Chapter 44: Life after Death

Nessie's POV

"Is this something that you ever get used to? Being dead I mean?" I asked Sandra.

"You eventually get used to life after death. Unless you're roasting in hell. I can't imagine that one would ever get used to that kind of torment,"

The thought made me shudder. It's weird to know that there is life after death. My mom, brothers, and I weren't religious at all when I was alive. We had never conformed to Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, or any religion for that matter. I would not say that we were atheists either. We just never gave it much thought. But my mom did raise us to be good people. I definitely strived to be the best person I could. Someone who was good and kind to others. Did I make mistakes? Yes but who doesn't?

I just never gave much thought to how my actions when I was alive would affect my fate after death. I was happy that there was something for all good people to look forward to after they died.

"What are you thinking about Nessie?" Sandra asked me. She looked worried. She probably thought that I was going into shock or something. In a way she reminded me of my mother. A stab of pain hit me harder than the bullets had when I thought of my mother.

I sighed. "I'm thinking about life after death," I answered. I was shocked when she put her arm around me and I felt it.

"Ghosts can feel one another the way living beings can. Interacting with the physical world is a whole other matter entirely. But sometimes when you feel a strong enough emotion you can move a physical object,"

"You really know a lot don't you?"

"Well I have been dead for half a year already. You do pick up on things and learn from other ghosts who have been dead even longer than you,"

"So where are we going?" I asked her.

"To see my son," she said. "I check up on him daily. That's what I was doing when I found you. I'm glad I did to,"

Some time later a decrepit old house came into view. I could hear people screaming inside the house. I could also hear a baby crying loudly. It was very unsettling how now I didn't even need to open the door to enter ths house. The first thing I noticed was all the beer bottles that littered the house. There were pills scattered around everywhere as well.

There was a man and a woman there screaming at each other. They looked like they were either high, drunk, or even both at the same time. It was hard to fathom how the government would allow a couple like this to foster a child.

I followed Sandra into another room where her baby was. He was laying there in a crib crying as loud as his little lungs would allow. He looked in bad shape. He was dirty from head to toe and it smelled like he hadn't had a diaper change in awhile. He also looked really skinny. Like he was not getting enough to eat.

It was completely obvious to me now why she didn't want to crossover just yet. As a mother she had to make sure that he found a loving home away from this godawful place. Another question suddenly came to my mind. Why had Lucy's parents crossed over so quickly after their deaths? Did they somehow know already that she would be okay? Maybe. It was hard to be certain of anything though.

I never felt so helpless in my life, or death, or whatever term now applied to my situation. I wanted to help but I didn't know how.

"What's his name?" I finally asked.

"Brian," she said. "It's what my husband wanted to call him,"

"How can the government allow this kind of thing to happen?"

"Oh these people put a nice show whenever the social workers show up. They'll clean the place up and act like the most caring people in the world. Anything to keep the money coming in,"

The yelling suddenly got louder. Brian's cries got louder. Then a strange thought occurred to me. They were speaking German and I understood perfectly what they're saying. How was that possible?

"How come I can understand what they're saying?"

"One of the perks, if you can really call it that, of death is you gain the ability to read, speak, and understand all languages,"

"Wow,"

"Come on Nessie let's get out of here,"

"I want to go visit my family," I decided. It was going to hurt like hell but now I wanted to see how they were doing.

"Sure kid," she spoke sadly. "I will come with you,"

I didn't know what had brought this on all of a sudden. A few hours ago I couldn't get away fast enough. As soon as I took Lucy there I had fled as fast as I could. Now I wanted to go back? Damn I really was all over the place.

The walk back to my house was a quiet one. But as soon as we were close enough we heard loud wails coming from inside the house. It chilled me right to the bone and broke my heart at the same time.

"It's okay Nessie. It just means your family loves you and misses you so much,"

I nodded. She was right. Then just like before we simply walked through the wall tp get inside. The first thing I saw was my mother crying in my father's arms. My father was crying as well. Though of course there were no tears.

It was the same with the rest of my family. Everyone was crying. It was heartbreaking to watch. Even worse to know that I was the reason behind all the tears and the sadness. Then I found Lucy sitting on the couch with aunt Rosalie. Although my aunt was just as sad as the rest of my family she was there taking care of Lucy.

Lucy smiled when she saw me. "Don't say anything," I told her before she could speak.

"She's a necromancer?" Sandra asked.

"Yes. She can see us,"

I looked back when I heard someone enter the room. It was just my mother and father. My father froze all of a sudden. His eyes widened in shock at something I could not understand. He quickly looked at Lucy and then then at me. Or right through me.

Wait? Was my father reading Lucy's mind right now? Did that mean that my father could see me through Lucy? The answer was clear on my father's face.

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