When Lydia heard that Gretchen had been rescued and was in the hospital, she immediately wanted to visit her best friend.
But by the time she got the news, it was already evening, so the visit would have to happen at night.
That afternoon, Lydia had a tough time explaining things to her boyfriend and manager, Rory. When he heard she was going to see a friend, he insisted on tagging along.
"Rory, I'm seriously just going to see my friend. You know her—Gretchen Henderson!"
But Rory seemed terrified of letting Lydia out of his sight and was adamant about coming with her.
It was clear Rory was a control freak, the kind of guy who'd chain his partner to his side if he could, never letting them out of his view.
"Why won't you let me come? Or are you not actually going to see Gretchen Henderson?" he pressed.
Lydia rubbed her forehead, exasperated. With Rory pushing this hard, she was out of options.
"Fine, you win!"
Rory smirked, pleased with himself. "Bringing me along is the right call! Who knows, maybe I can help you two land a collaboration. Gretchen Henderson's the best anchor at the station."
Lydia rolled her eyes. This was exactly what she'd been worried about—she didn't want her pure friendship with Gretchen tainted by business interests.
---
But Rory was already pulling her toward the underground parking garage, ready to drive her to the hospital.
When they arrived at Gretchen's room, they were surprised to find an unexpected visitor.
Marianne was there, and the atmosphere in the room was actually pretty relaxed.
This was shocking. Everyone at ABC knew about the bad blood between Marianne and Gretchen. Who'd have thought they'd be sitting together peacefully?
"What's going on here?" Lydia asked.
Marianne and Gretchen looked startled as Lydia burst in.
"Lydia, it's you!" Gretchen smiled. She knew her friend could be impulsive, so she didn't mind.
Lydia sensed something off about Gretchen but couldn't quite place it. She decided to ask about their relationship. "Have you two made up?"
Marianne nodded with a smile. "After going through danger together, we decided to bury the hatchet."
Lydia noticed a bigger change in Marianne. Gone was her usual arrogance, which felt strange.
Still, some people do change after facing life-or-death situations. It seemed odd but also kind of reasonable.
Just then, more visitors arrived—Mike and Franklin. They'd gone to Marianne's room first, found it empty, and tracked her down here.
When they saw Marianne and Gretchen getting along, their faces looked like they'd seen a ghost.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Marianne asked.
Mike chose his words carefully. "We're just checking if you've been replaced by an alien."
"Lame!" Marianne rolled her eyes and left the room.
Mike and Franklin hurried after her, leaving just Lydia, Rory, and Gretchen in the room.
Rory extended a hand to Gretchen. "Ms. Henderson, I've been wanting to meet you! I'm Rory, Lydia's manager."
Gretchen didn't take his hand, instead glancing at Lydia for confirmation.
Lydia gave a helpless look, practically begging Gretchen to humor her boyfriend.
But Gretchen wasn't having it. "Sorry, Mr. Rory, could you give Lydia and me some privacy?"
Rory, rebuffed, was visibly embarrassed, but as a small-time manager, he was used to this kind of thing.
"No problem, no problem! I'll step out!" He shot Lydia a look and left the room.
Now it was just Gretchen and Lydia.
"Lydia, when I was in that apartment, I thought I heard your voice. Were you the one who got us rescued?" Gretchen asked.
Lydia nodded. "Yeah, I went to the FEA. You know about them, right?"
Gretchen looked thoughtful. "I figured…"
Lydia found Gretchen's behavior increasingly strange. "Gretchen, are you feeling okay?"
"No, I'm great. Better than ever!" Gretchen replied.
Lydia frowned deeply. Her medium's intuition told her something was wrong with Gretchen, but her senses picked up nothing unusual.
Unlike when she saw Adra at the door and instantly knew she was a succubus.
"Gretchen, how about I do a reading for you?" Lydia offered.
Gretchen's face shifted. "No need! I'm really fine, Lydia. It's getting late, and I'd like to rest."
Lydia glanced at the time—it was already 9 p.m. Gretchen's request to be left alone was reasonable.
"Sorry! Is it that late already? I'll head out," Lydia said quickly.
Because of her medium abilities, Lydia had been ostracized since childhood and had few friends. She cherished Gretchen deeply, which was why she'd dropped everything to check on her.
Lydia hesitated, looking back as she left, but Gretchen seemed set on getting her out and didn't ask her to stay.
With no choice, Lydia left the room. Outside, she caught Rory flirting with a pretty nurse.
She stormed over and kicked him in the shin. "Hey! What the hell?"
"You were accusing me of cheating, but look at you, hitting on someone else!" Lydia snapped.
Rory scrambled to explain. "I was asking about Gretchen Henderson's condition, not flirting!"
Lydia didn't buy it, hands on hips, tapping her foot. "Oh? So what did you find out?"
"The nurse said Gretchen and Marianne Megan were thoroughly checked after being admitted, and they're completely fine," Rory said confidently.
He was lying through his teeth—he hadn't asked anything—but as a manager, bullshitting was second nature. Lydia didn't catch on.
"Uh, sorry, I thought…" she mumbled.
"Forget it! It's late—let's go home and spend some quality time together, yeah?" Rory said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, acting magnanimous.
Lydia felt even guiltier. If it weren't for her concerns about Gretchen, she might've agreed.
"Sorry, Rory, I've got something to do tonight."
Rory frowned. "It's 9 p.m. What could you possibly have to do?"
"I think something's off with Gretchen, so I'm going home to do a reading for her."
Rory rolled his eyes. "Come on! She's probably just shaken up from the ordeal. Isn't that pretty normal?"
Lydia knew he had a point, but she trusted her instincts more. Her medium senses had saved her from danger countless times.
"My gut's telling me something's wrong. Just take me home, Rory."
With no other choice, Rory complied.
But when they reached Lydia's place, he didn't leave. Instead, he tried to follow her inside.
"What are you doing?" Lydia asked.
"Hey, I'm your boyfriend! Can't I come into your house?" Rory sounded annoyed.
Lydia softened. "Rory, I didn't mean it like that. I need absolute silence for the reading."
"Fine! I won't say a word once you start. I just want to see what a medium's reading looks like."
Rory mimed zipping his lips, but his face betrayed a mocking smirk, as if he didn't take her seriously.
Lydia, rubbing her forehead, missed his expression and reluctantly agreed. "Alright, but you'd better keep your promise."
Inside her house, Rory started poking around and noticed a family photo: a blonde old man, a redheaded middle-aged woman, black-haired Lydia, a handsome brunette man, and a black-haired teenage girl.
Yeah, their hair colors were all over the place.
"Lydia, I haven't seen Astrid in a while. Where's she at?" Rory asked.
Lydia was tidying up, her place a mess from rushing out earlier. "I sent her to boarding school. You know my job keeps me too busy to look after her properly."
Rory launched into a lecture. "Lydia, that's not good! Kids need their parents to grow up healthy!"
Lydia paused, confused. "But didn't you tell me to focus on my career, that this is a critical time for me?"
"Exactly. That's why I think it's time Astrid had a new dad."
Rory wasn't even hinting anymore—he was straight-up proposing.
But Lydia's reaction was odd, like she was dodging the topic. "Sorry, Rory, I'm not ready for that."
Rory stepped forward, pulling her into an embrace, his face full of affection. "Honey, it's been ten years. Are you still not over that accident?"
Lydia's face clouded with sorrow. "I'm bad luck. Get too close to me, and it rubs off."
Sending Astrid to boarding school was partly because of this fear.
But Rory didn't buy it, holding her tightly. "We've been together a whole year. I think it's time we made things official."
Lydia bit her lip. She knew dragging this out wasn't fair to Rory. Finally, she nodded solemnly. "Okay. After this is over, I'll talk it over with my family."
That was enough for Rory. He'd gotten what he wanted, so he let her go without pushing further.
"That's great! Need any help, honey?"
"Sure, I need to clear the living room first."
Ten minutes later, the living room was mostly tidy. Lydia set a crystal ball on the table, ready to start her reading.
"Listen, Rory, once I start, you can't make a sound. Not a single one!"
"Even a fart? What if I can't hold it in?" Rory joked, clearly not taking it seriously.
"Then go to the bathroom! I mean it—no noise at all!"
Rory shrugged and zipped his lips again.
Lydia took a deep breath, placed her hands on the crystal ball, and channeled her magic into it.
"Crystal ball, crystal ball, tell me what's happened to Gretchen Henderson!"
Misty clouds began swirling inside the transparent orb, catching Rory off guard. He sat up straighter, intrigued.
Lydia repeated the phrase three times, and the clouds started shifting noticeably.
Rory, curious, leaned closer, trying to see what was in the ball. But as an ordinary person with no psychic ability, all he saw was a swirling gray mist.
Lydia, however, saw the same woman she'd glimpsed before.
"She's not dead!" Lydia gasped.
The moment she spoke, the crystal ball exploded, startling both her and Rory.
"What the hell?! What's going on? But you know, that was pretty cool! Lydia, you should try this on your next show—it'd be a hit!" Rory babbled, unfazed and already pitching ideas.
But Lydia wasn't listening. A powerful sense of dread gripped her, the kind she only felt when death was near.
Could it be…?
The next second, every light in the house went out.
"Huh? Why'd the lights go out? Power outage?" Rory glanced out the window, noticing the neighbors' lights were still on. "Looks like a tripped breaker. Don't worry, honey, I'll check the circuit."
American homes like this usually had the electrical panel in the basement.
But Lydia snapped out of her trance and grabbed Rory's arm. "Don't go! We're in danger—we need to leave now!"
Rory pressed a hand to her forehead, bewildered. "What are you talking about? Are you running a fever?"
There was no time to explain. Lydia yanked him toward the door. "Just come with me!"
But when they reached the foyer, they froze. A figure stood at the door.
Astrid (Jenna Ortega)
Hollywood's taste is getting weirder by the day. Jenna Ortega's been landing so many roles lately—what's up with that?