Disclaimer: "Dead Like Me" and all related subjects, places, characters and names are copyrighted by MGM. I do not own Dead Like Me or anything related to it. All the Characters used in this are fiction, any and all similarities with reality is a pure coincidence. Also if you want to use any characters in your own story/stories please tell me before you publish the story.
Dead Like Me: The Days After Life
"Death must be more then this"
What the hell had happened to me, I actually smiled today while doing my job. I promised myself not to smile, never in this line of work, it just seemed so psycho. Three years I have been in this line of work and I still had trouble doing it. Although I got all the meant to be bullshit, or fate, or destiny, however you want to call it. It still seemed as if you were a killer.
This whiskey tasted rather nice actually, maybe Alex was right, maybe I was a whiskey girl. I looked to my right, where Alex and Mary Jane were. But I didn't at all notice Alex, or his blood stained shirt. Ok I noticed his blood stained shirt but frankly I didn't care. My eyes couldn't get passed M.J. and I don't know why.
I thought you would've guessed by now, I'm Chloë. Yes the one thinking she could out smart one of the biggest drug bosses in Manhattan, as you might have guessed, I was wrong. I still see my face on milk packages from time to time. They still thought I was missing, although my parents would've probably given up on seeing me alive again by now.
M.J. turned her face to me for a split second and smiled, then she looked back at Alex, he seemed to be telling something. Perhaps I should listen, perhaps I should get some more whiskey. My glass was empty, so I pushed it away a bit and eyed the bartender, he got the hint and unscrewed the bottle again. Good now I have my whiskey, let's start the listening.
"It's nothing special, really it isn't" I heard Alex say, "well tell us anyway" Frank immediately interrupted him. I didn't feel like supporting either so I waited it out. "If you must be so curious, it was a bit more messy then expected" this was always how it started, he didn't want to tell anything about the souls he took but eventually he did, we all did, eventually.
"I just thought it was a normal murder suicide thing" Alex started, sinking deeper into thought probably trying to figure out how to tell them this. "It seemed that if I wasn't already dead it would've been a double murder suicide" he added with a grin on his face, the undead can't die, that was so good about being undead, or perhaps that was the curse. We all thought about mutilating ourselves so badly that we couldn't do our job anymore, well at least I did, but it just wouldn't work. I couldn't even overdose, I just felt funny and the day after I felt nothing.
"To make a long story short, I walked in on a fight about the marriage, the woman had slept with another man and her husband thought I was that man" Alex nodded his head up and down slowly while saying this, "so he shot me…" he took a breath "twice, once in the throat" he pointed at his shirt. "even after he killed himself and I reaped their souls he still thought I was her lover" Alex shook his head, it seemed as if even he couldn't believe it himself.
I smirked a bit, just to keep up the appearance that I was actually interested in his story. "Well ours were pretty regular" I said trying to avoid having to tell how it happened, M.J. looked at me with a surprised face, I knew what she thought and no a little boy wasn't regular but I just didn't want to talk about it, so I gently shook my head. "So if there isn't anything else I would like to go" I downed the last bit of whiskey, this was indeed some good stuff, perhaps I was a whiskey girl.
I stood up from my stool and nodded towards Faith and Frank, then I looked at M.J. and Alex, but I didn't nod goodbye, I was standing there as if waiting for something. "ehm… M.J. you can crash at my place tonight" what did I just say? I only have a one room apartment, well flat, with a small bed. M.J. looked around a bit confused, "I thought I…" she started, I just put my hand on her shoulder and winked. She understood what I meant, she did. I wanted to give Frank and Faith some time on their own, if they wanted. Just the opportunity I guess.
"Come on rookie" I said to M.J. she just stood up silently and put her hand up to the rest, waving them goodbye. Still a bit confused I guess, perhaps as confused as me. this girl stirred something in me, seeing her, it made me feel more alive, now that was a weird thing to say for a reaper. I looked over my shoulder to make sure she was still following me, she was, quite close actually. I just smiled at her, why do I have to smile when looking at her? What is wrong with me?
My place wasn't too far away from the bar, only three blocks away. "Well here it is" I said "my heaven on earth" I added with a cynic tone. The door swept open when I unlocked it, it was a bit messy but it still felt like home. "It's not much I guess" I threw my keys on the table and my coat on a chair. "want me to show you around?" I asked her, she just nodded. I knew that this wasn't at all like Faith's room, she had a big apartment, probably some separate rooms as well.
I grabbed Mary Jane by both the shoulders and I turned her a full circle, "there, that's my apartment" I said still holding her shoulders. Then I realized I should let go, but didn't. she looked a bit uncomfortable, then I suddenly let go in a shocking motion. "Well you can have the bed" I said pointing at the only bed in the room, I pointed my thumb over my shoulder "there's the bathroom, if you feel like going" I said with a grin.
M.J. walked to the bed and took off her coat and pants before laying down. She looked at the ceiling "Do you still believe in God?" she asked me. I never really did believe in God to start with, but perhaps I should give this girl a bit more reassurance. I grabbed a chair and sat down next to the bed, "I think that for everybody there is a God, I mean God is Allah or Jahova or whatever you want to call it, it's all the same" I hoped this answer would satisfy her.
"funny, I never believed in God but lately, even days before my death I started to doubt it, it was as if I felt it coming" M.J. frowned and covered herself with the blankets "It's cold" she said clutching to the blankets. "I know, I could turn the heater on if you want" I reacted, I was never cold, well I could feel the cold or warmth but it never bothered me. M.J. shook her head "Nah, I'll be warm in no time"
"Get some sleep, there will be another long day tomorrow" I rubbed her arm with my right hand, she smiled at me and turned around, to get some sleep. She was gone in an instant, I wished I could fall asleep that easily. I walked to the couch and sat down, I looked into the nothingness. Darkness surrounded the room, I should be sleepy but I was anxious somehow, I couldn't get any sleep. I wondered what Faith and Frank were doing now, if they were doing anything at all.
I stood up from the couch, I wouldn't be able to catch sleep for at least another hour, I just wasn't tired enough. So I sat back on the chair next to the bed, looking at M.J. what a beautiful young women she was. If somebody didn't deserve to die it was her, so full of life, never did anything wrong. Why was I looking at a girl sleeping? What the hell am I doing? I sighed, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could sleep like that, falling asleep when your head barely touches the pillow.
I saw her getting up from the bed and looking at me, she took a step closer to me. I could hear her breath, she squatted in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes. Beautiful dark blue eyes, death didn't get to her, I could still see genuine happiness in her eyes. She bend forward, her lips came closer to mine and she kissed me. She kissed me? Why the hell did she kiss me!
"Chloë" her mouth opened, she wanted to say something more, "Chloë" the sound seemed far away. "CHLOË!" suddenly is was close and clear. With a flash it was bright in the room, who the hell had turned the lights on? I looked around, it weren't the lights, it was the sun. "Finally, that must have been one uncomfortable place to sleep" M.J. said with a smile, did I fell asleep? In the chair? Then, what about… it must have been a dream. I let my tongue slip over my lips, no foreign taste, it was a dream. Thank God it was a dream.
It took some time for my eyes to get used to the bright light, "Why did you wake me?" I asked with a tired voice, "Alex just called, he was wondering what kept us" M.J. said to me. I looked at the clock on the wall, damnit! "We're late" I said to M.J. "why didn't you wake right me after he called?" I asked her. She hopped twice to get in her pants, "I did, I just hung up but it took me three minutes to wake you" she said with a smile. "you're still wearing the same clothes?" I asked her, that couldn't be healthy.
M.J. looked down, to check or so it seemed "yep I think I'm still wearing the same" she said with a smile, there was no putting this girl in a bad mood, I admired her for that, I hated her for that. I stood up from the chair, an immense pain shot through my neck, she was right, it wasn't comfortable sleeping in that chair but somehow I felt better and more awake then ever before.
"Come here" I said to M.J. without looking over my shoulder, I walked to the cupboard and pulled out a drawer, "dig in" I said with a royal motion towards the open drawer. All my clothes were in there, "take some clothes, at least until these are clean" I said pointing to the clothes she was wearing. She ran her hand through her hair, she looked a bit embarrassed or shy or something. "Take these and then we'll go shopping this afternoon" she lit up a bit, "really?" she asked, she probably wanted to be sure. "Off Course!" I almost shouted reassuring.
M.J. pulled out a black pair of jeans and a bordeaux red tank top, she looked around a bit, "bottom drawer" I said, she pulled it open. "Thanks" M.J. replied and pulled out some underwear. She looked at me with a questioning look, what could she mean? Ow shit, off course, "sorry" I said and turned around. As I heard the clothes fall on the floor I couldn't resist the urge to peek over my shoulder, she had a perfect body.
I quickly turned my head again, I didn't at all like the thoughts or feelings I was having when seeing her, it was all because of that dream. I needed to get that dream out of my head. "Ok ready" I heard her cheery voice say. I turned around on my heels, "that looks beautiful on you" I said, I couldn't help myself from biting on my lower lip.
Well come on Chloë pull yourself together, that was all I could think on the way to the bar, I couldn't get my eyes of her. I shook my head fiercely, I wanted to get that dream out of my mind. It was no use, just like the past five times I tried, it was no use. "ah, right where we left it" I said to M.J. when we walked around the corner and could see the bar. She looked at me, she got more nervous all of a sudden. She probably didn't like this at all, and who was I to blame her.
When I walked into the bar I couldn't help myself from smiling, man I smiled too much these days. Alex was the only one left in the bar, Frank and Faith probably were underway already. "I only have one more memo" Alex said when we got close enough "it's not a busy day" I saw that Alex was holding back one more memo, that must be a violent one then. "And I only asked for Chloë to come over, there was no need for you to come M.J."
"But I wanted to come, otherwise I would only be sitting there thinking about life, or at least what is left of it" M.J. countered Alex, "and I like having her around" I supported M.J., I should really stop doing this. The dream meant nothing, it was just a dream for God's sake! I grabbed the memo from Alex's hand and walked towards the doors again. We still had two hours, that should be enough time.
It was going to happen in a busy shop, that was good, then we could get some clothes for M.J. while waiting for Death to strike. Well actually it would be the graveling doing the striking, but for now my concerns were somewhere else, with something more important, "The black or the blue one?" M.J. asked me waving two shirts in front of me, a life and death situation indeed.
"Why don't you take both?" I said, my wallet probably didn't fully agree with that. "No I couldn't" she said hanging back the blue shirt, "black is more my color anyway" she said while walking towards the changing room. "Ever had a dream that stuck with you for the entire day?" I asked M.J. while she was changing, she was a bit confused as to where the question came from so all of a sudden.
"Well… ehm… let me think… I don't know really" she answered at first, "ow… wait, yes I did, why?" she corrected herself. "Well I'm having troubles with losing a dream, any ideas?" I explained to her. She walked outside the little cabin and made a three-sixty turn, "real nice, any ideas how to get rid of the dream?" I reacted. "well…" she said before she walked back into the cabin "if it's a realistic dream I think you should just try what you dreamt"
She doesn't know what she's getting herself into, "I don't think that's a good idea" I reacted to her, it really wasn't. I mean she was the perfect teenage girl, although twenty-one, never did anything wrong, waiting for marriage all that. It was really not a good idea to live my dream. "Well who is it?" M.J. asked, who is it? What did she mean by that? "What do you mean?" I asked a bit confused.
M.J. walked back outside the cabin in my clothes "I think I'll take this one" she said smiling, "who is the guy you kissed?" she made more clear what she meant by the question. "What?" now I was really confused, how did she know I was kissed in my dream, ow she's gonna love it when I say her name instead of one from a guy.
"Was it Frank? That would be shitty indeed, he and Faith like each other" she started fishing to who it was I kissed in my dream. "No it wasn't Frank, I would never do that to Faith" I said, and I really didn't lie, it wasn't Frank. "Alex then? I mean he might be a bit older but he's still an attractive guy" M.J. really wanted to know who it was.
Luckily a graveling saved my life, I saw him hop over the counter and figured I should take some action "No it's not Alex, I didn't kiss anyone" I reassured M.J. I hoped it sounded as reassuring as I wanted it to. I walked off to the counter, "I want to buy these" I said to the woman behind the counter, M.J. put the black shirt on the counter and I put the blue one on top of it, "blue looks great on you, trust me" I told her with a wink.
"That will be twenty-four dollars ad ninety-five cents" the girl behind the counter said when I looked back at her "special offer" she said with a wink. I smiled at her, "thanks" I put twenty-five dollars on the counter "so what is your last name" I checked her button "Joanne?" I looked at my memo and then looked back up, "Cardinal" she said sternly, "Thanks Miss Cardinal" I said touching her hand as I grabbed the shirts from the counter. A shimmering glow made us realize her soul was save.
We walked away from the shop and when we walked outside we heard a scream and then a bang, we looked back into the shop and saw Joanne got crushed under a piece of the ceiling collapsing. Her soul looked scared as it gazed down on the wreckage, "I so told my boss they shouldn't be working on the second floor, it was to unstable!" she said when looking at us and realizing we could see her as well. "Life's not fair is it?" M.J. said to Joanne, whom just reacted by shaking her head.
"Thanks" Joanne said to me right before she walked into the bright blue light that had sprung from the street, it turned into the runway of an airfield, "Well time to fly" she said walking towards a private plane waiting for somebody to get on board. Joanne disappeared into the blue and the airfield slowly got smaller and smaller until it was gone as well.
"Another satisfied customer" M.J. said, was she trying to make me feel more comfortable or something? "Well we still need to get you new pants" I said to her and walked off to another shop. She must have felt a bit out of place with that last comment because she got more silent since then.
"So what about that guy, have I seen him? Do I know him?" M.J. really insisted on knowing who the person was I kissed in my dream, "first of all I didn't kiss anyone" I said with a smile towards her "and secondly if I did it might not even have been a guy" I added some mystery into her little, lovely, head. Ok I should really stop calling her lovely and cute.
"Ah here it is" I said when we finally found the shop where I always got my jeans. "I want a pair just like these" she said when we walked inside, "you can keep those" I told her "now let's get something that screams M.J." I added giving her a friendly slap on the shoulder "and buy three of it" I was able to say before running off into the shop, well walking fast would be a better explanation. And only three or four steps before I slowed down again.
"Man I really hate shopping with you" I said to M.J. with a broad smile on my face. We had bought her three jeans and two additional shirts in that shop, bringing the total expenses on a hundred-fifty-eight something dollars. "I hope you're real happy with those clothes" I told her.
"I am, I really am" M.J. reassured me, she put her arm around my shoulder "thanks" she said. After which she pressed her lips on my cheek. Now why the hell did she have to do that? Man now I could never leave that dream alone until it actually happened. "let's get a drink in the bar and talk over some stuff before going home" I told her making way to the bar. I grabbed her hand again, like yesterday not pulling her anywhere just holding her hand.
"Can I stay with you again? Tonight I mean?" M.J. asked looking at me with big round puppy eyes "How can I ever refuse you when you're staring at me like that" I said laughing, "off course, you can stay as long as you want" I gently squeezed her hand as I said this. The bar, there it was, I opened the door and I felt how M.J. wanted to let go of my hand, so I released my grip.
"hey love birds, how long has Alex been away?" I asked Faith and Frank, the both shook their heads, he probably left before they got back, "only one memo today, lucky us" I said sitting down next to the two. "Thanks for yesterday" Faith whispered to me. "So what do you want?" Frank said with a loud cheer "Drinks on me!"