Fifteen

"Iknow there is much about your abilities you have ignored, and I understand why. But the time has come for you to know everything and decide for yourself," Edith said.

I glanced around at all the shining spheres that danced and shot all around us. There were far too many to count, and way more than I would have imagined would gather here. "Why are they all here?"

"They use this area as a crossing-over point. For many years the seers guided the spirits, but now most of them are gone. Not all spirits are capable of finding their own way to the other side of the veil, and an eternity of wandering is unending torture. They cross the veil to find their peace, and to be reborn if that is their destiny. But the wraith has changed so many things. Since it came into being the spirits no longer pass from our world to theirs without threat of the wraith taking their spirit and draining it before it withers and fades away."

"Why do the spirits look this way here? When Bran gave me the ability to see spirits, and when I was outside my body and able to see, the spirits were all still in human form."

"Because on this plane of existence they're no longer human or nonhuman, they're all life and are treated the same."

"Wow," I breathed out as I watched the show of lights that surrounded and floated all around us.

"The reason you were called here is because you are meant to be a seer. I know you equate spirits with pain, but your fear is what holds you back from all you could see. The spirits in your world are the very same as the spirits here, but in your world, you see them through the lens of what is familiar to you. Here you have no preconceived notions, so your mind is willing to accept that what you're seeing here is the truth," Edith explained.

"I won't leave Bran," I said, and meant it. There was nothing that would make me leave him.

She smiled and patted my hand, reminding me of my mother. "You do not have to give up anything. To be a seer means to protect the spirits that cross to the veil, and also to accept you will be gifted with visions of the future."

"When I'm near a spirit I have so much pain. It's blinding, and I can't concentrate on anything but the pain. How can I help if I'm blinded by pain? My parents think it's because I won't accept my abilities, but I'm not sure that's it." I didn't know if Edith had all the answers, but I was willing to ask.

"Your sight is muted by the fact that you're afraid. That fear stops you from seeing everything you could. Don't you see, Jordan? Spirits aren't just drawn to Bran. They are drawn to you just as much. Your warmth and empathy give them a clear path to follow, and they know you can guide them to their eternal peace. Do not fear them, they seek you out only for guidance."

"I'll try not to be so afraid. When I sense they're near, pain is my first indication, and it makes me flinch away from them. But I'll try. You mentioned visions of the future, but I've never experienced that."

"Haven't you?" she asked.

"No, I—" Memories flooded my mind. Times where I saw something happen just before it did. Times where I knew how something would end up far before it was even planned, or times I knew I'd meet someone. The time I knew if I took a job at the morgue, I'd meet the man I was meant to be with. My eyes met hers, and I didn't have to say a word for her to know that yes, I had experienced it.

"You need only to open your mind to the many possibilities you have at your disposal and all will be clear to you," Edith said.

"I'm afraid," I finally admitted. "I don't want to see what can happen if all of it is horrible. I couldn't take knowing that Bran would be hurt, or my parents. I don't want to see that sort of thing." I took a deep breath and slumped over, finally free from what had haunted me for years. I didn't want to know when the people I love would die.

"You have so much to learn. Not all visions will be about impending death, but your visions can warn you when you or someone close to you is threatened, or even when something good will happen. While not all visions are good, not all are bad, and most will help you in one way or another. I know it's hard to put your trust in something you have no choice in, but there's something else you need to know before you decide."

She glanced out at the deep woods, and at the many sparkles of light that looked like fireflies, but I knew weren't. "What is it?" I finally asked when she had yet to speak.

"The seers are dying. There are not nearly enough to keep all the spirits safe as they cross over, and if the wraith is allowed to gain more power there will be far less of us still."

"Us?" I tried to remember if she'd mentioned this before but couldn't.

"I too was a seer, and also the last survivor of my family."

"What happened?"

"There are more things you need to fear besides visions of the future. A seer needs to be surrounded by love. We are so close to death that love is what tethers us to this world. If no one is left behind to watch over us as we wander near the veil or as we walk with spirits, then there's really nothing to make us go back to our body, is there?" She had a faraway look that told of love lost and time might have dulled the pain but didn't take it fully away.

"You lost someone close," I said, and a part of me knew it was true.

"Yes. I was on a spirit journey and while I was out of my body—well, she had a heart attack, or at least that's what they said it was."

"But you don't believe it."

"No, I was out of my body because the wraith had started gathering spirits and we thought if we stopped it before it got too strong then we wouldn't need to search out other seers. But it tricked me. By the time I realized it, Lenore was being rushed to the hospital."

"I'm so sorry. How long ago was this?"

"Early last year," she said, and I wondered if the spirits being set free had anything to do with it, but I was afraid to ask.

"Wait, you'd been at the hospital for weeks before you passed."

"Yes, I was unable to fully enter my body when I returned. That is what I wanted to warn you about. The wraith will not only feed on the fear and energy of the spirits it traps and holds, but it will also steal your memories and experiences so that when you're outside your body you won't remember how to return."

"I know there's a risk to throwing my spirit, but sometimes there's no other choice." I remembered how desperate we'd all been to warn Janis and the others about what was coming. Even if we'd sent Buddy, it wouldn't have been enough, and it ended up being worth the risk. But then I thought about how worried Bran had been. The look of relief and wonder on his face when he'd seen my spirit at Janis's and the way he held me once I was back in my body. "Bran would never forgive himself if I was stuck outside my body," I said as much to myself as to her.

"Therein lies the risk of being a seer," Edith said.