Jess held still as Babet fastened the necklace. It fell just over her heart and was cool against her skin, sending shivers through her.

She turned so Babet could admire her handy work.

'That's the strongest charm I've got. Should keep your gift in control until you're able to control it yourself.'

Jess looked away. 'And how exactly am I supposed to do that?'

'Practice as safely as you can. Build up your knowledge. Your sister always said your family's gift was specific to the individual person. Maybe finding out what it means to you will help you learn to control it.' Babet hesitated before saying what was really on her mind. 'And talk to your sister, Jess. If there's one person in this world who can understand what you're going through, it's her.'

Jess didn't have time to respond as Babet rose, stretched out her spine and switched off the overhead lights.

'Let's get ready for dinner,' she announced, leading a silent Jess outside, and securing the lock on the barn.

As they stepped into the house, Jess felt overwhelmed by its homeliness. It wasn't orderly like the barn, but rather a chaotic mess of children's toys, laundry, and machine parts. Half the dining room table was devoted to a crusty looking engine that appeared to be in the process of being cleaned.

'Jess, this is my sister Iz.' Babet turned the wheelchair around for Iz's vacant gaze to see Jess. 'Iz, this is Jess. Ash's baby sister.'

The woman's gaze became less unfocused as she heard Ash's name. Though her head lolled and her mouth gaped, there was something in her eyes that negated her broken appearance. A light or spark that showed she knew what was going on.

'It's nice to meet you Iz.'

The woman made no noise, but two fingers on her right hand rose as if in greeting before her attention returned to her young niece and nephews.

'Ash is upstairs. We've put you in the guest bedroom. She said you wouldn't mind sharing,' Jeremy said.

'You probably want to go get cleaned up.' Babet pointed to Jess' smudged fingers. 'And so do I. So you better hope your sister hasn't used all the hot water,' she grumbled under her breath.

'The gumbo won't be ready for another hour so y'all got time,' Jeremy said.

'Good, that gives you time to take that monstrosity off my dining room table so we can eat like civilised people,' threatened Babet.

'Babes-'

'Don't babes me. You were supposed to move it to your garage last week.'

'But it's so cold in there. Do you really want an icicle for a husband?' He left the stove to pull Babet into his arms. 'Wouldn't you miss these warm lips?' He placed multiple kisses over his wife's face, making his kids giggle.

'Maybe there are advantages to you not freezing to death in the garage,' she allowed. 'But I still want it moved tonight.'

'How I thank God for such a considerate woman. Such a beautiful woman. Such a commanding woman.' With every compliment, he kissed her again.

'I'm just going to...' Jess escaped upstairs and followed the sound of her sister's out of tune singing to the first bedroom on the left.

She pushed open the door but stopped short at the sight of her sister's uncovered back. Ash jigged around the room in time with the radio, a towel still wrapped around her body, completely oblivious to Jess in the doorway. But Jess couldn't take her eyes off the long scars that were nestled between her sister's shoulder blades, disappearing beneath the towel.

Storming forward, her hand brushed against the healed scars. 'What happened to you?' she demanded.

Ash flinched and spun around, the song on her lips dying, as she backed away from her sister.

'What are those scars?' Jess asked again.

'Nothing.'

'I know that isn't true, Ash.'

'They're old. Don't even bother me anymore.'

'How old, Ash.'

'About 22 years old.' Ash looked away as Jess reeled back like she'd been slapped.

'You were eight?'

Ash shrugged. 'About, yeah.'

'Who?'

'Jess I don't think-'

'I want to know. Someone hurt you when you were just a kid and you didn't say anything.'

'Because it was Mom,' Ash exploded.

'Mom, did this to you?' gasped Jess.

'I told you the type of ghost she attracted weren't friendly.'

'I didn't think...'

Ash sighed as she pulled on her trousers and dropped the rest of the towel.

Jess sucked in a breath as she saw the scars stretched from her sister's shoulder blades to the middle of her back. There were eight in total.

'Why would she do that?'

Ash pulled on a hoodie, her skin prickling because she knew, even covered, Jess was still looking at her scars.

'I think the ghosts viewed us as obstacles. But there was one more brazen than the others. He resented us. I found out later that in life he'd been convicted of murdering seven girls and hanged for his crimes. In a sick way, he blamed his victims for how his life ended. I think he used mom to get revenge on another two girls that were ruining his afterlife.'

'And mom just let him?'

'It's not like she had that much control when she was possessed,' Ash reminded her.

'But she must have felt that he was evil.'

'To be honest, I'm not sure mom knew the difference between good and evil. She only really cared for the powerful. It was his power. His energy that she craved. Like a fucking junkie getting her next fix.' Ash laughed bitterly, thinking about her own demons. Like mother, like daughter, she thought to herself.

'So she came after you when she was possessed?'

Ash couldn't meet her sister's gaze. 'No, she came after you.'

'Me?'

'You were one. You took up more of her time and energy. It follows that you were a bigger threat to the ghosts than I was.' Ash walked into the bathroom and put her damp towel on the rail. Anything to not see her sister's reaction.

'She tried to kill you in your cot, but I got in the way. She caught me a few times.' Ash placed her hand on her shoulders. 'But eventually I locked us in the bathroom. Nana found us two days later. We were lucky that mom had left your baby bag in there with some snacks. Otherwise, I'm not sure she would have found us alive.'

'And Mom?' Jess whispered.

'After failing to break down the door, I assume the ghost forced her to hide. The cops caught up to her about two weeks later and she was trialed and committed for attempted murder. You know the rest of the story.'

'She ended up at the asylum,' Jess finished.

'Nana pulled a lot of strings. Got her exorcised before she went in. And had her room spelled to keep away the ghosts. There were a few on staff who knew she wasn't the crazy lady everyone thought she was. That her mental instability had less to do with postnatal depression and more to do with her gift.'

'That's why you don't like talking about mom?'

'Just one of many,' Ash bit out. 'It was hard not to be bitter in the beginning. But I had you to look after. I didn't want you growing up with another bitter person who was unhappy with her life. '

Jess looked away. Another bitter person who was unhappy with her life. That sounded far too much like herself.

'How did you do it? How did you not become bitter?' she asked in a small voice.

'If you focus on other things hard enough, I found there was no time to be bitter. Sure we were dealt a shitty hand with our parents, but we had each other and Nana.'

'You found people that accepted you for you,' Jess said, thinking about Babet and her family downstairs.

'Our lives could have been harder. Or worse, may have ended in that house when we were kids,' Ash said. 'And other families have suffered just as much as we have.'

Jess wasn't sure why, but her thoughts jumped to Iz downstairs. The woman in the wheelchair had life in her eyes and an awareness that made Jess' skin tingle.

'You're wondering about Iz,' guessed Ash.

'Sometimes it's easy to forget you're psychic.'

'I don't need visions to see where your head's at. I raised you, remember?' Ash smiled, though it was small.

'She wasn't always like that.'

'No, she wasn't.' Ash's smile slipped. 'I never met her before...but Babet said she was always smiling. Always laughing. Her kindness could sometimes make her naïve.'

'What happened to her?'

'The same thing that happened to you. Only your body was built to handle it.'

'She was possessed?' Jess choked.

'Some people are more sensitive to the world around them than others. Iz isn't like us, but she is more perceptive than the average person. It made her vulnerable to possession. Not that her family knew then.'

'A particularly nasty spirit realised her potential. Over the years, our family has classified different ghosts.' Ash pointed to the weathered book on the bedside table. 'A mania, the same type of ghosts that mom was interested in, prayed on Iz. Manias are the strongest type of ghosts we've documented. They were powerful, often possessive and manipulative in life. Usually they had strong obsessions which often contributed to their death. In Iz's case, the ghost had been a confidence man who murdered his wives for the insurance money.'

'What did he do to her?'

Ash sat heavily on the bed. 'He did what all confidence men do; he tricked her into believing in him. She thought him sweet and kind. A secret admirer that her family would never understand. Hence why she never told them. And when she'd opened enough of her soul to him, he possessed her. And it broke her.'

'The possession was too much for her body?'

'Like a car colliding with a freight train. It paralysed her from the waist down. But worse, it broke something in her mind. She hasn't spoken since that day. I think most of the time she prefers to be in her own little world. Iz was the reason Babet couldn't come to Texas. Her sister gets anxious when she leaves for a long period.'

Jess leaned against the chest of draws, running a hand through her hair and making it stick out.

'How did they save her?'

'An old gypsy woman was at the circus. She performed the exorcism, but by then the damage had already been done. After that day, Babet and her family learnt everything they could about what lay beyond the veil, and made it their mission to stop anyone suffering the same fate as Iz.'

'That's how Babet knew how to make this?' Jess thumbed her necklace.

'They've learned a lot over the years and they have copies of our family book. They probably have the biggest collection of the wacky and strange in the southern USA.'

'I can't believe Iz went through that.' Jess shuddered. Being possessed had been terrifying. It was like being shot full of adrenaline and then electrocuted. Every part of her body had been alive, and yet she couldn't control a single movement. The ghost had full control and nothing she did made any difference.

'Being able to see is a gift, but uncontrolled, it can be dangerous.' Ash lifted the book and held it out to Jess. 'We need to learn how to control our gifts, or else we can lose ourselves.'

Jess took the book gingerly. As soon as her fingers touched the carved leather, she felt as though a weight was placed around her shoulders. It was as if by accepting the book; she was accepting that there was no going back. She was no longer the simple college student she'd pretended to be.

'You haven't lost yourself to your gift.'

Ash's eyes flashed to hers before she looked away. 'I try, Jesse, but some days are easier than others. You should go wash up. Dinner won't be long,' she added before Jess could question what she meant.

Jess watched her sister leave. She clutched the book to her chest and noticed her fingers were still smudged with soot. Following her sister's advice, she dropped the book back on the bedside table and headed to the shower, hoping that the warm water could wash away the shivers that wracked her body.