Luke put the car into park outside an unassuming two story brick building located practically in the middle of nowhere. “You know,” he started slowly, not looking back at me, “what ever we find out today, I want you to know that I believe you. Not in the playing along with the crazy person type of way, but really believe you.”

“Spoken like a true love-sick puddle of goo. Are we getting out or what,” Julia replied before I got the chance to open my mouth.

We all got out of the car; three doors swinging open simultaneously, three doors slamming shut simultaneously. It certainly did feel like we were in this thing together, but then why did I feel so small and alone? Try as I might, it seemed like I could never get the upper hand. Katrina was always one step ahead of me and she knew things I didn’t. I needed whatever information was hidden inside this building.

“This isn’t going to be easy is it? I mean, they aren’t just going to hand over my file, right?”

An excited smile spread over Julia’s face, never a good sign. “I know! You can distract them with your famous striptease act and while they are distracted Luke can hack into their computer system and get all the information we need!”

Annoyed, both Luke and I spit out a disgusted “Shut up Julia,” at the same time. It made me laugh, but Luke’s face turned pink then red, obviously remembering what he saw back at the gas station. His embarrassment told me at least one good thing; that in any of our ghost possessed make out sessions at least Katrina must have kept my clothes on. Thank God for tiny miracles.

“We’ll think of something . . . I hope.” Luke reached for my hand and I let him take it. He was trying his best to act brave when I knew deep down he was terrified that I would break to pieces at any moment.

We walked past the weather-worn sign that read “Division of Family and Child Services” on our way into the building. It was a small town; the government buildings were less than impressive. I had hardly even seen any traffic on the way there.

Something caught my attention; a movement that I noticed just out of the corner of my eye and I looked back at the parked car. In the glinting sunlight I could just barely make out the outline of Rusty’s lanky body resting against the hood. His hands sunk into his pockets, with an approving smile across his lips. I turned my attention back to the task at hand just in time to walk right into the corner of the heavy door Luke was holding open for me. My forehead bounced off the door, the sharp cracking sound echoing in my ears.

“Son of a . . .,” my voice trailed off, I was in too much pain to remember any curse words strong enough to describe my feelings. I staggered backwards, Julia speed up to close the distance between us and caught me before I fell to the ground.

“Was that . . .you? I mean…,” Julia whispered in my ear as I steadied myself enough to stand on my own two wobbly feet.

“Yea, as much as I’d love to blame my supernatural-stalker, only I could have performed such an act of grace.” I pushed Julia away gruffly, embarrassment making me want to sink into the ground and disappear forever.

“Are you alright?” Luke put his arm protectively around me. Tears sprung to my eyes, more from the pain than from the sentiment, but I tried to fend them off. I nodded, not wanting to risk opening my mouth for fear that sobbing could occur.

“Oh my goodness, that’s going to leave a nasty bump,” I heard a woman’s voice exclaim. It made me nauseous to look up but I tried, my eye lashes fluttering in disapproval. The woman standing in front of me looked concerned, she was as old as my mother but pretty with long dark hair and deep brown eyes. Her dress was a bright teal, with intricate golden threaded embroidery on it. Gold bracelets jangled up and down her arms as she fretted over me, at least eight on each hand. Their tinkling sound had an immediate calming effect on me, they sounded like wind chimes.

“I wasn’t watching where I was going. I think I’m alright,” I winced at the lie, pain shooting into the middle of my forehead.

“Let me get you some ice for that, come sit down honey.” The woman led us down a short hallway to a small office crowded with files and paperwork. “My name is Nadya, come, sit.” After showing us to the chairs in her office she went to fetch the ice. She stopped at the doorway and looked at me for an uncomfortable amount of time before shaking her head slightly, as if she were shrugging off some inconvenient thought.

There were only two chairs, both simple armless straight-backed office chairs. Julia and I took the seats while Luke stood behind me, putting one hand awkwardly on my shoulder. Julia was trading glances between me and the now empty doorway.

“That was weird,” she exclaimed.

“Nah,” I said, “she probably just thinks I’m on drugs or something. I’m sure it’s not every day someone injures themselves just by walking through the door.”

“Yea, that’s so not what I was talking about it. I meant it’s weird how much that chick looked like you,Viv! Come on Luke, back me up here.”

“I don’t know, maybe a little,” he shrugged and stammered nervously. He obviously agreed with her but didn’t want to freak me out. I was getting to know him so well.

“You two have lost your mind. I don’t look anything like . . “ My objections were halted when Julia turned a framed photograph my way. There was a close up of Nadya, and a boy of maybe 12. They were on a beach, waving to the camera. I looked intently at the mother and child, and doubtlessly, I saw what Julia saw. We all had the same eyes, the same cheek bones, the same nose.

“Son of a bitch!” I said, just a bit too loudly, this time finishing the exclamation I had attempted before.

“Uh huh, seeeee.” Julia nodded and smiled, smug in her correctness. She smoothed a short strand of black hair behind her ear and put the photograph back in its place.

I slouched back in the chair, utterly speechless.  

“Maybe it won’t be so hard to get information after all,” Luke suggested.

The room quickly silenced when Nadya came back carrying a small zip lock baggie full of ice. She handed it to me and I put it against the growing lump on my head. The cold ice stung but it felt good too.

I caught her looking at me and then at the photo and then back at me. She saw it too, I knew she did, but she made no mention of it.

“So, what can we do for you today?”

“I was adopted,” I spit out quickly before I lost my nerve. “And due to a . . . “

“Medical thing,” Julia chimed in to save me. I was the world’s worst liar. Seriously, if you looked it up in that book of world records, I held the title.

“Yea, due to a medical . . . thing . . . I need to locate my birth parents.”

Nadya sighed and pulled her chair closer to the desk with her sandaled feet. “I’m sorry, but all adoption records are sealed.”

“But what does that really mean, sealed,” Julia asked, putting the air-quotes around the word “sealed.”

“Julia, you’re not helping,” I whispered harshly at her out of the side of my mouth. She looked at me with a pout and was silent.

“It means I can’t help you. Now, if you don’t mind I do have a lot of work I need to finish up.” Now she was just trying to get rid of us, when minutes before she had seemed so concerned and helpful. This reeked of quilt for sure and I wasn’t about to let her get away with it. If I could put up with Katrina I could get through just about anything, I saw sure of that.

“My name is Vivian and I was adopted at least twelve years ago, maybe thirteen.” Just then I realized that I did have something from my old life, a clue to revealing my past. I took the gold coin on a chain out of my pocket and held it up. “And I have this. I was wearing it the day I got adopted apparently, it’s the only thing I have from my parents or whatever.”

Nadya’s face went as pale as one of my ghost’s. The blood drained from her cheeks and her mouth went slack. Trembling, she touched the tarnished coin then recoiled.

“They promised to take you far away from here, so far that you would never figure out where you came from,” she said in a hushed tone, as if she were trying to keep someone from hearing her confession.

“They who? My adoptive parents? They didn’t even tell me I was adopted until just recently.”

“Were they good to you? I mean, were you happy Vivian?” Nadya was crying openly now. I tried to push away the feeling of compassion that swept over me seeing her in tears.

“Are you my mother?” I asked her this with as much cold detachment as I could bare, picking up the photograph on the desk and moving it towards her.

Still trembling, she caressed the frame. She took a long pause before she answered me.

“No Vivian, I’m not your mother.” She stood and walked towards the office door, her teal dress swishing as she passed me. She closed the door firmly before turning back to me. “I am sorry to say that your mother died several years ago. We are family though, I am your aunt.”

“So you and her mother were sisters,” Luke said, interrupting an awkward silence that lingered after that bombshell was dropped.

“Pure Genius,” muttered Julia.

Ignoring their comments, Nadya never took her eyes off of me. “I took you from her when you were little, and I hid you. She was a violent drunk who had visions.”

“What kind of visions?”

“Visions of people who had passed on. They plagued her, gave her nightmares which she tried to drowned in alcohol. Often I would come over to find you filthy and unfed, sometimes even left alone in the house and you were barely four years old. So I took you. I threatened her to never look for you, told her you would have a better life. You were so young and beautiful and I had many connections from working with child services myself, it was no trouble finding a family that wanted you.”

My brain could hardly process anything after the words “visions of people who had passed on.” Maybe I wasn’t such a freak after all, maybe here there more people like me. I looked longingly at the necklace laced between my fingers.

“I gave you that necklace, put it with your few belongings. It was once worn by your great grandmother, a Gypsy relic from a forgotten time. They say that you need to pay the Ferryman who ushers souls from this world to the next, and the coins were carried to ensure the proper payment would be on hand should the need arise.”

“My mother wasn’t crazy, her visions, they were real ghosts that communicated with her. I know, because I see them too.” I put the necklace back in my pocket and stood toe to toe with her. I searched for something in her eyes that would tell me if she believed me or not.

“I know, dear, I know. I never said her visions were not real. But they did eventually drive her mad. Your mother had the sight, I do too. It’s in our blood, only comes about in the twins though.”

“Twins?” My body froze, even my heart skipped a few beats.

“In our family, twins are common, and they always have the sight.” She put her hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes, so much like her own. “ I cannot reunite you with your mother, but I can help you find your sister, if you want me to.”

“You see? What did I tell you,” Luke said smugly to Julia who was still sitting in stunned silence.