Ted and Renee followed Nicole into the dining room. Nicole sat down, and Ted pulled out the chair next to her for Renee. "No honey, why don't we let Chris sit next to Nicole?" Renee smiled over at Chris and he sat next to Nicole. Ted and Renee sat across from them. "Don't they just make the cutest couple?" Renee whispered to Ted, beaming as usual.
Shannon sat down, and Ryan and Dean both grabbed chairs and sat on each side of her. Shannon looked at her sister as if to say "Look at this!"
Joel suddenly entered the room wearing a big black robe and carrying a big book. Twanky followed with candles. She put them on the table and lit them one by one.
Joel raised up his hands to quiet everyone down. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Joel, as in the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Medium Joel. But, I'm sure you've all heard of me." Everyone at the table shook their heads. "Never mind." Joel shook his head, "I can tell we have a crowd unversed in the art of spiritual connections. Not to worry, I'm the best. Now everybody join hands."
Ryan and Dean each grabbed one of Shannon's hands. Shannon smiled, she liked all this attention. "Oh! This could be scary..." she whispered melodramatically. Ted and Renee smiled and held hands. Chris hesitated, but then slowly put his hand over Nicole's and looked at her. Nicole kept her eyes on the table, but didn't remove her hand from his.
"I think we're ready now." Twanky turned down the lights and took a seat in between Ted and Joel and the circle was completed. "Now be quiet my darlings, you are about to embark on a spiritual journey where anything is possible."
"Shh!!!" Joel said, "Now everybody close your eyes and concentrate on Uncle Sal. Sal, can you hear us? Knock once for yes and twice for no!" Suddenly there were two steady knocks that sounded like someone had just kicked the underside of the table. Everyone looked over at Joel and he smirked. "Sorry, just a little medium humor there. Ha, ha!"
"Yeah, very little." Dean snickered.
"Quiet! I must concentrate." Joel closed his eyes halfway and started humming, "Ummmmmmmmmm."
"This is scaring me", Shannon said and she squeezed Ryan's hand. Chris rolled his eyes, which made Nicole giggle. Chris smiled at her, but the smile faded as quickly as it had appeared and she stared back down at the table.
"Maybe I should hum too." Twanky said.
"NO!" Joel said loudly at glared at her. This is my profession, you teach dance!"
"Humph!" Twanky replied indignantly.
"Don't start with me old woman!" Joel said and glared at Twanky.
"Well I never!" Twanky stood up and put her hands on her hips.
"Which is precisely what the problem is! Now if you don't mind…" Joel started to speak his mind but was interrupted by Dean.
"Can't we all just get along? I want to finish this up, I have a lot to do tonight." He said and smiled at Shannon.
Everyone else at the table nodded in agreement. Joel gave Twanky an icy stare, "Sit woman! We are beginning! Now everyone, please hold hands."
Twanky sat down without a further word. Joel started to chant something incomprehensible under his breath. Suddenly a slight breeze blew through the room even though none of the windows were open. The candles on the table winked out and everyone was sitting in total darkness. Shannon squeezed Dean's hand harder and tried to suppress a giggle.
"Uncle Salmoneus. We know you are there and that your spirit is at unrest. Please appear to us tonight and let us know why you cannot go to your final resting place." Joel spoke in a strong serious tone.
Chris whispered to Nicole, "Are you ok?" She answered by holding his hand tighter. She couldn't see it because of the darkness, but he smiled.
Suddenly Shannon screamed. "Oh My God something moving up my leg!"
"Oh I'm sorry that was me" Dean said.
"You're lucky Shannon's sitting between us Dean or I'd…" Ryan started but was interrupted by Joel.
"AHEM!" He cleared his throat. "Excuse me but I have a seance to conduct here." Joel began to hum again, and the wind ripped through the room. Suddenly the translucent image of a man appeared.
"Uncle Sal!" Shannon gasped.
"It's about time you summoned me! How many hints does a dead man walking around your house have to give?" The apparition announced.
"Sal!" Twanky said. "Tell us why you're not at rest!"
"Sorry, but I gotta go. I got fifteen belts, four ropes and three proposals. This is disgusting work." Then he vanished.
"Oh, he always was stubborn as a mule!" Twanky said angrily as she went to turn on the lights.
"Uncle Sal!" Shannon began to sob. Ryan put his arms around her and she put her face on his chest and he stroked her hair.
"Hey!" Dean said but Ryan stopped him.
"Shut up Dean."
Dean looked at Chris for some help, but Chris was holding Nicole's hand and seeing if she was ok. "Do you need anything, is there anything I can--?"
"I need to clear my head." Nicole got up and went into the kitchen.
Ted and Renee were sitting there shocked. "Um I think we should probably go now too." Ted said and got up.
Renee got up as well. She walked over to Shannon and Ryan, who was still holding her. "Shannon? Let us know if there's anything we can do."
Shannon left Ryan's embrace, stood up and wiped her eyes. "Thank you Renee, I appreciate it."
"Let's get you some air too, you look like you could use some." Renee, Shannon, and Ted walked outside.
"Well I guess my work is done!" Joel said and got up.
"It most certainly is not!" Twanky said sternly. "We still have to put all this stuff away, and as I always say tidiness is most important in--"
"Cleaning is not part of my job description. Goodbye." Joel grabbed his things and left.
"How RUDE!" Twanky announced.
"I'll help you put the things away." Ryan said. "I'm a gentleman, unlike someone I know." He glared at Dean and grabbed some candles.
"You're only resorting to immature name calling because you know she likes me better than you." Dean replied.
Twanky butted in. "Now boys, come on. Twanky will not tolerate this! As I always say--"
"Let's just help her and shut her up!" Dean whispered to Ryan.
"It's ok Twanky we're fine. We'll, um, help you clean this up now." Ryan smiled.
"That's my good boys!" Twanky proclaimed, and they all began to clean up.
Scene 2:
"So Lilith," Bruce flashed her a cold smile, "do we have a deal?"
"That's what you said five years ago Bruce." She snarled, "If I do this for you, I want a guarantee that this will be the last time."
"Really Lilith, what is it going to take for you to realize I only have your best interests at heart?" he gave her his best innocent look, but failed miserably.
"When you leave me alone…for good."
"You wouldn't really want me to do that." He replied. "Your life would be so boring without me. Admit it, you need me."
"Yeah, like I need a hole in my head." She retorted. "Besides, I'd rather be free to have a boring life than end up in jail. You know that stripes make me look fat."
"That's my old Lilith." He grinned. "You're going to realize that we are bound together in this life, you and I. Kind of like night and day, sun and moon, peanut butter and jelly."
"Try sticking to the roof of someone else's mouth then, you're leaving a bad taste in mine."
"Ooh, I love that fiery tongue of yours." He laughed. "So, are you going to help me or not?" She stared at him for a moment but didn't say anything. "Come on, for old times sake?"
"Fine. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear: This is the last time." Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him as if they were a laser cutting through his body, "And if you ever come back, I can personally guarantee that you'll never have another opportunity to bother me again."
Lilith grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Bruce sat back in his seat and chuckled to himself. So, things hadn't really changed after all. He could still play her like a fiddle. He knew he had been pushing it coming out to see her again, but he was desperate. It was only his knowledge of her past that kept him safe, but he had no doubt that if he ever tried this again, she would make good on her threat.
Scene 3:
"Nicole, can I talk with you a minute?" Chris asked as he walked into the kitchen
"Uh, there's really nothing to talk about." Nicole responded without looking up at him.
"Please." Chris pleaded.
Nicole finally raised her eyes to meet his. She could see he was desperate to talk with her about what happened, but she wasn't sure what she would say to him. She wasn't sure he would understand. No one did and least of all her. She was angry with herself for feeling attracted to him. She should have known better and now she was hurting the only one who had gotten anywhere close to her in a long time. But she knew she owed Chris some sort of explanation. She couldn't leave him hanging like this. Finally she spoke. "I'm really sorry, Chris. I didn't want to do this to you. I mean…" Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Please tell me what I did."
"Chris, the only thing you did was be so wonderful that I couldn't help but fall for you."
"If you've fallen for me, I don't see what the problem is." Chris was getting a little confused, "I've fallen for you too."
Nicole started up at the ceiling and a tear fell down her cheek. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering. She closed her eyes and took two deep breaths. "I…I just can't talk about it."
Tears started rolling down her face now and there was nothing she could do to stop them. Chris walked over to her, put his arms around her and pulled her close until her head was pressed against his chest. "It's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay." He held her tight as the tears continued to fall and she didn't fight him. He continued to hold her for a few more minutes until with one final shudder, the tears stopped.
Nicole pulled back from his embrace slowly and looked up at him. "I'm sorry," she said as she wiped the final tears from her eyes, "I usually have better control over myself."
"No, there's nothing to be sorry for. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories for you. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"No, I've been keeping this bottled up for too long. Maybe it's time that I did talk about it."
"Are you sure? I can't stand to see you so upset."
"Yeah, I'm sure. But let's go somewhere else. After that séance this house gives me the creeps." She answered, "Let's go somewhere where we can get some fresh air and maybe even a bite to eat."
"Okay, I'll drive us over to Sorbo's café. There shouldn't be too many people there at this hour." Chris suggested. "We can get some food and just sit and talk for a while. And if you're not able to tell me yet, that's okay too."
"That sounds good." Nicole gave him a slight smile, "But let me go freshen up, I must look an awful mess after all that crying."
"You could never look bad," Chris grinned, "but I'll wait for you here."
Nicole pulled away from him completely as she walked towards the kitchen door. Suddenly she stopped walked back to him again. "Chris, thanks for understanding." She smiled big now. "That's just another reason why I can't help but like you." With that she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room.
Scene 4:
Joel smiled as he neared his car parked down the street from the Conrad house. He smiled because he recognized the small, sexy woman leaning against it. It was Mieghan, the hottest babe on the planet as far as he was concerned. Okay, so she was his Aunt, but not by blood and his Uncle Kevin had never paid much attention to her anyway. It had been a marriage of convenience for both of them.
"So," she smiled back at him as she walked over to greet him, "how did the 'séance' go?"
"They look great...uh, I mean it went great." Joel was having a tough time not looking at her legs, most of which were visible under her tight leather mini skirt. "Better than we expected."
"Well," She purred as she approached him and put her arms around his neck, "Did you get the information I need...uh, I mean your Uncle needs?"
"Ah, funny you should ask that." He responded. "Not quite yet."
"Not yet?!" Her face suddenly changed into an evil scowl and her voice got louder, "What the hell are we paying you for if you aren't getting us the information we need?"
"Now, now darling..." Joel began as he reached to put his hands around her waist.
"Don't you 'now darling' me you stupid oaf!" She broke free of his arms and walked back over towards the car. "I should have known you weren't good enough to pull this stunt off."
"Now you just hold on there you...you...hussy!" He yelled back and pointed at her. "I only have so much to work with here. It's not my fault the old goat was being tightlipped tonight."
"Look you," she hissed, "the only reason we let you in on this is because you seem to have a talent for this psychonormal stuff."
"Uh, that's paranormal."
"Yeah, whatever." She replied, "But if you don't start pulling your weight around here, you can kiss your new fancy car and your nice house and all those other things your Uncle bought you goodbye!"
"Fine then," his voice became indignant, "I know when I'm not being appreciated. I quit!" He turned around and stuck his nose in the air.
"Quit?! You can't quit." She walked over to where he was standing with his back towards her. He had crossed his arms and was tapping his foot impatiently. Mieghan started to yell at him, but thought better of it. She really did need him to pull this stunt off. "I'm sorry Joel, honey, I was just on edge back there." She slipped her arms around his waist and a huge smile she couldn't see spread across his face. "It's just that this is very important to your Uncle and he needs you."
"Just Uncle Kevin?" he sniffed in the air.
"Okay," she rolled her eyes but decided to humor him anyway, "I need you too."
"Well," he turned to face her and put his arms around her, "perhaps I did act a bit hasty. All right, I'll stay on as planned."
"That's better," she murmured.
"And we won't have to, uh, tell Uncle Kevin anything about this, will we?" He stammered. "I really like my new car."
"No, I think we can keep this to ourselves." She took his hand and led him back towards the car. "Now how about you take me home. Your Uncle won't be hometonight and I'm liable to get awfully lonely."
"Well, since you put it that way." He grinned. "Lead the way."
