Chapter 7: Training on the Spiritual

“Stay out of school on a Friday of my final year?” Marielle asked with her eyes large with disbelief. “Grandma, you love taking chances, really.”

“I cannot take a chance on your spiritual and mental wellbeing though, can I?” Ethel asked with a strict frown. “You can always catch up on schoolwork. You can’t catch up on regaining your sanity.”

“Grandma, can it really become that serious?” Marielle giggled. “I think that my mind is stronger than that,” she continued.

“Oh, good to see that you’ve got your sense of humor back,” Ethel remarked with a smile of relief spreading over her face. “But this is a serious issue, unfortunately and I have to give you the basic skills.”

“Am I not perhaps too young and inexperienced to cast out demons?” Marielle asked as she returned the platter of snacks to the fridge.

“You will not be doing that under any circumstances,” Ethel said with a straight face. “But anyone can learn to speak to another human soul, regardless of whether the person is dead or alive. You have to get rid of your fears, that’s all.

“Perhaps in broad daylight,” Marielle said with a smile as she pushed her chair back under the table and began to walk back to the passage.

They heard the sound of the study door opening then.

“Quick, step back into the kitchen,” Ethel whispered in an urgent whisper. “He can’t catch us here.” She then flicked the kitchen light off.

Marielle began to look around herself frantically as soon as the darkness filled the kitchen.

“This feels creepy,” she whispered.

“You’re just not used to it,” Ethel remarked. “It’s fun to stand in the semi-dark and look out at the neighbor’s backyard. There’s always something interesting to watch. Quite engrossing sometimes,” she continued.

Marielle looked around herself.

“Please let me not see the ghost again,” she whispered to herself.

“Expect to see nothing and you will see nothing,” Ethel coaxed her from the other side of the kitchen.

Marielle moved over to the sound of Ethel’s voice.

“What if my dad comes to the kitchen?” she asked, speaking quickly because of her anxiety.

“We will just say that we heard a noise outside and came to look through the window,” Ethel replied.

“Gosh, grandma,” Marielle responded with a smile in the dark. “Are you sure that you have not done something like this before?”

“Well, I don’t remember now, but I might have,” Ethel replied. “Just wait a little longer and then we can go and chat further in your room.”

“We should actually have had coffee instead of hot chocolate,” Marielle responded.

“We have to find out what happened to your vampire friend,” Ethel stated in a determined way.

“She was bitten by a vampire,” Marielle responded remarked defensively. “She wasn’t one herself.”

“But just before she died she was turned into a vampire,” Ethel responded.

“Oh, this is so frustrating,” Marielle remarked. “Should I counsel an actual vampire, dead or alive?” What if she bites me as well because she is fresh and ready to cause harm?”

“I got the impression that you thought that she was distressed?” Ethel asked as she switched the light back on again.

“That’s so much better,” Marielle sighed in relief. “I think I’m also just gonna sleep with the light on from now on.”

“That’s a good idea for now, but you will just have to explain ‘why’ to your parents first,” Ethel said over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen.

Marielle tiptoed after Ethel, hoping that her father would not suddenly turn back and return downstairs.

“Now, sit down in front of the mirror while I talk,” Ethel coaxed.

“Why the mirror?” Marielle asked, her eyebrows raised and her eyes fliting back and forth between her grandmother and the mirror.

“You just sit comfortably, so that you can relax and forget about everything that’s negative,” Ethel coaxed with a smile.

“You mean my fears?” Marielle asked, stretching her eyes wide so that she could focus better.

“Yes, forget about the fact that seeing a phantom is a frightening experience,” Ethel said, speaking slowly and calmly.

“It’s frightening because it happened out of the blue and I’m not used to things like that,” Marielle explained with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “Why did God allow that?” she asked with an unhappy frown on her brow.

“You only fainted, dear,” Ethel remarked with a sweet smile on her face. “You didn’t die or become insane.”

“Great, so what should I do to stop being afraid?” Marielle asked, still not convinced about what Ethel said.

“You simply tell yourself the facts. The phantom has no power to help itself, that’s why it’s reaching out.”

“So, it’s not an evil spirit anymore?” Marielle asked in an urgent tone.

“I don’t think so because I would have sensed it immediately,” Ethel responded. “They can’t hide their presence in front of me. It’s very distinctive.

“This means that someone at that dance studio is a vampire,” Marielle commented. “But, I don’t know any of them yet. Does that mean that it’s time for me to get myself involved with them?”

“It can only be good for you to get some more variety to your training,” Ethel said with a steady look at Marielle. “But I have to train you on how to awaken your sixth sense.”

“That could be very interesting,” Marielle replied. “But right now I’m beginning to feel sleepy. Maybe I can just leave the light on like I said earlier.”

“Well, do that, but I don’t want you to have any unpleasant surprises again,” Ethel continued. “For instance, you didn’t seem comfortable with looking at the mirror earlier. Are you sure that you have that under control now?”

Marielle rose from her chair and walked towards the mirror. She stood there looking at herself for a few minutes.

“Great, I’m okay with that,” she announced with a smile which turned into a yawn.

“Now, here’s something which you can say if you are ever suddenly confronted by a phantom, remember, it can happen anywhere, even at school,” Ethel announced.

“What do you mean by, ‘at school’? Marielle asked with a frown. “You mean it’s really a ghost and not an evil spirit?”

“I think I said so already,” Ethel replied. “You would have been shaking like a leaf if it was some demon.”

“But, I got a chill when Cliff found me there on the floor and I remembered everything,” she commented.