That’s why she had turned to Alex for help…
“I’ve been visited by her during the day,” Sabrina said thoughtfully.
Her quiet voice interrupted my thinking. I widened my eyes in disbelief and stared at Sabrina.
“What? What do you mean she has visited you during the day? ” My confusion was so apparent that Sabrina became slightly alarmed. She squinted at me. I turned away to face the window and pulled out another cigarette trying to mask the emotions that had come over me at the most inappropriate moment.
“Mind if I smoke? ” I asked.
“No, of course not,” she replied.
I sat down on the wide windowsill and lit up, desperately trying to sort out my thoughts. However, what I had just heard made it difficult to think rationally, and some details of Sabrina’s “encounter” with her mother left questions swirling in my mind unanswered.
“So what’s this about her visiting you, ” I reminded her.
Sabrina sighed bitterly and turned towards the window. She looked so small and vulnerable in her Grandfather’s old robe that I felt a pang in my heart.
“I was in my room, getting ready for work and thinking up a plan to get Eric out of his binge, when suddenly the Mardi Gras beads hanging on my mirror fell down and scattered all over the floor. I started picking them up. When I finished, I habitually glanced at the mirror and was stunned. She was there, looking at me.
She was standing right behind me and I was looking at her reflection staring back at me!” Sabrina paused to catch her breath and continued. “I turned around but she was gone. I thought it was just paranoia or a hallucinations – just the product of my exhausted brain. But soon it happened again. And this time, the vision was much clearer. Then I started hearing Alex’s voice. And I swear, there are other voices too, but I can’t make them out. They… they mumble something, but I don’t understand. It’s madness. ”
I smoked silently, unsure of how to tell her that everything that was happening to her was neither madness nor paranoia, nor the product of twisted imagination. I couldn’t find the right words to adequately explain this. Now I knew why she had glances crazy look in her eyes sometimes, strange, erratic gestures, and mood swings. It was Michelle, accompanied by Alex. And they clearly frightened her.
“Jack,” Sabrina called out softly, “do you think I’m going crazy? ”
I tried to gather my thoughts and even shook my head, hoping for some enlightenment that would help piece together the puzzle. However, everything only became more tangled.
“You say you can hear Alex’s voice,” I ignored her question.
“Yeah…” Sabrina still sounded uncertain.
“What does he say? Or what is he trying to communicate?” I knew Alex’s character well and was sure that Grandpa would never dream of scaring his granddaughter for no reason, especially now that he was dead.
“He also comes to you during the day now?” I pressed further.
“Lately – yes. And he says something about me being different, that I shouldn’t listen to them and never, under any circumstances, believe what they say. Also…”
She paused and glanced at me sideways.
“Yes?” My patience was wearing thin, and it must have shown.
“He said I should be around you and Eric,” she said, staring at me intently, as if trying to read my mind. A faint glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes, hoping that I would be able to unravel the mystery of her strange visions. “That only you know
