My heart pounded in my chest. He’d said he was going to release me…

She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and said, “Oh, I nearly forgot. Doctor Calthorpe will see you now.”

I wanted to slap the smirk right off her face.

I was trying not to let the growing panic get to me. What had the doctor said?

Wait. He didn’t actually say he’d release me. Oh, God. I’d gotten my hopes up for nothing.

I turned and slowly walked toward his office, my mind spinning and my breathing shallow.

When I knocked and he called for me to come in, he seemed excited. “Maddelyn, come in. Close the door.”

I did as he said and as soon as the door closed, he said, “It was there. The money. The jewellery. All of it.”

My mouth dropped open and my heart raced, but I pushed my colliding emotions down deep. I had to see what he had to say.

His smile turned hopeful. “Is she here now?”

I glanced around in case Ethel had popped in behind me. “No.”

His smile faded a little.

“She might have passed on — you know, gone into the light or whatever. Now that I told you what she wanted to tell you.”

The smile faded some more and he nodded. “I understand.”

“So, Doc, what happens now?” Surely he would let me go home.

Ethel picked that moment to pop into the chair next to me and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Hello, dearie.” Her smile reminded me of a kid asking if they could have some ice cream. “Did he find it all?”

Dr Calthorpe cleared his throat. “Maddelyn?”

“Yes, he did.” I turned to him. “She’s back.”

His reaction was comical. Relief and terror mixed together. I pursed my lips so I didn’t laugh out loud.

“Does he believe you now?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“She wanted to know if you believe me now.”

He hesitated. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

We spent the next half an hour in a weird conversation where I had to relay what she was saying back to the doctor, which provided him with more proof that I wasn’t lying or hallucinating and it gave him a chance to say a proper goodbye to his grandmother, which brought tears to my eyes.

“I wish I could hug him one last time,” she said, then gave me a huge hug. “Thank you, young lady. I can rest in peace now, knowing my family has found all my treasures. They deserve to have them all. And because I got to say goodbye to my favourite grandson. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

I wasn’t sure why I could touch spirits, but it seemed like I could interact with them as if they were still here in person. And although her touch was cool, the hug felt good. Better than good. Mum wasn’t the “touchy-feely” type, so hugs were not a common thing in our household.

Ethel wiped her eyes, smiled at me, and disappeared.

I took a deep breath. “She’s gone.”

It was his turn to take a deep breath and his eyes shone with unshed tears. “Okay.” He sighed. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

After a few moments, he seemed to pull himself together. “Well, this is a difficult one. You have proven that you’re not suffering from delusions, but it will be hard to put that evidence down into a report.” I tensed again. “They’d put me in the room next to yours if I told them what has happened.” I found myself nodding. “So I will need to do some creative writing to change my report on Monday’s incident and add in some more reports for you, but I think we’ll be able to organise your release very soon.”

Tears welled in my eyes and it was hard to keep the outward appearance of calm when my insides were an excited jumble. “Thank you.”

Janice had been wrong. Maybe she had no clue and was just messing with me. My blood boiled a little.

“I must thank you, Maddelyn. Besides the sentimental value of my grandmother’s items, the monetary value is significant.” He cleared his throat. “The family will be glad that she’d told me before she passed where she’d hidden her fortune.”

I smothered a laugh. That would be the best way to explain how he knew about her stash.

“I’ll make the necessary arrangements, but don’t let anyone here know that you know you’re being released. It could look suspicious.”

“Okay, Doc.” He didn’t say I couldn’t tell the ghosts. Who were they gonna tell anyway?

“And just know that this process could take a while. A few days, or maybe even a week.”

A knot formed in my stomach. “Okay.” Just a little while longer. I can do this.

“And I don’t have to tell you to make sure you are not seen talking to any spirits.”

He definitely didn’t have to tell me that. “Okay. I’ll be careful.”

He dismissed me and I felt like I was floating on air as I headed out to the garden. Again, I was greeted by three anxious spirits.

I whisper-shouted to them as I entered the small clearing. “The money was there! He believes me. He’s organising for me to go home!”

They erupted into loud whoops and shouts.

“He doesn’t want me to tell anyone and he has to change his reports, but I guess I’ll have to wait it out.”

Waiting was going to suck.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

The next day, I’d tried to keep my mind occupied and failed miserably. All I could think about was getting out and going home. Back to my house. My room. My bed. I wondered if things would be weird between me and Mum and if I could possibly get my old job back. I doubted it. I probably shouldn’t even try. They probably knew where I’d been these past months.

After breakfast, I headed to the garden for a while, but was still restless. I headed back inside to see if there was anything on the TV and wished Mr Newbie wasn’t following me. I resisted the urge to tell him to go back outside.

As soon as I stepped through the door and into the rec room, Nurse Janice looked up from where she was talking to Mrs Dawson. Her usual smirk crept into place and I groaned inwardly. I knew what was coming. She seemed to enjoy taunting me every chance she got lately. I wondered if she knew I’d told Dr Calthorpe about her. Probably not. She would be so much worse if she knew.

The smirk turned into a sweet smile as she ran a hand over her short hair as if checking that it was in place. “Hello, Maddelyn. How did it go yesterday with Doctor Calthorpe?”

My eyes narrowed. “Okay,” I said slowly.

“What did you talk about with him?”

“The usual.” What is she up to?

“What did the doc say to you?”

“That’s private and confidential. You know that, right? And it’s none of your business.”

The smile was gone in an instant. “Brat.”

Bitch.

I almost said that out loud so I bit my tongue.

She smirked again. “Your plan’s not working. I know you still see imaginary people. No one here believes you — not even Holly. She told me this morning.”

I clenched my jaw. “You’re wrong.” Holly does believe me.

“You’re just faking it so you can get out of here. Well, I’m gonna make sure they find out and you don’t get to leave.”

I took in a breath. Don’t do anything.

Mr Newbie moved to stand by my side and I resisted the natural urge to look at him. “Don’t let her get to you.”

She put a hand on her hip. “You think you’re special. You’re all the same. You’re just another weirdo. A freak.”

My fists clenched at my sides. Shut up. I’m not a freak!

Mr Newbie took a step closer. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to bait you.”

Mr Newbie had just turned into Captain Obvious.

Janice was pushing my buttons and I knew I shouldn’t react, but the need to punch her in the throat was strong. Heat pulsed through my veins. I couldn’t do this. I had to get out of here. Now.

Her eyes were lit up. She was enjoying this. “I know your type. You think you know better than me. You think you’re too good for this place, but this is exactly where you belong.”

“SHUT UP!”

She flinched, then movement to my right drew our attention and I turned to see a vase hit the floor and smash — dirt, leaves, and pieces of terracotta spreading out across the lino.

Oh, crap.

Was that me?

That had to be me. It wasn’t the first time I’d caused things to move without touching them. And now I’d done it in front of her and Mr Newbie.

She looked from the plant to me and took a step back, eyes wide. “You really are one of those witches.”

“What?”

She spun around and rushed into the kitchen.

Mr Newbie’s eyes were also wide, but there was no fear there. It was like a spark of excitement. That didn’t make sense. He should be afraid of me.

I quickly looked around and it seemed that two of the people in the room had gone back to whatever they were doing, but Nellie stood open-mouthed, her eyes wide. I cringed inwardly, but at least she couldn’t tell anyone what she’d seen. Anyone living, that is.

I looked back at the mess. Was I supposed to clean that up?

There was no way. I headed to my room, but before I could reach the door, Holly called out to me. I froze. Had she seen what happened? Was I in trouble?

It was refreshing to see a genuine smile on her face. “Doctor Calthorpe would like to speak to you.”

My jaw tightened. Was I actually in trouble? Did Janice run to him and tell him what I’d done? Did I just ruin my chances of going home?

My legs turned to jelly as I tried to smile. “Thank you.”

As I entered the doctor’s office, he smiled. “Come in, Maddelyn. Close the door. Have a seat.”

Maybe I wasn’t in trouble. “Thank you.”

Once we got the pleasantries out of the way, he didn’t waste any more time. “I have some news for you regarding your release.”

My breath caught in my throat. This was it.

“I have made arrangements for you to be released tomorrow—”

My heart soared. “Thank you—”

“—and be taken to a place called Waratah Estate—”

“Wait, what?”

“—out in a quaint little town called Angel Falls. Waratah is a halfway house for people who have been in a facility like this and it helps them to assimilate back into society.”