Only The Good
Chapter Three - Not Our Time
If only I had more time I'd take you where you wanted to go,
Japan is really nice this time of year,
If only I had one wish I'd want a million trillion lifetimes that I could spend with you
Fall in love with you again and again
The Ataris - Looking Back On Today
Stanley didn't take his eyes off the sea, even when I approached him. It wasn't until CeeCee and Adam positioned themselves where I told them to (behind Stanley, so it didn't look like I was talking to myself...when on my own in public and faced with a ghost, I pretend to be using my brand new cell phone) and I greeted him, Jesse by my side, that he even aknowledged us. To say that he looked confused was a bit of an understatement.
"You...see me?" He asked, his voice deep yet soft. Up close, Stanley Morse was a very handsome man. Not Jesse-handsome, but good-looking nonetheless. His eyes were very blue and almost unreadable, and his mid-length hair fell across his face. He had nice hair. Jake's colour, but not as...windswept as Jake's always looked.He was obviously wearing the clothes that he wore the night that Layla was murdered; Jeans and a plain white t-shirt under a brown leather jacket.
"Strange as it may seem, yes," I replied politely. Ghosts of wrongly-murdered people tend to be a tad irritable. Like once, back in New York, this guy had been mistaken for someone else, and consequently shot. He tore up half of his murderer's home before I managed to beat him into submission. Thankfully, when the police arrived, they found the murder weapon in the guys house so he was jailed and the crazy ghost moved on. "But I guess I can skip the whole explanation because I'm pretty sure you know what I am."
Stanley nodded, his eyes darting from me to Jesse.
"This is really weird," Adam complained. Stanley spun around and looked questionably at him.
"Shut up," I told Adam. Then, to Stanley, I added "they can't see you."
"Are you...here to help me?" Stanley asked. He had a gentle voice, though he spoke strangely. I guess it was from all of those years of being locked up and tormented by ghosts.
"You and Layla," I replied. At the mention of his lover's name, Stanley twitched. I looked down into his eyes to see that he was on the verge of bursting into tears.
"You have seen her? How is she? Is she alright?" He stood up (he was disconcertingly tall...Jesse's height, so I had to look up to meet his eyes) and placed his hands on my shoulders. I think he would have shook me gently if he hadn't looked at Jesse and removed his hands as if I were on fire. There was a strange look in Jesse's eye now. He hadn't said a thing to this guy yet, and Stanley was being nice to me. So why was he looking at Stanley as though he were Paul?
"Sorry," Stanley said to him. "You are her...boyfriend?" Stanley liked to pause a lot between his words, I realised. He was probably making sure that he didn't say the wrong thing. Jesse simply nodded, which caused Stanley to smile.
"I thought so...I didn't like anybody touching Layla either. Even ghosts." Hmm...an over-protective boyfriend. Where have I seen that scenario before? CeeCee shuddered behind him. I didn't want to remain here too long for her sake.
"Stanley, would you mind coming with us? Somewhere more...private where we can talk?" I asked, as kindly as I could...I was surprising myself. Never before had I been polite to a ghost. Not when they were as rude as possible to me. Like because they're dead they think they're untouchable. Hah! I showed them just how 'untouchable' they were. Stanley said that he didn't mind, as long as we took him to Layla. It was a fair deal, so we left Adam and CeeCee behind and headed to Jesse's apartment.
Layla arrived mere seconds after we entered the small apartment. Jesse had obviously called her. The look in her eyes when she saw Stanley almost broke my heart. He grinned (it was way too big to be a smile) and thre her arms around him. Stanley closed his eyes and buried his face in her neck.
"I was so worried about you," Layla spoke, ever so softly. She was crying again, although gently. I hated to break up this heartwarming scene, but we needed to get down to business.
"Please," I said, not looking at them. I couldn't, it was too much to take. "Tell me everything that happened." The two dead lovers looked at each other and smiled. It was Layla who spoke.
"Well, we met when I was volunteering at Hartford as part of my degree. I knew the moment I saw him that there was nothing wrong with him. So, I volunteered to take him around the grounds. It was then that I found out that he was a mediator, like me. It wasn't long before the staff considered him fit to leave, so I let him live in my apartment with me." Layla paused here, choking back tears, and Stanley squeezed her hand. She composed herself and continued. "The time that we spent together was...magical. I had never felt more wanted in my life. And we no longer had to hide our relationship. When I was a volunteer, I still worked for the hospital, and patient-employee relationships were forbidden. When he was released, I was so happy. We didn't have to hide our feelings anymore." Hmm...kind of like me and Jesse...except he was dead, not a patient in a psychiactric ward. "But as soon as I moved back to Carmel, my ex-boyfriend got on my case. Well, we went on one date, so he wasn't really an 'ex, so to speak. But he still considered himself as my boyfriend. He was obsessed with me...it was terrifying. He was handsome, which just made it even more difficult. He knew that I was in love with Stanley and he hated it, he constantly tried to split us up. He even tried to attack Stanley a few times, but Stanley was too strong for him. He just didn't know when to quit. So, one day, he invited me up to the Point. 'To talk things over', he said. But he just wanted to get me alone. I realised what he was trying to do,but it was too late. He chased me down into the trees, and eventually caught me. I screamed...I couldn't help it. I tried to fight back but he was too strong. That's what was so strange about it...he was always so weak. He just kept hitting me, and hitting me until I couldn't move. I tried to call a ghost, any ghost, but no-one came. Except Stanley. My ex had raised his fist. I knew that one more hit would have killed me. It was obvious that I was already dying. Then, he was thrown to the side. I managed to turn my head to see Stanley laying into him. But the coward ran off, and Stanley came over to me. He held me until I died. He was covered in my blood...I guess that's why the police believed that he had killed me..." Layla trailed off,grief consuming her. Me? I was shocked. Everything she said seemed to mirror thepast year of my life. Jesse, Paul, everything.
We all remained in silence fora few minutes. Then I felt Jesse's hand on my own and I looked up at him. I could tell by his expression that he had come to the same realisation as me. He squeezed my hand so gently that for a moment, I thought I had imagined it.
"If only," this time it was Stanley who spoke, "we had made more use of the time that we had. We were mediators, our lives were wrought with danger. We thought that we had all the time ni the world, but we didn't. When they told me that I was being charged with her murder and faced execution, I honestly didn't care. I wanted to die; it had to be better than the pain I was living in."
I didn't know what to say. For once in my life, I, Susannah Simon, Mediator, was completely lost for words. Thank God for Jesse, that's all I can say.
"So...I guess we need to find the man who murdered you and prove that he was guilty." He said.
"I guess," Layla breathed, gazing into Stanley's eyes. But I didn't think so. The way they looked at each other screamed something, but I wasn't sure what. I honestly didn't think that catching this murderer would allow the couple to move on. They didn't seem to care that they were dead, they just wanted to be together. Could it be, for the first time in my life, that I had met a ghost thatwasn't meant to die?
AN - I'll try and makenext chapter longer, I swear :)