A Neverending Story
Chapter Four-Ghostly Get-togethers
I just looked at him.
"So?" I said infrustration. He just leaned against the bedpost, wearing a somewhat amused expression.
"If I didn't know any better, senorita, I'd say that this room is no longer yours. I'd say that my family now lives here," Jesse said with a smile playing on his lips, "And besides. Do you think I want to share my room either?"
I was hurt. He was laughing at me! Well, I wasn't one to just stand back and watch as some Spanish rancher mocked me. Two can play this game, I thought. I stood up from my place on the window seat and took three, intimidating (or what I hoped to be at least) steps toward him.
I pointed an accusing finger at him and said in a menacing whisper, "Your family is welcome to be living here, but not in my room.Now, I think that you should get out before I do something that I know I'll regret." Hey, they weren't exactly warm, welcoming words, but just because I was a ghost didn't mean I was going to put up with him sharing my room. I hadn't been a delicate little flower in my lifetime, and I certainly wasn't going to behave like one in my afterlife.
My threatening words didn't have the desired effect on him, to say the least. His amused expression didn't falter; instead he took a step towards me so that we were practically standing nose to nose. It was incredibly unnerving how tall he was, but I didn't let that frighten me. Or at least, I didn't let my worried expression show on my face.
I gazed into the dark pools that were his eyes and momentarily forgot that I was supposed to be upset with him. He was near enough that I could feel his breath on me, breath that I hadn't had for 150 years. Our gazes remained locked until a realized what I was doing. I promptly dematerialized.
I rematerialized on the beach, still stunned. What had happened back there? I mentally scolded myself for not telling him off more thoroughly. What had I been doing, staring at him like that? I should've kicked him out of my room and straight back to where he had come from. But…his face! I couldn't take my eyes off him. When I looked at him, I got too distracted to even think about the problem at hand. I got too distracted to think about anything other than his entrancing features. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to share my room with him after all, I thought, and immediately pushed the thought out of my mind. My thoughts were too shaken up to think straight, so I just decided to ignore the situation at hand.
The next day, I went to see this Jesse fellow once again. Not wanting him to think I liked him or anything, I remained hidden. He arrived at the Mission, which had been around when I was alive, and I was surprised that it had since then been transformed into a school. Since he was new, Jesse registered in the front office and met with the principal, Father Dominic. He was in his 60s, but still had a young feel to him. He was tall, almost as tall as Jesse, and had clear blue eyes and white, snowy hair. He seemed normal enough until the two were walking down the hall, discussing school policies.
A girl, probably around the same age as me, was leaning against a locker looking stubborn with her arms crossed and a pout on her lips. She straightened up when she saw Jesse looking at her, as did most girls did when they saw attractive males. Hey, not that I think Jesse is attractive! Well, ok, I'll admit that he was definitely endowed in the looks department. Saying that certainly doesn't mean that I like him.
Anyway, back to the girl. Jesse looked from her to father Dominic with an astonished expression.
"You…you can see her too?" Jesse asked. Father Dominic nodded. I was also surprised. I mean another mediator in Carmel, California? I had been around quite a long time, but I had never met another mediator. Granted, I didn't get out all that much, but now the place seemed to be crawling with them.
Jesse and Father Dominic left after talking to the girl ghost for a little while, whose name, I found out, was Heather. I came out from the shadows in which I had been hiding and faced her, my hands folded over my chest.
"Hello," I said, hoping to make conversation.
Startled, she looked up at me. Once she realized that I was a ghost, she glanced over my outfit from the long, flowing lilac skirts to the ringlets in my chestnut colored hair.
"And who are you supposed to be?" she asked, rather rudely. Now, I do not appreciate rudeness in any form, and especially not about my outfit. I knew that fashions had changed since I had been alive, but I didn't need to be constantly reminded of it.
"Who am I? I am Susannah Simon, mediator. And who are you, and why haven't you moved on?" I said in the same amused voice Jesse had used on me the night before. I had learned that sometimes the most effective way to get people irritated was to be annoyingly polite.
Heather didn't fall for my act, though. She said in the same sickening sweet voice, "The name's Heather. Now if you wouldn't mind, Susannah…" she added a mocking emphasis on my name, "I'd appreciate it if you'd get out of my way. I have places to be, and they're certainly not here talking to a dead girl in a hoopskirt."
Now, she had no right to be speaking to me like that, no right at all. I had only been trying to help her move on. Just because I was dead didn't mean I wasn't able to use my mediator abilities.
"Not so fast. If I'm not mistaken, I'm not the only one who's dead here. And I may be dead, but I still am here to help you move on to your next life. So, I ask you again…what is holding you back?" I was starting to get really aggravated at this point.
She laughed in my face. "And if I'm not mistaken, you haven't moved on either, so why are you so keen on helping me get to the other side?" I just glared at her. Tense silence hung between us.
Finally, she spoke up. "Okay, okay. If you must know, I haven't moved on because I'm not even supposed to be dead! It's all my boyfriend's, Bryce's fault. We were in love! I know he loved me, too. But that bastard broke up with me! I was so upset that I went home and shot myself! But I didn't mean it, I swear. I shouldn't have died; I didn't mean to die. It was all his fault! BRYCE WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED ME!" By this point she was screaming in rage, bitter tears of anger would be able to hear her screams, but I figured that they were too far away to be listening anyway. So it was just me facing Heather; me alone dealing with a hysterical ghost girl.
It was a sad story, I knew, but I also knew that it was the girl's own fault that she was dead. She had killed herself over this boy, and now she had to suffer the consequences. I started to say something, not knowing if it was going to be sympathy or scolding, but Heather had disappeared, leaving me alone in the deserted courtyard. Frustrated, I disappeared as well, back to my room. Or, I should say, Jesse's room. I sat on the window seat, glad that he was still at school.
Around three o'clock, Jesse came home from school, but I promptly disappeared before he had time to see me. I watched him pace around his room, occasionally working on his homework, until he was called down for dinner. I waited patiently on the window seat until he came back several hours later, well past dark. He was dressed all in black, and the color accented his tan skin. In the darkness or the room, he didn't notice me in the shadows of my usual seat.
"Isn't it a little late to be going out?" I asked him. He looked up, startled. He quickly resumed his indifferent expression.
"You never told me your name," was all he said.
"It's Susannah. As in, 'don't you cry for me'," I said automatically, without stopping to think. I wondered, Why did I just tell him that?
"A beautiful name. I know the song," he said in that smooth voice of his. I narrowed my eyes at him. He might have been a charmer, but I wasn't about to let him get away without an answer to my first question.
"Where are you going?" I asked again, suspiciously.
"Oh, nowhere. Just down to the Mission to do a little…shall we say 'ghostly' work for Father Dominic," Jesse said.
"You mean to deal with that girl, Heather?" I questioned.
His eyes widened. "How…how do you know about her?"
I realized my mistake too late. Great, I thought, now he thinks I'm stalking to him or something. I chose to ignore his question.
"I wouldn't go down to see her. I think maybe it would work out better if I dealt with her. You know, girl to girl, ghost to ghost?" I suggested.
"No, Susannah. I will deal with her. She's far stronger and more powerful than you realize, and you will end up hurt," he said.
"I'm a ghost, remember?" I said bitterly, "It's not like I can die, or even get permanently hurt." Jesse gave me a look, as if to say, 'just let me handle it, ok?' and turned to go out the door. I stood up and bolted the door in place.
"I said…let me handle it!" I said through gritted teeth. The whole 'Heather situation' was just like how he had stolen my bedroom…it wasn't that important, but if it was taken from me, it immediately became significant. Childish, I know, but then again, life got boring when you had nothing to do for 150 years.
However, Jesse ignored my sudden actions and crossed over the window seat. Without a word, he slid open the window and climbed out, all in a matter of seconds. I stood by the door openmouthed. Well two can play this game, I thought, my green eyes flashing.
I materialized at the Mission a moment later and found it deserted. It was at least a couple of miles from the house; Jesse wouldn't be here for a little while. I walked noiselessly around the courtyard, trying not to disturb the silence that hung in the air so ominously.
"Looking for someone?" a shrill, female voice sounded from behind me. Damn, I thought, she beat me to it.
"Actually, I am. Now, believe me when I say I'm not at all happy to be here either, but you need to move on, and I'm going to help you do it. So I'd appreciate it if you just kept your comments to yourself and cooperate," I said. Better to start this all out with a good note. Better to lay out the rules before we start playing the game.
She looked mistrustful. "So…you want to help?"
"That's what I said, did I?"
Surprisingly, a smile washed over her face. "Oh, I knew it was possible! I'm sorry that I was rude before; it's just that those other mediator dudes said that what I wanted couldn't happen." Good, I thought. She should very well be apologizing for being so rude to me before. Then the other part of her sentence sunk in.
"Wait…what do you mean? What did they say wasn't possible?" I said, starting to panic slightly.
"Oh, you know. Going back to how things were before: me being alive, Bryce being in love with me. You know." No, I didn't know.
"Well, Heather, I'm afraid that they were right. You can't ever go back to how you were before," I said simply. She stared at me, her smile fading quickly.
"But…but you said…" she stuttered, looking at me but not really seeing me.
"Look, I know what I said, and I most certainly didn't say that," I snapped. Oops. Wrong choice of words.
"YOU TOLD ME THAT I COULD GO BACK!" she screamed. The fountain beside us seethed, bubbles erupting and sending the water towards me in steamy waves. I jumped back, alarmed. Though I'm a ghost, I can still get hurt; I just heal a lot faster than people. And trust me; I wasn't exactly looking forward to getting scorched by boiling water.
Using my kinetic power, I sent a wooden bench hurtling in her direction, but she was too far gone in her fury to even notice. The pieces bounced off of her and came back hurtling in my direction. I dodged them, but was knocked to the ground as a particularity sharp, dangerous piece of wood stabbed me in the stomach. I fell onto my knees, gasping, but I didn't see the giant head of a statue come rolling towards me until it was less than a foot away. I looked up from my wound just in time to see the large stone, big enough to crush me, and felt an invisible force knock me out of the way of it just in time.
"Susannah!" a male voice shouted. Jesse? What was he doing here?
"I thought I told you I could handle this!" I said.
"And this is you handling it?" he replied. Well, he had me on that one. He looked down to my stomach, which the piece of wood still stuck out of. His eyes widened.
"You're hurt. Are you alright?" he asked in concern.
"Does it look like I'm alright? Oh well, I'll survive. But right now Heather is destroying the whole courtyard! Go stop her!" I pleaded. He took one last look at me and ran over to where Heather was thrashing around, tearing up the place. I looked down where the wood, like a dagger, was staked through me. It went through me in the front and came out my back, straight through. Blood gushed from the wound, pouring down in rivers and staining my dress a nasty brown color. Now, I wasn't one to be squeamish over blood, even my own blood. But seeing a stake through my stomach and blood gushing out in waterfalls was a little much for a Monday afternoon, you know? So it's no wonder that I took one last look at my stomach, blacked out, and fainted.
Well we all learned something today, huh? Now I know that ghosts can most certainly pass out.
Well, how did you like it? By the way, thanks for the reviews! (That was the cue to go review some more). Ciao.