Chapter Text
“Don’t be so, like, negative about it Sadie,” said Bobo. “Isn’t this what you said you wanted – high society and the supernatural?”
“Well, yes,” said Sadie, “but I imagined it going somewhat … differently than accompanying you to one of your séances.”
“Babe, how much different could it possibly be? You’re gonna have a fantastic time.”
Sadie said nothing, looking up at the spires of the grand old mansion. The weather, apparently not sympathetic to creating the right mood for a séance, had been bright and sunny all day. Even though it was now evening, the sky remained at odds, turning a cheerful pink as it set below the horizon.
There were several other expensive cars parked in the driveway in front of flawlessly-maintained shrubbery. All in all, it reminded Sadie more of her childhood home than anything of which she should be particularly frightened.
Their host for the evening, Lionel Leopold Jr, greeted them at the door. “We’re all terrifically excited that you’re here Mr. Brubaker! And you’ve brought a lovely lady companion with you!”
“Sadie Parker, I’m sure it’s wonderful to meet you,” said Sadie.
“Charmed,” said Lionel, “shall I show you into the dining room? We’ve got everything set up as per your request.”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” said Bobo, “I’m gonna need, like, a few minutes in the room alone before we start to, y’know, set up the spiritual energies and everything.”
“Why, of course! How rude of me!” said Lionel, “It’s right through that door on the left. You go freshen yourself up and I’ll come get you when we’re ready to begin.”
“Sweet! Make one for me too, Sadie,” said Bobo.
“But darling, you have a séance to prepare for, remember?” said Sadie, “I’ll have the drink for you.”
The liquor cabinet was situated in what smelled like a smoking room. Sadie fixed herself a drink and went to open one of the windows so she’d be able to taste the drink, and not the ash.
“Do be mindful of the draft, dear,” said a voice behind her.
Sadie turned to see an older woman sitting on one of the couches by the fireplace. She was faded and seemed almost transparent, but Sadie felt it would be rude of her to mention. Some people could be terrible sensitive about appearances.
“Oh, I am sorry, I should have asked first, but I didn’t realize the room was otherwise occupied. I’m afraid the strong smell of tobacco affects my ability to taste, and I’ve found that’s almost half the fun of it,” said Sadie.
The woman’s eyes went wide. “You can see me?”
Sadie refilled her glass. “Why, of course I can darling, there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight. Will you be attending the séance this evening?”
For some reason that made the woman smile. “Oh no, I think Lionel would be quite surprised if I made an appearance. I’m just waiting for my husband, Colonel Leopold. We always said whoever went first should wait so, here I am.”
“Oh, Lionel is your son? He directed me to this liquor cabinet, wonderful man,” said Sadie.
Mrs. Leopold smiled. “We raised him to be a gentleman. I’m glad he’s been behaving himself while his father’s away.”
“Sadie?” called Lionel, poking his head around the corner of the door. “We’re about to begin.”
“Oh, excellent! I’ll be right out,” said Sadie.
She waited until she head him head down the corridor before refilling her glass again.
“Pardon me for saying so, as we’ve only just met,” said Mrs Leopold, “but it seems as though you’re not as enthused about this party as my son is.”
Sadie sighed. “I’m really only here because Bobo thought it would be something I’d like, and it seemed such a shame to disappoint him when he’s been trying so hard to include me in his career. It’s just …” Sadie sighed again, and took a drink to collect her thoughts.
“Just what, dear?”
Sadie swirled the remaining gin around in her glass. “This whole séance business feels off somehow. I’ve only read about them of course, but I feel as though things should be running differently.”
“Perhaps you should be saying that to him,” said Mrs. Leopold kindly.
Sadie smiled. “I suppose you’re right. I had best head back before they send out a search party. It was lovely to meet you. I do hope you don’t have to wait too much longer, it seems like such a bore.”
Mrs. Leopold smiled. “I can’t imagine it will be too much longer. It was lovely to meet you too dear. Do try to have fun at the party.”
Sadie refilled her glass one last time before heading out. “Thank you.”
The others were already seated around the table in a circle. Thick velvet curtains had been drawn across the enormous front windows, and the only light came from candles Bobo had placed around the table. Sadie was very careful to put the glass down away from the flames.
“Excellent, now that we’re all here shall we begin?” said Lionel.
“Sure,” said Bobo, “first we’ll all touch the Ouija board, and then I’ll call on any spirits that can come and talk.”
“Any spirits?” said Sadie, “What if they don’t wish to be disturbed?”
“Babe, they’re powerless to resist the call of a séance,” said Bobo, giving her an odd look.
“Still, I feel as if there are probably rules for this sort of thing,” said Sadie, “I wouldn’t want to be in violation of them. I imagine the consequences would be quite annoying.”
“Nah, ghosts are pretty chill about this stuff,” said Bobo.
“He is a leading expert in his field my dear,” said Lionel, “I’m sure Mr. Brubaker knows what he’s doing.”
“I suppose you’re right darling,” said Sadie.
Bobo lay his hands on the Ouija board. “Now everyone put your hands on the board with me and, like, focus your minds.”
Sadie closed her eyes, and laid her hands on the board with the others.
“Oh, spirits, we call upon you to come here and answer our questions about the great beyond,” said Bobo.
Sadie’s nose itched, and she wished she was able to remove her hands. Wrinkling her nose provided no relief.
“Spirits come forth, I command you!” said Bobo.
The itch had moved from Sadie’s nose, and now felt less like an itch and more like the odd feeling you get when someone is staring at you.
Sadie opened her eyes. The others still had their heads bowed, all except Bobo, who had thrown his head back dramatically to stare bug-eyed at the ceiling. This was probably why he hadn’t noticed the white mist edging its’ way out of the Ouija board. Sadie squeezed his hand to get his attention.
“Who has called me here?” hissed a quiet voice. It seemed to be coming from the board itself.
The others opened their eyes and stared at the mist. Sadie could feel Bobo shaking, although she couldn’t understand why. He did this sort of thing all the time, and it was just a spirit after all.
“Ah, um, I did, I guess,” stammered Bobo. “Tell us about life in the great beyond, or whatever.”
The mist kept rising, seeming over the edge of the table, and the candlelight flickered. “That is not how this works.”
“Dude, I commanded you, that means you have to do what I say,” said Bobo, breaking his hold to poke the mist threateningly.
There was a hissing noise, and the mist rapidly drew itself back into the Ouija board.
“What happened?” said Lionel.
“Sorry, dude, I guess the spirits weren’t feeling cooperative today,” said Bobo.
Sadie could still feel the same strange presence as before. She put her hand on Bobo’s arm to get his attention. “Bobo, darling, I think perhaps –“
Sadie broke off and the temperature of the room dropped sharply.
“What the devil is going on now?” demanded Lionel.
“You have freed me.”
The velvet curtains began flapping, as though they were being moved by great gusts of wind.
“What? No, we haven’t,” said Bobo.
“The circle has been broken … and I am FREE.”
The spirit punctuation the sentence by shattering all the light bulbs in the room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. Several guests shrieked and leaped for cover as the spirit whirled around the room before disappearing from sight. Lionel tugged on the doorhandle, with no affect. There was a moment of silence.
“The blasted thing won’t open, perhaps we had better –“ began Lionel.
With a loud SMASH, several plates began launching themselves out of the china cabinet and at the wall. Bobo dived behind a couch, dragging Sadie with him.
“Really Bobo, there’s no need for that,” said Sadie. “What about Mr Leopold and the others?”
“We’re fine!” said Lionel over the sounds of smashing china, “We’re behind the other couch! Perhaps it’s time I called in reinforcements?”
“Please do, Mr. Lionel!”
“Sadie! You’re gonna ruin my rep as a séance guy,” whined Bobo.
“I’d just a soon as sacrifice your reputation, instead of wrecking my dress with dust while we hide from some dreadful spectre,” said Sadie.
Sadie peeked out from behind the couch. She could see Lionel speaking frantically into a phone. The other guests seemed relatively unharmed. Sadly her drink hadn’t made it, lying smashed on the floor.
“Apparently he was just at a bar nearby, so that’s a spot of luck,” she heard Lionel say. “He shouldn’t be too long.”
The sound of smashing china was broken ten minutes later by the sound of the door being kicked open. Bobo peered carefully around the side of the couch.
“Dammit, who called that dingus Doyle? I have this all under control!” said Bobo, peeking over the top of the couch.
Sadie raised her eyebrows, watching as several dining chairs were lifted up off the floor by an unseen hand and began smashing themselves into the walls, taking some valuable-looking artwork with them.
“I’m not sure that it’s as much under your control as you’d like to believe, darling.” Sadie paused, before adding, “Did you say Doyle, as in Frank Doyle, that famous medium? I thought he worked as part of a group.”
Bobo ducked as a china teapot smashed against the wall behind him. “Didn’t you hear? They had, like, some kinda falling out a while back, now they all work solo. Not that he needs to come, I mean. Like I said, babe, I got this all under control.”
Sadie snuck a look around the side of the couch. She could sense the spectre had been distracted by the new arrival and had paused its whirlwind of destruction.
Sadie was always sure to read up as much as she could when she heard about someone with supernatural talents, but such articles always lacked proper photographs. Frank Doyle was closer to her own age than she’d expected, but was otherwise every bit as dashing and commanding as she’d imagined. His moustache stood slightly on end for the spectre’s energy, and his (slightly travel worn) blue suit shifted in the wind that the spectre had created.
Frank easily dodged a vase and grinned up to where the spectre was floating, unseen by normal human eyes, in the far corner of the room.
“Come on now, surely you have better aim that that!”
His voice was bright and cheerful, and Sadie instantly felt that everything was going to be all right.
(This was also the moment that, looking back, she can say with absolute certainty that she fell in love with Frank Doyle.)
Having run out of chairs and fine china, the spirit lifted up the table and prepared to launch it at Frank. He took half a step back, but there was nothing left in the room for him to use as protection.
Sadie jumped up from behind the couch. “Mr, Spectre, yoohoo, over here!”
“Sadie what are you doing?” whispered Bobo, tugging at the hem of her dress.
Sadie ignored him, waving her arm in the direction of the spectre. In the corner of her eye she could see Frank inching forward, closer to the spectre’s location, chalk in hand.
“Now Mr. Spectre,” continued Sadie in the loudest voice she could manage, “why don’t you cease with this ridiculous tantrum and tell me what you want. And don’t say ‘to possess my body and use it for evil.’ I am far too busy for that nonsense.”
“You called me to this plane,” said the spectre, in a voice that sounded like the feedback squeal of a microphone, “but now I will take my freedom.”
“In response to the first part, I believe that technically you were summoned by my intimate friend, Mr. Brubaker, so in this particular case, I’m afraid I acted as more of a switchboard than a direct caller,” said Sadie. She could see Frank scribbling something quickly on the ground, and hoped that she was buying him enough time. “And as for the second, I suppose you can’t be convinced to come down and hop back into the Ouija board of your own volition?”
“Never,” hissed the spectre.
“I think we’ll have to agree to disagree,” said Frank as he made the final mark of a complicated-looking sigil. “Goodbye.”
The spectre let out a shriek, shattering the grand front window, as it was dragged back into the Ouija board from whence it came, leaving behind a wrecked room and the vaguest smell of burning tires.
Sadie straightened out her dress and smoothed her hair back into place. When she looked up, she locked eyes with Frank. The roomed seemed to still, the sounds of the others fading away as mere seconds stretched out for eternity.
“Sadie?” asked Bobo. “Are you okay?”
The moment broken, Sadie blinked and looked down at Bobo, who was still crouched behind the couch. “What? Oh, yes, perfectly fine. Are you hurt at all?”
“No. Well, actually, yeah,” said Bobo quickly. “I think I, like, hurt my leg when we went for cover, otherwise I would of done … whatever it was Doyle did.”
“Of course you would have,” said Sadie, “and speaking of which, I suppose it’s only polite for me to go over and offer my thanks to Mr. Doyle for his help.”
Their hosts were already surrounding Frank, thanking him profusely.
“Anything, anything, I can do for you, just say the word,” said Lionel.
“No, no,” said Frank, “All that I require is your good health. And my payment.”
“Of course, of course,” said Lionel, “let me just go get my chequebook.”
And just like that Sadie was standing in front of him, alone.
----
Frank smiled. “Frank Doyle, at your service. Thank you for the assistance earlier, Miss …?”
“Sadie Parker, and it was no trouble at all,” said Sadie, smiling and offering Frank her hand.
He took it, brushing a brief kiss over the knuckles. Sadie blushed faintly.
“Frankly, Mr. Doyle-“
“Nearly there. It’s Frank, actually, and I think we can skip the formalities now that we’ve faced a fearsome spectre together,” said Frank.
“Frank it is, then,” continued Sadie, “Frankly, Frank, you’ve made this evening rather more enjoyable than I’d thought it would be, so I suppose I should offer you my thanks as well.”
“I assure you it was entirely my pleasure,” said Frank.
“Nonsense, I believe I shall have to buy you a drink in order to thank you properly,” said Sadie.
(And that was it for Frank. “Love at first and second sight,” he’d tell people later, “it’s even better and more magical than first sight.”)
“Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea,” said Frank. He hesitated before adding, “I hate to put a damper on this, but didn’t you arrive here with someone?”
“Oh, I did, didn’t it?” said Sadie, frowning. “I’ll be right back, don’t leave for that drink without me!”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” said Frank.
There was a pause.
“Frank,” said Sadie gently, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to let go of my hand.”
“What? Oh!” Now it was his turn to blush. “Right you are Miss Parker, sorry about that. I didn’t even realise I was still holding onto it.”
“Well I only just realised myself, Frank darling,” said Sadie, “Now, you stay right where you are and I’ll go take care of this, and then we can be off for that drink!”
Frank watched her leave, feeling foolish. Now this wonderful vision of a woman would go and get that fellow who was was undoubtedly her boyfriend, and he would be forced to go to a bar with the both of them. There, he would have to watch them make puppy eyes at each other until such time as he could politely excuse himself.
Usually he wouldn’t bother with the politeness, not really his style, but he’d make an exception for a free drink or two. And for Sadie Parker, apparently.
He was distracted by accepting his payment and yet more thanks from the other party guests, when Sadie returned a few minutes later, surprisingly alone.
“Oh, good! Right where I left you. Shall we go?” said Sadie, shrugging on a white fur coat.
“What about your Mister --” Frank paused. Names weren’t his strong suit. One of his weakest, truth be told. “Bru-something?”
“Brubaker,” corrected Sadie, “and I don’t think he’ll be coming with us. I’ve broken things off with him just now and I’m afraid he’s taken it rather badly, poor dear.”
“I can’t say I blame him. If you’d broken things off with me, I think I’d be in pretty bad shape too,” said Frank.
“Well, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, darling. Perhaps we should try being together first before we talk about splitting apart?”
Just like that, Frank’s plans for the night brightened considerably.
“I am certainly amenable to that idea, so long as you are.”
“I am very amenable to that idea,” said Sadie. “In fact I’d go so far as to say that I think it’s an idea worthy of celebration!”
“We could celebrate by getting that drink,” said Frank, offering Sadie his arm.
Sadie beamed, and put her arm through his. “I like the way you think, Frank. Mr. Leopold mentioned you were at a bar before you were called to dispatch this particular supernatural creature, perhaps we could adjourn there for the evening?”
“Miss Parker, I have only just met you but I already feel as if we are of one mind about things,” said Frank, leading them out to his car.
“I believe you’re right, Frank,” said Sadie, “and please, call me Sadie.”