Shattered Soul

Chapter 7- A Glimpse of Hope Part 2

"Kinks? You lied! Everyone thinks you slayed the shark!" Angie's hysteric voice resounded in the storage room.

"Who am I to tell them they're wrong?" Oscar replied nervously

"How could you lie to me, Oscar? Me!"

I sighed in annoyance and frustration. That was it, the secret wa out. Angie knew everything, and she would surely tell everyone. Lenny would have to return home and face Pop… and I had the feeling it would not be pretty. Sonia was sitting on my head, watching the scene.

"Can we see if this Angie girl is a Medium or not already?" I growled in desperation, I could not wait to be alive again.

"Would you wait a second?" Sonia replied in annoyance, We must wait until she is by herself or Oscar and your brother will think she is crazy,!

I looked back at the scene from the shadows.

"Sharks are coming to get me!" Oscar cried in horror

"And they should!" Angie replied with her fins crossed, "I mean, what'd you expect? You'd take credit for killing a shark, and then everything would be fine and dandy for the rest of your life?"

Oscar thought for a moment

"Unh… yeah,"

Sharks coming to get him? Had Pop sent them? Obviously, he surely had.

"Hey, how long is this going to take?" I massaged my temples

"I don't know,"

I would not stay here and wait until they decided on what to do.

"Hey, if ghosts can appear and disappear at will…" I spoke up

"Yeah?" Sonia looked down from my head

"… Can they teleport?"

"Well, yeah, but you need lot of concentration. Otherwise, you might end up in the wrong place,"

"Great, because I need to return home,"

"For what?" Sonia narrowed her eyes

"Being here watching those two argue is boring me to no end," I replied while pointing at Angie and Oscar

Sonia sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But since you're an amateur, just close your eyes and I'll do the rest,"

I narrowed my eyes at her in suspicion

"… Don't worry, I'm not going to play a joke on you," she seemed to know what I was thinking. AGAIN.

I did as she told me and closed my eyes for a while. But if she was trying to make me a joke…

"Alright, you can open your eyes," Sonia spoke up after about a minute

I opened my eyes slowly, expe3cting to find myself in the middle of a trench or something… but instead, I found myself in a VERY familiar place… Pop´s office. I looked around in shock, what had Sonia done…?

"See, ghosts only need to concentrate and think of a place they want to go to teleport; that's how I find the souls I collect," Sonia explained, "but why did you want to come here, anyway?"

"… I want to see how things are around here," I replied silently.

I wanted to see how Pop was doing, specifically. I was dead, and Lenny was missing. I suppose both he and Mom must be really worried-sick.

"Hey, how wouldn't they be worried? You two are their sons, and if I recall your story about Lenny correctly, your father loved him as much as he loved you and your mother,"

"Yeah, but that changed when Pop found out Lenny was a vegetarian…"

"Hey, parents are supposed to love their kids no matter what,"

I sighed in sadness.

"You don't understand, with sharks is a different thing. A shark that doesn't like to eat fish isn't even worthy to be called a shark, and since we're Great Whites, the most feared of sharks…" I looked towards my Pop's piranha pets, "… a vegetarian shark is a disgrace,"

It pained me to say those words; now that I finally realized how much I love Lenny, I also remembered that I had been a jerk to him when I found out he was a vegetarian. I DID care for him, but did I show it? I did not! And now I was paying the price… now that Lenny needs me the most, I can't be there for him. How could I even label Lenny as a…? NO! I would not say it anymore. He was my little brother, and that was the main reason I NEEDED to go back to life. I wanted to be there for him when he married (if he ever found a girl that wouldn't mind he was a vegetarian), when he had pups.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Sonia patted my head softly, bringing me back to reality

"What?" I looked up at her

"I think someone is crying…"

When I focused on my surroundings, I indeed heard someone was crying. It sounded like a female voice… it must be Mom. I swam through rooms, Sonia in my head, while heading for the source of the crying; my parents' room.

"So, your father thinks Lenny is a disgrace?" Sonia inquired

"No, he does love Lenny… it's just that since he is the Don, he can't have a son who is a vegetarian. It simply doesn't work out," I explained

"The Don, huh? I suppose you would have been the next Don when your father stepped down, weren't you?"

"Actually, Pop wanted me and Lenny to run the reef together. He had seen many mobs being thorn by sibling disputes, so he decided to put both of us in charge."

"Two Dons? Isn't that unusual?"

"I think about it too. Pop often said I could be the muscle and Lenny could run things. But I know Lenny is not interested in becoming the Don, he doesn't want to kill any fish,"

Sonia patted my head again and pointed to the front. I followed her fin and noticed we had arrived at my parents' room. Mom was indeed crying her eyes out; she was resting on the bed, her head resting on the pillows. After a while, I noticed Pop swimming out of the bathroom and heading for the bed.

"Jas, are you okay?" he asked her in concern

"Jas?" Sonia asked me in confusion

"A nickname Pop had for Mom when they dated," I explained

Mom did not reply, however. She was still crying; Pop swam closer to her, worried. Suddenly, Mom wrapped her fins around Pop's neck and rested her head against his chest, still crying her eyes out. Pop was initially shocked, but after a while he wrapped his own fins around her.

"Sh-h-h" he soothed her, "it'll be alright, my dear…"

"I miss them…" Mom sobbed

"Me too…"

I felt really sad about this; Mom and Pop truly missed both me and Lenny. Pop was not as emotional as Mom, of course, but his eyes showed he was very hurt about this, perhaps even more than Mom.

"Lenny might be… different… but he's still my son, and I love him," Pop whispered

I was glad I was invisible right now, because I felt like crying again. Pop truly loved Lenny and he wanted him back. Both Lenny and me. This was another reason I HAD to go back to life; for Mom and Pop. I looked through the window and noticed a storm had started; apparently I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had not noticed it before.

"Do you think Oscar and Angie are done arguing?" Sonia commented

"I hope so," I muttered

"Do you want to go back or you want to stay a little longer?"

"No, it's okay… I can go back now,"

"Close your eyes…"

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the Storage room. However, Oscar and Angie were gone and the lights were out; yep, apparently they were done. I noticed Lenny was resting on the bed, seemingly asleep. However, when a thunder roared, he whimpered slightly and struggled. Wow, he was still afraid of thunders.

"What do you mean with 'still'?" Sonia inquired

"When Lenny was five years old, he was afraid of thunders, but apparently he hasn't overcome it," I replied

"How old is he?"

"Nineteen,"

"He's nineteen years old and he's afraid of thunders?"

"I know, it's ironic… hey, Sonia, can ghosts sleep?"

"Well, they don't need to, but it's a way to spend the time,"

"Good,"

I swam over to Lenny's bed and rested next to him. He could not see nor feel me, so I guess he wouldn't mind. Sonia swam over to a small pillow next to the bed and rested.

"And before you ask, don't worry; you won't go through the bed while sleeping. When a ghost sleeps, its energy catalyzes and can rest on things." Sonia explained before she herself fell asleep.

I suddenly felt something in my chest; I turned and noticed Lenny was snuggling against me… wait, snuggling? Did he feel me right now? Sonia just said that when a ghost sleeps, its catalyzing energy allows it to touch things, and perhaps the living were no exception. I wrapped my fins around Lenny, and incredibly they did not go through him. I was hugging him as if I was still alive; Lenny snuggled deeply into my embrace when another thunder roared. The sweet memories this was bringing back.

When Lenny was five years old and I was ten, we shared room. Every time there was a storm, Lenny was unable to sleep; he would often swim to my bed and shake me awake.

"Frankie, I'm scared. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Those words still sounded in my head every time there was a storm. Although I was often irritated for being awakened at about 1 A.M, I could not refuse. After Lenny rested next to me, he would often snuggle against me every time a thunder roared. I could not contain a small smile as I looked down at my little brother.

"good night, Len," I whispered to him before falling asleep.