“Yes. We have an agreement with them that if any of their patients show signs of possessing magic, they are to send them here to be trained.”

My head spun. All the time I was at the mental institution, they knew that I was most likely a Descendant and that I probably wasn’t delusional.

Emotions swirled in my gut. I didn’t know how to feel about that. I wanted to laugh, cry, yell, and kick something. All those months of hiding my ability, of trying so hard to be “normal” so they’d let me go home. It felt like it was all for nothing.

Tears stung my eyes and I clenched my fists.

Ruby squeezed my arm. “Don’t feel like they betrayed you. They actually saved you. If you were taken to another hospital, you could have ended up staying there permanently. You are so lucky that Doctor Calthorpe has agreed to help us find Descendants who don’t know what they are and have had some uncontrolled outbursts of magic. It’s our aim to find you all and give you your lives back by getting your power under control and keeping you safe. You have no idea how many Descendants end up in mental institutions each year.”

I shuddered, remembering the frustration I’d felt at being in there when I didn’t belong and thinking that I would never get out. At least this way I had a much better chance of going home. I just had to learn control as fast as I could.

I tensed. “How many people know that I can see ghosts?”

“Just the staff at Mirrabooka and Waratah, and me.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. It would take me a while to get used to them knowing what I could do.

“We won’t tell anyone. Confidentiality and all that. We’ll leave it up to you if you want to let your Descendant friends know. Probably not a good idea to tell any Normals.”

I nodded. I was still trying to get my head around the fact that they had known all this time.

Ruby smiled. “It’s a lot to take in, but you’ll be alright.” She stood. “I think that’s enough for today. Don’t want your head to explode. I will see you again on Monday.”

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

I wasn’t in the mood to talk during dinner, my mind lost in thought. Kellie was being weird again and avoiding eye contact and I knew it was because of what had happened with Justina and Kassandra. I would have to talk to her and try to fix things between us. She’d been nothing but nice to me since I got here and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.

I also needed someone to talk to about all the stuff I’d learned today, but I wasn’t ready to tell any of them I could see ghosts. I needed to talk to Johnny. It was weird, usually he was the last person I wanted to spend any time with.

But he knew what had been happening with me. He understood.

As I let myself into my room, I found it empty and it bothered me that I was disappointed.

I kicked off my boots and sat on the bed. I’d missed a message from Alina asking if I was free tomorrow. She wanted to come out and visit me. My heart leapt. Excitement warred with a fear that once she saw me out here, it would somehow change things between us. That was stupid because she’d already seen me in the mental hospital and she was fine with it. Well, she seemed fine with it. She hadn’t treated me any differently.

But I just couldn’t help worrying.

I told her I was free and that I couldn’t wait to see her.

We texted for a while, but I was still restless. I pocketed my phone and wandered outside. I stood on the verandah and took in the beauty of the sunset. The reds and oranges creating a beautiful effect that would be an artist’s or photographer’s dream.

I thought I saw movement down by one of the sheds. “Johnny?” I whispered.

No answer. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. He was probably still angry with me. The thought of him not talking to me again or leaving altogether caused a strange ache in my chest.

All those thoughts were forgotten when he walked out of the shadows and gave a slight nod.

I gave a little wave and headed down the steps. “Hey, I’m sorry about what I said. That wasn’t fair,” I whispered.

He nodded again. “Just because I can do those things, doesn’t mean I would.”

“I know. I just — it’s still hard to be here and deal with all of this stuff, you know? Ms Grant had just chewed me out because I wasn’t taking my lesson seriously, but I had all those distractions to deal with.” I sighed. “Thanks for getting rid of Kassandra for me.”

He smiled. “She can be a pain in the ass sometimes, can’t she?”

I returned the smile. “She sure can.”

I looked around, half expecting her to show up and tell me off. When that didn’t happen, I headed away from the house and Johnny followed.

I found myself telling him about my lessons with Ruby and what she’d told me about Kaydan sensing my magic and the fact that Mirrabooka was set up like some kind of magic detecting outpost.

He rubbed his chin. “That’s a really good idea to have that setup in place. That would be the first place someone claiming to possess magic would end up. It’s brilliant.”

That hadn’t been my first reaction, but I had to admit that he was right and found myself nodding.

A smile crept across his face. “And Kaydan’s ability is awesome. He could help track down Descendants that are lost and don’t know who they really are. Can you imagine him going into Mirrabooka and just saying yes or no for each patient? How much easier would it be to help them?”

He had a good point.

We talked some more and as I headed back inside, I was in a much better mood than I’d been all week.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

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Now that it was almost time for Alina to arrive, I grew nervous. I started pacing my room, aware that it was probably annoying Johnny, but I couldn’t sit still.

“I don’t know why you’re worrying about things changing between you two,” he told me. “You said yourself that she’s a genuine friend.”

“Yeah, but even best friends have their limits, you know? This might just be too much.”

“She’s driving all the way out here to see you. That’s gotta count for something.”

I nodded, but still wasn’t sure. I looked out to the paddocks behind the sheds, hoping to see that mob of kangaroos again to distract my brain. There was no sign of them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there sitting in the long grass.

“Relax. It’ll be fine.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. Then a second big breath. My muscles started to unwind.

I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me and I kind of lost myself in those beautiful brown eyes. What am I doing? “I do feel better. I—”

The doorbell chimed and my heartbeat started to race. My body moved toward the door on autopilot. I could hear voices as someone answered the front door.

I looked at Johnny. “Stay here.”

“But I want to meet her.”

“You won’t be meeting her. She can’t see you.”

“I know. You know what I mean.”

“You’ll distract me. Stay here.”

“Woof.”

I tried not to laugh as I made my way down the stairs, my heart still pounding. I wanted this to be normal. For Alina to be okay with me being here after I’d told her that I would be going home from Mirrabooka a week ago. Or was it longer? I couldn’t remember.

As I approached the bottom step, I looked to the doorway and Alina stopped talking to Anna-Marie mid-sentence when our eyes met. A smile lit up her face and relief washed over me.

She strode toward me, her conversation forgotten. “Maddie! It’s so good to see you. How are you?”

She wrapped me up in a bear hug and I returned it, my eyes stinging.

“I’m good,” I said into her hair. “I’m so glad you could come and visit.”

She released me, then looked me up and down. “Have you lost weight?”

“I don’t think so—”

“I would have come sooner, but work has been so busy.”

I directed her toward the kitchen for a cup of tea as she updated me on how things were going in the supermarket and who was dating who. A warmth spread through me. It was almost like old times. Alina was a checkout chick and I’d been the ticket girl who put up all the price tags on the shelves. We’d met when I started working there after Mum and I moved to Katoomba.

We chatted for a while and Anna-Marie made sure we had some biscuits and cake to go with our tea.

Alina looked me in the eye once we’d finished. “Are you allowed out?”

“What do you mean? Out of this house? Yes.”

“Good. Show me this little town of yours. I’m curious.”

Excitement bubbled up in my chest. “I’ll just check with the staff. Be right back.”

Once I’d gotten the okay from Anna-Marie, I grabbed my phone and wallet and we were out the door. “Wow. Is that a new car?”

“Yeah. Well, new for me. It’s not this year’s model or anything. What do you think?”

“It looks great. I never thought you’d buy a Ford.”

“I needed something bigger, but not a fuel-guzzler if I’m gonna be driving out here regularly to visit you. It’s diesel and it doesn’t use much fuel.”

I paused. I was kind of honoured that she would buy a new car just to visit me. “Alina, this isn’t permanent. I don’t think I’m gonna be here that long.”

There was a strange look in her eye. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll like the town enough to stay after you move out of this place.”

I frowned. Why would I want to do that? “I’ve been dying to go home.”

“Yes. I know. But you’re eighteen now. You should be thinking of moving out on your own.”

“But… It’s always been just me and Mum.”

“I know, but you can’t live with her forever.”

“I know that. It’s just…”

“Think about it.”

I gave her a half-shrug. I could think about it. Then tell her no.

Once we’d made it into town, I told her we were lucky there weren’t too many turns to get into town. “If there were, I wouldn’t have remembered how to get there.”

“Don’t worry,” she told me. “The GPS on our phones wouldn’t let us get lost.”

I’d been without a phone for so long I’d forgotten how handy they were.

Alina was excited to see all the shops in town, as well as the clock tower and the town hall. It was pretty big for a country town. In one of the other places I’d lived, the town had a school and a little shop that sold a wide variety of goods, but you had to go to the next town about ten minute’s drive away for the pub and the post office.

Both were the kind of town that if you blinked while driving through, you’d miss them. At least, that’s what Mum always said.

I was glad that Alina was showing such a keen interest in the town, but I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely interested or if she was just trying to be nice.

We stopped at Herbie’s Burgers for lunch and Kellie served us. I introduced her to Alina and she smiled warmly. “Pleased to meet you. I hope you like our little town.”

“Yes, I love it. It’s so ‘country’ without being in the middle of nowhere. It’s great.”

We sat at one of the tables and Kellie brought our food out. The Aussie hamburgers and the milkshakes served in tin cups were a flashback to Australia’s past. The place was even decked out in a country style. It was relaxing.

“I need to find a job,” I told Alina as we ate. “I don’t want to just sit on my butt and get bored out of my mind, and I want to be able to pay my way.”

She smiled. “This place is not as small as I thought it would be, so at least you have some options.”

She was right about that. “I was planning on starting my job hunting tomorrow.”

“That’s great. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or what kind of jobs were available, but I really needed to have money of my own.

We chatted for a while longer about possible places to look for work, then waved goodbye to Kellie as we left.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

As we walked back into Waratah Estate, I was thinking that I’d finally been somewhere without seeing any dead people — that I was aware of anyway — but then Johnny was standing to the side of the main foyer, which made me gasp.

I tried to turn it into a sigh on the exhale so Alina wouldn’t think I was weird and when she didn’t react, I thought that maybe I’d pulled it off.

Johnny mumbled an apology, but I ignored him. “Do you wanna see my room?” I asked Alina. “It’s upstairs.”

“Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”

As we entered, she took it all in. “Not bad. I thought it would be a dinky little room with just a bed, but this is pretty cool. And I love that you have a view of those mountains.”

She stood at the sliding door a long while as if she was drinking in the atmosphere. I couldn’t blame her. I’d done it lots of times since I’d arrived.

“I often see a mob of roos down past the sheds,” I told her. I strained my eyes, hoping there were some down there now. No such luck.

“That’s awesome.”

“And I think there’s a family of possums in those trees on the left.”

“Nice.”

Her eyes lost their focus for a few moments and I felt a tinge of panic. Was she alright?

She squeezed her eyes shut, then looked at me with a strange expression on her face and it occurred to me that I’d seen her do that before. More than once. Maybe she was epileptic. Maybe she’d just had a mild seizure or something.

She took a deep breath and there was fear in her eyes. “I think you need to… You need to…”

Her eyes became unfocused again and my heart pounded. “Alina? Are you okay?”