Everything Starts Where It Ends
Everyone has unfinished business. That's what Susannah Simon believes...until someone close to her dies, and she waits to help a ghost that never shows up.
I just finished rereading the Mediator series and I loved it, just completely into the characters and mythology. So this is my stab at continuing it...please review, because that would mean you are amazing! Thanks x
It always ends. That's what gives it value. The High Cost Of Living
Neil Gaiman
I hit the ground running. One foot barely touched the surface before the other touched down. I could have been flying.
I wasn't. I was breathing too heavily; my heart beating too fast. It was going to explode out of my chest, I knew it. I knew it. My entire body throbbed with the thought. But I wasn't about to resist. Death might get me back the one thing I'd only ever wanted out of this life.
k a t e
The gates loomed high above me, grey steel lines ending in sharp spikes. If this place wanted to be welcoming to all, it wasn't working. There were people milling around, some looking at me quizzically, others not bothering. And I didn't blame them. Some of them would have recognised me. They'd know me as the girl who turned away the world. And they wouldn't understand, in fact, they might even hate me for it. I thought I saw Kelly Preston and Debbie Mancuso whispering together, and I averted my eyes as quickly as possible. The old if-I-can't-see-you-you-can't-see-me trick.
I shifted from one foot the to the other. I wished I'd worn something different. I mean, don't get me wrong, I looked good. But it looked as though it was going to rain, and leather could go from classy to hooker in five seconds flat when wet. I pushed my hair off my face and took a step forward.
And felt a hand on my shoulder, roughly pulling me back.
"Damn it, CeeCee," I groaned, rubbing my shoulder. "You really gotta lay off the protein shakes, you know?" My best friend – not the loud-mouthed New Yorker, not the ex-ghost, not the priest, not the average guy – looked at back at me, an intensely unsympathetic look on her face.
"Susannah," CeeCee said calmly – a big deal, because she never called me Susannah, I mean, who did? Except for maybe two people – "I cannot believe you were going to do this without us."
I looked past her to see Adam, sheepishly avoiding eye contact. "Thanks," I shot at him. "Can't you keep her under control?"
"Suze, you know what she's like," he said with a slightly scared look on his face. I made a whipping motion with my hand and was rewarded with a shove from CeeCee.
"You are insane," she declared, grabbing my hand. "There is absolutely no way we're letting you do this alone."
I rolled my eyes. "CeeCee. I suggest you take Courage Jones over there and go home. I do not need you here right now." I widened my eyes at her and wiggled my eyebrows, trying to signal something important.
She asked, "Are you having a seizure?"
Through gritted teeth I replied, "As much as I love you, I'm about to seizure you into the middle of next week."
"Funny. Now come on, we can't stand out here forever. They won't wait for you in there."
As she began to move away, I noticed that everyone that had been outside, was gone. CeeCee had Adam by the hand and was dragging him forward, and he turned his head to give me puppy eyes. I shrugged. You're on your own, McTavish. I had more important things to take care of, made impossible by the appearance of CeeCee and Adam. With a sigh, I realised all I could do was follow them.
Except, when I tried to move, someone else had grabbed my shoulder, hard. I heard a surprised "Oh!" followed by an "Oof!" as I sank my fist into their stomach. They stumbled back and held up one hand, the other fisted in their belly. I put myself on the defense, blood pumping.
"Sorry," they coughed out. "I didn't mean...to...scare you..." As they straightened up, I began to relax. The person standing before me was young, female, and a little frightened. She was wearing a a long white dress and a veil, with some fairly amazing accessories.
Oh, she was also giving off that one-of-a-kind healthy glow that belongs to the dead.
I felt my stomach drop.
"I-I-I'm sorry," I stammered. "I'm a little...j-jumpy."
"Really?" she said, still clutching her stomach. "You hide it well. Kate Murphy." She stuck her free hand out and I shook it lightly, trying not to convey my distress. I already knew her name.
"Suze Simon."
"I know." She began to stand a little taller. I saw she was actually kind of pretty when her face wasn't screwed up in pain, with dark grey eyes and rich brown hair that didn't look like it came from a bottle. "I need your help." I tried to refrain from a snappy comeback, something along the lines of, doesn't everyone, sweetheart? Well. That wasn't my snappiest. I could do better, but right now, it wasn't a priority. "Wait. Why are you here?" She looked at me, confusion in her eyes. I saw her eyes flicker between me, in my black and silver getup, to the building we were standing outside. "Is there...do you know me?"
Kate Murphy stared at me. My heart sank just a little further.
"No," I finally lied. "No, I don't know you."
"Well, alright," she smiled awkwardly. "Look, I need your help desperately. I was on the way here when I...I...um..." I watched a frown mar her features. "Sorry."
"It's alright." I tried to raise a grin. "It's a struggle for everyone at first."
"You see, the car, it...well, it must have run a stop sign, and...and I remember all the glass breaking. Suze. I remember my head hitting the seat in front of me because I wasn't wearing a seat belt. Suze?" She sounded so uncertain. "I. I died," she managed. Her mouth fell open as she stared at the church beside us.
And to my complete and utter embarassment, she started to cry. I've never been good with criers, even though the last two years really turned me into a giant teardrop at times.
"I died," she sobbed, "and I'm meant to be in there right now, getting married! It's not fair! It's not fair!"
I stretched my arms out towards her, then pulled them back quickly. I am a lot of things. But I am absolutely not a hugger. I settled for shoulder stroking. I could do that. Kate sank to the ground sobbing.
"What're they doing in there?" she asked me. "What could they do without me? I'm the bride!"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement on the front steps. CeeCee and Adam had reemerged, and CeeCee was beckoning to me like crazy. Get in here, I saw her mouthing. They're starting.
How were they starting when the bride was ghosting it up out here on the footpath? Yet, I could hear the strains of the wedding march beginning. Maybe they'd decided they'd waited long enough and just wanted to play the music for variety. I glanced down at Kate. She was bawling, a total mess. Around her, some fallen leaves had begun to twist in the air. One last stroke of the shoulder and I ran over to CeeCee.
"What's happening?" she asked. She clocked my face and stepped aside as I got closer. She pulled Adam with her and they came wheeling back inside with me. I charged straight through a sign welcoming me to the wedding of Mr. Paul Slater and Miss Kate Murphy and barrelled into the church itself. Everyone turned expectantly towards me, smiling faces and cameras at the ready. As one, their faces fell when they saw I was most definitely not the blushing bride.
All except for Paul, whose grin filled the room. "Suze!" he bellowed from the front, to disapproving titters from the crowd. "You made it. Do you mind shifting so my bride can get through there?" He tried to look past me, but I walked up the aisle, crushing rose petals under my boots. I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out to where Kate sat crying. "What's wrong with her?" he asked disbelievingly. "Doesn't she remember who she's marrying today? Oh, Suze. Did you try that soul transference with her? Is that you, sobbing because you're overjoyed at the thought of being married to little old me?" I wanted to punch his smug face, but right now he had a dead bride to think of. I brought him closer to her. "Watch the suit," he complained.
"Paul!" Kate struggled to get her feet in her mile-long dress, but she got there and threw herself into Paul's arms. I watched as Paul clicked. His eyes travelled her body, taking in her glow.
"Kate," he ground out, "don't you think this is an entirely inappropriate time to be dead?"