Free Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

color’s coming back, Kat. Keep focusing on the breath.”
    I didn’t feel sick to my stomach anymore. The prickly feeling I’d had all over my skin was going away. I opened my eyes and
     peeked at Orin. His forehead was crinkled, his eyes concerned. He was holding both hands out, palms facing me.
    “What are you doing?” I asked.
    “Giving you some help,” Orin explained, lowering his hands. “Energy work.”
    “But you didn’t touch me.”
    “It’s not necessary. Your energetic field extends beyond your physical body.”
    Okay. Who was somebody who saw dead people to find somebody who did energy work weird?
    “How did you find me in there?”
    “I heard you,” Orin said. “Well, I heard something. I didn’t know it was you. But I heard someone scream. I broke the front
     window and unlocked the door. Followed the sound, and found you in the bedroom.”
    “He was coming for me,” I said. “The old man. I think he wanted to hurt me.”
    Orin waited to see if I was going to say anything else.
    “I’m not crazy,” I added defensively. “He was here. He . . .”
    “I don’t think you’re crazy,” Orin said.
    “Before I went upstairs,” I said. “I . . . the house started to go ballistic. Things slamming and crashing. Okay, I know it
     sounds nuts, Orin, but somebody grabbed me. I felt it. Seriously. I wanted to run out the back door, but there was something
     there. I couldn’t go that way. It was like the house wanted to drive me upstairs.”
    Not the house, I thought suddenly. The old man. I couldn’t prove it, but I was certain he’d been behind the series of events
     that had sent me running up the stairs. The old man wanted me for some reason. To tell me something, or show me something.
     I was more determined than ever not to let that happen.
    Orin was watching me carefully, his head cocked to one side. Then he spoke.
    “I know. I could feel the energy—it was riled up and swirling like a hurricane. Kat, you have a mediumistic gift.”
    “I know that,” I said, stupidly feeling defensive.
    “Let me finish. I know it’s come to you recently.”
    I nodded.
    “Coming into a gift like yours is a delicate business, Kat. The conditions of your life have changed. There are things you’ll
     need to know. And there are things you’ll have to experience in order to learn.”
    Great.
    “I told you before that your fifth chakra was blocked. I’m getting the sense that you’re fighting them, Kat.”
    “The spirits?”
    Orin nodded.
    “I’m not sure what you mean.”
    “Okay. Let me think of how to put this. . . . A few months ago, your energetic system totally changed. Imagine you’re a radio.
     And the only signal you’ve ever received is . . . some easy listening station. Then one day, blam—you start receiving another
     station, and another, and another, and tons of information and sounds and sights are being broadcast to you—ones you aren’t
     accustomed to.
    “And at the same time,
you
start putting out a signal—you’re like a beacon. Spirits can sense your portal is open. So they start flocking to you. Maybe
     the first couple of times you manage it. But now they’re lining up—they’re all trying to get your attention.
    “You don’t know how to handle it—you’re not even sure you
want
to handle it. So you start throwing out these energetic blocks. You’re not sending the spirits away; you’re just making it
     harder for them to be heard. So they start trying harder to get your attention. And harder. The more determined you are to
     shut them out, the more determined they are to be heard. It explains what happened in the house—the things slamming. The physical
     sensations. I’m guessing that was one very determined spirit.”
    Was this guy a healer or a psychic? How could he know all this about me because one stupid chakra was blocked?
    “The old man,” I said. “He’s not the only spirit here, but he’s off his head with anger. I don’t think he can