Karma's Ghost
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N:
Chapter 8 (Beck's Aid)
"Karma suggests if you do something bad, something bad will happen to you."-Evil Twins: Ali Brothers.
In research, Jade learned everything Courtney spoke of happened through the year before Tori wound up at Hollywood Arts. She entered Hollywood Arts when she was nearly fifteen, and now she was almost eighteen. Her grudge had been going on for three years now, or at least the image Trina was made to keep up had been done in such a way that she couldn't back out now.
There had to be a point where Trina would come to the end of her rope, and Jade hoped that wasn't anytime sooner than she could help. She had a bad feeling that the road Tori was on was going to end badly.
It seemed Death himself was a firm believer in a karmic universe, and she was beginning to see things the same way. If karma existed in the universe, her mother paid the price for her abuse, she herself was undergoing some strange karmic test because of her years of bullying, and now Tori was so angry at her sister that she didn't realize she was the one in the wrong. Trina was suffering because of Tori's misguided traumatized anger, and that was only going to end up horribly wrong as far as Jade could see.
In effect, Tori herself had become the ultimate bully, singlehandedly turning an entire school and nearly an entire community against her own sister. Jade raised her head, lifting her stunned eyes to the sky. "A karmic universe doesn't seem to look kindly on bullies. Evidently." If she didn't feel it before, she did now: She had to save Tori from herself, she had to help Trina find her own stability as well. The same was said for David and Holly, whatever they were struggling with.
At the same time, she felt something for both Katie and Courtney. She wanted to help them. The feeling in her gut was telling her not to ignore them, and she couldn't in good conscience do that.
Jade closed her hands and stepped forward, walking down a sidewalk path bordered by clean cut grass. "I don't know if there exists God or Satan, Heaven or Hell, but I know Death exists and I believe in the universal concept of karma…" She stopped for a moment, contemplating the words coming from her lips. Her eyes rolled and her hands clenched tight. "Just great. I've become a philosopher."
In the distance was a cemetery where she saw a number of ghosts walking aimlessly about the place. A familiar person was walking amongst them, clutching his denim jacket and shaking like someone having a seizure. His hair was frazzled and dirty, and his eyes had large sacks under them.
"Oh god!" Jade's heart jumped and she threw her hands over her lips. "Beck." The man dropped to his knees after leaving the cemetery, grabbing his hair with his hands and screaming aloud that he was going insane.
"I see dead people," Beck whimpered, "I see dead people everywhere." She couldn't sit by and hide anymore, but she had no idea how to console him.
As she made her approach, it didn't pass her mind that he would be seeing the ghost of his comatose girlfriend. "I'm sorry about this," she whispered. She could at least shock him back to reality-or scare him to the point of him becoming a ghost like her.
She walked up to him, noting he still wasn't seeing her. "Beck? Beck, it's me." Beck's trembling stopped and his body turned statuesque as his wide eyes staring straight ahead. Slowly his gaze moved to her, and his violent trembling started coming back.
"Jade?" She smiled sadly and moved her arms down in front of her, grabbing her left wrist with her right hand and bowing her head. Beck laughed once, his tone changing to that of joy. "You're okay?"
He jumped up and leapt for her, but she remained in place and shut her eyes. Tears escaped from them as he sailed through her body. His gasp echoed into the air and he hugged himself as if he'd just been shot. Beck turned his head over his shoulder and began whimpering.
"No, it can't be." No sooner than he realized she was a ghost, did he drop to his knees. His hands clutched tufts of his hair, sliding down over his eyes as a ghastly cry ripped through the sky. "No, no, no. God no." He dropped his head to the ground, screaming still at the top of his lungs.
Jade lifted her eyes off him and saw Death appear a few feet behind him. Her lips sank into a frown as the dark angel crossed his arms. "Talk to him," he mouthed.
Sensing an urgency in the air after his statement, she nodded and knelt beside Beck. She didn't know if Death was there for her or there to tell her Beck was about to go off the deep end if she didn't say something. "Beck. Beck, it's okay."
"No. You're not dead. You can't be dead." He began to hyperventilate and rock back and forth. "Why can I see dead people? Why am I seeing you? You can't be-you're in the coma. But if you're in a coma and you're here, then-" His eyes shot open and his breath hitched. After several seconds his voice fell and his body appeared to collapse in place. "Oh god."
"No. I'm not dead. Not exactly." His nose was running with his tears and his lips were trembling. It was the worst she'd seen him, and it hurt to see Beck this way. She reached out to him, placing a hand on his cheek while gazing into his eyes. "Oh Beck…listen…"
He touched his hand to his cheek, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "If you're not dead, then what's going on? Why also am I seeing ghosts? At the hospital, there were some at the school, and here at the cemetery. What's happening to me?"
"It's part of that accident we were in."
Death approached from behind, speaking with his usual calm and deep voice. "You almost died twice, and as a result you did enter the realm of the supernatural." Beck flinched and turned his head. Fear filled his eyes and his brow furrowed. "Therefore you are able to see spirits. Ghosts."
"Is it a curse? Who are you?"
"It is what you make of it." Death shrugged. Jade was grateful for his presence, because he appeared to be there to help explain the situation. She wouldn't be able to do that on her own, and Beck was less likely to freak out and question everything. "It could be a curse or it could be a blessing. As for who I am, I am the Grim Reaper." Beck's breathing hitched once more and Death rolled his head to the right. "Also known as Death. I'm not here for you, I am merely supervising your girlfriend as she works an assignment for me. One that you will be able to aid her with using your 'gift'."
"Gift? How is seeing ghosts a gift?"
"It is a gift from the supernatural." Death smirked and put his hand onto his chest. "A gift from me. I touched you, but the doctors saved you." Jade tensed as the shock coursed through her.
She didn't know Beck came that close; to the point Death had actually touched his soul. "H-How am I supposed to help her? What am I supposed to do." Beck looked at Jade, she could see he wanted to hold her, to touch her. She remained still, with her heart breaking for him to see her like this. "Am I going to lose you, Jade?" She closed her eyes and breathed out slow.
Death shrugged and folded his arms. "If she does everything right, then no, she'll be returned to her body." Beck's eyes lit up and he started to smile. Death raised up his head and looked from left to right. "Now stand up and clean yourself off, you look pathetic."
She almost hit Death for that, but resisted the compulsion. Beck pulled himself up and wiped his face with the sleeves of his jacket. "You should consider your environment too," Death advised, "All things considered, nobody else can see ghosts. Which means, if anyone sees you right now, they'll notice you having a conversation with nothing."
"That would be bad."
"Yes. If people didn't think you were insane before, they certainly will when they see you speaking to someone that isn't there." Beck turned his head, looking back at the cemetery. His body shifted nervously and Jade followed his gaze, noticing for the first time every ghost's awkward and frightened stares. Death smiled and waved at them. "Don't you two worry, they're watching me."
"Isn't your job to send them wherever?"
"It is, smart guy, but those are the ones that don't want to cross or can't because they have unfinished work. For now, it is best the two of you ignore them and focus on the task at hand."
"Which is?" Beck raised an eyebrow and looked back at Death.
Jade huffed and walked forward. She wanted to speak up, and felt Death's bluntness was too much, even though it did help to get Beck focusing for a change. "I've been assigned to the Vega family." Beck snapped his head back at her. His eyebrows rose high and his jaw fell open. "Yeah…they're in trouble."
"I don't understand. You're assigned to help them? With what?"
"I have to save them. They're basically imploding, the whole lot of them." She was amazed he wasn't questioning her concern for them. He wouldn't be in the wrong to do so. "I know I've made a lot of mistakes and I'm trying to fix that, but there are some real problems with that family, so I want to help them. I don't know how right now, but I'll think of some way. You being here will really be good for me…for support and for help."
"I'll do anything." He smiled and wiped his eyes. "Whatever it takes." Jade nodded and started to reach for his hand, stopping when she knew it would be fruitless.
"This has to be done for them, okay? I know you've looked after them." He moved his eyebrows together and bowed his head, clearly not expecting that she already knew. "I heard you when you were talking the other day. I know what happened to Trina, and I know you were the one that saved her."
"Okay."
"You did a good thing. You know that, right?"
He nodded and curled his lips upward. "I would do it again too, Jade. I never told you about it out of respect for her, and part of me didn't want you to start worrying if it meant something else."
"No." She knew what he was referring to, and he was right to be afraid of it. "I know I've been paranoid before, and I let that get out of hand. I'm trying to work on that." She paused, gazing in awe of him. "You're a good person deep down, Beck, and that's what's drawn me to you. I love you."
"I love you too."
Death rolled his eyes and looked down at his wristwatch. "Great. Now all we need is Whoopi Goldberg and we're all set." Death smirked as the two teens shot him a long glare.
"Right…" Jade turned away from him. "Beck." Her eyelids swelled with tears and she gasped softly. "You've always been a stabilizer for me, you're the one who has brought me back to earth when I've gone crazy. You have your flaws, but you've been the best thing for me." Beck nodded and let his tears slide down his face. "Everyone should have someone like that for them, you know."
"Yeah. Jade, if I've ever done something to hurt you, anything I've ever done wrong…I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I know you care about me." She cast a tiny smile and looked off to the right. "I was there when Trina confronted you, to make sure she knew where you stood."
"I meant everything I said then."
"I know." She cleared her throat and hugged herself. "Anyway. About Trina. You know that guy teaching her martial arts class?"
"Jason? Yeah, he's a good guy."
"He likes her." Beck's eyes shot up and a chuckle escaped his lips. "She likes him too, but they don't seem to be wanting to make that step." Beck walked towards a bench and sat down on it. He curled his hand under his chin and nodded gingerly.
"She's been hurt before, so it's not hard to know she's afraid of taking that step with anyone. I don't know much about Jason, but I do know what I've heard from Mr. Sikowitz, and it sounds like he has only gone down the dating road once or twice and it ended badly for him…I think Jason really hasn't been looking or even interested in anyone since."
"You don't know much about what happened to him?"
"No."
"Can you talk to him? Find out?"
"Maybe." Beck dropped his hand to his knee and leaned against the back of the bench. "He doesn't know me, of course. I barely even know him." Beck raised a curious eyebrow and twisted towards her. "Are you trying to play matchmaker or something, here?"
"I just think Trina needs someone in her life like him. A stabilizer. She's had it rough." From what she could remember, Jason was recruiting for his class, so that was one way Beck could get close to the guy to 'know' him. "Jason was looking for students in his class." Beck raised an eyebrow and she moved her hand a bit. "Join it and get to know the guy that way."
"You want me to join a martial arts class? I don't know the first thing..."
"That's why you go to the class, Beck. To learn. Plus, Trina knows you and she might actually respond well to your presence." He nodded understandably and took a deep breath. Jade crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she recalled what she learned regarding the past of the Vega sisters. "There's some other stuff you don't know either. I should get you up to speed, but whatever we discuss has got to stay between the two of us…okay?"
"Yes. I understand."
"We'll start with the fact that Trina clearly isn't the diva she makes herself out to be." His expression didn't change, which was a surprise. Jade had to think on that for a second before she figured Beck would already be aware of this. "You've met her before, so you probably already know that."
"Yeah, I've always known she was putting on a show. I never asked about it because she seemed to want to keep to herself, but I've always known." He rolled his head to the right and glanced to the sky. "If I'm completely honest, it's the reason for some of the antics I've done with her."
"Oh? Like the puppet thing?" She smirked and took pleasure in watching Beck cringe. "Yeah, I know about that."
"Right. I wanted to see if I couldn't get her to be herself. She was herself the other day when it was just the two girls and myself."
"She knows you, she knows you wouldn't believe her act. Andre, Robbie and the others don't know her. The whole act is because of Tori, basically. Tori's making her act like a drama queen so she'll be bullied." His eyes opened wide and he jumped up from the bench.
"What?" His voice echoed and Jade flinched. "What are you talking about? Why would Tori do that to her sister? They love each other, they wouldn't hurt each other."
"Not willingly, but Tori's doing it out of misguided anger. Something happened with them back at Sherwood, something Tori hasn't been able to get over. Trina did something with good intentions at heart, but it backfired horribly and now Trina's willing to do whatever she can to make it up to her little sister…and that means putting on a show and making everybody hate her."
"What could possibly be bad enough to warrant that?"
"Bullying." She waved her hand through the air, gesturing for him to follow her as she walked down the street. "Let's talk. I'll fill you in on as much of what I know as I can." If he was to help her properly, he needed to know everything that she learned.
That meant he needed to know about Tori's orientation, and about Trina's stalker ex-boyfriend. He needed to know that Gary was the birth father of the two girls, and David was distancing himself from them because of the loss of his own child. He also needed to know what was going on with Holly.
Now that he appeared to be calmer than he was before, she felt this was an opportune time to bring him up to speed. Some of it was going to be hard for him to hear, but he needed to hear it.
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