Psyched Read online

  But in that quiet moment of calm and peace as her brother sank back into a fitful slumber in her arms, she knew it really wouldn’t be okay. Her heart plummeted to her stomach as reality hit her like a sucker punch. Leo didn’t really suffer from bad dreams or night terrors.

  Just like his big sister, Leo was haunted.

  Chapter 2: Morning Revelation

  Groggy and grumpy, Aisi stumbled down the hall. She walked through the narrow galley kitchen with its blinding yellow cabinets and blue ceramic pulls, into the nook that housed a lopsided dining table and a few mismatched, rickety chairs. She plopped down and looked at the milk jug, which slid toward her as she poured herself a bowl of sugary goodness.

  Leo already sat at the table, dressed in cargo pants, mismatched socks, his river sandals, and an inside-out tee shirt. His eyes followed the jug until Aisi grabbed it absentmindedly and tipped it over her bowl of cereal. “Why did the milk go to you all by itself?”

  His innocent words jolted her awake. She was so tired she forgot to be careful. She said nothing, instead chewing her mouthful of chocolate frosted sugar bombs slower than necessary. When she swallowed, she looked at him. “You tell me. Thanks to a wobbly leg, the table tilts one way. Could that be it, smart one?” She shoved another spoonful into her mouth and stared at the back of the box, pretending she cared whether the frosting princess made it out of Lord Fiber’s maze of doom.

  He chose to ignore her usual morning sarcasm, still staring at her. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. With wide, innocent, black eyes, he blinked a few times as he thought. “You were nice to me last night,” he said simply. “Why?”

  Aisi snorted. “Don’t get used to it, punk,” she said rudely, her mouth full of cereal. Some milk dribbled out of the corner and down her chin.

  “Why could you do that last night, Aisi? How did you make it go away?”

  Ugh. Here it was, way earlier than she hoped….the question she dreaded since she tucked him back into bed. If she were being honest with herself, she would admit it was really the question she hoped wouldn’t come up at all. Ever. It was the question she worried about since he was born.

  “What was that thing, and how did you get it to go away?” he persisted.

  Aisi took a deep breath. She glanced over her shoulder to ensure their mother was still asleep, although she didn’t need to. The woman was still snorting and moaning down the hall. “Before I can answer your question, I need you to pinky swear that you’ll never tell anyone what I say. If you breathe one word of this, I’ll paint your toenails hot pink in your sleep and give you an atomic wedgie every day for the next eighty-five years. And I’ll tell all your friends you play with dolls. Got it?”

  Leo’s eyes widened, but he nodded and extended his scrawny pinky toward her. She grabbed it decisively with her own. “Okay. The pinky swear is official. This stuff is legit. You break this and I can sue.” She thought a minute, trying to decide where to start. “Is that the first time you saw that dark shadow, Leo? Or have you seen it before?”

  “That’s the night terror,” he said simply, and Aisi closed her eyes with a shake of her head. Her mom had told them for months that night terrors were nothing more than bad dreams. He would grow out of them eventually, she promised. That promise to her kid was just as worthless as everything else she said.

  Leo continued, swallowing hard and looking as terrified as he had the night before. He whispered to her, as if speaking about the night terror aloud would call it back to him. “It comes sometimes, and I scream because it won’t stop growling at me and then it goes away when Mom comes in. Sometimes I see other stuff, too. Kind of like people but…” He struggled to find the right words in his limited kindergarten vocabulary. “But kind of foggy, too. They can talk to me. They’re mostly nice, but the night terror growls at me. He laughs when I cry.” Tears filled his big brown eyes, but he rubbed them angrily on his sleeve. “Can you teach me how to make it go away?”

  Aisi reached over and affectionately rubbed the tight curls on his mostly buzzed head. “Yeah. I can. First you need to know what they are. The foggy people…those are ghosts. They’re okay, mostly just annoying. They’re sort of lost, but you can help them not be lost anymore.”

  She pursed her lips, remembering the whiner in bobby socks who wouldn’t let her sleep last night. A faint horn sounded in the distance as she thought, but she ignored it as she looked out the window and down the long gravel driveway that led from their dilapidated house to the two-lane highway leading to town. “You just have to tell them to look for a light. I never see it, but they always do. Then they go away.” ‘Go toward the light’ was cliché, but effective.

  “I want to make the night terror go away,” Leo said.

  She sighed. “That one is a little trickier. It takes work. That thing you call a night terror? That’s a demon. They’re pretty hard to get rid of. Once they decide they want to scare you, they keep scaring you. Fear is like…” Her eyes rested on the box of cereal between them. “…Fear is like chocolate frosted sugar bombs to a demon. They like the taste of it, you know? They’d eat it all day if we let them, but we can’t ever let them know we’re scared. That’s where they get their power.”

  The little boy could not have looked more terrified. “But what is it? Why won’t they leave us alone? Does everyone get scared by them?”

  The kid didn’t ask easy questions. Aisi’s lips and cheeks puffed as she blew out a sigh of frustration. “Not everyone gets scared by them, because most people don’t know they’re here. You and me, Leo, we’re different. We’re psychic.”

  “Psychic?” he repeated, looking confused.

  “It just means we know about things that most people can’t see or hear, and sometimes we can move stuff just by thinking about it. Like the milk jug.”

  Leo’s jaw dropped. “You did that for reals? So I could do that, too?” he asked excitedly.

  Aisi nodded. “Maybe, if you practice. Some people study what we can do at college, because it’s so rare. Other people, if you tell them, they’ll think you’re lying or you’re crazy.” She grimly remembered her own experience with that, but she continued, “That’s why you have to make sure you never tell anyone about this.” She looked at him firmly. “Not even Mom.” Especially not Mom, she thought. Their mother had quite the reputation around their little town as a fortune teller, or according to the town’s one police officer, a con artist. What would she do if she knew her children had the ability she pretended to have?

  Leo’s brow furrowed with worry. “Why can’t I tell Mom?”

  Aisi glared at him. “Because you pinky swore. Atomic wedgies, little man. I can hang you by your tighty whiteys from the mailbox if you break your pinky swear.” Her expression softened, her heart breaking all over for this kid she so fiercely hoped would be normal and free of her curse.

  “But I get in trouble if I tell her a lie!” he whined.

  “Leo, it’s not a lie if you just don’t tell her something,” Aisi reasoned, trying not to feel guilty. “Look, if she ever asks you straight up if you’re psychic, you can say yes. Otherwise, just keep this between us. We’re the only ones I know who have it, and these invisible people come looking for us.”

  “Why?”

  Aisi thought a minute, chewing another spoonful of cereal thoughtfully. “You know how it feels when the lights go out? You can’t see anything but you want to see, so you keep looking around until you see a light?” He nodded, so she continued, “To ghosts and demons, we’re like a light in the darkness. They can find us when they can’t find anything else, and they come to us. The ghosts want help. The demons? They’re just losers. They want to scare us.”

  The terrified expression seemed magnified on his baby face. “How do we make them not be scary?”

  “They will always be scary,” Aisi admitted simply, shrugging. “But there’s a trick. This took me years to figure out, so you’re lucky I’m a nice big sister and telling you all this crap so you don’t h
ave to learn it the hard way like I did. A demon only has the power you give it. If you pretend you’re not afraid, it isn’t getting any food from you. If you tell it you’re not afraid and command it to leave, it can’t stay. So when the night terror comes, you tell it, ‘I’m not afraid of you. Go back where you belong.’”

  His eyes filled with wonder. “So I’m the boss of it?”

  Aisi grinned. “Yeah. Totally.”

  Leo’s smile beamed for a moment before fading. “But I can’t tell anyone?”

  Aisi shook her head as the same deep horn beeped again in the distance. “Nope. Our secret. If you tell there are dire consequences. Pink toenails. Wedgies. Litigation. It will get ugly.”

  “But why not Mom?” he pressed, getting up from the table to clear his dish. Aisi watched him move into the kitchen, her eyes coming to rest on the digital numbers on the oven’s clock. At the same moment, she heard one long, last blow of the horn and then the sound of a diesel engine revving and pulling away.

  “CRAP!” she groaned suddenly, tossing her mostly full cereal bowl across the kitchen and into the sink. That horn she kept hearing was the bus driver, who probably waited a minute longer than usual so she could make it to her test on time. She was so distracted by Leo that she missed her ride to school.

  Her test started first period! She still had on her fleece jammie bottoms and a tank top, her teeth weren’t brushed, and her long curls were pulled into a haphazard, frizzy ponytail on top of her head. Her brother had to be dropped off at their father’s home in town, and since their mother wouldn’t be awake any time soon, Aisi had to take him or he would miss school. As Aisi ran to the bathroom, she tried not to freak out that the only legal ride in the house was currently whacked out on prescription sleep meds.

  Her mind raced as she grabbed her flip flops from the floor near the back door, hoping for a frost-free morning. She ran into the bathroom and scrubbed her teeth fiercely, yanking on a pair of skinny jeans crumpled on the floor near the toilet. She threw her favorite hoodie over the tank top she slept in after a quick dance with her pit stick. Breathless, she raced back to the kitchen, where Leo had gotten her backpack and gym bag ready for her. She froze and stared at him suspiciously.

  “Really?” she asked.

  He nodded solemnly. “Don’t get used to it, punk,” he said, using her own words against her. He grinned. “I made you lunch and everything, because you made the night terror go away.”

  Aisi smiled as he produced her purple-rimmed reading glasses as well. “I still hate you, little troll.”

  “I know. I hate you, too, stinky face.” He tossed his own backpack over his left shoulder. “We have to steal the car again, don’t we?”

  Aisi nodded grimly as they hurried out the front door. It was humiliating to be the only high school senior without a driver’s license. She had a learner’s permit, and the only reason she hadn’t received her license yet was because her mother couldn’t be bothered to take her to the DMV the next town over. “Yup,” she replied. “Today, little man, we are felons.”

  “Demon-fighting felons,” he added emphatically, jumping off the front porch in his best impression of a ninja, down three shaky wooden steps as they raced out the front door together.

  They jumped into the cab of a corroded, beat up car missing half its front fender. Spots on the hood had rusted through, dotting the sun-faded blue car with asymmetrical orange polka dots. One back wheel was a pizza cutter spare that hadn’t been replaced after a flat on the highway six months before. Aisi gunned the engine and spun out backwards, sending pebbles from the gravel driveway flying in every direction.

  Aisi spent the half hour drive down the highway debating speed over caution as her eyes flickered nervously between the clock in the dash and the rearview mirror every few seconds. She slowed down and sank down low in her seat as she pulled onto Main in town, though it was sort of pointless. Everyone in town knew their car, and everyone knew she didn’t have a license. Most of them teased her mercilessly for these two reasons.

  The diner their father owned sat on the corner of the main intersection in their little podunk town, hidden deep among rolling hills and lush trees not far from the Allegheny River. He lived in the small apartment above the restaurant. Lamp light shone from his open window and curtains fluttered out into the cool morning breeze. The weak sun tried half-heartedly to burn through the morning mist enveloping the car as she stopped in front of the diner and yanked up the parking brake. She jerked the key out of the ignition and hopped out. Standing below the open window, she cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, “Hey, Big Billy!”

  Almost instantly, a familiar head poked out the window’s opening. “What…” he began, and then he sighed.

  “Hi, Daddy,” Aisi said in mock cheerfulness. “We love you so much, we just had to come see you first thing.”

  “Your mom is on all those pills again, isn’t she?” He clucked disapprovingly, his perfect enunciation almost masking his unique accent. He already knew the answer to his question. “It’s not locked, Sunshine. Come in. Leo is with you, yes?”

  The passenger door slammed shut in reply. “Here I am, Dad!” he called, waving energetically up at his dad.

  Aisi opened the diner’s door open, searching for the nearest clock as he lumbered down the stairs to greet them. “Dad, I had to steal the car again but I don’t want to get caught like I did last time,” she said in a rush as his massive, muscular frame squeezed through the door. Leo jumped on his dad and tackled him in an odd hybrid of hug and head lock. “She took some sleeping pills and I overslept because…it was just one of those nights.”

  “More night terrors?” he asked with concern, glancing at Leo, who looked at Aisi for help on what to say.

  “Something like that,” she answered lightly, pulling her backpack more snugly around her shoulders. “We got it covered though, right, kid?”

  “Yeah,” Leo responded, looking relieved he didn’t have to start lying to his parents just yet. “We got it, Dad.”

  “So I need a ride to school because if Officer Padelski catches me in the car again without my license, he says I might not be able to get it at all. End of levels start in like ten minutes and I can’t be late. Can you take me and then pick Leo up this afternoon, since I stole Mom’s car? I can work the diner after cross country practice.”

  “I can do that, if my little man promises me to help around here during lunch rush after kindergarten.” Her father’s big, toothy smile lit up his face as he grinned at his kids, the gleaming white of his teeth a stark contrast to the deep ebony of his skin. Aisi might have her mother’s slim build, but she definitely inherited his striking silvery green eyes.

  “Can I work the fryer this time?” Leo asked eagerly, following their dad out the door. Her dad took the keys from Aisi and they trundled back to the car.

  “No. Let’s start with the toaster.”

  Aisi slammed the door as she plopped onto the front seat and buckled herself. Leo groaned, shoulders drooping dramatically before he clambered into the back and pulled his own door closed. “Aw!” he complained. “I don’t like toasting buns. It’s boring.”

  “It’s that or the dishwasher, little man,” Dad said as he pulled away from the curb and sped injudiciously down Main toward the high school. The late bell would ring in a little less than ten minutes, but Aisi sat back, knowing that although it should take around fifteen minutes to get there, her dad would drop her off with a kiss on the cheek in seven.

  Chapter 3: End of Levels

  Aisi made her way through the maze of ancient wooden desks and slid into her seat just as the tardy bell rang. She dropped her backpack carelessly onto the floor and shoved it under her chair with a casual kick. The girl in front of her spun around and passed a stack of number two pencils the teacher sent around the room the moment the bell rang. Floor to ceiling windows let in a bit of light, but the fog outside did nothing to encourage the kids inside the dim and depressing test room
.

  “Everyone take at least two pencils,” a smallish, balding man in a bow tie called as he stood at the front of the full classroom. The teacher’s squeaky voice somehow rose above the morning chatter. “I will not allow you to leave your seat until you have completed each section, so I hope you took care of personal needs before you got here. No potty breaks! Also, make sure you have at least…two…pencils!”

  The girl in front of her turned just enough to glance over her shoulder while still keeping an eye on her desk. “I thought you were gonna be late again,” she hissed. “What happened?”

  Aisi smiled. Her best friend, Zinnia Dalrymple, was something of a drama queen. With her, the cup wasn’t half empty or half full. It was completely full of a toxic chemical compound that would kill you instantly, but she would probably drink it anyway just for laughs. She was the funniest person around. Her rich, snooty mother sent her out the door every day in cashmere sweater sets and pearls, but somehow Zinnia showed up to school in something much less demure. Today her ensemble consisted of blue zebra stripe pants, a glittery vintage rock concert tee, and hot pink extensions clipped into her platinum blonde bob, topped with an electric blue bow. “Was your mom running late or something?”

  “My mom was off in dreamland, romancing Prince Valium,” Aisi whispered back. “Still is, probably. Leo had more…uh, night terrors last night. He kept me up half the night after I’d been up ‘til, like, one a.m. studying.”

  “No talking, please!” the bald man said, his shrill voice ineffective against the din of nervous student babble.

  Zinnia snorted. “Why bother studying? At this point if you don’t know it, you’re boned anyway. And who are we kidding? You totally know it.”

  “Please direct your attention to the front, class. We need to get started, if you please.”