The Awakening: A Sisterhood of Spirits Novel Read Online Free

girl you are. Now get out of my chair.”
    “What did you buy?”
    “Stuff. Go to work.” She kissed Sunny’s cheek and shoved her toward the back.
    Sunny went to join her friends in the war room, as Shade called it, much to her mother’s dismay.
    She stood in the doorway. Shade kicked back in her chair with her long legs stretched out in front of her and her monster headphones in place, listening to the audio to see if they’d caught any electronic voice phenomena. Tiffany was sitting cross-legged on her chair watching the computer screen and night-vision video. Both were totally engrossed in their tasks; neither one looked up at her entrance.
    God, she adored them. Aren’t I just full of sentimentality today? Sunny checked her watch and saw she still had an hour before her first appointment for the day. She started to sit in the third chair, but Tiffany waved her off.
    “We’ve got this.”
    “Are you sure?”
    Tiffany paused the video and nodded. “I’ve got a good head start, and I can help Shade when I’m finished. You can go get ready for your appointments.”
    Sunny started to leave, figuring she could get in a bit of meditation time, when Shade sat up suddenly to rewind the recording to listen again, her head cocked to the side. She automatically picked up a pen to mark the time on the notepad and repeated the section of audio, a smile spreading across her face.
    “Class A.”
    Sunny rushed back to her station. Class A EVPs were voices caught on recordings that could be heard clearly, without any filters or noise reduction. Donning her candy pink headphones, she twirled her finger in the air to gesture another replay. “Go,” she said, closing her eyes to focus. She heard herself say, “Won’t you please talk to me?”
    There was a pause, then, clear as a bell, a child’s sweet voice answered, “I’m okay here.”
    Sunny opened her eyes. “Again.”
    “I’m okay here.”
    Familiar chills ran down her spine, something she felt every single time. It was one thing when spirits talked to her telepathically and quite another when she actually heard them, that underwater quality to their voice phenomenon when the frequency was other. She felt a tear burn in the corner of her eye. “I don’t hear any threat at all. Did either of you sense a child last night?”
    “No,” Tiffany said. Shade shook her head.
    “Me either.”
    Sunny took her headphones off and set them on the desk. “Good catch.” She was excited and wanted to sit and help, but it was Shade who motioned her out this time.
    “Go on. We got this. We’ll review after your reading.”
    Sunny was torn but finally nodded and left, her skirt billowing around her legs as she headed up the stairs to the second floor. She opened the door to the room where she would do the reading and took out her abalone shell and white sage stick to sweep the room. Habitually, before and after every reading with a client, she cleansed the air. The whole ritual was beneficial to clearing the room of any lingering energy of previous readings or stubborn others who wanted to stay. Sunny never wanted to know anyone’s last name or why they booked a reading with her. It was important to Sunny that her integrity never be in question. She didn’t ever want to be accused of misleading her clients, or worse, taking advantage of them. Being a medium was part of who she was, not something she did. It was innate to her identity.
    She opened the French doors to the small balcony to let the smoke out before relaxing in the wide armchair to meditate. Emptying her mind of expectations, she asked her spirit guide to protect her and keep her safe during the time she would be open to unfamiliar energy. It was a comforting and necessary formality before meeting with a client.
    The bell sounded over the door, bringing her out of her light, self-imposed trance. She heard her mother greet the woman and the sound of nervous laughter. Ah, a first-timer. They were always