Author's note: Ok so I know you all were in tears from the last chapter, but don't worry there is hope! Also on a more serious note don't drink and drive, I lost a very close friend some time ago to some drunk driver. It's not just a life you take away when you hit someone..you may have taken away a friend, brother, daughter, etc.. You are going to get more answers in this chapter if you're confused, so use your patient skills, grasshoppers
Chapter 4: Fight for it.
After my dad and sister left I sat on the hospital bed brainstorming. I need to get back into my body, but how? Well like my science teacher says go for it and hope it doesn't explode in your face.
I tried laying down into my body, but it was like something was sticking. I couldn't get back in. Oh cramp, 'well at least nothing exploded', I thought giggling.
"Well, dear you could get back into your body sooner if you stop goofing around" I spun around and saw nana. Her birdlike gaze pierced straight at me from the doorway.
"Nana you can see me?" I all but screamed with excitement.
"Well, of course. What you expected that your own flesh and blood wouldn't recognize you?" she asked with an amused smile. She wore a red silk skirt with many different and beautiful shapes/designs. She had a green top with gold hoop earrings, a necklace in the shape of a leaf and many colorful bangles. Nana always had a great fashion sense, in my opinion. No matter how much people call her insane or colorblind.
"Are you going to just sit there or help your poor old nana with these boxes?" Yeah right, nana runs marathons plus I've seen her beat up this guy who thought stealing from an old lady was easy money. Let's just say that guy wouldn't be peeing nor having kids for some time.
"Sorry grandma" I quickly got up and picked up the cardboard boxes by her feet. Wait a second I'm touching something without going through it. Yeah! Score: one point Eryn, Spirit world: zero (ok maybe it has a lot more points than me but still, I GOT A POINT!).
"Nana how can you see me while dad and April couldn't?" I asked curiously. I look into her face as she picked more picture frames out of the boxes.
"Dear, I can see you because I was granted the gift of sight at a young age by my mother. Your mother was going to give April and you the gift but now that she's" she swallowed hard and stared down at the floor.
"Your mother was a strong hehewuti (Hopi name meaning warrior mother spirit) at heart, but she never had the power to enter the spirit world like you can, yazhi" she said as she placed the last picture frame on the shelf nearby.
"Why the heck is everyone calling me yazhi, Al called me that too" I said annoyed that I keep getting vague answers from everyone. Nana hawk like gaze pierced into my face so fast I thought she was going to get whiplash.
"Who have you talked to?" she said in an urgent tone.
"Um his weird guy named in this hippie suit came up to me early. I think his real name was Alo Cheveyo." After that all the tension in her body was released and to say she looked relieved was an understatement.
"Good, Good. You found your spirit guide." She turned her birdlike gaze to my body laying on the hospital bed.
"Honey, you need to listen to Alo. He is going to protect and mentor you until you are ready to come back to your body." I snorted.
"Yeah some great mentor he is when he left hours ago and basically said I'm on my own with getting back into my body" Nana smiled very lightly and walked towards the doorway.
"Don't worry yazhi, you'll figure it all out soon enough," and with that she left. Why are people always walking away from me? I mean seriously.
I ran out of the room and started following her. Many people were discreetly staring at her. She kinda gets a lot of looks when she's walking down the street. What I love about her is she just walks with her head held high and occasionally gives some others looks that say 'what are you looking at I'm the normal one and you are the one who does not belong'.
"Nana can you please help me get some answers here?" I pleaded.
"No, I'm sorry but I can't just yet. You have to wait for Alo to come back. Truly I am sorry, but I have to go" she whispered to me. I stopped in my tracks and watched her walk out of the hospital doors. Ah well there goes my last hope for answers.
I floated back to my body and stared at it. My black hair was spread like a halo around the cotton pillow and I looked like I was just sleeping, no scratches or bruises. I guess five months is a lot of time to heal. But, not heal my mind. Urgh suddenly I was violently mad. April's tear stained face flashed in my mind and dad in that wheelchair. I would return back to my body, I don't how. But hell knows that I'm going to fight for it with all I got.
Suddenly my arms felt extremely heavy. Now what, I tried lifting them but I couldn't. 'No storm can stop me' I chanted in my head. Then I lifted my arms. Haha. Take that gravity! As I lifted my arms my body's arm lifted as well! Yes, I did it. Ok arms down now for the rest of the body. Suddenly I focused on that heavy feeling I felt before and tried to expand it to the rest of my body. It was extremely exhausting, but after a lot of effort and sweat (yes spirits can sweat) I finally starting feeling a connection to my body.
I felt a pull and suddenly I was lying back inside by body. I opened my heavy eyes and looked around the room. Success! Now if I can just—that second I felt a huge push and I was ripped out of my body.
Argh.. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach then came back with their car and ran me over. What did I do wrong? I was so close, a few more seconds and I was so sure I could have held it.
"No you couldn't have, but I must admit I have seen that much determination in one person in hundreds of years," Al appeared right across from me, scaring the cramp out of me.
"Where have you been? I've been alone in some freaky spirit world. I have no idea what is going on or why I can't get into my body and all you have to say is that I'm a determined person!" I yelled at him. I got the satisfaction of watching him cringe away at my tone. Ha serves him right.
"Sorry about that. There was a nukpana (Hopi meaning evil spirit) close by and we needed to take care of it" he sat down on the bed next to me and shot me a look full of sympathy and pity.
"Wait what is a nukpana? And what do you mean by we? Please answer some of my questions Al." I gave him my most stern look, crossed my arms and decided I would get an answer from him even if I had to tackle him and use that peace sign necklace as a weapon. (Ok maybe that plan is bad, but I still working on other evil plots).
"A nukpana is a dark spirit that usual brings terrible fortune to whomever their stalking. They look like living shadows and they very rarely show their true forms. They bring death and unconsciously torment the living, but that's not really important because you wouldn't be facing one soon." He looked between me and my body with a searching look.
"Though with the fast progress you've been making you might be facing one quicker than the elders predicted."
"And you can't return to your body because right now it's too damaged and because you don't have this," he pulled out a silver necklace that had a clear half moon. He walked over to me a placed the necklace around my neck.
"This will protect you from and dark spirits who might try to cause you harm or attempt to steal your body like in the legend." That's a little scary, who knew that shadow spirits out there with out everyone knowing. Creepy, I felt a shiver go through my spine just at the thought of facing one of those things.
"If you would like I could try to heal your body, but I'm not a healer so I can't really do that much," I peered at him curiously.
"What are you if you aren't a healer? Who are you Al?" he looked at me with a proud spark in his eyes.
"I'm a spirit guide, what you would call an angel nowadays. I died in 1975 from a heart condition I had since I was little. When I died I was told that couldn't go to heaven because of some bad mistakes I made in my life, but I couldn't go to hell either because I wasn't evil enough. So, they told me if I could be a spirit guide and create some real good then I could go to heaven with my family." Wow that must have been hard. Geez, maybe I was a little too harsh on him before. He had a very sad and longing look when he talked about his family.
"I'm sorry, Al. I didn't know. That must have been hard, being told you can't go to heaven with your family," I put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with sympathy.
He composed himself again and stood up.
"Well perhaps we should train you before the end of the week."
"I'm all for getting my body back, but why what's happening at the end of the week?"
He turned around and looked out the window.
"Because your family is going to take you off life support in exactly one week."