"Maybe you can scare her out." Jess suddenly lunged for Emily. "Boo!"
Emily flinched, but other than that nothing happened. She could still feel Beth trying to wrench herself free, to no avail.
"Maybe we can work her out of you somehow." Matt cautiously placed his hands on Emily's shoulders, and with restrained strength twisted her just a bit. Her spine popped, and she felt a little less stiff, but Beth was still in there.
"Maybe I can seduce her out." Jess adopted her cutest flirtatious look. She winked and blew a kiss in Emily's direction. "Hey Beth, if you can get out of there I'll give you a nice big smooch."
Either Emily or Beth (or maybe both of them) was enticed by the proposal, but it didn't seem to help much. Beth was still straining to try and separate herself from Emily's fleshy prison. She didn't appear to be making much progress.
"Maybe I need to disgust her or something." Emily wandered into the kitchen and threw open her pantry. "Beth, what's your least favorite food?"
Um, I don't know. What do you have?
She heard the fridge open and then close behind her. Jess appeared at her side with something behind her back.
"Hey Em," she said, "remember that time we dared Josh to eat a whole jar of mayonnaise, and he did and then he barfed everywhere?"
She could feel Beth internally roll her eyes. "…Where are you going with this."
Jess pulled a jar of mayonnaise from behind her back. Then she held up a spoon.
"No. Fuck no. That's disgusting."
"Just disgusting enough to work, maybe."
"I am not eating an entire jar of mayonnaise."
"Well then what are you gonna do?"
Emily had an idea. It was a big idea, and was not to be taken lightly – but it could work. It just might work.
Reading her thoughts, Beth immediately replied, Oh God.
"I have an idea, but it's not pretty. You might not like it."
Jess' concerned face dissolved in favor of her usual devious curiosity. "Ooh, I'm interested now. What is it?"
Not wanting to get Beth too accustomed to the idea, Emily instead simply walked away from Jess. Jess eagerly followed her. They stopped in front of Matt, who had been hesitantly pursuing them into the kitchen.
"You all right?" he immediately asked. "You look a little–"
"Matt," Em cut him off, "I'm sorry, but I have to try something."
Jess watched with great interest as Em took a step closer to Matt. Then, without hesitation, Emily grabbed him and planted a kiss right on his mouth. He jerked back, but Emily pursued him, backing him up against the kitchen wall.
"Ooh, good idea!" Jess shouted from behind them.
Either Matt caught on to what Emily was attempting, or just didn't care to resist much. He wrapped his arms around her, and angled his head so that Emily could kiss him more comfortably. He ran one hand up and down her back as they basked in one another for the first time in ten years.
Oh God, the heterosexuality, Beth gagged. Get me out of here.
"I think it's working," Emily drew back from him just long enough to say. They quickly resumed their kiss, and Em opened her mouth slightly to let Matt's tongue in. A throbbing pain coursed through her as they kissed. She winced, but continued on anyway.
"Woohoo!" Jess was clapping and cheering in the background. "Get it, Em!"
It felt so strange making out with her old boyfriend, especially with her current girlfriend standing right there. Apparently it felt strange to Beth too, because she was trying her damndest to get the hell out of there.
When Emily placed one hand suspiciously close to the waistband of Matt's pants, she heard Beth gag again in her head, and then felt a pang of agony shred through her body. Emily stumbled backward and caught herself on the counter. Her vision was swimming, both from the strange but arousing kiss and the sharp pain pulsing through her. She caught her breath. Was that enough to get you out of my body?
She received no response.
Beth…?
It took Emily a minute to realize she no longer felt Beth's presence inside her. A few moments later the lights in her house flickered on and off a few times.
"…I guess she's out." It felt strange being disconnected from her. They had only been joined for a day, but their streams of consciousness had already begun to converge into one. Emily could only wonder how exorcising Sam's wendigo would have felt for her. She thought of what Beth had told her about exorcisms. 'Sometimes the spirit doesn't let go cleanly, and you can lose parts of yourself with it.' Exorcising the wendigo might have done Sam more harm than good in the long run.
She wondered if forcing Beth out would affect her own spirit in any way.
Her thoughts were dragged back to the present when Matt cleared his throat, and she noticed him staring at her. "You know I'm married, right?" he murmured.
"I needed something to get Beth out. Apparently heterosexual PDA did the trick."
"Um, okay, but I still just technically cheated on my wife."
"To free poor Beth's soul. I think it was worth it."
"I agree." Jess was more enthusiastic than Em would have expected, having just watched her girlfriend make out with a guy. "You should do it again. Maybe with me involved."
Ignoring Jess' comments, Emily wandered into her living room, glancing about for any residual sign of Beth. "Hey, Beth?" she called. "Um, sorry it had to happen like that. But at least it worked."
"Yeah, Em totally didn't want to do that." Jess followed her into the room, still grinning like a devil. Matt was hanging back.
"Well making out with you wouldn't have had the same impact." Emily couldn't tell if Jess was jealous or truly enthusiastic about her girlfriend kissing someone else. Well, kissing Matt anyway. Maybe he was a special exception.
"Oh, I wouldn't have wanted to make out with you right now anyway. Your breath smells like an old sandwich dipped in stomach acid."
Emily felt her cheeks redden. She glanced at Matt. "Did it?"
Matt shrugged sheepishly.
Emily dragged a hand down her face. "Lovely."
An awkward silence hung over them after that, as Matt avoided eye contact with both Emily and Jess, Jess alternated between looking at each of them in turn, and Emily thought about Beth. She knew Beth had to leave. She needed to get back to her family. But, still…
"You can leave if you want," Em finally said, breaking the silence between the three of them.
"Me?" Matt replied.
Emily shrugged. She'd be referring to Beth, but Matt worked, too.
"Yeah, I kinda have to. I mean, my wife wouldn't exactly be happy if I never came back home."
Emily huffed. "Oh yeah, you wouldn't want her being mad at you."
They exchanged a long look.
"It's not like I want to go back," he murmured.
Emily raised an eyebrow. "Right now? Or ever?"
He merely sighed in response.
Emily glanced over at Jess. Jess shrugged.
"I can't take you in, Matt. Your wife will storm my house or something."
"Yeah, I know." He wandered over to the front door, where he'd left his shoes, and started to put them on. "Don't worry. I won't stay."
Emily followed him to the door. Jess slunk up beside her, and Em slipped an idle arm around her waist.
"Come back soon?" Jess said to Matt.
"Yeah, I – I will. Soon."
"Good. 'Cause after what Em got from you? You owe me." Jess' tone was teasing, but not as lighthearted as usual.
"Hey, I didn't kiss her willingly. She planted one on me."
"Are you saying I should do that, too?"
"What? No, please, I already cheated on my wife with one woman today." He paused. "I mean, it's like, twice as bad if you do it with two other women…isn't it?"
Jess and Emily exchanged a look. "I mean, I would think cheating is cheating, and there aren't really, like, different levels of it," Emily said with a shrug. "But whatever, Big Guy. Go back to your wife. For now."
Matt was clearly hesitant to go. "So…will you drive me to the airport? Or should I take a bus or something?"
"Of course I'll drive you, you dope. Don't be all humble about it." She picked her bag up off the kitchen counter. "Let's go."
They were stepping out the door when Jess cleared her throat behind them. Emily turned to find her hovering in the doorway.
"Bye, Jess." Emily gave her a small wave. Matt did the same, and they headed out to the front steps.
"Wait."
Emily stopped again. "What?"
Jess bit her lip. "…I want to come with you guys."
Emily balked. "Are you serious?"
"Just for the car ride. I want to get out for a little bit."
Em and Matt exchanged a look. Matt didn't say anything.
"Jess, are you – are you sure?" Emily approached her hesitantly. "I mean, you can, but…"
Jess studied her with those beautiful, expressive green eyes of hers. "Talking to one of the – the monsters, I guess made them seem a little less scary. I mean, I'm still scared, but…well, when you all went out after Sam, and I was just stuck here, it felt really shitty. I felt like a big coward. I want to maybe start being a little less afraid every day. Leaving the house would be a good start, even if it's just for a safe car ride."
"Um, okay. If you think you can handle it, then sure."
Jess latched on to her as they made their way outside. She kept her eyes closed most of the time, but a couple times she peeked at her surroundings and then clutched tighter to Emily. By the time they reached the car Jess practically flung herself into the backseat, where she huddled up like she was about to be smuggled somewhere. Matt took his place in the passenger seat beside Emily.
"Everyone ready?" Em asked, mostly to Jess. Jess and Matt both nodded.
With that she pulled out of the driveway and headed for the airport, to send Matt back to a place neither he nor they wanted him to return to.
Em and Jess were both quiet that night. There wasn't much to say that hadn't already been said. They spent most of the night cuddled together on the couch, Emily flipping absently through TV channels while Jess rested her head on Em's chest. After some time Emily realized Jess's skin felt a bit clammy. Running her fingers down Jess' arm, she found a thin layer of cool sweat beading on the other woman's skin.
"Um, Jess." Emily nudged her gently. Jess turned to study her with tired eyes. "I think you might need…to…"
Jess rested her cheek on Emily's lap again. "I know. I don't want to."
"You can't quit cold turkey. You could die."
"Yeah, I know." She ran a hand up and down one of Emily's legs. "I won't. But…"
"Hm?" Emily stared down at her, waiting.
Jess returned Emily's stare. Her eyes were full of love. Emily was still unaccustomed to being so adored by someone – and she could still hardly believe it was by Jessica, of all people. The girl she'd admired, idolized, modeled her life around as a kid. The girl she never thought she measured up to. The girl whose decision to call Emily her best friend, when she had so many other suitors for the position, Emily had never understood.
"I want to try to quit soon," Jess said. "With help, I mean. That's why I have to start leaving the house."
"You're gonna try to quit?" Emily tried not to get too excited by the prospect. Jess had mentioned the idea before – though usually in a more casual tone than this – but whenever she did, she always brought up a statistic she had heard: more than half of addicts who attempt rehab and get clean for a while end up relapsing at some point. Beyond that, Jess had heard that making it to a full year of cleanness was a good indicator that one might stay clean for good, but she was frightened to try and fail. She'd also told Emily that a year without a fix sounded like a living nightmare. She didn't know how that forty-odd percent did it.
Jess exhaled deeply. "I can't keep using forever. It's gonna kill me."
Emily trailed her fingers down the side of Jess' face, then combed through her thin, brittle hair. "Well I'll support you in any way I can. You can stay here if you need to."
"That might help." She fell silent for quite some time, and Emily began to think the conversation was over. Then, finally, Jess spoke again. "I used to have three roommates."
"Three?" Emily could only remember Jess mentioning two of them. She couldn't remember their names, but she was certain it was only the two.
Jess nodded. "Her name was Britt. Brittney. She was like us. I mean, like me. You know. A junkie."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm." Jess took Emily's hand and squeezed it. Em squeezed back.
She didn't elaborate. She didn't have to.
"I'm sorry," Emily said quietly.
Jess shrugged. The gesture was casual, but her eyes were distant. "It was so weird, just…one day she was there, and then the next…" There was another lengthy pause before she resumed speaking. "Her stuff was still scattered all around the apartment. Nobody wanted to move it. We weren't sure what to do with it. So we just sorta…left everything where it was."
That explained why the apartment was such a god damn mess.
"I think the worst part, though," Jess murmured, "was that nobody even really seemed to care that much? Like, nobody came for her things. Nobody sent a sympathy card or anything. Alicia said hardly anyone even showed up to the wake and funeral. It was like no one wanted to admit to associating with her or something. And she was a nice person. It was really sad."
An unexpected twinge of emotion clutched at Emily's heart. She could pick up on what Jess wasn't saying – if a nice person like her deceased roommate barely garnered any sympathy, then Jess probably felt she would get even less than that. Emily couldn't help but wonder the same for herself. If either, or both, of them had died that night ten years ago, their closest brushes with death thus far, how many people would truly have cared? How many would care if they died today?
Clearing away the morbid thoughts, Emily slid her hand under the back of Jess' head and lifted her up a bit. There Emily's lips found hers, and they kissed for a long, long time. It was an easy out to avoid talking about the difficult subject, and they both knew it – but neither was in a position to refuse such a primitive creature comfort.
When finally they drew apart, Jess cupped Emily's cheek with one hand and blinked slowly up at her.
"I don't want to die," she said. "Not like that."
"You won't." Emily struggled to keep her tone neutral. "I'll make sure you don't."
Jess smiled a tired little smile. "Thanks. The world can be really scary sometimes, but I don't want to leave it. Actually, I'm kind of interested in seeing what else is out there. What kind of places…what kind of creatures…"
"So, what, you gonna become an adventurer now?" Emily smirked.
"I might. You never know."
"Take it slow, Indiana Jess. No tombs just yet."
At that Jess' tiny smile spread to a full grin. "Indiana Jess? I kind of like that. You can be my sexy female sidekick-slash-love-interest that I get with at the end of the movie."
"Not the villain? I'm flattered."
"Oh wait, no, you'd totally be the villain. I changed my mind." Jess giggled as Emily made a face. "But you'd be the villain that I have a lot of awkward sexual tension with. And by the end of it we'd hook up."
"Sounds like a decent ending in either case." Emily leaned down and stole another kiss from Jess. Jess wrapped her arms around Emily's neck and relished the kiss for as long as they could keep it up.
The kiss ended when Emily felt a chill run through Jess. Drawing away from her, Em said, "Go do what you've got to do. We'll look into getting you some proper treatment tomorrow."
Jess reluctantly sat up. They eyed each other for a long moment. Then Jess sighed and got up off the couch. Emily watched her walk away, the tiny bit of excitement she'd tried to squelch still flourishing in her heart.
Jess would get back on track. She was tough, and she had friends and a lover willing to help her every step of the way.
Em felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Her phone screen was lit up with a text message from Matt.
It read, in simple lowercase letters and no frills, im gonna do it.
Having no real idea what he was talking about, Emily quickly replied, do what?
A minute passed. Then two. Then Emily received a response from him. i cant take it here anymore. Another message immediately followed the first. im gonna try to leave.
Emily tried to mask her excitement in her responses. You can do it, Big Guy. You and her will be so much better off.
He didn't respond again, but he didn't really need to. Emily was already calling for Jess to come back, eager to tell her the news.
That night Beth visited Emily in her dreams one last time. The dream didn't take place in Emily's bedroom. This time they were sitting on the swings in their elementary school playground, where she and Beth had encountered each other for the first time. Emily had stolen Hannah's swing one recess. Beth had immediately jumped on Emily, and, like the good little girls they were, they started beating the living shit out of each other. By the time they were sent to the principal's office both of them were covered in bites and scratches, and Emily was holding more than a few strands of Beth's hair in her little kid fists.
It was the first time Teacher's Pet Emily had ever gotten a detention. She and Beth spent the entirety of said detention making faces at each other.
"So you're leaving, huh." Emily curled her fingers around the swing's rusty metal chains. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground, much too long to dangle like they used to. Beth, even taller than her, was slouched on an adjacent swing, staring out at the landscape that eventually faded into nothingness around them.
"I have to. My family needs me."
Emily sighed. "I know."
Beth pulled her gangly legs up as much as she could, letting the swing drift back and forth as much as possible. "You'll be all right. You have a support group now."
"I do?"
"When I was calling the shots for us, everyone thought I was you. And they listened. They had your back. I don't know what you did, but somehow you won them all over."
Emily thought back on the past couple of months. She hadn't been trying to win anyone over, but she had done things that she guessed would garner her friends' loyalty. Sam was happy that Emily had agreed to go to the reunion dinner, and then was civil to everyone at said dinner. Ashley had seemed to greatly appreciate the time Em went over her house to hear her out about Chris. She had offered Mike an alleviation of the guilt he'd apparently carried for several years on her behalf, and she'd helped Matt help Jess when he just couldn't bring himself to be tough enough to do so. Were those things part of being a good friend? Em had barely thought about them when she'd agreed to do them.
Maybe she was a better person than she thought.
"Hey?" Beth said, after Emily was silent for a few moments. Emily looked over at her again. "You'll keep in touch with Sam when I'm gone, right?"
"I plan to, yeah."
"But you will?"
Emily studied Beth's eternally young face. Her eyes held a heaviness that no average, no living eighteen-year-old would or should hold. She found herself wondering just what Beth had seen in the ten years since Emily...found her.
"I will," Em found herself saying. "I'll check up on her. And I'll get the others to do the same, if I can."
"Thank you."
They sat in silence for a bit. Emily expected the dream to end. Before it did, though, Beth spoke up again.
"Remember I kicked your ass here?" She was smirking at the ground.
Emily straightened up. "Um, excuse me? I kicked your ass, Washington."
"Suuure you did."
"Seriously? I'm gonna sue you for defamation of character."
"You can't sue me, I'm already dead! Wait, I don't think that's how that line goes…"
"Beth Washington, I will see your ass in Ghost Court."
They both laughed. Even as Emily laughed, though, a great sadness tugged at her heart. She found her laughter dying off as she stared at the girl beside her.
Then suddenly, she was crying.
Beth's eyes widened a bit at Emily's abrupt shift in emotion. She reached uncertainly toward her, as if to offer some physical comfort, but her hand stopped and hovered awkwardly between them instead. Em knew consolation had never been Beth's strong suit. She herself suffered the same weakness.
Feeling like an idiot for ruining the lighthearted moment, Emily sniffed and swallowed back the remainder of her tears. "Sorry," she murmured, almost too quiet to hear.
Beth kicked at the sand beneath them. For some time all that could be heard between them was the faint squeaking of the ancient swings. Then eventually Beth said, "Don't cry. Crying sucks."
Emily swallowed again, her throat still coated with teary phlegm. "Yeah it does."
Attempting to pull herself together, Em took a few deep breaths and blinked away the dampness in her eyes. She glanced but briefly over at Beth, who was studying her with those dark, mysterious eyes of hers.
It was pointless to cry about the distant past. What happened happened, and could not be undone. And she had been granted a greater opportunity than most in being able to interact with her long-dead friend one more time. That horrible night and those horrible mines had given her at least one positive outcome. A connection.
"So after you leave here," Emily murmured, after collecting herself enough to coherently speak, "are you just going straight back to the mountain?"
"I might stop and visit my parents first."
"Have you ever visited them before?" After the deaths of their three children (for they believed Josh to be dead as well) the Washingtons hadn't fared too well. Emily didn't know all the details, but she'd heard the tabloid rumors. Bob Washington had eventually continued producing movies, but they'd declined sharply in quality, and the Washingtons' dark, tragic backstory tended to overshadow every new release.
"Yes. But I'd never been summoned to the material plane before, so I couldn't do much."
"What will you do this time?"
"Maybe visit them in their dreams. I don't want to scare them." Beth scuffed at the sand with boots that had gone out of style a decade ago. It wasn't until that moment that Emily noticed she herself was dressed in clothes she'd worn as a teenager, too. She wondered how much of the dream Beth had crafted, rather than her own brain. Or maybe they were Beth's memories still lingering in her head. Who could tell anymore.
The playground scenario around them flickered. Emily glanced about fearfully. "What's going on?"
Beth furrowed her brow. "Maybe you're waking up?"
"But I – I don't want to wake up yet." The dream world was fading by the moment. The swing disappeared out from under Emily, and she fell on her rear in the sand. Heeding Emily's misfortune, Beth hopped up off her swing just before it vanished. Emily scowled as she brushed the sand off her jeans. She realized as she brushed it that it wasn't falling off. It was simply disappearing.
Suddenly a pair of phantom arms wrapped around Em's waist. Emily felt a pressure against her back, and picked up on a faint but familiar scent. "Jess?"
Beth studied her with pursed lips. "She must be cuddling you in your sleep."
"Oh, yeah, she probably is." Emily shimmied into the embrace a little tighter, and closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened them the world had returned to its complete state. The swing reappeared by her leg, and their old school reappeared in the distance. The arms around Emily faded, but the warm, comforting feeling they bestowed upon her remained.
Beth glanced about. "Huh. Jess must've disturbed you a little, but now you're fully asleep again."
"Oh. Good."
"Good?"
On a whim, she decided to try something. She closed her eyes again, and willed a change in her surroundings.
Beth made a small noise of confusion. Emily opened her eyes to a complete change in scenery. They now stood overlooking a pier the group had hung out on and around all the time as teens.
Emily leaned on the rusty railing that lined the boardwalk, and gazed out at the ocean lapping gently at the shore below. Beth, however, was only looking at Emily. "What are you doing?"
Emily shrugged. "What, can't I want a few minutes of total control over my surroundings? I don't exactly have that when I'm awake…"
Beth, almost cautiously, eventually joined her in leaning and staring out at the water generated by Emily's sleeping mind.
"So," Emily said, "we have a while before I wake up, probably. Wanna…hang out for a bit?"
Beth waited a moment to respond, but her facial expression told Emily her answer immediately.
"Okay. Sure."
Emily smiled a little.
"You know, you're not so bad, Emily," Beth added. "Even though you try to act like you are."
"Hey, I could say the same for you. Always trying to act so tough. You're just a big softie."
"Says the little spoon being cuddled by her girlfriend right now."
"Excuse you, I prefer the term comfort…receptionist." Emily huffed and leaned farther over the railing, to avoid showing Beth the fact that she was smiling. "Anyway, shut up. Let's just hang out like old times."
"Old times, huh?" Beth grinned, making Emily immediately regret her choice of wording. "Okay."
With one sudden push Emily was sent crashing face-first to the sandy shoreline ten feet below them.
She scrambled to her feet and spat out a mouthful of dream-sand, followed by more than a few mouthfuls of curses aimed at her companion. Beth was just watching casually, a small, amused smirk on her lips.
Emily knew on the inside that she probably deserved that. So she resisted the urge to climb back up and initiate the long-awaited Round 2 of their elementary school swingset smackdown.
A moment later Beth dropped from the railing and landed beside her. She was still smiling. Emily pushed her away. "Stop smiling at me, you big fucking nerd."
"Then quit touching me, you big gay."
Emily gasped. "Wow, um, I'm the big gay? Beth Washington is calling me a big gay?"
"You should take that as a compliment."
"I don't."
Beth shrugged. "Oh well."
They walked over to the water's edge and sat down on the sand.
"On a serious note," Beth said, "I could always tell you weren't straight."
Emily drew back a little. "What? What do you mean?"
"Eh." She shrugged again. "It was just obvious to me. The way you looked at Jess, it was like the way…it was familiar to me." She corrected herself midsentence, and then dropped off. Emily had a feeling she knew what Beth had been about to say.
Emily hugged her knees, and watched as a few seagulls soared overhead. It would have been nice to have a friend going through the same shit. If only teenage Emily hadn't been an antisocial, loudmouthed asshole determined to reject everyone before they could reject her first.
"You know…" Emily paused, trying to word the thought that popped into her head. Beth watched her curiously. "Since Sam's wife is apparently, like, 'assigned' to her or whatever, when Sam dies Sarah will probably move on to protecting another human."
Beth's eyes lit up a little. She knew where Emily was going with the topic.
"Maybe you'll, y'know, have another shot with her."
Beth smiled a small, self-conscious smile. Emily realized she had rarely seen her smile when she was alive. "You think I would? Have a chance with her, I mean?"
"Hey, she told you she loves you. That's something."
"Yeah. Yeah, it is." Beth's small grew smile faded to a look of determination. "And this time I won't wait around hoping she'll notice me. I'll march right up to her, and…and…"
"And plant a kiss right on her!"
"Oh God, I don't know about that." Beth massaged the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'll probably, like, tell her I always thought she was pretty and stuff. Maybe ask if she wants to do something together."
Emily folded her arms. "An acceptable start, I guess."
"Well how did you end up getting together with Jessica? Maybe I can take some advice from that."
"Oof, that's a looong story." Emily sat back on the sand. "…You really want to know?"
Beth nodded, enthusiasm lighting her face.
"Okay then." Em took a deep, theatrical breath. "It all started on a perfectly innocuous work day. I was just heading home when I got a mysterious phone call, which turned out to be from none other than Sam herself…"
