All things are ready, if our minds be so
– William Shakespeare
…
"…Mai…?"
"…Mai."
"Mai!"
My eyes opened, to see nearly everyone leaning over me. "What?" I said.
Hm, the most stupid thing I probably could have said right about then.
Naru sighed. "I have a feeling you talked to her."
I sat up slowly – wait, why was I on the floor? I must have fallen out of my chair at some point. That probably explained why my side hurt. I still felt like I was underneath the dregs of the trance. Leaves had blown in through the open windows, and my chair was knocked over. "Did she do something?"
"Just some offhand spirits that had suddenly gotten kind of powerful," Monk said. I noticed that he had a cut on his cheek, which Ayako was trying to clean out.
"Did you find her?" Toshi-san asked, "What room was she in? Did she move on?"
"She wasn't in the house," I said, kind of stumped. "She wasn't even here – she was in her Akashic Record room."
"What?" Naru said.
"You went where?" Monk said.
Masako added, "How did you do that?"
"Gene…" I said so softly, that I think Naru was the only one that heard me.
"Idiot," he said just as quietly.
I was tempted to laugh, but I was too tired to do so.
"Naru, how come she wasn't here?" I asked. "How come she was causing such havoc, even if she wasn't truly on this plane?"
"There are some things in the paranormal world that is hard to figure out. I'm sure her power was influential enough that she was able to do something, even if it was mostly from her will."
That was kind of Naru's way of saying 'I don't know' without really admitting it.
I noticed something else about the house.
It felt…normal.
I smiled. I hoped Arabel found peace in her next life.
And with that, the Deons, were now free.
…
Even though the Deons' and most of the SPR members (excluding, of course, a certain two) had planned a dinner date in future months, it never happened. We both got on with our lives, us with more cases, and them by probably restoring their house.
I'm glad that they were okay. John brought back stories of things watching through the window, with squinty eyes and malicious grins. John said that he hadn't slept the whole time he was there.
Eikou-san had been released not too long after; Toshi-san had told me in a random phone call, and his scarring was actually not too bad. As shocking as it was to the doctors.
I couldn't help smiling and thinking of Gene – I had a feeling that there were spirit doctors that had to do with that.
And, of course, John and I wrote a letter to Toby (he was writing the letter, translating my words to English), so that he would know the outcome. When I asked, I think John was relieved that he hadn't had to be there for the regression.
In the biggest news, Monk took me and Masako out to help him look through rings at a jewelry store. He wanted to know our opinions on what ring we thought Ayako would like best. At our open giggles, his exact words were, 'it's not an engagement ring.'
Yeah, right, Monk, keep fooling yourself.
At my own pace, I told Naru about the full extent of my trance-induced dream. I think he was surprised that I had even decided to tell him. He listened quietly, and then said, "So you really didn't do anything."
Hmmm.
He gave me a hint of a smile. "Good job, though."
"Thanks," I said, then took my leave.
Sigh.
You still have a lot to live for; don't waste it waiting for me.
I wonder if he wasn't necessarily talking about Naru.
…
The last thing I got from Toshi-san and Eikou-san was a short letter and a picture. The letter said that they had finally, fully moved back into their house. And that she had had a baby.
The picture showed the three of them, in front of the renovated house. Toshi-san looked restored back to health. Eikou-san's scarring was hardly visibly – and he was smiling.
Toshi-san held a baby girl in her arms, and she stared intently into the camera.
Even though the eyes were brown, from the Japanese bloodlines, there was no mistaking the beautiful, mottled quality of a certain past life woman's eyes.
...
…
~fin~
…
...
Hey, everybody, thank you so much for reading my story… (Man, writing notes for me is harder than writing the actual story!)
So, let me try again- Thank you to everybody who read 'The Afterlife Effect'. All your reviews were lovely and so thoughtful. I enjoyed every remark and curious inquisition about how you thought the story was going.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it and followed it to the end. :-) Thanks so much for reading!
-Coriana
