Chapter 8: Welcome Home

Alice carefully inserted her key into the door. The lock clicked just light enough that only she would be able to tell the door was open. She turned the handle and brushed her way into the room, only waiting for Nia to enter before quickly closing the door.

“Why are you being so stealthy?” Nia asked as she jumped up to sit on the kitchen counter.

Alice quietly locked the door before she answered, “Because I don’t want Billie to know that I’m home,” she pulled off her sweater and threw it onto the couch as she walked into the small space that the landlady had called the living room.

While her apartment had been nice, not only in price but in general appliances and furnishing, it wasn’t the best. Sure, it was great for one person, with a small kitchen and living room, one bedroom and bathroom, but it was too small for any more than that. The livingroom was by far the biggest, but it could barely fit the worn couch, rickety side table, and tv that had somehow been stuffed in there.

“You do realize she’s not home, right?” Nia strode into the room and examined the fading old red couch.

“Huh?”

“I said Billie isn’t home,” Nia repeated.

“What do you mean she’s not home? How would you know?” There’d been nothing outside to show that she’d left. Even her car was still parked outside.

“I used these wonderful things called eyes to look into her room and see if anyone was there,” she paused as she flipped over to the other side of the couch and sunk the surprisingly puffy cushions. “It was completely empty inside. Which is actually pretty weird, but that’s irrelevant. Anyway...”

Alice stopped listening as she moved back into the kitchen to dig through her bag; she still had no clue where her book was. Odd that that was still on her mind. Was Nia still talking?

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d totally high-five the pope, but-”

“Do you do that a lot?” Alice asked as she, once again, began to meticulously take folders and books out of her backpack.

“What?” Nia asked as if she hadn’t just been talking about casually high fiving a prestigious religious figure.

“Ramble...” Alice trailed off, she’d caught a glimpse of something, but she couldn’t be sure. She took out another folder and moved aside a few papers and there it was. Unbelievable.

“Probably. You’ve gotta keep in mind that I know as much about myself as you do,” Nia sat up and watched Alice stare into her bag, “You find something?”

“Yeah,” Alice grabbed the book out of her bag and held it up for Nia to see. The spirit quickly glanced over the cover then looked at Alice with eyes that said ‘so what, it’s a book’. She didn’t know what she’d expected; of course Nia wouldn’t have known that this book had been missing, that it was what had driven her back to the school after hours.

She set the book down and turned back to Nia, “It’s nothing important actually, it just seemed to appear out of thin air,” Alice laughed it off, but she didn’t see the quick smile that hinted at Nia’s lips.

“Like magic,” The spirit said with no inflection in her tone or features, she looked completely neutral. Alice went silent and sat their looking at Nia; it was obviously an awkward moment, but she couldn’t tell why. Had Nia done something to make the book vanish? Is that why she looked so, Alice didn’t know the right word, deadpan?

Nia smiled again, but it was glassy, and didn't quite reach her eyes, “You’re probably thinking that I had something to do with it, right?”

Alice was shocked and ashamed, only because that’s what she had been thinking. But now that Nia had suggested it, it seemed almost impossible. After all, how could a powerless spirit make an entire book vanish then reappear?

“It’s alright if you were. In fact, I’d actually prefer it if you told me instead of lying,” the light returned to her eyes and she brimmed with trust.

Alice was flustered, how was it possible for Nia to express so much emotion and power simply with her eyes? Whatever it was, it had convinced her that it would be best to tell the girl the truth. Her head dropped slightly and she lowered her eyes, “I did at first-”

“It’s a logical conclusion,” Nia interrupted before Alice could finish her thought, “That’s why I brought it up.”

“But,” Alice started again before Nia could continue talking. The fact that Nia wasn’t mad gave her confidence as she continued “But, there was no way you could’ve done it, you were powerless before I summoned you.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, “Powerless? Where’d you get that?” There was a cool undertone in her voice and the room felt chilled because of it, but there was a hint of amusement.

“Well, I just assumed, seeing as you never did anything before I summoned you.”

“If you think getting you out of an absolute trap is nothing, then I’d like to see you do it.” Nia was getting defensive.

“So that was you! You did that by yourself?” If Alice hadn’t been so surprised she would’ve been laughing. A few moments ago Nia had seemed so focused and powerful, but now she was back to acting like a child. She guessed there was no covering up the fact that Nia was only sixteen, no matter how controlled she tried to act she was still young.

“Of course I did that by myself. You weren’t going to be any help and the exorcists didn’t even know we were there yet,” Nia’s cheeks flushed pink against her surprisingly light complexion, “Bottomline, I wasn’t powerless. Sure I was lacking major amounts of energy, but I could certainly hold my own.”

Alice laughed, “I’m confused, are you trying to convince me that you did make the book disappear or that it wasn’t you?”

“Oh, right, that. Yeah, that wasn’t me. Though I will say that I did absolutely nothing to make the book reappear.” Now Nia was the one that was flustered, but she pulled it off better than Alice. She almost made it seem casual, like she was laying out facts instead of floundering for what to say next.

“That’s a surprisingly truthful answer,” Alice walked into the living room and leaned against the wall dividing the kitchen from the somewhat cramped area.

Nia shrugged, “You didn’t lie to me so I won’t lie to you. It seems like a fair trade to me.”

“I’m curious, not that it’s wrong or anything, but why did you specifically say you prefered the truth?” Alice asked, Nia was stunned silent for a moment but she quickly recovered.

“People are commonly raised to lie to people if it’s perceived as better than the truth. Which is why so many people thrive on white lies, because they know that a person will almost always lie to them to tell them what they want to hear, if that makes any sense,” Nia rattled off, sounding wiser than her years suggested.

“Of course, if the truth will hurt someone’s feelings, it’s better to tell a small lie instead,” Alice wasn’t going to let herself be outshone by a sixteen year old, even if they were alone.

“Well, a relationship like ours, one as Summoner and spirit, is completely different than that. The more we trust each other the stronger we can get together because we’ll be willing to risk more for each other. So I think it’s more lucrative if we were completely honest with each other instead of lying. Also, it helps each of us get a better feel for each other.”

“So it’s about power and personality,” Alice was constantly surprised with how quickly she was picking everything up, it was all new, but it was all second nature. It was a strange feeling, knowing things you had just been told like you had known them your entire life. She was fairly certain that, given enough time, she’d be able to repeat everything Mandie had told her earlier.

“More like skill and personality. You know how I became physical back at the office?” Alice nodded, “Well, the only reason we were able to pull that off, well technically I was able to pull that off, was because you trusted me. Whether you knew it or not you did, which is why I was able to access enough of your energy to… Well, essentially summon myself. Anyway, the more trust there is between a Summoner and their spirit, the better their powers compliment each other. So we’ll be able to accomplish more as a team if we trust each other.”

“What if I don’t trust you?” Alice asked, though she felt she already knew the answer.

“Then whenever you tried to summon me our souls would create friction and neither of our powers would work very well. The same goes for if I don’t trust you, of course that may lead to bigger problems than just our powers being nerfed.”

“Do all Summoning Spirits know this stuff?” Alice wouldn’t have been surprised if spirits were ingrained with this information when they were connected to a Summoner, but she highly doubted it. If the spirits knew everything, why would Mandie have offer to train her? It just didn’t add up.

“Maybe,” Nia said, clearly indicating that she wasn’t going to explain completely, “Or maybe I’m just special,” the girl smiled.

Alice laughed, Nia was much more talkative now that no one else was around. Wait a minute? Had Nia said what Alice thought she had said?

“Wait a minute… This may be a little bit of a backtrack, but did you say that you didn’t know anything about yourself?” That didn’t sound right. Spirits should be able to remember their pasts, Alice didn’t know how she knew that. She just felt it. Nia should know more.

“I believe I specifically said that I know as much about myself as you do,” she corrected.

“Does that mean that you only know your name and age?”

“Yes, well, first name. Can’t seem to remember my last, oddly enough. I’m normally really good with names, remember and guessing them,” the girl moved to sit up, but struggled with the sinking cushions, finally managed to pull herself up with an over exaggerated effort.

“Guessing names?” How could you guess names? That couldn’t be an exact skill. What? Did she just look at a name and go ‘hmm, bankity blank blank sounds like a great name. That’s totally their name now.’

“Yeah, like your name is Alice Cathal, then there’s Mandie, I’m pretty sure her name is Smoke. That’s a weird name, right? Smoke. It’s totally a noun. It’s like being named Pancakes. Actually scratch that, Pancakes would be an awesome last name-”

Nia kept going but Alice just tuned her out, she had a feeling that she’d be doing a lot of that in the future. She did have a point though, Mandie Smoke did sound like a great name, a little weird, but it fit the exorcists perfectly.

Alice noticed the girl was looking at her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Got any orange juice?”

Well that was a drastic change in conversation, “Uh, yeah. I think I have some in the fridge, you want a glass?” Alice shifted into the kitchen and walked towards the fridge as she offered.

Nia rolled off the couch and followed, smiling like an idiot, “That’d be awesome. Could you put ice cubes in it?”

“Ice cubes? In orange juice?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, sure. Whatever you want,” Alice opened the cabinet to the left of the fridge and pulled out a small glass. She opened the freezer and scooped it full of ice, then set it on the island across from her. She turned back, opened the top of the fridge, and proceeded to dig through each shelf looking for the carton. After a few minutes of searching she had finally found it, but when she turned back to pour the drink, Nia was nowhere in sight.

“Nia?” Alice called. There was no response. A knock sounded at the door. Alice set the carton on the counter and went to answer, hoping that Billie still wasn’t home. Actually, she just hoped that it wasn’t Billie knocking. She unlocked the door, opened it, and came face to face with her flame haired, feisty eyed guardian.

Crap.

“Hey, Billie. I didn’t know you were home,” Alice greeted through clenched teeth, silently begging that the events of the previous night wouldn’t come up.

“I didn’t know you knew I was gone,” she replied in her calm, soothing voice, “May I come in?”

“Uh,” Alice glanced around the apartment again, Nia was still nowhere to be seen. “Yeah, sure. Why not,” she moved aside and motioned for Billie to come in.

Billie moved into the kitchen, then stopped when she saw the carton sitting on the counter, “You don’t like orange juice,” It wasn’t a question, it was a fact.

Alice panicked slightly, at least she hadn’t asked about last night, “Well, yeah, not all the time. But it sounded kinda good, you know, so, um, yeah.”

“Alright, no need to be weird about it,” She walked into the living room and glanced around quickly, like she was looking for something, “So how was last night?”

Double carp.

Alice smiled, trying to cover her concern. “It was fun, thanks for letting me stay out.”

“You’re legally an adult now, so I technically don’t have jurisdiction over you anymore. As far as I’m concerned you can stay out as long as you want,” Billie must’ve seen the confusion that crossed Alice’s face because she continued to explain what she meant. “Don’t get me wrong,” she smirked, “I’m all about restricting certain liberties when you’re underaged. But once I feel you’ve earned your freedom of those restrictions, well, let’s just say I drop them completely.”

“So you’re saying,” Alice was hesitant, she shifted her weight between her feet, “That now that I’m eighteen curfews don’t apply to me anymore?”

“Sure, stay out as long as you like,” Billie moved over to the front door, eyeing the glass as she went, “But you’ve got to be responsible for your own actions; you get arrested, that’s on you, not me,” She opened the door and stepped out, then leaned back in, “Oh, one more thing, any step out of line, and the curfews come back. Well, I’ll see you later,” she smiled as she gently closed the door and walked to her apartment next door.

“Well that was vaguely threatening,” Nia’s voice sounded from behind, Alice almost jumped out of her skin, her heart pounded in her chest.

“God, Nia, don’t scare me like that,” oddly enough she wasn’t mad at the ghost girl, just frightened.

Nia smiled a fox-like grin, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were that much of a scaredy-cat. Anyway,” she moved over to where the glass and carton sat and poured herself the orange juice, then proceeded to drain the cup in one sip, “Thanks for the OJ. You should probably eat something.”

“Why?”

“Because food’s delicious and calories are good for you. Also, you may not have noticed this, but your level of spiritual energy isn’t that impressive. Right now I’d only put you at twenty five percent-ish. It’ll grow as time passes of course, but for a while your body will struggle with producing enough energy to sustain both of us.”

“What does food have to do with that?”

Nia had deserted her glass on the counter and was digging through the cabinets around the kitchen. “Food has calories, calories give you energy, energy which increases your physical strength, and that physical strength allows you to draw in more spiritual energy. Thus, eating food allows you to become a better spiritualist.” She closed the cabinet she had been rooting around in, “Also, it’s breakfast time and I’m hungry.”

Alice almost laughed. She barely knew Nia, yet she was astounded by the girls ability to be serious and knowledgeable one minute, then childish the next. She moved across the kitchen and opened the cabinet next to Nia, without looking she reached in and pulled out a box of chocolate pop tarts. Alice grabbed one for herself then handed the box to Nia,  “Go crazy.”

“Awesome,” Nia grabbed one and followed Alice into the living room. They both flopped onto the couch and Alice turned on the tv, hoping to be able to relax enough that she could finally focus on what had happened the night before.

Seriously, what had happened? She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn't really had a chance to think it over till now. At least the exorcists weren’t around anymore to distract her, and Nia seemed to be content with watching tv quitely.

Keeping in mind her lost memories, her inexplicable time jump, the existence of magic, and the hasty explanations of spirits the night before, all she really wanted to know was how Nia had managed to do something it seemed even the exorcists couldn’t do. Nia didn’t seem to be that special, yet she knew things that Alice felt she shouldn’t have known.

Was it a fluke? Did all Summoning Spirits known that stuff? She would’ve guess no, she would’ve figured that most Summoning Spirits were just normal people with little to no knowledge of spiritual things. If they did, why would she need another teacher? Nia could just tell her what to do and how to do it, but from the way Mandie had been talking that didn’t seem normal.

Was Nia supposedly some sixteen year old spiritualist prodigy with amnesia that just so happened to become a Summon Spirit? Alice didn’t think so. Things like that happened in story books all the time, but even in those worlds this was a long shot. Wouldn’t that’ve made her a Cursed Spirit anyway? There had to be more to the story, not that Nia would be able to tell her, and Alice had a feeling that the exorcists wouldn’t be willing to share with her either.

The hairs on Alice’s arms began to prickle. She was pulled from her thoughts, only to notice that Nia was no longer looking at the tv. Her dark eyes were focused on a corner of the room and her hair was stirred by a breeze that Alice couldn’t feel.

“What are you looking at?” She looked at the corner, but she couldn’t see whatever it was that had gotten Nia’s stirred up.

“There’s another one,” Nia growled. She slid off of the couch and walked over to where she had been looking.

“Another one? Another one what?” For the life of her Alice couldn’t figure out what Nia was getting at.

“There’s another spirit here,” She folded her arms and leaned against the wall, her eyes flicking across the apartment like she was scanning each section separately. “And, from what I can tell, it’s a powerful one.”

Author's Note

New Edit: Comments, reviews, and criticism are all greatly appreciated.
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