen table and counter uneasily. Some of them had wanted to follow Grace, Jason, Lance, and Ebony out the door, but I had convinced them not to. They settled for listening to Skyler and Sarah give commentary on what was going on. They would see and hear everything.

“Grace fell down, but Jason caught her in time,” Skyler reported.

“Jason’s asking Grace what’s wrong. She says nothing, just that ‘all the rest’ have moved on and ‘she’ came to find Grace. Jason is telling Ebony and Lance that spirits try to tell Grace things sometimes. Jason says ‘It’s starting,’” Sarah said.

“Grace is grabbing Jason’s wrist so tightly she’s drawing blood,” Skyler took over. “Now she’s laying still.”

We waited for many intense minutes before Sarah continued,” Jason’s asking Grace if she spirit is gone. She says yes, and she’s apologizing for hurting his wrist. The spirit was Lance’s mother just saying goodbye, and…” Grace trailed off. Her face twisted in confusion. “Nothing else,” she finished. No one but me knew she wasn’t telling the whole story. Not even Skyler noticed.

“They’re coming back,” Skyler informed us.

Miranda and I rushed to wait at the door. When they came in, Grace led Jason to the sink to carefully wash off his bloodied arm. Lance went directly to Miranda to tell her about his mother. Ebony looked abnormally pale, and she wouldn’t look me in the eyes.

I knew whatever Grace was hiding had to do with Ebony, and now Ebony thought I knew what it was. Maybe I could use that to my advantage and really figure out the secret.

Everyone was crowding around Grace and Jason in the kitchen and bathroom except for Lance and Miranda, who were talking about Lance’s mom quietly off to the side. I took Ebony’s hand and towed her to the family room, gesturing for her to sit on the couch next to me.

“What was that all about, Ebony?” I hissed. I knew Sarah could probably hear us, but I didn’t care because she already knew what she and Ebony were hiding.

“Didn’t Sarah already tell you everything?” she asked weakly.

I paused for a slit second, trying to think of a way to word my question to make her think I knew what I was talking about. “But what does it mean?”

“You probably already know,” Ebony snapped with an unexpectedly icy tone. “Of course you do. You already know something bad is going to happen. So when a ghost comes to warn me to look out, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you, should it?”

I was struck dumb for a few seconds. Why was a ghost that knew nothing allowed to warn her when I couldn’t say a word to her about what the future held? At first I was filled with anger, but then I saw the spooked look in Ebony’s eyes. All I wanted to do was comfort her.

“Lance’s mom didn’t know what she was talking about,” I said, hugging Ebony close to me. Then I amended, “Okay, maybe she did, but she shouldn’t have told you to watch your back. All I can say is… we should all watch out, but it won’t do us any good. So let’s go back to everyone, and we’ll start getting ready to leave for New York. Your party’s in two days, and the girls will almost be pretty enough to do your beautiful face some justice.”

Ebony wasn’t a hundred percent reassured, but she stopped clinging to me, got up, and smiled slightly. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”

When we returned to the kitchen, Sarah and Skyler were the only ones that had noticed our absence. Sarah was whispering into his ear, and his lips were forming words inaudible to everyone else in response.

The day out shopping with they guys was long and tiring. None of us really wanted to be away from the girls, but they insisted that their dresses be a surprise to us. So we found suits and shoes, and then we played around in the electronics store, looking for music for the party and other things like movies and video games.

Ethan, Lance, and Skyler usually stayed together, while Jason and Tristan usually stayed with me. Leo didn’t seem to favor either group. We were sitting around in a furniture store, waiting for the girls to finish.

“What are you getting Ebony for her birthday?” Jason asked me.

I smiled and said, “You’ll see. What are all of you getting her?” Most of them explained that one of the girls was helping them pick out a gift, or that they were getting her a piece of jewelry.

Skyler, however, grinned and answered, “Ethan, Sarah, Nadia, and I have a special surprise we all helped put together.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What is it?”

Ethan spoke up nervously. “It’s for both you and Ebony, really,” he explained. “You’ll find out tonight.”

No matter how much any of us prodded Skyler and Ethan, they wouldn’t say any more. When the girls were finally done, it was past three o’clock. We all gathered in the supply house’s family room. Ebony was all smiles when she embraced me in greeting. She had been having fun with her friends, and she’s almost forgotten about everything that had happened that morning.

“Okay, hey, everyone listen up,” Sarah shouted, trying to get everyone’s attention. She pulled Skyler, Nadia, and Ethan to the front of the room with her. “The four of us are going to give Ebony her birthday gift right now.”

Everyone waited quietly and expectantly for them to continue. Ebony looked excited.

“Well, it’s not really something we can wrap,” Ethan mumbled before trailing off.

“We’re sending you and Gerard to Italy!” Skyler exclaimed excitedly.

“From now until we start getting ready for the party the day after tomorrow. You’ll be spending two nights there,” Nadia added. “Ready to go?”

Excited chatter broke out in the room. “Thank you!” Ebony said over everyone else’s voices. “But we don’t have anything packed.”

Sarah laughed wickedly. “Everything’s taken care of, trust me. You two will have a great time. Nadia, send them before they argue or squeeze anything else out of us.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but it was too late. I was already standing in an unfamiliar bedroom alone. The small bed had no sheets on it, and a small, dark wood dresser and mirror were the only other pieces of furniture in the room.

The only things on the dresser were two folded up pieces of paper. I opened the first on and read,

Gerard,
Ebony’s birthday gift wouldn’t be complete without you. Don’t worry, she’s in the room across the hallway. Your suit is in the closet. Wait here for her to come get you after you get dressed. Dinner is waiting for you. We have a few surprises planned for tomorrow, but you’ll me alone most of the time. It’s up to you what you and her what you do with your time here.
Have fun,
Sarah, Skyler, Nadia, and Ethan

I quickly got dressed before reading the second note, shaking my head. When I read it, it was much shorter.

Gerard,
Check the top drawer of the dresser. I think you should do it while you’re here.
Nadia

When I opened the drawer, I found the engagement ring Nadia had helped me find. A strange nervous feeling ate at my stomach while I pocketed the ring and waited on the bed’s bare mattress.