ANGELS AND GHOSTS

The Unsettling Sleep-Over

Mia woke up and gazed at the clock; 4.33.

She sat up and then gazed at her sleeping lover. Rachael Terina was asleep in her bed, and Mia smiled as she flicked a few strands of hair off Rachael’s brow. She looked peaceful, looked gorgeous, although she seemed to be mumbling.

Mia directed her attention to the draw, and pulled it open, then picked up the bracelet. For the first time in weeks, the voice had floated into her mind, and it hadn’t only floated in, it seemed like it wanted to disturb or arouse her … can you help me, please …

That wasn’t the most troubling aspect though, the most troubling aspect was that a pre-fix had been added to the sentence that she was so familiar with; four words; The men, the men … can you help me, please … Mia stared at the bracelet, the bracelet having a tale that needed to be told, or maybe the girl had a tale that needed to be told.

Mia felt anxious, the girl’s statement ringing through her mind, although she also felt expectant, felt as if something was going to happen, so she closed her eyes, and then bit on her bottom lip as the clouds of confusion in her mind seemed to disperse, as if being blown away by a gentle breath. Mia concentrated, and her brow throbbed ever so slightly as an image began forming. She touched the bracelet with the fingers of her left hand, confused and concerned, although she wanted to be available for the girl, so she concentrated harder, a clearer image forming in her mind; something, something forming, a silhouette in a dark night, trembling, seemingly distressed, the silhouette feminine, a hand reaching out …

“Fuck, fuck, no …”

Her focus disturbed, Mia shook her head and gazed at Rachael.

“Trent, no, please …”

Rachael seemed to be grimacing, then her right hand went over her face.

Mia watched her, then after Rachael had settled, she turned her attention back to the bracelet, skimming her fingers over it as she closed her eyes. The silhouette seemed to jiggle, almost like it was re-adjusting, then settling, the silhouette almost certainly female, hair falling past the shoulders … The men, the men … can you---

“Trent, no, don’t!”

Mia snapped her eyes opened, Rachael asleep, but trembling. Mia wanted to soothe or comfort her lover, but the bracelet, the voice, the silhouette, or, or the girl, seeming as if she wanted to relay something important. Mia closed her eyes and tried to re-focus, feeling the bracelet again, wanting to make herself available, and slowly, the silhouette appeared in her mind, a trembling hand reaching out … The men, the men … can you---

“ARRRHHHHH!”

Mia jumped at the scream, then scrambled over to her, and shocked, she shook her, “Rachael!”

Blubbering, sobbing, Rachael tossed and turned, her right hand plastered over her face, her left fist smacking into the bed, “You, you fucking …”

“Rachael wake up!”

Rachael snapped up into a sitting position, panting, her eyes opened wide. “Wha, what?”

“Are you okay?”

Rachael stared at her, her chest heaving as she blew out uncertainly, “M-Mia …”

Flustered and nervous, Mia skimmed a hand through Rachael’s hair as she asked meekly, “Are you okay?”

Awake now, awake and aware; aware of the tears dribbling down her cheeks, aware of her frantic breathing, aware of the blood dripping in her dispersing dreamscape. Rachael tried to choke back the blubbers, then she hung her head.

Mia nestled Rachael’s head into her bosom and patted her back as she cooed, “Everything’s okay Rach, I’m here.” Mia felt her shivering, so she held her tighter and kissed the top of her head, “It’s okay Rach, everything’s okay.”

Obviously though, everything was not okay, because Rachael began to sob, and then she started crying quietly, and Mia, stunned, cried with her.

*

No breakfast in bed, breakfast at the kitchen bench. Mia looked up timidly as she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rachael distractedly stabbed at one of the pancakes, then watched the syrup drip off her fork as she muttered, “Not really.”

Mia wasn’t sure how to take this forward, so she asked, “Was it a nightmare, were you having a nightmare?”

Rachael dropped her gaze, watching the syrup drip. “Yeah.”

“What about, what was the nightmare about?”

Rachael reached across and poured more syrup onto the pancakes, then resumed stabbing. “You know, nothing really.”

Obviously, she didn’t want to talk about it, although Mia needed to raise a few points. “Rach, you looked really frightened, and you were screaming.”

Rachael placed her fork on the plate and then folded her arms on the bench, speaking with her head down. “Something happened to me a while ago, and yeah, sometimes I have nightmares about it.”

Mia rubbed her hand over Rachael’s back as she asked quietly, “What happened?”

Rachael sighed then said quietly, “This guy, this guy, I broke up with him, but he, you know, he didn’t want to break up, so he was hassling me and, and …”

A minute ticked by, Mia still rubbing her back until Rachael pushed out of the chair and said bluntly, “I better get going.”

Mia saw her out, and instead of the passionate farewell kiss she had become accustomed to, Mia received a cautious hug.

“I’ll ring you tomorrow … maybe.” Rachael said as she ambled away.

*

He, Fuck-Shit-Head was back with a vengeance, because he exploded into Rachael’s dreams that night; the trembling hand, the gun … her night’s sleep destroyed, blood everywhere, dripping off the walls, off her face, her clothes, blood engulfing her as shattered pieces of her sanity dripped out of her being, leaked out, pieces that could never be replaced. Rachael drew her knees up and planted her face into both hands, savaged, emotionally damaged, but also reflective.

The actual event itself hadn’t even lasted five minutes, although the psychological carnage that it had wreaked had cost her a lifetime of normality.

*

That night, Mia fell into a deep sleep, deeper than she was aware of, deep enough to stir the intangible crevices of her mind; portals opening, veils lifting, life and death dancing for her as cautious phantoms slunk in.

The next morning, Mia sat at the kitchen bench, sipping the coffee as she stared at the bracelet.

She couldn’t dismiss the thought any longer, because the previous night had confirmed everything. Sure, she could plead ignorance and say that her brain had been damaged, and parts of it were destroyed and other parts of it were functioning well below what was expected of them, although it was futile now.

The previous night had made everything crystal clear.

The girl who had once been just a voice in her mind, the girl whose bones had been recovered from a shallow grave, well the girl, that girl, she was now in Mia’s mind. Mia could sense the silhouette of the girl settling herself in her mind, and it felt like she hadn’t settled herself in the working parts of Mia’s brain, she had settled herself in the damaged parts, had plonked herself down amongst the decaying ruins of her brain. Mia didn’t know what to do about that, maybe it was just a matter of wait and see, keep your mind open and receptive until the girl reached out again, although Mia felt sorry for herself, and she knew that the only reason a girl had settled in her mind, was because she’d been hit by a car on July the nineteenth the previous year.

The day her whole life had changed.

Prior to July the nineteenth, 2014, her future looked promising, and Mia had anticipated that life’s common prizes would be laid out before her; marry a nice guy, buy a nice house, have children, and then skip daintily through each day with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.

But no; July the nineteenth happened, and Mia was left with a shattered remnant of a life. In the ruination of her life and the potential obliteration of her future, one good thing had happened though; she had met the Wild Girl. Mia sent her a message.

Hi, you okay?

A reply; the reply being a Smiley Face.

Mia sent another one.

Wanta catch up?

The reply,

Working, will ring you end of the week.

“Great,” Mia frowned, “Two days without you.”

Mia sipped the coffee, thinking about her lover. Rachael was the wildest, boldest person Mia had ever met, and she loved spending time with her. She loved the romance and the passion, and she had to come to accept the smuttiness and the vulgarity, because every moment they spent together was precious. Wild Girl made her laugh, and she made her gasp, and she made her tingle … and sizzle … and yearn …

Mia nodded her head in acceptance; yeah, the girl from her dreams had somehow set up residence in her mind, and if that wasn’t unsettling enough, just throw in a startling reality; she was in love.

With a girl.

And the girl she was in love with used phrases like, ‘Our lives don’t revolve around each other …’ Hmmm, sorry to disagree … Mia picked up her phone and spoke to the phone. “Hello Rachael, I must apologise, because I think I’m in love with you.” Mia shook her head as she put the phone down. “No, no; I don’t think … I know.”

Two days, two days without her, so Mia picked up the bracelet and tickled her fingers over it.

*

Rachael lay in bed all morning, not the slightest bit interested in getting up.

In the cold, hard light of the day, He couldn’t slip into her mind and turn everything to shit, although someone else was trying to slip in and turn everything on its head. Rachael’s life was hers, nobody else’s. She did whatever she wanted to do, whenever she wanted to do it; no ties, no restraints, no commitments to anybody or anything. Shall I do this today? Why not, I can do whatever the Hell I like! Rachael was a stand-alone gal, because she didn’t need anybody in her life, didn’t need a partner or the stifling restraints that a relationship could put on you. Sure, being a self-designated emotional loner could have its lonely periods, but then again, she didn’t have a pesky partner whining, Come on we have to go, it’s my parent’s anniversary! Or It’s my Aunties birthday! or It’s my second cousins wedding! or It’s my fifth cousin’s, brother’s, nieces tenth birthday! Fuck off huh, Rachael Terina decides what she wants to do.

Rachael stared at the ceiling, knowing, just knowing, that she’d been touched, or brushed by it.

Of all the emotions, love was the most fucked up, because it wasn’t a doing emotion. Her favourite emotions were lust and desire, because they were doing emotions, and you could take action when they hit you; but love was a mind-set emotion, and it just hung around like a bad smell. A bad smell was in the air on this morning, because the fucked-up emotion had touched her, or brushed her. Rachael had always assumed that if love did ever brush her, she would fall for a 6’2” multi-millionaire sports star, not a timid woman with a brain injury.

Rachael nodded her head; decision time. She loved seeing Mia three times a week, but in order to slow love’s march, she would cut back to twice a week with Mia, and maybe then, love could fuck off to wherever fucked-up emotions fuck off to.

It would probably be a good thing for Mia too, for it was becoming apparent that Mia hadn’t been brushed by love, she’d been tarred and feathered by it.

*

On the Friday, bristling with excitement, Mia caught a cab to her place.

Rachael met her out the front of the apartment block. “How ya doing?”

“I’m fabulous!” Mia beamed. “I couldn’t wait to see you!”

Rachael was excited to see her, although she frowned, Fucking love, you cluster-fuck piece of shit-fuck!

“Come in here, I want you to meet my friend.” Rachael said as she double knocked on the ground floor door.

“Who is it?” came the voice.

“You got clothes on?”

“Ohh hey Rach,” he acknowledged, “Yeah, all decent.”

Rachael led her into the study and said, “Mia, this is my friend Marco, and Marco, this is my friend Mia.”

“Hi,” Marco smiled, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Mia blushed, for Rachael had told her a few things about him as well. Yeah, he helps me occasionally and I jack him off in return … “Nice to meet you.” Mia said quietly.

“Wow, she’s pretty!” Marco gushed.

“Yeah, hot is what she is,” Rachael replied, then she added cheekily, “And she shaves her puss!”

“Rachael!” Mia laughed, as she slapped her arm.

“You ever done any modelling work Mia?”

“Ohhh you pervert; on that note, we’re going!” Rachael said as she kicked one of his tyres.

In Rachael’s apartment, Mia giggled when the Can-Can came on, then she giggled and gushed and panted her way through the afternoon, while downstairs, Marco was doing a little panting of his own.

After a physically boisterous session, Rachael got them a Beam each, although she glared at Mia as she strolled out of the bedroom. “How come you put the t-shirt on?”

Mia shrugged her shoulders and said, “Ummm, I’ll take it off when we go back in.”

“Take it off now.”

“No, I’m not comfortable sitting at a table without any clothes on.”

“Pussy!”

“I’m not a pussy, but you’re a, a …”

“A what?”

“A slut.” Mia giggled.

Rachael clinked cans and said brightly, “Too right; cheers!”

Laughing felt good, although Mia needed to talk about a few things, the first of which she tip-toed up to. “Rach, I’ve been meaning to ask you …”

“What?”

“You know, about your nightmare the other night.”

Rachael lowered her gaze.

“Ummm Rach, does it happen often?”

Rachael pushed back in the chair and caressed her left breast, “My nipples are still up.”

“Well yeah, I can see that.”

“Wouldn’t you rather talk about my tits?”

“I love your breasts, and your nipples, actually, I love everything about you …”

A bizarre image popped into Rachael’s mind; Mia coated in thick, sticky, black tar, white turkey feathers plastered all over her.

Mia looked at the table and said, “When I think about you, I think of this bold, daring person who isn’t afraid of anything, and then the other night …”

Rachael gazed at her can as she said, “I told you, something bad happened to me, and yeah, sometimes I have nightmares about it.”

“How long ago was it?”

“I was nineteen, almost nine years ago.”

“If it still affects you, I dunno, have you considered seeing someone about it, someone like a psychologist?”

“I was seeing shrinks for about three years, and it didn’t help at all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

The reply was delivered so bluntly that Mia realised she had to back off. “Rach, just know that I think the world of you, and if I can help you in anyway, I will.”

“Thanks,” Rachael nodded. “I don’t talk about it because I don’t want to talk about it. Shit-loads of people have got a skeleton in the closet, or shit that fucks them up, and this is mine, this is something that I just have to live with.”

Mia bowed her face as she prepared to tiptoe into stage two. “Ummm Rach, I hate burdening you with this, but I have to tell someone …”

“What?”

“The other night when you slept over, I was already awake when you started, you know, having the nightmare, and I believe I was woken up by the voice.”

“The voice? I thought you stopped hearing it.”

“Well, as much as I can remember, I haven’t heard it or been conscious of it since we, you know, made the discovery.”

“What did it say, the same thing?”

“The message has always been, Hello, hello can you help me, but that night, it was, The men, the men, can you help me please.”

“Does that mean anything to you?”

“Well I’ve been thinking about it constantly, and I’m wondering if she means the people who did this to her.”

“Do you see anything, any images?”

“Funny you asked that, because yes, I do.” Mia replied. “I’ve seen a silhouette of the girl, and I mean the night you slept over, it was like she was trying to reach out to me, or connect with me or something; and then the following night, she did connect with me.”

“What do you mean by connect with you?”

“Gosh, I don’t know how to explain this, but it’s like she’s a part of me now, or, or with me, or in my mind or something.”

Rachael thought about it. This wasn’t the rantings of a fucked-up chick who had a brain injury, this could be something real, something important. Rachael could back-pedal all she liked, but the fact remained, that through whatever source, Mia had been led to the grave of a young girl, the grave being almost directly opposite the spot where Mia had been hit by a car. And unfortunately, it was the same spot where Rachael had seen a bright light hovering above the road, and it if hadn’t of been for the bright light, Mia wouldn’t sitting opposite her right at this moment. “Mia, being serious, maybe you should see a shrink and, I dunno, go under hypnosis and see what happens.”

Mia nodded and said agreeably, “Yes, I have considered that, because I feel that the girl wants to tell me something, or, or make me aware of something,” she looked up at Rachael as she continued a little more timidly, “But me, I mean my disability, people would think I’m, I’m …”

Rachael understood, but she wanted to push forward. “You must know your neurologist pretty well by now, so maybe it’s time you off-loaded this onto him.”

“Rach, I had to plead with him to let me out of the rehabilitation centre, so if I told him, I’d just be afraid that, that …”

Rachael nodded, thinking, remembering. The scene was still alive in her mind; seeing the hovering light, then finding Mia in a ditch and feeling for a pulse. No pulse, no breathing, and she had pumped her chest, and maybe, just maybe, she had revived her. The term revived her was a solid, positive term, although unfortunately, the term introduced a creepy thought into Rachael’s mind; She was dead, and you brought her back …

“Do you want me to make a phone call?” Rachael asked, “I mean I know this chick, and I think she knows someone who is kinda like a psychic or something.”

“What are you saying?”

“Maybe you could speak to her and see if she can help you.” Rachael replied.

Mia lowered her gaze to her drink, and she could feel that it was still three-quarters full. Rachael had already drunk hers and then crushed the can, so Mia said shyly, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt, because I’d be more comfortable speaking to somebody who isn’t in the medical profession.”

*

On the Friday night, fully satisfied, Rachael smoothed the towel out, then sat.

“Your drink Gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” Rachael replied. “Arrhh, Soph, was it you that had a sister who was a psychic?”

“I have a cousin who is a fortune teller.”

“Okay, I remember you telling me about someone who had a freaky, unexplainable kind of experience.”

“Yes, that was Jasmine, the fortune teller.”

“What happened again?”

“This happened in the early nineties when we were all still in Jamaica, and Jas was about nineteen or twenty, and she fell out a tree and cracked her head open. She was rushed to hospital, and she was in a bad way for a while, then after she’d recovered sufficiently, she started talking about a boy being in a creek, but nobody paid much attention to what she was saying, because she was recovering from a severe head injury. I was only a kid back then, but I still remember Jas telling one of my older sisters that she believed there was a boy in the creek, and he was lost. Cutting a long story short, when Jasmine got out of hospital, she took her brothers and sisters, and also me and my sisters down to the creek, and yeah, after a few hours of searching around, we found the boy, or should I say, we found his body.”

“Dead?”

“Unfortunately yes, and we knew who he was, because he’d been missing for months, but yeah, I don’t know how, but Jas found him.”

“Freaky.”

“It was, I mean Jas was rattled by the whole thing, although she was pleased as well, because at least his parents knew, and they were able to give him a proper burial.”

“How did she know where to find him?”

“No, don’t know; like Jas was spooked, and she doesn’t like talking about it.”

“I can understand that, but it sounds like she was almost led to the body.”

“Possibly, but I was only a kid Gorgeous, and I don’t remember that much about it, and like I said, Jasmine was spooked by the whole thing.”

Rachael pondered, then asked, “Do you believe in, I dunno, supernatural shit?”

“Rach, at a tender and impressionable age, I saw my cousin find the body of a missing boy, so I tend to have an open mind about everything.”

Rachael sipped her drink, running it through her mind.

“Why are you asking?” Sophie inquired.

“You remember me telling you about coming across a woman who got hit by a car last summer, and I took her to hospital?”

“You’re one of my most favourite people on the planet, and I remember every conversation we’ve ever had.” Sophie replied.

Rachael cocked her head and said, “If I’m one of your most favourite people, you should let me slam you then.”

“Hmmm, Miss Terina, looking at you lazing back, completely naked, the thought of doing exactly that is spreading its wings,” she smiled, “So let me sleep on it; but tell me about the woman.”

“Ohhh yeah; did you read about the bones they discovered in the forest a while back?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well the woman who got hit by the car, Mia, she’d been hearing this voice in her dreams, and I took her out to the site of the accident one time, and yeah, she was kinda led or whatever, and we found the grave.”

“Ummm, I don’t think I understand.”

“Freaky shit Soph; I got to know her, Mia, and she started talking about this voice in her dreams, so she asked me if I could take her out to where the accident happened, and I did. Anyway, she was like a zombie or something, and she walked into the forest on the other side of the road, and eventually she was drawn to this spot which had a whole bunch of neatly stacked rocks, and me and her started digging, and fuck me, we dig up a bracelet and a collection of bones.”

“What are you saying, you found the grave?”

“Well no, she found it, and I remember thinking at the time, shit, this bitch must have done it, I mean she knew where to go and what to look for, but as it turns out, the bones could have been there for anywhere between twenty to forty years.”

“Jesus, well freaky is the correct description.” Sophie stated.

“Your cousin, Jasmine, does she do hypnosis or anything similar?”

“I think she’s dabbled in hypnosis; why, where are you going with this?”

Rachael gazed into space as she said, “Mia has the impression that the, the … what do we call it; arhhh, the spirit of this girl has connected with her, and maybe the girl wants the people who killed her brought to account, and I dunno, it’s kinda all linking together in a bizarre kind of way, and Mia, well she wants to help this girl.”

“By doing what?”

“Going under hypnosis maybe, and seeing if that triggers something.”

“Hypnosis is a medically proven technique, so maybe she should engage a professional.”

Rachael nodded and said, “Yeah, good point, but Mia suffered cranial injuries, and she’s worried that if she off-loaded this onto a licensed professional, well they’d be searching for a straight-jacket.”

“Okay, so what do you want me to do?”

“Speak to your cousin and see if she’d been willing to help.”

“Put her under hypnosis?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not sure Gorgeous, because like I said, Jas has never been the same since the incident, so even thinking about this might freak her out.”

“Soph, just tell her I’ll pay her whatever she wants, but yeah, I want to help her, I want to help Mia.”

“I’ll call her and let you know.”