CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Gage watched as Dr. Brandt sat another item on the coffee table in front of Bryan. This time, he’d brought up one of those creepy-ass dolls from the basement.
“Try it again,” Dr. Brandt urged, focusing the video camera on Bryan.
Bryan rubbed his temples. Clearly, the aspirin he’d taken for his headache hadn’t kicked in.
“You’ve got your own work to do, Gage. You’re not concentrating,” Brandt said.
Gage stared at the dead crow in the shoebox. “Sorry. Maybe it’s been dead too long.”
The truth was, Gage had no intention of trying to resurrect the damn thing. Not the birds, the squirrel or anything else Dr. Brandt brought him. Hell, he had no idea if he even could anymore.
But the last thing he was going to do was find out in front of Dr. Brandt. He agreed with Allison—the dude was acting strangely. His obsession with Riley, the ghosts and demons, not to mention his ever-increasing fondness for Siler House. It was all too weird for comfort.
Besides, look what it had gotten Bryan—Brandt was pushing him way too hard. Of course, had Bryan not made those knives disappear yesterday, they’d all be in some serious shit.
“Focus, Gage.” Dr. Brandt went back to filming Bryan.
Bryan’s eyebrows furrowed, and he pursed his lips as he stared at the doll.
“Dude, you look constipated,” Gage said.
“Enough!” Dr. Brandt snapped. “Bryan, keep trying. It’s very important you learn to do this. It’s important to all of us.”
All of us? Gage frowned. As far as he was concerned, Brandt was turning into a world-class douchebag. Forcing Bryan to practice until he damn near passed out or got a nosebleed wasn’t cool. What was up with Brandt, anyway? At first, he couldn’t take enough notes. Now, he took very few. Wouldn’t EPAC be pissed off when they found out?
A drop of blood fell from Bryan’s nose onto the table, quickly followed by a couple more. He swiped at his nose, while still giving the session his all. But his all wasn’t working. Whatever juice Bryan had yesterday, he didn’t have it today.
“Seriously?” Gage said.
“Seriously, Gage,” Dr. Brandt shouted. He set the video camera down on the table. “You need to go practice outside somewhere. Now!”
“I’m all right,” Bryan said, not looking even close to it.
Gage put the cover on the shoebox and stood. Fine. He didn’t want to sit here, anyway. He couldn’t have concentrated if he’d wanted to. “Bro, it’s not worth it, okay?”
Bryan leaned his head back and pinched his nose closed in a failed attempt to stop the bleeding. A small trail of blood leaked between Bryan’s fingers.
“Suit yourself,” Gage said more to Bryan than Dr. Brandt. If Bryan wasn’t going to walk away from this, Gage couldn’t force him. Bryan had wanted to try it just one more time—to prove to himself he’d actually made the knives vanish. Maybe Bryan would listen to Jess, but even then, he doubted it. Bryan had pretty much stepped aside when it looked like she and Gage might hook up.
Dr. Brandt handed Bryan a napkin. Bryan held it to his nose. “Really, I’m fine,” he finally said. “Doc Brandt is right. I think this is important right now.”
“Sure,” Gage said in disgust as he started to walk away.
“You forgot your book,” Dr. Brandt said.
Gage turned and snatched the book off the table. “Call me when Bryan has an aneurysm.”
“Dude, I’ll be fine,” Bryan insisted.
“Yeah, whatever, man. I’ll catch up with you later.” He headed for the door again.
“Gage!” Dr. Brandt called out. “Jess is practicing her channeling skills upstairs in the music room today. She’ll be by herself. Go talk to her. If you aren’t in the mood for your studies, maybe you’ll be in the mood for hers.”
Was Brandt encouraging him? Or just pacifying him while Bryan bled to death at the dining room table?
Bryan glanced at Gage. “Dude, if you don’t go, I will. Girls get all sympathetic over injured guys.”
“Sure. Why not? You know where to find me.” He headed up the stairs, taking two at a time.
Gage had to hand it to Brandt—only one thing had any possibility of taking his mind off Bryan for a while, and that was spending time alone with Jess.