Souls

A Sequel to Opera Ghost

By Punjabchild

Six years.

It had been six years since she left Paris. Six years since a visit to France to research and study abroad turned into disaster. In all that time, the nightmares hadn't stopped and the shakes and odd feeling that she was being watched hadn't entirely gone away. Even though she had completely removed herself from the world she had come from. She too had gone into hiding.

Jessalyn Greene wiped the sweat from underneath the brim of her hat. She looked around the forest and down at the skinny path. It seemed that many of the park visitors neglected to use this path. It started out wide at the camping areas and continued for half a mile, but as it started into the hills and deeper brush, the trail became narrower. People must have gotten tired and turned back. It was a pity that they did. There was so much to explore and see on this trail; the tall birch trees with white bark and the bushes bursting with berries at this time of year. On each hill on the path, nature had seen fit to carve its only staircase, using the exposed thick roots of the trees nearby. All it took was a sturdy walking stick, some endurance and the narrow trail became an enjoyable hour walk through the woods, one that Jess traveled often on.

After Paris, Jess had returned to school, but quietly withdrew, and transferred to a community college in a nearby city. She only had a few basic courses to finish, since all the requirements for her major had been completed. Now her BFA degree sat on a high dusty shelf in her office, forgotten. She had tried her hardest to keep the truth of what had happened from her family. She had even made a vow of silence with Daniel and Tony, promising they would never mention or speak about the incidents again. But it was different at school, too many concerned friends and professor with prying questions. She had to leave, but no matter if she never spoke of it, or ran away, the memories still followed her.

After finished her degree, she moved to the Midwest and entered the park service to become a state park ranger. She was always faithful to her duties at the station house and on patrol. She even took over the Junior Nature Scouts program, teaching young campers who visited about the animals and plants in the park. Her life here was now so different. She lived in a cabin on the park property. The nearest town had only 300 people living it in. The nearest McDonald's was a half hour away and the nearest metro area was at least two hours drive from the park.

Back at school, she lived in an apartment known for their parties and her roommates would pig out on donuts and fast food into the early morning. She would spend her days off, lying in bed, watching at least 6 hours of TV, and becoming glued to her computer screen.

Out here there was no HBO and internet access was only available in the rangers' office. She rarely watched TV or went out to eat anymore. Instead of getting up at noon on her days off, she went for sunrise walks through the woods and down to a little cove everyday. She hadn't bought a case of eye shadow or nail polish in two years.

She had changed.

If she happened to bump into to Tony, or Dan or any of her friends from school, they probably wouldn't recognize her. She had cut her hair short and tried to dye it brown. But she didn't see the need to care for it now, and hoped the animals were repulsed by her strawberry blond roots. Only one person could probably recognize her despite any disguise or change.

Erik.

Jessalyn took a break and sat down on a boulder on the top of one of the hills. She unbuttoned the top buttons on her tan polyester uniform and reached underneath her undershirt which was starting to become wet with sweat. She would need to change it when she got back. She pulled out the thin gold chain which hung around her neck and the plain gold ring that dangled from it. She hadn't forgotten his ring, and as long as she wore it around her neck, faithfully, she would never forget him. She had taken it to the pawn shop, where the broker informed her it was real gold, and vintage, worth a lot of money. She remembered the earth shattering look of disappointment on his face, when she left his store, deciding not to sell it. She made the necklace, and every day she had told her self, "This is the day I stop wearing this." She never gave in. She never took it off even to swim in, because she didn't swim anymore.

She visited that small cove by the lake on the edge of the woods every morning on her walk. She took off her shoes sometimes and stepped into the water, but refused ever to swim. Not unless it was an emergency. Even being chest-deep in water frightened her and brought back the memories of almost drowning in the lake under the opera house, causing her to panic.

Today she didn't feel like going into the water, even though she had resolved to get her panic attacks about swimming under control. She had done it in training to qualify for this job, why not now? She looked across the water watching two sunrises because of its smooth reflection. A robin whistled nearby and that seemed to give her hope. Yes, she would take a swim today. She had a change of clothes at the station anyway. She moved down toward the water's edge, knelt down in the wet sand to take off her boots.

Then she noticed her own reflection in the water and like clockwork reached up to trace a scar that ran from her left temple, close to her ear and down around her chin. All her scars from the accident had faded but this one. The doctors had said it was a miracle she recovered from so many lacerations to the face, much less have all her facial muscles intact. But she wondered: what if she hadn't been so lucky? What if the shard of mirror had ripped her face and torn her flesh. What if she was left with only the semblance of a face, mutilated beyond repair?

Like her poor Erik's face.

Would he still love her?

Would anyone still love her?

A sudden breeze passed through the trees along the shores of the cove.

"Don't go! Stay with me Christine. You'll be safe with me. You can learn to love me and then you won't have to be afraid of anything. Not even death!" he begged.

Her whole body shook. Of all the things he had said to her, that phrase haunted her memory the most. In six years, not a day had passed when she didn't hear that echo in her mind, and it caused her to shudder every time.

She dipped her hand in the lake and splashed at the water. What had he meant by that? Had he intended to keep her with him, whether she was alive or dead? Why not, he wasn't truly alive. Was he so desperate to have Christine with him, even in the afterlife?

Jess started to shake more and her breathing became rapid. She scurried away from the water afraid that any moment the tide would rush in like the ocean, and suck her under. The fear of drowning over whelmed her.

Death! Death is here!

She jogged away from the shore back into the wood, forgetting her walking stick. She was crying uncontrollably now and stopped, shouting up at the trees

"At least a life with him wouldn't be as lonely as I am now!" She let out a wailing sob, hoping that only the animals could hear her. She lived alone, she had no friends. If she wasn't working, she would go entire days without talking, not even out loud to herself.

"You fool…" she sniffled in self pity.

She sat in the forest for another hour before she ran back to the station trying to make it in time. She was five minutes late, which was rewarded by a concerned glance from her co-worker, Dean.

"Hey you ok, Jess?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why?" she replied, tossing her hat on her desk.

"You're never late, not even by a second," he noted.

"Well I lose track of time today," she explained, going over the closet and pulling out her uniform.

"Glad to discover you're mortal like the rest of us," he joked.

"Not even death!"

Jess shook at the mention of "mortal"

"Well you got some mail in yesterday after you left. I put it in your center drawer," Dean informed her.

"Why did it come so late?" she asked pulling out the drawer

"Because it looks like it wasn't US mail." She shot him a disapproving glance. "Hey, I wasn't look at your mail on purpose! It's just something I noticed."

"Whatever." She pulled out the envelope that was only the size of a card and noticed the return address.

Paris, France

Her hand stiffened. Dean was already out the door, not wasting anymore time before starting work. She slowly reached her in pocket for her knife, ripping the thin paper. She unfolded the simple black card, no design or greeting and read what was inside, fear running through her.

Mademoiselle,

You know that I would never go to this length to try and contact you unless it was an emergency.

I am in desperate need of you help.

Regards -L.D.