A/N: The most exciting, thrilling, breath-taking chapter yet!!! Hah, okay,
it's not that exciting, but I hope you like it anyway.
Susannah:
"So," Cade asked, biting off the bottom of his drumstick. "You have a boyfriend back in California?" I swear, I almost choked on my ice cream cone. He said it so casually, you'd have thought he was asking me what my name was, or something.
"Um," I said, swallowing. How was I going to explain to him that my boyfriend was a nineteenth century ghost? Simple, I wouldn't. "Not really." God, I hate myself.
He thought for a moment. "Oh, so it would be okay if we went out on Saturday night?" We've been here for less than a day, and I've already got a date for Saturday night. Incredible.
"Um, yeah, that'd be cool." I said, trying hard not to sound as surprised as I actually was.
"Great." He said. I was getting pretty uncomfortable. I mean, I just made a date with a guy, when Jesse is waiting for me back home. But I promised myself it would just be a friendly date, and that nothing would happen.
"Um, I was hoping that I could go home. There's a three hour time difference, so I'm pretty tired." He told me that he didn't mind, and we headed home, that kid still following us. He was really beginning to scare me, and I don't get scared very easily.
I wondered who he could be. All I knew was that he must have known Cade. Why else would he be following him, and no one else? So I decided to take the plunge. "Have you ever lost a friend, or a family member?"
He looked at me a little strangely. "Huh?"
"Nevermind." I figured that he was better off not knowing.
Then, after a few minutes of excruciating silence, he said, "Austin."
"What?" I looked at him, but his expression was blank.
"Austin, he was my younger brother. He died of Cystic Fibrosis when he was 12. Why do you ask?"
"I'm so sorry." I said, not really answering his question. That would explain why this kid was in a hospital gown. I looked up and noticed that we were already home.
That's when I heard a phone ring, and he pulled his cellular phone out of his pocket. "Sorry," he said to me, then flipped it open.
"Hey!" He said into the phone, smiling. But I didn't pay attention to the rest of his conversation, on account of Austin, whose fists were clenched at his sides, his eyes squinted and menacing. I also noticed the flower pots on our front porch beginning to shake. Cade obviously hadn't noticed, because he went on talking and laughing. But the more he laughed, the more the ground would tremble, only slightly, but enough so that I could feel it.
Cade closed his phone and said, "That was my cousin, Jack. He lives out west, but we're like brothers--"
Then, out of nowhere, one of those flower pots on my porch was speeding at Cade's head. And I instinctively threw myself at him, just like I had done to Bryce Martinson, and we both went flying to the ground. A split second later, I felt little pieces of clay and dirt pelt my clothing. That's when it dawned on me. Austin was a very jealous ghost.
"Oh my God." Cade said with 3 second pauses between each word. And that's all he could say for the first couple of minutes until he regained his composure and said, "Thanks. You . . . I think you saved my life, Suze. I really don't know what that was. But weird stuff like that has been going on lately. See, I'd be at school, then my books would just fly out of my arms, and down the hall." He stopped and looked at me for a moment. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
I shook my head. "I don't think you're crazy." I just didn't want us to be the target of any more ghostly attacks, so I suggested that we get inside.
Once we were inside of his house, which is only a few homes away from mine, I told him that I needed to use him phone to let my mom know I was at home.
"Sure," he said. "It's in the kitchen."
I walked down the hallway into the kitchen and flipped on the light. And after making way to the cordless phone on his kitchen table I dialed my mother's phone number. After two rings, Andy picked up, and I could hear laughter in the background when he said, "Hello?"
"Hi, Andy. Could you put my mom on the phone?"
"Sure," he said, and passed it to my mother.
"Suze?"
"Hi, I just wanted to let you know that Cade walked me back home, is that alright?" I was looking around at all the things stuck to their fridge. The usual, tests, drawings, and photographs. I was looking at one picture with a group of about 30 people, and I realized that it must have been taken at some sort of family reunion.
"That's fine, Suzie." My mom said, as I was scanning the photo looking for Cade. Though who I found instead caused me to drop the reciever onto the Moore's marble floor.
I could hear my mother's faint voice calling me. "Suze? Susannah, are you there?" And then the dial tone, when she got no response.
But that was the last thing on my mind as I looked at the picture again, to make sure I wasn't seeing things.
Of course, I wasn't. Because what I saw both times was Paul Slater, his usual smirk playing upon his face.
Jesse:
Father Dominic had already retired for the night, and I was sitting in the Mission courtyard, the fountain bubbling noisily behind me. I've had a lot of time to think everything over since Susannah left. I never really thought it would end up this way. I mean, I knew that Susannah and I wouldn't be together forever, I just never thought it would be because she moved to the other side of the country. And while she's out living her life without me. While I'm confined to Carmel, California for the rest of my doomed exsistence. Sometimes I wonder why God has chosen that I remain here, on Earth.
Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time i've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there
Just as I was thinking that, I saw the ground in front of me glimmer with silver light. I turned to see Amaya, smiling sympathetically.
She plopped down next to me, her skirt ruffling noisily. "You really miss her, don't you?" She asked.
I sighed. But I looked up into her jade eyes, that were identical to Susannah's, and found myself unable to utter a word.
"Are you okay?" She asked in her Southern accent when she noticed me struggling to forn a coherent sentence.
I ran my fingers through my hair. "It's just..." I said, finding my voice. "Well, you look so much like--"
"Susannah." She finished. "I know. That is because Susannah is my neice."
I stared at her, my mouth agape. I really thought she was pulling my leg, yet her expression was sincere."She...She's what?" I said, shaking my head.
"You heard correctly. Susannah Simon is my great-grand neice, or something like that. Anyway, Jesse, I know why you are still here, and not in Heaven. Because you and Susannah are meant to be together, and I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. Because if there was anything I ever regretted, it was giving up Dominic."
I blinked at her, still not understanding what she was getting at. "What do you mean?"
"Jesse," She said, smiling at me. "Go find Susannah." That's when she closed her eyes and extended her arms out, cupping her hands.
And before I could ask her what was going on, a ball of light appeared in her hands. She held it out to me, and it was so enchanting, and so mesmerizing, that I reached out, and touched it with the tips of my fingers, still not sure of what was going on.
In a split second, I saw my entire life flash before my eyes, just as it had on that fateful night 150 years ago. I watched as my mother held me in her arms, my sisters, my father, Maria, then Diego. And finally, everything was black.
A/N: For Danny.
Susannah:
"So," Cade asked, biting off the bottom of his drumstick. "You have a boyfriend back in California?" I swear, I almost choked on my ice cream cone. He said it so casually, you'd have thought he was asking me what my name was, or something.
"Um," I said, swallowing. How was I going to explain to him that my boyfriend was a nineteenth century ghost? Simple, I wouldn't. "Not really." God, I hate myself.
He thought for a moment. "Oh, so it would be okay if we went out on Saturday night?" We've been here for less than a day, and I've already got a date for Saturday night. Incredible.
"Um, yeah, that'd be cool." I said, trying hard not to sound as surprised as I actually was.
"Great." He said. I was getting pretty uncomfortable. I mean, I just made a date with a guy, when Jesse is waiting for me back home. But I promised myself it would just be a friendly date, and that nothing would happen.
"Um, I was hoping that I could go home. There's a three hour time difference, so I'm pretty tired." He told me that he didn't mind, and we headed home, that kid still following us. He was really beginning to scare me, and I don't get scared very easily.
I wondered who he could be. All I knew was that he must have known Cade. Why else would he be following him, and no one else? So I decided to take the plunge. "Have you ever lost a friend, or a family member?"
He looked at me a little strangely. "Huh?"
"Nevermind." I figured that he was better off not knowing.
Then, after a few minutes of excruciating silence, he said, "Austin."
"What?" I looked at him, but his expression was blank.
"Austin, he was my younger brother. He died of Cystic Fibrosis when he was 12. Why do you ask?"
"I'm so sorry." I said, not really answering his question. That would explain why this kid was in a hospital gown. I looked up and noticed that we were already home.
That's when I heard a phone ring, and he pulled his cellular phone out of his pocket. "Sorry," he said to me, then flipped it open.
"Hey!" He said into the phone, smiling. But I didn't pay attention to the rest of his conversation, on account of Austin, whose fists were clenched at his sides, his eyes squinted and menacing. I also noticed the flower pots on our front porch beginning to shake. Cade obviously hadn't noticed, because he went on talking and laughing. But the more he laughed, the more the ground would tremble, only slightly, but enough so that I could feel it.
Cade closed his phone and said, "That was my cousin, Jack. He lives out west, but we're like brothers--"
Then, out of nowhere, one of those flower pots on my porch was speeding at Cade's head. And I instinctively threw myself at him, just like I had done to Bryce Martinson, and we both went flying to the ground. A split second later, I felt little pieces of clay and dirt pelt my clothing. That's when it dawned on me. Austin was a very jealous ghost.
"Oh my God." Cade said with 3 second pauses between each word. And that's all he could say for the first couple of minutes until he regained his composure and said, "Thanks. You . . . I think you saved my life, Suze. I really don't know what that was. But weird stuff like that has been going on lately. See, I'd be at school, then my books would just fly out of my arms, and down the hall." He stopped and looked at me for a moment. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
I shook my head. "I don't think you're crazy." I just didn't want us to be the target of any more ghostly attacks, so I suggested that we get inside.
Once we were inside of his house, which is only a few homes away from mine, I told him that I needed to use him phone to let my mom know I was at home.
"Sure," he said. "It's in the kitchen."
I walked down the hallway into the kitchen and flipped on the light. And after making way to the cordless phone on his kitchen table I dialed my mother's phone number. After two rings, Andy picked up, and I could hear laughter in the background when he said, "Hello?"
"Hi, Andy. Could you put my mom on the phone?"
"Sure," he said, and passed it to my mother.
"Suze?"
"Hi, I just wanted to let you know that Cade walked me back home, is that alright?" I was looking around at all the things stuck to their fridge. The usual, tests, drawings, and photographs. I was looking at one picture with a group of about 30 people, and I realized that it must have been taken at some sort of family reunion.
"That's fine, Suzie." My mom said, as I was scanning the photo looking for Cade. Though who I found instead caused me to drop the reciever onto the Moore's marble floor.
I could hear my mother's faint voice calling me. "Suze? Susannah, are you there?" And then the dial tone, when she got no response.
But that was the last thing on my mind as I looked at the picture again, to make sure I wasn't seeing things.
Of course, I wasn't. Because what I saw both times was Paul Slater, his usual smirk playing upon his face.
Jesse:
Father Dominic had already retired for the night, and I was sitting in the Mission courtyard, the fountain bubbling noisily behind me. I've had a lot of time to think everything over since Susannah left. I never really thought it would end up this way. I mean, I knew that Susannah and I wouldn't be together forever, I just never thought it would be because she moved to the other side of the country. And while she's out living her life without me. While I'm confined to Carmel, California for the rest of my doomed exsistence. Sometimes I wonder why God has chosen that I remain here, on Earth.
Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time i've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there
Just as I was thinking that, I saw the ground in front of me glimmer with silver light. I turned to see Amaya, smiling sympathetically.
She plopped down next to me, her skirt ruffling noisily. "You really miss her, don't you?" She asked.
I sighed. But I looked up into her jade eyes, that were identical to Susannah's, and found myself unable to utter a word.
"Are you okay?" She asked in her Southern accent when she noticed me struggling to forn a coherent sentence.
I ran my fingers through my hair. "It's just..." I said, finding my voice. "Well, you look so much like--"
"Susannah." She finished. "I know. That is because Susannah is my neice."
I stared at her, my mouth agape. I really thought she was pulling my leg, yet her expression was sincere."She...She's what?" I said, shaking my head.
"You heard correctly. Susannah Simon is my great-grand neice, or something like that. Anyway, Jesse, I know why you are still here, and not in Heaven. Because you and Susannah are meant to be together, and I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. Because if there was anything I ever regretted, it was giving up Dominic."
I blinked at her, still not understanding what she was getting at. "What do you mean?"
"Jesse," She said, smiling at me. "Go find Susannah." That's when she closed her eyes and extended her arms out, cupping her hands.
And before I could ask her what was going on, a ball of light appeared in her hands. She held it out to me, and it was so enchanting, and so mesmerizing, that I reached out, and touched it with the tips of my fingers, still not sure of what was going on.
In a split second, I saw my entire life flash before my eyes, just as it had on that fateful night 150 years ago. I watched as my mother held me in her arms, my sisters, my father, Maria, then Diego. And finally, everything was black.
A/N: For Danny.