"Kyla!" Ashley shouted, causing the girl to flinch and fight from looking around again. There was a determined frown etched on her face.
I am not going crazy, I am not hearing my dead sister talking to me at her funeral.
"Kyla…I know you can hear me…" Ashley needed to get a reaction out of her sister.
"OK, seriously at this point, Ashley, you're just showing off." Spencer admonished the brunette sitting next to her on the church pew. Her words would have probably have more effect if Spencer had been able to better hide the small smile that had played on her lips when she said them.
Ashley rolled her eyes at Spencer and then turned her attention back to her sister. They were all sitting in the front pew with Kyla flanked on one side by her mother and Ethan, Ashley's manager and Ashley and Spencer on the other.
The actual service had started about twenty minutes ago and Ashley had lasted about 3 minutes before announcing she was incredibly bored and resorted to making sarcastic remarks about the choice of song…
"Are you kidding me? Celine Dion!? My Heart Will Go On? This is the best you could do? How incredibly unoriginal, I hate this song. I hate Celine Dion. Yesterday, Celine Dion received a box of boomerangs. She tried throwing them away, but they're all coming back to her now."
Smirking at her own joke, she'd then turned her attention to the priest who was conducting the ceremony
"Father O'Malley? Seriously, the guy's a drunk"
Her comments were all directed at her sister. She had decided that the best tactic for getting Kyla to actually acknowledge her was to bombard her with a running funeral commentary.
"The only contact I've had with him was when I was forced to working in the church soup kitchen for my community service. Ky, we're not even Catholic!"
Spencer had remained quiet, noticing that the living brunette was becoming more and more agitated as Ashley continued talking to her. She was still in shock over what Ashley could apparently do. After watching Kyla's reaction when Ashley had told her she loved her, she could not deny Kyla hadn't heard her.
Spencer was confused as to how it was possible and even more perplexed as to what it meant. She was torn as to what to do.
Should she tell her supervisor and risk being taken off the assignment? Because there was no doubt in her mind it would be taken over by the higher ups if she did.
Or did she keep quiet until she could try to figure it out on her own? But then risk getting in trouble for not telling anyone?
Spencer's mind was a mass of conflicting thoughts and for the first time in a very long time, her course of action wasn't so clear.
Meanwhile Kyla had shifted uncomfortably in the hard wooden pew. She kept telling herself she wasn't crazy but hearing her sister bitching in very typical Ashley fashion about everything, as if she was sitting right next to her was a bit disconcerting to say the least. It had been faint at first, almost like hearing an echo of an echo in the distance but it now seemed to be getting louder and clearer.
OK, first thing tomorrow, I have to schedule an appointment to see a shrink. The stress is getting to me.
"And do not start me on the flowers, Kyla. I really hope you didn't have anything to do with them. This whole thing screams Christine. Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. It's all obviously what she wanted and she's given absolutely no thought as to what I would've wanted. Not that she ever gave a thought before, but really, this is the last thing she had to do for me and yet she's still managed to screw it up. As usual." Ashley had ranted on.
Father O'Malley had then gone about how Ashley was so young and even though it hurt, she was now in a better place with the Heavenly Father. This had caught Ashley's ear and she paused briefly in her verbal assault of Kyla to smirk as a random thought crossed her mind.
More like a hot blonde but hey, to-may-to to-mah-to…
After prattling on for while longer and failing to get a noticeable reaction, Ashley had became frustrated and finally resorted to just calling out her name repeatedly as she was doing now.
Kyla continued to resist the urge to look around.
"Kyla…I know you can hear me…"
Finally she couldn't take it anymore, convinced she was losing it.
"Please, stop talking…" she whispered pleadingly, believing if she said it out loud maybe her subconscious would listen to her. It was so much easier to believe she was cracking under the stress and grief than it was to believe Ashley was complaining to her about her own funeral.
Next to her, Christine leaned over and conspiratorially whispered. "I know, he does go on and on doesn't he? God, I hope this doesn't drag on for much longer."
Kyla glanced up at the older woman, thinly veiled disgust in her eyes. For the hundredth time since learning of Ashley's untimely death she wondered how Christine could be so cold and detached from it all. As if it wasn't her daughter that had passed away in the most horrific of circumstance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Kyla, Ashley was scowling about being asked to stop talking.
"Can you believe that, Spencer? If it was reversed and she was talking to me after she had died, I would be ecstatic. But no, not my sister. She has to tell me to be quiet. And why? So she can hear some drunken priest who barely knew me go on and on about… Hey, wait, did he just call me a troubled soul? There is nothing troubling about my soul, right Spencer?" Ashley crossed her arms in a huff, glaring at the elderly man in the white collar.
"Ashley, I don't think she asked you to be quiet so she could listen to the priest. I think you're freaking her out. Think about it, if the situation was reversed wouldn't you be just a little bit freaked out if you heard the voice of your deceased sister talking to you at her funeral?" Spencer, despite having never witnessed anything like this, relied on her common sense to tell her that it really probably wasn't the most pleasant of experiences. Especially if you had no clue about the other Planes of Existence.
"Whatever. Fine. I'll wait until she's alone and then try to get her to realize it's me." Ashley sat back and placed one hand over Kyla's, which were folded in her lap.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Spencer began, not sure how to explain what she didn't even understand to Ashley. "Maybe we should wait until we figure out how exactly, or why even, you can talk to Kyla before you actually try to convince her it's you."
"Spencer, that makes no sense. I can do this really cool thing and talk to my sister, Why shouldn't I use it?" Ashley gave Spencer a disbelieving look.
How could she not want her to talk to her own sister?
"Ashley, if we were supposed to be able to directly communicate with the living, we'd all be able to do it. But we can't. You're the only one I know that can who isn't from the Higher Plane." Spencer's eyes clouded with conflicting emotions.
She took Ashley's free hand in hers, her blue eyes softening as looking into the questioning brown ones before her.
"I don't want to draw any undue attention to you that we might not want until we can figure this out. Things could get complicated if others become involved."
Ashley was still confused but the distress and apprehension in Spencer's eyes was enough to make her reluctantly nod in agreement. "Fine, I don't understand but I trust you enough to know that you wouldn't ask me unless it was important. So I won't try to communicate with Kyla until we know why I can."
Spencer gently brushed an errant strand of hair behind the pouting brunette's ear. "Thanks Ashley. I don't understand it fully myself but I've been around long enough to know that what you can do will cause a huge stir once it gets out."
The pout instantly melted at the feel of Spencer's soft hand on her cheek.
"Alright, but we have to figure it out soon. I don't know how long I'll be able to not talk to Kyla now that I know I can." Ashley grumbled, though not as much as she would have if Spencer's hand hadn't still been on her cheek.
"Fair enough, I'll try to ask around discreetly." Spencer quickly removed her hand suddenly realizing just how long she'd left it there. "Oh, and no, you don't have a troubled soul. Trouble souls usually get reincarnated right away."
"Good to know." Ashley replied distractedly, missing the comfort of Spencer's touch already.
"Now, Kyla Woods would like to say a few words about her sister, Ashley." Father O'Malley announced after saying his final prayer.
Ashley sat up straight.
Kyla stood up on shaking legs, wringing her hands in front of her and taking slow deep breaths. She walked up on to the raised platform to the right of the church altar. Composing herself, she glanced over at the wooden casket that held her sister's remains. A shiver ran down her spine, as she reminded herself that her sister was in there, not talking to her as she'd been hearing for the last hour.
Ashley was now finally paying attention to the funeral that was going on around her. Allowing herself to let it sink in that this was her funeral.
Spencer held the brunette's hand tighter as she felt her tensing up next to her.
"My sister…Ashley…" Kyla began with a trembling voice, "was an original. I'd never met anyone like her. Our time together was brief. We'd only met for the first time 5 years ago. After a few rough months, she became my best friend, my biggest supporter, my hero, my big sister."
Kyla took a staggered breath, trying to rein in the emotions that were threatening to reduce her into a blubbering mess.
Spencer looked over at Ashley and saw pride and sorrow shining bright in her deep brown eyes, tears starting to pool in the corners. She let go of Ashley's hand and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pulling the smaller girl close to her side.
"Everyone saw her as this bitchy, hard ass… a spoiled brat, but that was just because they never bothered to look beyond the surface. Ashley had the biggest heart of anyone I've known. Our first Christmas together, she took a group of foster kids to FAO Schwartz shopping, letting them pick out whatever they wanted, it became a tradition we did together every Christmas"
Kyla paused, briefly shutting her eyes before continuing
"She funded three houses for Habitat for Humanity down in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She donated thousands of dollars to various charities, and never once used that for free publicity or praise. She did because that was the kind of person she was. She wanted to help even a little in her own way."
Tears now started sliding down her cheeks as she finally lost the fight to hold them back.
"All anyone ever heard about was the bad things she did. The out of control rock star's daughter sold more papers but Ashley was so much more than that."
Ashley laid her head down on Spencer's shoulder as broken sobs escaped from her shuddering lips. It was finally hitting her that this was real. She was really dead and she'd never get to just hang out with her sister like they use to. She had known that before but had never allowed herself to feel it until that moment.
"She was always there with a pint of Ben and Jerry's after I'd broken up with yet another loser and only a couple 'I told you so's'. She…she was never afraid to let anyone know exactly what was on her mind. Everything she did, she did wholeheartedly, never backing off from what she wanted, doing whatever it took to accomplish her goals."
Kyla took a few slow breaths to steady her trembling voice.
"My sister was fearless and the world would be a better place if there were more people like her in it. I'm going to miss her so much but I hope you all know that she wasn't a headline in the tabloids, she wasn't that person they made her out to be because I think only a very few people got to see the real Ashley Davies, I'm honored I was able to be one of them."
She turned towards the coffin,
"Good bye, Ashley, I love you and I know you'll be watching out for me. Where ever you are."
There was hardly a dry eye in the church as Kyla made her way back down to her seat.
Spencer was still holding Ashley close to her while the other girl cried over the life she had lost and the pain it was causing the sister she loved.
The choir started singing an old hymn as a large projector screen came down from the ceiling, covering the large photo of Ashley. The screen then started to flash with pictures of Ashley from throughout her life.
There were a few murmured "aww's" as baby pictures faded from one to the next followed by chuckles at a chocolate covered three year old Ashley sitting in the middle of a kitchen floor, spilled Hershey's syrup around her.
Ashley watched in fascination, have never seen many of these pictures of herself before. Next to her, Kyla let out a choked half laugh, part sob, as a particularly embarrassing picture of 12 year old Ashley in pigtails and braces graced the screen. She was wearing unflattering overalls and her hair was a mess. Ashley groaned as she remembered the picture being taken on her first day of Jr. High. She couldn't believe she had had ever been that uncool.
"Aww, you look sweet there." Spencer gently teased, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Sweet must be the In Between's code word for unimaginably dorky." Ashley replied rolling her eyes but continuing to watch the pictures.
They were now showing ones from when she had first met Kyla. She almost laughed when saw the one of Kyla covered in chocolate milkshake, Ashley standing behind her smirking, the glass still tipped over Kyla's head, the last drops falling.
Kyla and Ashley had known each other a week when that picture had been taken. Christine had made Ashley take Kyla out so she took her to a diner with her and a few of her friends. She couldn't stand Kyla at the time, still hurt and upset that her father had never mentioned having another daughter. Consequently she'd basically spent the evening either totally ignoring her existence or making snide comments about her.
Finally Kyla had enough and called Ashley a bitch
So Ashley had dumped her chocolate shake over her head.
Just her luck one of the paparazzi happened to be there and caught the whole thing on film. The headline the next day proclaimed Ashley was a spoiled brat who didn't want to share Daddy's money. Christine almost had a heart attack and didn't speak to Ashley for almost an entire month after.
Next to her, Kyla smiled sadly at the memory. They had come so far from that first week and now she couldn't believe her sister was really gone.
Unless of course she was talking to me from the great beyond and I'm not going crazy.
She quietly laughed. That sounded even crazier than thinking she was going crazy.
They were nearing the end of the slide show as Ashley's most recent publicity shots filled the screen. People started readying themselves to follow the hearse to the cemetery. Kyla stayed still, not reaching for her little black clutch or showing any indication that it was time to leave the church. Christine shot her a look, clearly telling her to get up and follow but Kyla stayed sitting, staring at the coffin in front of her.
Spencer and Ashley stayed next to her as the church emptied.
The gentleman from the funeral home walked on to the altar towards the wooden box when he suddenly caught sight of Kyla. He paused and then changed his direction, walking over to the silently grieving girl.
"We have to move her now but if you would like a couple minutes alone, I'll make sure no one interrupts you." He said gently.
He had developed a particularly soft spot for her. She'd been the only one to talk to him about what the deceased would have wanted, as opposed to the horrible mother who'd obviously only cared about what looked good. And he'd watched the mother and daughter fight over almost aspect of the ceremony.. The mother getting her way on just about everything except the slide show. And that was only because she'd been convinced that all the celebrities were doing it.
"The pictures were a nice touch. Your sister was a beautiful girl." He patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure she appreciated all the time and effort you put into putting it together."
"Yeah…" Kyla answered distractedly. He nodded and then left her to her thoughts.
"Spencer, she did it herself, please, can't I at least thank her?" Ashley pleaded, giving Spencer her best puppy dog eyes.
Spencer wasn't about deny her that one request. In fact she'd have complied even if Ashley hadn't just pulled out the most heart wrenching look ever. "Of course. Do you want me to leave so you can have a moment alone? Spencer stood up, ready to leave.
"No!" Ashley jumped up and grabbed Spencer's hand.
Then realizing she had sounded a tad bit desperate, she quickly dropped Spencer's hand and took a step back. "Um, I mean, it would be nice to have to you stick around, if you want…"
"Ok, I'll be right over there." Spencer pointed towards the doors at the front of the church.
"Thanks." Ashley smiled gratefully.
During their exchange Kyla had gotten up and walked over to the casket that held her sister's remains. She ran her hand along the smooth wood, wondering how such a little box could hold someone who was larger than life like her sister.
Ashley stepped up behind her staring at the box and forcing herself not to think about what was in it. She laid a hand gently on Kyla's shoulder.
"Thank you, I loved the slide show. Those pictures brought back a lot of good memories."
Kyla didn't even flinch at the sound of her sister's voice in her right ear. She'd been waiting for it and she found herself actually relieved to hear it again.
"I just wanted something that was really you in the midst of this circus. I'm sorry your funeral was lame." Kyla didn't care if she was talking to herself. It truly did feel like Ashley was there and that made her feel a little better.
"Well I wouldn't have expected Christine to put the fun in funeral; it was exactly what I imagined a funeral planned by her would be, tacky, over the top and completely not me" Ashley shook her head to herself before continuing softly" The only part I liked was your part. Your speech meant so much to me Ky. You mean so much to me."
"Am I going crazy or are you haunting me?" Kyla turned away from the casket, trying to see if you could see a white mist or any other indication that she wasn't alone in the chapel.
Ashley laughed gently, "Neither I'm in another place but know that I'm always here, I'll always be here. Always looking out for you."
"You always did have stalker tendencies, good to see your death has brought them to the fore front." Kyla joked, not being able to fully believe what was happening but at least it made more sense than her spontaneously going insane.
"Hey! If I remember correctly, you're the one that made me drive past your ex's house every night for a week after you two broke up…" Ashley exclaimed with mock outrage.
"Oh, God, Ash…" Kyla laughed only to break down crying again.
It felt so real, it felt like one of their ordinary banter sessions. Something they'd never be able to do again.
"Oh, hey, hey, don't cry again, Ky" Ashley pleaded. "I know it's hard, I'm having a hard time of it myself, but I promise you, I'm not really gone. I'm still here, kind of, just not how I use to be… I'm in a good place, I promise you. No matter what, remember you're not alone, ok?" She wrapped her arms around her sister, trying to comfort her but not knowing how to when she didn't know herself how to explain what was going on.
"I'm sorry, we have to go now." The gentleman from the funeral home had returned.
Kyla just nodded and stepped away from the casket as the pallbearers came out to carry it to the waiting hearse.
Ashley watched as Ethan, her uncle's Markus and Lucas, along with her producer, Derek and her bodyguards, Jeff and Wayne lifted the casket up, carried it down the aisle and out the doors of the church. Kyla followed slowly behind.
"You okay?" Spencer asked as Ashley walked up to her in a daze.
"No, no, not really, Spencer, that's me in that box. That's me, the life I knew. Everything that's comfortable and familiar is in that box and about to be put in the ground forever."
Ashley started freaking out, shaking as her voice got louder and louder.
"Everything I was doesn't matter here anymore. After this all settles down, people will go back to their regular lives, forgetting me, like I never existed. Maybe mentioning me every now and again but that's it. If I'm lucky I'll end up as some stupid answer on a trivia game. That's all my life here has amounted to."
"No, that's not true, Ashley, not true at all. You made a difference here, you helped people, you cared…" Spencer grabbed Ashley's arms, forcing the girl to look at her. Attempting to calm her down.
"No, Spencer, you're wrong." Ashley shook Spencer's hands from her and stepped away, pacing in the doorway of the church, "I'm sure your little file on me mentions how I only took those kids shopping to make myself feel better after hitting a car while drunk driving. I was the reason a teenager and his girlfriend ended up in hospital. I mean thankfully, they lived but still, he'll have a limp for the rest of his life. Because of me.
Ashley's eyes had gone cold and hard, her voice angry as she recounted her misdeeds to the Light Fate.
"Those houses in New Orleans? Only happened because I felt guilty over watching someone overdose but I was too messed up to do anything about it. Again, luckily someone else came in and called 911 otherwise he would have died."
"Ok, so you weren't a Saint," Spencer replied slightly wincing as she thought about some of the more colorful parts of Ashley's file. "But you weren't a monster either. You made mistakes, everyone does. But you also did some good, Ashley, regardless of why. And you still helped people."
Spencer took a small towards her as Ashley stopped pacing to listen.
"Don't you realize not just anyone gets chosen to be on the In Between? Most people just get reincarnated but the Powers That Be obviously saw something special in you that made them keep you around. So you could keep your memories from this life. So you could be Ashley Davies for a while longer. " She slowly reached out for Ashley, gazing deeply into her gold flecked eyes, looking as far into her as she could.
And Ashley felt all her anger, frustration and sorrow suddenly melt away as those deep ocean blue eyes engulfed her, touching her very soul.
She then found herself yet again wrapped in Spencer's arms, crying.
"Thanks. I'm sorry I keep exploding on you when things get to be too much." Ashley whispered into Spencer's neck, pulling back just enough so the Fate could hear her.
"It's ok, I know it's not personal. You're just trying to deal. We all handle things in our own way." Spencer gently rubbed Ashley's back, calming her down.
"Still, it's not fair to take it out on you." Ashley stayed in the blonde's arms, not in a rush to pull away. She inhaled deeply, getting caught up in the unique scent of the blond. It was like fresh laundry and lavender along with something else that was unmistakably Spencer.
"And again, I understand, it's okay for now." Ashley heard the unspoken part of Spencer's reply; the part that said it was okay for now but it wouldn't be if she kept it up for much longer.
"Can we skip the cemetery and go to my mother's house? That's where everyone is getting together afterwards; I want to check on Kyla." Ashley asked, hugging Spencer tighter to her.
"Sure." Spencer pulled away but making sure to take Ashley's hand in hers as they walked out of the church before shifting to the In Between to get her car and then driving over to the Davies residence.