***Part III***
A month has passed. Juliette has been given something to think about. She has had strange dreams of the "guardian" involving numbers and dates. The "guardian" claims that his "time is up" and he must leave before the "omens" begin. The first omen is a subway crash killing 96 people in Manhatten. After this, reports flood in from all over the globe of natural and man-made disasters from a broken dam in Florida to a flu outbreak in Germany. Joel receives little to no contact with the spirit world anymore and does not aide his sister in ghost missions. Juliette shares the dreams she's been having with Melinda every time a new one occurs. Melinda already suspects something with Joel. Juliette betrays her promise with her brother and tells Melinda what she knows, but implores Melinda not to tell Joel that she told her. Melinda goes on, acting as if she doesn't know.
*** I
Juliette: I have to stop off at the archives.
Joel: What? No! Why?
Juliette:I have to help a ghost named-
Joel: No,no,no,no,no,no,no! Why'd you bring me?
Juliette: I didn't. We were walking from school, remember?
Joel: You couldn't have gone the store and asked mom to help you?
Juliette: Good Lord, Joel! Just wait outside!
Joel: Fine!
Juliette walks into the archives alone and sees the ghost she's trying to help, Robert.
Juliette: Tell me where to go.
Robert points to her left somewhere before disappearing. A new ghost appears-the blond-haired, blue-eyed one that never
seemed to come around.
Juliette: Hey! You! I might be able to help you if you tell me more about you.
Guardian: I'm not here to hurt you. Has your mother ever told you there are two sides to this gift?
Juliette: Which side are you on?
The Guardian disappears. Juliette catches a glimpse of a shadow in the corner of the building, but after a few seconds shrugs it off. The shadow inches closer to where Juliette is standing, whispering quietly.
Man: *softly* Parum Savior. Parum savior.
Juliette: Parum Savior? I've heard that before. *turning around*
Man: *scoff* Parum Savior... *Yelling* Not anymore!!!
The man pulls out a gun before Juliette has time to do anything. She automatically realizes that the man is not a ghost. The man is in the dark, about ten yards away from Juliette. He fires at her. His bullet blowing through her right shoulder, she falls to the ground and lets out a blood-curdling scream. The man escapes before Juliette can make out his features. Joel comes rushing in, only to find his sister, covered in blood and no one to blame.
Joel: I heard a gunshot and I ran in.
Juliette:*tries to nod*
Joel: *to the room* Who's in here? Show yourself! Now! No one messes with my little sister!
Juliette: There's a two minute age difference.
Joel: It's still my job to protect you.*lets his words sink in* I'm calling 911.
Joel hangs up the phone after describing what happened. He dials in a new number-his father's number.
Jim: Joel! Talk to me.
Joel: It's Juliette.
Jim: What happened?
Joel: We were in the archives and...she got shot.
Jim: You're still at the archives?
Joel: Yeah. Medics are on their way.
Jim: So am I. *hangs up phone*
*** II
Jim and Melinda pull up in Jim's blue GMC. Mel is crying and Jim's face is blank. The paramedics pull Juliette onto a stretcher. Jim gets out of the car and runs to the ambulance at a determined pace. Melinda stays in the car. Bobby is one of the paramedics on the job.
Bobby: Hey, Sam. I'm sorry, man. You probably already heard this, but this is how Melinda's husband DIED. She's gonna take this pretty hard.
Jim: *looking at Melinda* She already is.
Bobby: Just try and calm her down, okay?
Jim: Yeah. How's Juliette?
Bobby: Pretty bad wound. Like...ouchy.
Jim: In english?
Bobby: We should watch out for embolisms. That's what happened to...
Jim: Mel's husband. I know.
Bobby: *under his breath* You know too much.
Jim: *turning back* ...Nevermind.
Joel gets up off the bench he was sitting on and comes out of his little world.
Jim: Joel, what happened?
Joel: I don't know. I wasn't in there with her.
*** III
Jim is driving Melinda and Joel to the hospital. He has not said anything. Mel is softly crying. She stops briefly as Jim prepares to say something.
Jim: Why weren't you there with her?
Joel: Don't kill me. I don't...use my gift anymore. I didn't want anything to do with ghosts.
At this comment, Melinda closes her eyes and goes blank.
Mel: *eyes open* I already knew, but you could have told me. I would have helped you. You know that.
Joel: When you're a teenage boy, you don't really want to have a conversation with your mom.
Mel: Still, I thought I taught you to bask in your gift.
Joel: You did. I guess I'm just rebellious.
Jim: This is serious.
Joel: I'm being serious. I'm sorry for not using my gift.
*** IV At the hospital
Eli: I didn't find it, but I found something.
Mel: Yeah?
Eli: It's almost microscopic, but on the side of the page with the dates, there's a name with today's date.
Mel: *losing her breath* What's the name?
Eli: Juliette Clancy.
Mel: *begins to cry into Jim's chest.*
Jim: It's okay.
Mel: Don't lie, Jim.
Jim: *runs his hands through her hair*
Mel: Thank you for always being my rock.
Jim: Your welcome. *he takes her hand in his and rubs it gently.
A nurse comes out of Juliette's room. Joel runs up to her.
Joel: *sadly* Can we see my sister?
Nurse: Go ahead. She hasn't woken up, though.
Joel: *nods* Guys, we can go in.
Melinda and Jim walk into Juliette's room hand-in-hand, Melinda's face still in Jim's chest, followed by Eli, Delia, and Ned. Joel waits outside for a minute until Eli comes out and sees him.
Eli: You coming in?
Joel: What? Oh. Yeah.
Eli: Sorry about your sister.
Joel: Me too.
The group stays until insane hours of the night, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor before Eli, Delia and Ned leave. Melinda is asleep on Jim's chest, Jim is staring at Juliette, hoping for some sign that she's okay, and Joel is looking guilt-ridden and tired, not taking his eyes off his sister for a second. The family is calm until they hear the monitor's unstopping, flat beep, the death chime. Juliette is flatlining. Joel and Jim rise to their feet. Melinda, no longer sleeping, looks away from what she knows is coming next. Juliette's spirit slowly appears next to her body. She turns around as if tapped by someone or something. She sees the light.
Juliette: I'm not ready yet.
Mel: Jules!
Juliette: I'm fine.
Mel: You're dead. You're not fine.
Juliette: No. I'm in a coma. Not quite dead yet.
Joel: This is my fault, Juliette. I have never been more sorry for anything in my whole life. And I swear I will use my gift as much as possible from now on.
Juliette: Don't worry about it. You were just being-
Joel: Stupid?
Juliette: That's one way to put it.
Joel: I'm sorry.
Doctors flood the room and begin trying to revive Juliette. Jim joins them, claiming he is a doctor (which he is). The blond-haired ghost appears again.
Guardian: The omens are getting worse, not better. The gathering is imminent.
Juliette: What gathering?
Guardian: The gathering of the whisperers.
***V
Melinda, Jim and Joel come to the hospital every single day the minute they are able to for three days, hoping to find some information on Juliette's condition. They sit, waiting for something to happen. Joel does his homework, stopping every few minutes to look up at his sister. Finally, something happens. The guardian appears over Juliette, staring at Joel. The guardian motions for Joel to come near. Melinda follows her son over to the hospital bed and looks at her daughter. She pulls the hospital gown up at Juliette's right shoulder, seeing how bad her wound is. Jim looks on at his family curiously.
Mel: What's going to happen to her?
Guardian: The omens are getting worse. We need to stop him.
Mel: Who?
Guardian: Your friend is finished with his research.
Mel: Eli?
Guardian: Yes.
Juliette appears out of nowhere to stand by her body.
Juliette: What's going to happen at this.."gathering"?
Guardian: You would say to "cross me over", which is close enough to what's going to happen.
The loud sound of footsteps is heard. Someone is running through the hospital. Eli comes rushing through the door and puts down his laptop. Melinda comes over to him and sits down.
Eli: I scanned another page. Look at this!
Mel: Woah!
Melinda looks at the picture for a long time before speaking again.
What these eyes see
Mel: This is what "the gathering" is? I still don't get it.
Eli: *scrolls the page down* Read the..."caption"
Mel: "The reborn whisperers take their places at the foot of the guardian as the 'parum saviors' restore balance."
Eli: Meaning, your twins are going to save the world.
Mel: What?
Eli: I've been studying up on these...these...omens. They are disasters caused-basically- by the dark side of the gift. Things like this do happen all the time, but usually not in a pattern like this. The symbolism they're using is really hard to explain, but they're counting down.
Mel: Down to what?
Eli: *looks up gravely* end of the world. Right now, there is a spirit or...an entity that wants to see that happen. If this..."guardian" doesn't cross over, it will. This book explains a lot of it.
Mel: But not all of it. Why is the guardian here in the first place, and why does this...dark spirit want to stop him?
Eli: Juliette's a perfect example. If She's dead, the prophecy can't come true.
Guardian: Which is why she's not going to die.
Eli: Woah, he's here?
Mel: Yeah. I forgot you couldn't see them. So, what does this mean? The whisperers I get, but "reborn"?
Eli: Those of us who have come back from death.
Mel: but Joel hasn't...wait. Yes he did. When Joel was a baby, we lost him for a few minutes. He was born with his umbilical cord around his neck, but there had to have been someone watching out for him. The doctors got him back within a minute. I was asleep during all of this. Jim told me.
Joel: I died and came back?
Mel: Yeah.
Joel: I never knew that.
Mel: *to Eli* They're going to be drawn to Grandview, like me.
Jim: Like us.
Mel: *smiles* Like us.
The guardian pulls Melinda out of her daydreams by calling Joel to him. Juliette's condition is rapidly deteriorating, so something needs to be done quickly to save her life. Another ghost shows up-a shadow in the corner of the room, waiting for Juliette to die completely.
Mel: No!
The guardian whispers something to himself.
Guardian: Joel, you are going to save your sister's life.
Joel: How? What can I do?
The guardian picks up Joel's hands gently and places them on Juliette's chest.
Joel: This is awkward.
Guardian: Focus.
Joel: What do I do now?
Guardian: Close your eyes and think of your sister. As hard as you can.
The heart monitor beeps back to life and Juliette's spirit disappears. Slowly, she regains consciousness. Melinda, Jim, and Joel crowd around her and talk excitedly. They are once again "Team Clancy".
Joel: What? How?
Guardian: The gift of revival. Carl told your mother that you would be able to do much more than her. He was right.
Joel: I can bring people back from the dead?
Guardian: This gift is nearly impossible to master, and because it's so rare, it can't be taught like this gift.
Joel: Juliette, I don't know if you can hear me, but we have another gift. We can save people from death.
Guardian: *shakes his head* She can, but not as strong as you.
Joel: That's not fair. She's so dedicated to what she does. i don't deserve to have two gifts!
Guardian: Relax. She has another gift too.
Joel: What can she do?
Guardian: She has the gift of foresight, as do you, but once again, not as strong. You weren't involved with spirits at the time, but your sister was seeing visions of the gathering. She saw that picture, Melinda. She also saw the omens before they happened. She saw every omen and later that day, was able to look it up and confirm it, meaning, she saw this happening. She saw herself dying. Yes, she is dead, but I'm keeping the body ready fro her return. She knew she couldn't do anything to stop it, so she kept her mouth shut.
Melinda: She knew? We could've protected her! We could have-
Guardian: No you couldn't have. Even if you knew, it was destined to happen. It would have happened anyway.
Juliette slowly opens her eyes and gasps at the pain her shoulder is causing her. Melinda is first to give her a kiss on the forehead. The bond that the two share is amazing-Melinda is Juliette's only friend. During school, none of the kids go near her, because they know she can talk to ghosts. They believe her to be insane.
Mel: When will the gathering begin?
Guardian: When the time is right.
***VI
Jim: *reading the newspaper* Says here that Grandview's hotels are filling up faster than ever and that most of the people staying in them talk to people who aren't there. *news reporter's deep voice* "Rumors Fly about Schizophrenic Convention: Where will it be held, and why?" Hmm. Meloony Gordon, Ghouliette Clancy, Nutzo-head, overactive imagination and now the schitzo convention. Come on! You guys aren't that crazy!
Mel: That makes me feel so much better! I'm not as insane to my husband as I am to the papers. Don't be fooled. I'm still insane.
Jim: You know what I meant. I just think they're making way too big a deal out of this.
Guardian: *appearing* Oh contrair, my friend! This gathering will be the biggest event of the century, even though most of the world's population won't know about it.
Mel: He's here. He says that it is a big deal. One of the biggest events of the century.
***VII
News reporter: Following up on the Schizophrenic Convention rumors, there appears to be some type of "event" near the 2006 plane crash memorial. More news coming up!
Jim: So, what's going on?
Mel: The gathering.
Jim: They've all been drawn here.
Mel: It's almost eight. We should go see if today's the day.
Joel: What exactly is this? I mean, what are we doing at this gathering?
Mel: Maybe we aren't supposed to know every detail. What we do know is that we have to cross over the guardian, the only people that can participate are those that have died and come back, and if we don't, the world's going to end a litlle early.
Juliette comes into the living room, a large bandage covering her right shoulder, eyes wide.
Juliette: I saw it. It's happening soon.
Mel: Team Clancy?
Joel, Juliette, and Jim: Yeah?
Mel: Are you ready?
The three nod in response.
*** VIII at the memorial
Juliette: *to Joel* You've really grown up from just a few months ago.
Joel:How so?
Juliette: You use your gift now.
Joel: Yeah. I promised you.
Juliette: Is it just me...or are you enjoying your gift?
Joel: Well, yeah. I guess I--
Joel gets cut off by a loud rumbling noise. Juliette is first to know what is happening. The ground shakes violently beneath her.
Juliette: The ground just imploded. Don't think I don't know what's down there. Grandview two hundred years ago was buried and built on top of. We live on our own "land of the dead" basically.
Mel: How did you know that?
Juliette: Professor Payne told me.
Mel: Have you seen it for yourself?
Juliette: *guilty* ...No?...Kind of.
Mel: I'm gonna kill him.
All of the mediums are huddled in a circle, holding hands with people they don't even know. There are people in the circle of all nationalities. There is a large group of people standing off to the side of the circle--their friends and family. There is an empty space in the circle of blown up ground, and a path leading to the middle. Melinda tries to join the ranks of the other spirit mediums, but the woman standing next to her, a beautiful african woman with a perfect olive complexion, shakes her head silently and points to the path. Joel and Juliette follow her onto a large platform at the end of the path. They gaze upon the many faces of the mediums. Over one hundred are present. They hear screaming and look below them to see the many trapped spirits in Grandview's underneath. Among them are shadows, faceless, featureless, and menacing.
Mel: What is this about?
Guardian: *voice only* It is my time to leave.
Joel: Help us understand this gathering, please?
Guardian: We must hurry. The shadows are wreaking havoc, but when I'm gone, they won't be able to. Their power will go away.
Another voice can be heard. The voice is rough, loud, and commanding. The leader of the shadow army reveals himself. The same person as the one in the hospital with Juliette.
shadow leader: We will not stop. They are ours. We will soon control them.
Juliette looks up worriedly at her mother. Joel follows suit.
Shadow leader: Oh. Perfect.
Melinda puts her arms around her children as the shadow man disappears.
Mel: Who are you?
Shadow leader: *Appearing behind her* Lance.
Mel: If you dare them!
Lance: Relax. I won't hurt them.
Mel: *sighs in relief*
Lance: It's more effective to hurt you.
Lance jumps inside Melinda's body and begins slowly killing her. She writhes, wiggles, and yells in agony. Jim yells and frantically tries to push his way into the circle, but the mediums keep the barrier tightly closed, denying Jim entry.
Jim: I can't watch you die again, Melinda.
Joel and Juliette stare wide-eyed at the squirming body, unable to move, unable to think. At last the body stops moving and Melinda's spirit appears next to her body.
Juliette: No...*louder* no...*screaming* NO!!!
Joel: Mom?
Jim: Melinda!!!!!
Joel gently places his hands on Melinda's chest, near her collar bone, closes his eyes, and concentrates. Nothing happens. He tries harder. Still nothing. A memory flashes through Joel's mind. He sees Juliette asleep on the hospital bed, the guardian looking him in the face, and his parents standing by his side. "The gift of revival. She has it too, just not as strong as you do." Joel looks up and at his sister.
Lance: Why are you wasting time?
Joel: I'm not. Juliette, come here.
Mel: Shut up, Lance!
Joel: Do what I'm doing, close your eyes, and think as hard as you can about mom. Memories. Think.
Juliette: *nodding* Okay.
Both twins focus on their mother for five minutes before they notice any change. Melinda bursts back to life and hugs her children.
Lance: Damn you! You've transcended death! How is this possible?
Guardian: The gift of revival.
Lance: *to his army* Go! Scatter! Burn this place to the ground. Or should I say the underground?
Mel: Bad pun!
Jim: Mel! You're okay!
Melinda and the twins look back up at the guardian.
Juliette: These are all mediums who have died and come back?
guardian:Yes.
Juliette: Why were we cosen to be in the middle?
Guardian: Because you're the only children that fit this description. The only children that have mastered your gift. Even your mother wasn't that good.
Juliette: Why did you come here?
Guardian: To watch. I am not so unlike the "watchers", except I am not a ghost. *finally appearing*
The guardian is shining like the sun. He is like the most powerful LED light, but the light does not harm the eyes of the mediums. The light is so strong that Jim can now see it too.
Guardian: I answer to a much higher power.
Joel: What's your name?
Guardian: Michael.
The three of them stare wide-eyed at Michael.
Joel: Your an...an...Oh my gosh.
Mchael: I was sent here to observe and report the comings and goings of the "ghost" world. Now, I have to leave. There is a condition to being chosen. You three, something needs to be done. One of you...must give up something dear to them--their gift, or I cannot cross over, and the end will come. Pick amongst yourselves one.
Melinda and Juliette begin debating heatedly over the pressing issue. Joel stays quiet. Crackling can be heard in the distance. At last, a large fire sweeps through the memorial at an amazing speed, threatening to trap the mediums in its blaze.
Michael: Choose quickly.
Joel: *stopping the debate* I'll do it.
Juliette: Joel, you just developed a strong bond with your gift. No.
Joel: That's why I have to give it up. I don't deserve this gift, I don't help as many people as you do, and after all these years of hating my gift, I finally learned not to. That's why I had it in the first place, to learn.
Mel: If you feel it's the right thing to do.
Joel: Mom, I'm sorry I never had that bond with you. We just...don't have much in common. Dad, same thing. Basketball. That's it. I think it'll be better like this. I don't have to lie about my gift anymore. I won't have one. Yeah. I'm gonna miss it, but easy come, easy go.
Michael: You've made your decision?
Joel: Yes. You can take mine.
Michael: So be it.
Joel falls back and passes out int the middle of the platform. He wakes up only seconds after to find that he can't see or hear a thing. He looks below him and sees (with a smile) nothing at all.
Michael: It's time.
Melinda watch in awe and amazement as Michael unfolds two large wings from behind his back and ascends into the dark blue sky. Immediately, the fire dies and the mediums unlink their arms. All the shadows underneath them disappear as well, leaving a harmonious celebration.