Jan came to the mansion with Fr. Robert one day upon the invitation of Josh. Isabella had no knowledge what the three musketeers had agreed to do among themselves, with the connivance of Eleanor, Ellie Zen, Evan, Yuri, and Suzy.
"She acted strangely, like dancing with somebody," was the story of Ellie.
Do you think she hadn't told Zen?
"I peeked through the door when the baby was sound asleep and I saw a man across her in that balustrade." Now, this was the story of Zen.
Everybody's neck turned like the neck of a giraffe—they wanted to believe Zen and Ellie's stories. Ergo, the ghost-hunting was about to begin. But not yet because Isabella came all of a sudden from her grocery, wondering at the presence of Jan and Fr. Robert. She hadn't recalled inviting them. The two lied. They dropped by. Fr. Robert offered her a mass sponsorship, which she accepted without a second thought because she couldn't turn Fr. Robert down. Would they care to stay so she could cook? Isabella was very happy that there were people around. She had missed friends because of Aaron's presence becoming rarer. They knew, they said, and they were happy to be around her.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Err…" Fr. Robert looked around looking for an answer.
"We heard…" Jan quipped.
"From whom?" Isabella asked with raised eyebrows.
"I… don't know… I only overheard… I forgot where…"
Isabella sighed and just ignored her own question.
Jan and Fr. Robert were observing Isabella closely. She was always the happy person that she was. They were trying to see if something had changed. They couldn't find any so far. Josh had told them about the strange man by the lake and his dream. The description of the maids seemed to fit the man. He also told them that mom had told them that she could not recall any neighbor, tall and slender, who fished in the lake. Maybe she was missing some neighbors or maybe some neighbors—from the next town.
Now the group gathered around the hearth in the living room, and because they had been talking about strange occurrences, Jan and Fr. Robert took turns telling them stories that involved mysteries.
"Would you know of people who rose from their graves?" Fr. Robert asked.
"Zombies?" asked Yuri.
"No. They really rose from their graves and lived among men."
"Extraterrestrials," quipped Evan.
"Whatever you name them, they really rose from the graveyards. That was the first resurrection."
"Cool," Evan interrupted. "You're not joking, Father.
"I'm not."
Fr. Robert said the world is inhabited by spirits both good and bad; angels and saints come down to earth and go up to heaven without mortal men's knowledge. Maybe the spirit that was haunting Isabella was a good spirit, who knows, judging from her countenance, he told them when Isabella was not around. She had not known yet the group's mission. They weren't telling her.
Isabella came out with her baked pasta. It was a favorite comfort food as it was easy to prepare. Besides, the children loved pasta and anything that mom baked or cooked.
Thick gray clouds had started to gather outside. Thunder crackled and lightning flashed across the sky. Everyone was laughing when they heard the strong thunder. Evan had fun trying to scare his brother. The sudden change of weather was such a coincidence, so Isabella announced that she thought no one would be able to go home and that they had better spend the night in the mansion.
It was Jan's turn to tell the group of his experiences as a psychic.
He told them about a prescience who could predict the turn of events and that those individuals were very rare.
"Like Nostradamus?" Suzy suggested.
"Yes, or Edgar Cayce, or Baba Vanga."
"Doomsayers," Evan laughed. "Mathematically, psychics' predictions becoming true has one in a million chance of probability. But I am enjoying our conversation."
"Me also," seconded Suzy.
"What about Josh?" Yuri asked. It looks like he has an extrasensory perception.
Jan and Fr. Robert looked at Josh.
Didn't Josh tell them? The furtive glances were to tell Josh to keep quiet because mom was around.
"What are you talking about? Josh isn't telling me anything," Isabella said.
"Josh doesn't have ESP," Jan had to change the subject from Josh. "Psychics have the ability to see through a person or an object. They can see the aura of a person whether good or bad. They can see what happened to them in their lives—present, future, past. They can warn when something that is not good is about to occur. They can do this by means of the so-called trance. Do you want me to go into a trance state?" The four teenagers got excited at Jan's suggestion.
Jan explained what a trance state was. A trance state, he said, "is a condition between sleeping and waking wherein a person may have an out of the body experience or may go through an altered state of consciousness. He may see things that are transcendental of his current state of existence. He may also have a paranormal experience." They clapped their hands, excited to see Jan go into a trance state.
"I won't be doing it alone. Why don't we try it together?"
Then, he closed his eyes. He wasn't sleeping. He asked them to position themselves in a circle, sitting lotus style with hands on their laps. "Close your eyes; don't think," he said. Let your mind flow freely. Forget worrying. Relax. Breathe. They could hear the thunder in the deafening silence, and the gentle sound of the fire from the hearth, ticking slowly. No one's talking. The group sat for five, ten, twenty, thirty minutes. Then, Jan told them to open their eyes and asked, "What did you see? Has anybody gone into a trance state?"
No one reached the trance state. Evan was laughing, so was Yuri and Suzy. Isabella and Fr. Robert were smiling. But Josh did, yet, he didn't tell them. He would tell Jan and Fr. Robert later. He saw the man.