Disclaimer: I don't own the original material or characters. I just borrowed them.
This story has nothing to do with the other one.
:}
Jade wasn't used to moving so silently, but Tori's little surprise had caught her totally off guard. 'Of course, Tori would be the type to want to spend Christmas eve together.' Jade thought, glancing at her girlfriend. They'd only been together for about four months, sleeping together for less then one, so the whole sex thing was still very new. This was technically the first night they'd spent together that included sex.
It was also the reason she couldn't just tell the Latina she needed to be alone. Of course, her penance for delving into things not meant for mankind was kinda hard to explain. 'Just throw anything on, cause they won't be seeing things too clearly.' Jade reminded herself.
Once she had something on, the goth watched her girlfriend sleep for just a few moments more, then crept across her room to the far corner. There, Jade settled down and started to chant softly. After a few seconds, she felt the doorway open, slowly allowing passageway into the realm of dreams, and the specific realm she was seeking.
"Jade, whats are you doing?" Tori asked, so gently it might have gone unnoticed. But it was, because the Latina had walked over to where she was sitting to ask. That placed her right in the middle of the circle.
"Tori, NO!" Jade tried to warn her, to push the girl out, but it was too late. The doorway was open, and they both tumbled head over heals into the dark abyss.
Seconds passed, or maybe an eternity. Jade knew that time wasn't exactly running normally in this place. But either way, the world came back into view, and the goth, along with her girlfriend, were sitting in a pile next to a homey looking couch, towards the corner of a largish room where half a dozen or so other people had gathered.
"Okay folks, listen up. We've got a full schedule tonight, so lets get our assignments and start going over the particulars. Jade, you know we don't like unannounced guests." Something said. Tori could only describe it as a pixie, but without the wings. Despite being the smallest thing in the room, it spoke like it was in charge.
"Sorry, wasn't planned. Give me a second to figure things out, and I'll be ready." Jade replied.
"Don't bother." Another voice said. Tori was struck by the fact that these small individuals were there, since their size allowed them to be almost invisible until they were ready to be seen. "We're down one. Think she can handle helping out?"
"She's really too much of a goodie goodie." Jade tried to explain. "Lets just send her back, let her think it was all a dream."
"No!" Tori cut in. "I'm not going anywhere until someone explains whats going on here!"
"Oy vey." Jade moaned. "Tori, this is where those of us who've made mistakes can kinda work it off. It's... Hard to explain." The goth gave her best smile.
"Tits here was meddling in forces not meant for man, wound up summoning a demon. Scared the poor thing half to death." The first Pixie said. "So she's helping reform people, as penance."
The second piped in "Though she's almost done. As a matter of fact, I thought..."
"Yea, I've been bad, but I'm trying to be a better person." Jade said quickly, cutting the second pixie off. "Besides, this isn't your kind of thing. You're not a mystic, so you'd have to borrow power, and that gets messy."
"Not a problem." Pixie one said. "We prefer to led out the power, gives us more control."
Jade glared at the Pixie, ready to keep fighting. "Excuse me, I'm kinda new here, but maybe I can explain." An older man said. "You see, every year, the recently departed submit their requests for help, a kind of intervention, for their friends or family who could benefit from having their eyes opened to what's important in this world, and these, lets call them pixies, they choose who's going to get helped. I called upon the dark forces to wreck terrible revenge on my ex business partner, and while it kinda blew up in my face, I need to do this for the next two Christmases to work of the negative karma."
"Doing?" Tori asked, staring right at her girlfriend.
"Well, I'm usually the ghost of Christmas future." Jade said while looking around.
"We're going to be scaring people straight?" Tori asked, clearly trying to wrap her mind around the enormity of it.
"There's more to it then that." Pixie two said. "We do the research, determine who's a good candidate, taking in to account if they would be reachable by our methods. We rely on guilt, and shame, as much as fear. After all, the ghost of Christmas past is showing them how they came to be where they are."
"Can I do that?" Tori cut in.
"You're not repenting for anything." Jade snapped.
"Then maybe I can help work off your debt." The singer snapped back.
"Enough!" Pixie one declared. "Tori, you get to help. We don't discourage volunteers. You can be Christmas past, while Jade will be Christmas future. Now come, you each have three people to visit, so read over their bio's and get ready. Jade might explain that we usually require newcomers to play each role once, but you and her are both going to be so good at what you do, we're not going to sweat it. Bedsides, Jade here can bend time, so you won't be off at all. Now, Jade, keep an eye on her until she get the hang of things."
The girls, and some guy Jade seemed to know but not like, gathered the small e-readers with the bio data on them about the three people they'd be visiting. Tori had no idea who any of these people were, but was a good enough actor to play the roll. "Jade, I'm not sure about this. I mean, some of these stories are so sad." Tori told her girlfriend.
"The past is often sad." Jade informed her. "So's the present, and the future. Just, for different reasons. I mean, the way they treat the people around them, it's a whole new kind of sad."
"Is that why beginners have to play all three parts?" Tori asked.
"One of them." The goth replied. "The other is a reminder that we're here doing penance for our own sins. So no matter what role we play, we have to have some comparison. Doesn't make us any easier on them, however. We don't pull our punches unless we're worried that we're going too far, or they won't be able to internalize what we're teaching."
"Are those little guys angels?" Tori had to ask, even though the question seemed to come out of nowhere.
"We don't follow or endorse any specific religion. We even tailor our approach to the targets beliefs. Many are Christians, and they seem to have the most loopholes, but as long as they celebrate Christmas in some form, we don't discriminate." One of the pixies said. "It's time. And Tori, we're going to have you and Mitch switch for the last one. Less heavy lifting for Jade here. Also, we feel that one would respond to a female Christmas present better."
"Don't worry babe, I'll be near, watching out for you." Jade reassured her.
"Actually, she won't be. But don't worry, we'll make sure they cannot harm you." The pixie said. "We always protect our spirits." They saw a series of small sets appearing in adjoining rooms, each one seeming both familiar and unique. Tori was led to one of them, and informed that she'd have no trouble, since Jade would retrotime them to go off at the appropriate moments.
For Tori, it was a unique experience. She got to share the past with two very different, yet ultimately similar people. Both had difficult pasts, where they learned that no one ever stood up for anyone. Both had parents who didn't show love in a way children could understand. In the end, Tori's heart went out to each of them. Both had to be dragged away from happy memories, and shown past mistakes. One was married, six times, to a series of trophy wives, but managed to never allow himself to feel real love towards any of them. Tori had to show him the one he let get away because he wouldn't allow himself to be tied down to any one woman, the one he actually loved.
But finally, Tori had to take the Christmas Present shift, and it was a world of different. She found herself dealing with a man who thought she was just another conquest. He didn't force anyone, but he lied, he manipulated, and in the end he coerced. Tori was showing him that the young women he slept with often felt they didn't have a choice, even when he thought it was just his charm winning out. Slowly, Tori showed him his shallow lifestyle was about power, that his greed was his image of what a man was, and that most of the girls he managed to sleep with from work were doing it because they were concerned that he could make things difficult for them.
She also showed him some of his friends. Those men seemed to think that women were nothing but entertainment, that no meant yes, and as long as they were on a date, it wasn't rape. She showed him how some of them use drugs, or just get the girl too drunk to no the difference. The guy she was with was having trouble seeing that this was a problem, so Tori pointed out that some women commit suicide after being raped, and at the very least, the violation causes all kinds of psychological problems.
Tori had told him, more then once, that she wasn't interested in him, but he kept trying to get her to party. Finally as they reached the end of her shift, Tori could feel her anger at this man growing. She knew what was coming, almost relished it. And with a howl, she unleashed her own bit of venom, using his own words about single mothers against him. Then, she left him to Jade.
Tori was still shaking with rage when Jade joined her back in what she now called the green room. It wasn't green, but that's what they call the waiting room for talk shows and the like, so it kinda fit. The room even had Christmas themed snacks.
As she waited, she was "Debriefed" by the second pixie she'd met. "Do you have a name?" She asked. "I was just..." Tori tried not to sound prejudges. "I don't know how to address you."
"No names. Honestly, we just kinda know who we are and whats expected of us." It said. Sadly, Tori couldn't really be sure of it's gender either. "Just for out records, how are you feeling right now?"
"Angry." Tori said before she had a chance to edit what she was going to say. "That creep kept hitting on me. I don't know how to deal with that kind of..." She didn't have words to express her feelings.
"That's why we wanted you to go second. The past has to have some empathy for the guy, and he's a real creep." The pixie said. "But his fears, of being alone, they're being realized even as he was hitting on you. Jade will show him a future where he's known as the dirty old man, and the only affection he gets he pays for. She'll get him to change his ways. But the real problem is getting him to talk to the police, give up his friends. He may, technically, have not committed rape, even though he coerced them. But his friends, he knows several of them raped girls, and he needs to tell the police. That's what will help cleanse his soul. I'm counting on Jade to drive that idea home."
"The others, they were just so sad." Tori tried to move away from the disgusting man she'd been forced to spend time with.
"They usually are." The Pixie said. "But you have to understand, there comes a point where you stop giving them an out, and require them to take responsibility for their own lives. To heal, they have to take control. Ever hear the song 'Only a Lad?' Listen to it some time. Make you think."
"So, what will happen to them?" Tori asked the pixie.
"Won't know until tomorrow." The Pixie replied. "They have the right to choose not to head our advice, not to take out help. Some don't take all of it, but they do change. Others ignore us completely, we become a bad nights sleep. Still others change, but their lives just don't turn out that happy. We are not the same as incentive therapy. But others, I'd say more then half, they change their lives, and get to be happy, while helping others to be happy."
"And Jade?" Tori suddenly had to know.
"All our agents come to us because they did wrong, and were likely to do a lot of damage if they didn't change their ways. But not all our agents are still doing penance." The agent of change said. "Jade's fulfilled her contract, but I think she likes scaring people. Besides, we do need some spirits who are here for them, the people we're trying to help."
"So is there hope for Jade?" Tori asked.
"We're looking out for her." The Pixie said. "We give her a place to be constructively mean, let her work on her directing and creativity, and when she needs it, we make sure she makes some choices that will rein her in. Wasn't expecting you to follow her, but it's all good."
"Wait, what?" Tori felt confused.
"That night, four months ago, when Jade was wondering and found her way to you, who do you think guided her feet to your door?" The pixie sounded proud. "She deserves to be loved, just like anyone else. So does she make you happy?"
Caught off guard by the question, Tori still answered honestly. "Yes, she does."
"Then don't question it." The pixie warned her before the Latina could start to question if she loved Jade or was tricked. "Jade's back, it's time for you to go."
"How long?' Tori asked as they walked over to where Jade was standing, having completed her debriefing.
"We'll be back just before the dawn." Jade told her. "Don't worry, I usually set my body to go back to bed shortly after I take off haunting."
"Body?" Tori asked. "My bodies on the floor?" Jade just smiled, took her hand, and stepped through the wall and into the maelstrom. Seconds later, they awoke, laying side by side in Jade's bed.
Tori rolled over, looked her lover straight in the blue green eyes, and said "Is it going to be like this every year?"
:}
For those expecting a normal version of this story, good luck. I'm not given to normal. The story of the ghosts is interesting enough, but I like coming at them from different angles. So, what do you think? Personally, I think Jade likes scaring greedy older people. But thats just me.