SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER 8
“Hey, my man!” Riley says as he opens his door, keys in hand, as if he was leaving his house and sees me standing on the front step. We grin at each other and then do the typical bro hug, hands gripped and chest bump. “What’s up?”
“Is Jessica and Chris here with you? We need to talk to everyone.” I peeked into his darkened doorway and knew before he even said no that they were not inside.
“Nah, man. They’re hanging out at the coffee shop. I was just getting ready to head over there myself. You guys wanna tag along?” Dev and I looked at each other saying ‘sure’ then we hopped into his bright yellow pick-up truck he drove off.
Pulling up in front of the free-standing coffee shop, which is the local hang out spot for all the young people in town, Riley threw his truck into park, and we all piled out. Walking up to the door, the three gold-plated bells chimed overhead as we file in one by one and then we look around until we spot Chris and Jessica hanging out in one of the corner booths towards the back of the coffee shop that we have sort of claimed as ‘our’ spot. As we walked over to them, Devon broke away from us and went over to the counter to order a couple coffees for himself and me.
Jessica’s eyes narrowed as they landed on me. “Well look what the cat drug in!” Jessica says in a snarky sort of tone, but I can hear the hurt and shock in her voice as she sees me walking towards them. “When did you get back, asshat? Oh, by the way, thanks for returning my phone calls, you flipping jerk.” she adds with a snarl.
Let me tell you, many thoughts ran through my head as she spoke. Since all were unkind words, I clenched my jaw tight and decided to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t need to tick her off any more than she already was. I came to ask for her help after all. Sighing, I just opted for the “I’m sorry” statement. I mean really, what else can I say? Especially since I’m not really sorry, but if it makes her feel better and more willing to help me, well then, I’ll do it!
After Devon joins us, we all squeeze ourselves into the other side of the booth, squishing Chris up against the wall, I take a deep breath and then jump headfirst into my plea. “I need your guys’ help. I met this girl while I was in New Orleans.” As I say that, I see Jessica’s face go red and flames of hatred flash in her eyes because she thinks I’ve fallen yet again for another girl that isn’t her. So, I continue quickly with my words, so she can erase that thought from her mind. “She is a witch from the Night-Sky Coven in New Orleans, and she thinks she knows of a way to bring Alina back from the spirit realm. She just arrived here and is working with Grandma Jean to sort out the details involved in doing this.”
“Oh, hell no! You can totally count me out. I want no part in helping you resurrect your dead girlfriend!” Jessica spouts as she stands up abruptly and walks away from us. I can’t help but growl a sigh of frustration. Now I’m going to have to figure out a way to convince her to help me out. However, everyone who really does care about Ali stays put and begins to ask questions about how this will even be possible.
“No Way!” Chris exclaims. “You mean we could really get our Ali girl back. Hell yeah, what do we have to do to make this happen man?”
“Do you really think it’s possible?” Riley asks, looking at me hopeful. Running a hand through my hair, I respond with a shrug of my shoulders.
“I honestly don’t have a clue how it will work. Nor what is involved in accomplishing this feat. All I know for sure right now is that it will need to take place during the hibernal solstice.
“Sweet Goddess! That’s not too far away,” Chris looks at all of us with a dorky smile and then we all begin to smile too as hope leaks into our minds.
“Now, I’ve got one more important question for you guys. How in the hell will I convince Jessica to help us?” Everyone shakes their heads at me, holding their hands up, indicating they want to avoid that topic, but I can tell from the expressions on their faces that they are all just as lost as I am on how to go about convincing her we need her help. We all chuckle, Chris adds ‘good luck with that’ and then Devon suggests a few rounds on the XBOX.
*
A faint scent of lavender and roses tickles my nose. I breathe it in and smile in my sleep. I feel her hand caress the side of my face, ever so lightly, like a butterfly’s wing brushing against my cheek. Turning slightly, I placed a kiss against her palm as she once had done to mine. This dream is slightly different from the previous ones because it feels more real. My eyes flutter open and I see Ali hovering at the edge of my bed peering down at me, gazing at me adoringly. “Al,” I whisper into the darkness. She smiles at me. “H-how are you here right now?” I questioned her as I moved into a sitting position.
Alina sits on the corner of the bed, but I don’t feel any shift on the mattress from added weight. She is obviously a ghost because of her transparent appearance. My hope deflates as I realize this. Though I guess a ghost Ali is better than no Ali at all. I move to be closer to her. I want nothing more than to hold her in my arms. She turns her head to look at me and I see nothing but sadness in her green eyes. “Are you able to talk?” I only ask her because she hasn’t attempted to say anything to me yet.
She shakes her head no but lifts her arms and shrugs her shoulders at the same time. So maybe she just hasn’t been able to sort out how to use her voice at the moment. All too soon her image begins to flicker in and out like a lightbulb about to burn out. My heart tightens as I know that any second, she will fade from my sight, and I let the tears fall from my eyes. I can see by the way she looks at me that she is desperately trying to stay but the spirit realm just has too strong of pull on her.
Just before her light goes out, I see her do some hand jesters pointing at her heart and then to me. “I love you too, Ali!” I cried out in anguish. And then in the blink of an eye she is gone, having left me alone and shaking as I stared into the darkness of my bedroom. Breathing deep, I try to reign my emotions back in and then lie down thinking there is no way I will be able to fall back to sleep, but I surprise myself and do just that.
Sunday morning, I am awakened by the sound of thunder clapping right outside my window. Thunderstorms don’t often occur during the month of December, but they do happen. My eyes snap open and I glance around my room, instantly alert. I looked around frantically for a second hoping Alina may still be in the room with me. and shook my head causing dark strands of hair to fall into my eyes as I realized she wasn’t and then decided to get up and go to the bathroom. Walking back into my bedroom, a piece of paper lying on my desk catches my eye. It wasn’t there when I fell asleep last night, so I pick it up to see what it is, and my hand begins to shake while holding it as I read:
Nic, my love,
I haven’t been able to figure out how to speak to the living yet, but I have worked out how to manipulate inanimate objects, hence this letter. I wanted to let you know that I was able to feel your face for the briefest of seconds when I touched you last night. I will visit you again soon.
I love you!
Ali ~ XOXO
I stared at the white piece of paper in disbelief thinking that it can’t possibly be real even though I’m holding the letter with her handwriting in my hand. With the letter still held tight in my grip, I ran down the steps and into the kitchen looking to see if anyone else was awake yet. The curse of being an early riser as opposed to not being an early bird, absolutely no one else has risen. “Ugh!” I groan audibly and place the letter on the island where I can continually glance at it while I make a pot of coffee.
I’m pretty sure I drank about half the pot as I waited for someone, anyone else to wake up and make an appearance; pacing back and forth across our tiled kitchen floor, doing my best to not just say ‘screw it’ and find someone to wake up.
Eventually Mom shows her face as she comes in and I look at her exasperated. Granted she doesn’t have a clue as to why I am this way with her but as she nears the island, I hand her the note; “read this mom!” I exclaim excitedly. I love her facial expressions. She reads through it once, looks at me, eyebrows raised. She turns her attention back to the note and reads it a second time. I can visibly see the wonder and questions in her eyes.
“Oh my, Alina was able to visit from the spirit realm?” Mom asks with a gasp all the while I nod my head in giddy excitement. “You need to call Jean and let her know that Alina has contacted you.”
“Do you think I should?”
“Yes, most definitely. They need to know that she hasn’t moved on from the afterlife and is still here wanting to be with you.”
“Okay.” I sprint back up to my room so I can grab my cell and let grandma know what has happened. “Hey mom,” I shouted from the stairway, “I’m running over to grandma’s house. I’ll be back later.”
From the kitchen where she is still, I hear an ‘okay’, just as I stepped out the door.