Gone Ghost

by Sara C. Roethle

  He looked down at my body. My fire was weakening against my grandmother's onslaught. We were running out of time.

  “Hurry,” I said through gritted teeth.

  He reached forward and quickly took the ring off my hand. We were lucky that it had fallen inside the bubble, else I don't know what we would have done.

  He clutched the ring in his fingers and looked down at it. “How do I destroy it?”

  “Break the stone!” my dad shouted.

  My grandmother turned a look of pure hatred toward him, but quickly looked away to continue chipping away at our shield. I wasn't sure if he had heard my father, or just figured it out for himself, but Chase pointed the ring downward, then thrust his hand toward the earth, slamming the stone on a small rock. The ring's stone cracked open, and my grandmother screamed.

  Green light leaked out of the broken stone, just as Alexandria was consumed by the same green glow. The glow condensed into a large sphere as her figure melded and imploded with it. Soon all that was left was a giant, glowing orb. It gave a shudder, then exploded outward, knocking down my shield, then knocking us all onto our backs.

  The world went eerily silent as I laid in the dirt, stunned. Then the dalmatian approached and started licking my face. I shoved him off me and sat up. She was gone.

  My dad sat up across from me. His grin told me that we'd won.

  Chase sat up too, then turned to stare at me in awe.

  “You can still see me?” I asked hopefully.

  Chase nodded, then looked down at my body. “How are you here?” he asked weakly.

  “It would seem Chase inherited some of his father's powers after all,” my dad commented as he stood.

  Chase looked in my dad's direction like he'd heard him, but it was obvious he couldn't see him.

  “You mean he's a Necro-demon like Sam?” I questioned.

  “What?” Chase said, returning his gaze to me.

  My dad nodded, then suddenly looked sad. “You should tell him goodbye . . . for both of us.”

  I bit my lip, then looked back to Chase. His dark hair was caked with dirt. His dirt-stained showed dark trails where his tears had fallen.

  “I have to go,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

  His face fell. “You're dead, aren't you?”

  I nodded. “You can see me because you have powers just like your brother.”

  He held out a hand to me, and I took it. His fingers wrapped tightly around mine. “You feel real,” he commented. “I feel like . . . ” he trailed off as his gaze went distant.

  “You feel like what?” I pressed, worried that the witches were already summoning him back to the human world. I still needed to say goodbye.

  “Chase-” I began when he didn't answer me, but he raised his free hand to cut me off.

  My dad stepped forward, a curious look on his face. “Tell him to pick up the ring,” he instructed.

  I did as my dad bade, confused about what I was missing.

  Chase plucked the damaged ring from the ground and looked down at the broken stone. The dalmatian, who'd been sitting happily by my side, began to bark.

  Chase looked in the direction of the dog. “I feel strange. Do you hear something barking?” he asked distantly.

  I shook my head, not wanting to take the time to explain. I needed to say goodbye and the witches might summon him any minute.

  “Xoe,” my dad said evenly as he crouched in front of us, “touch the ring.”

  I looked at the ring in question. “It's broken.”

  Chase nodded, thinking that I was speaking to him. My dad gave me an impatient look, reminding me of all the arguments we'd had. Arguments that I missed every day.

  I rolled my eyes and reached out a finger toward the ring.

  “What are you doing?” Chase questioned.

  My finger grazed the broken stone, and my entire body erupted in goosebumps.

  My dad looked down at the ring in awe. “It's meant to store souls. I always wondered where its power came from.”

  I recoiled from the ring. “I don't want to be trapped in there!”

  “Touch it again,” he said, eyes intent on the ring as Chase stared at me, wondering who I was talking to.

  I placed my finger firmly on the ring, annoyed. I was already dead, so I guess I really didn't have much to lose. As soon as my finger touched down I felt a strange pulling sensation, like the ring was taking away a part of me. I waited until the feeling subsided, then met Chase's wide eyes.

  “You're more difficult to see now,” he said, his voice cracking near the end.

  “Tell him to put the ring on your finger,” my dad ordered. “Quickly before he gets pulled away.”

  I held out my hand toward Chase.

  “Not that finger,” my dad corrected, then looked down at my corpse.

  I gasped. “Do you think-” I began, but my dad cut me off.

  “It's worth a shot,” he said quickly.

  “Put the ring on my body's finger!” I exclaimed, elated by the implications my dad was making.

  Chase didn't even question me. He leaned toward my body and slipped the ring back onto one of my lifeless fingers.

  We all paused and stared down at the ring, but nothing happened. My slim hopes dashed, I let out a sob.

  Chase turned frantic eyes to me. “I think Cynthia is trying to pull me out!”

  My eyes widened. “No,” I whispered.

  I looked around for something, anything, to stop what was happening, but it was no use. In a last ditch effort, I turned back to Chase. “Break the rest of the ring!” I shouted.

  “No!” my dad argued. “It might send you away like it did your grandmother.”

  I began to cry. “I'm dead anyway!” I shouted back. “I love you!”

  Thinking I was talking to him, Chase muttered, “I love you too,” then lifted my dead hand to hit what remained of the stone's ring on a rock, just before he disappeared from sight.

  16

  I had a dream that I was back in the misty cave with my dad, or maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe my dreams were all reality, but my mind can't fully comprehend what it sees, so it tells me it's all a dream.

  We sat together for a long time, with the dalmatian resting his head in my lap. We laughed and reminisced about the short portion of our lives that we'd spent together. Eventually we both grew cold, and my dad announced that it was finally time for him to walk into the light.

  “Where will you go?” I asked.

  He only laughed at me. “I'm not even sure where here is, let alone over there.”

  I knew he didn't have the answers, but I couldn't just let it drop. “Will I ever see you again?”

  He stood and shrugged, then offered me a hand up. “There are always dreams.”

  I shook my head and began to cry as he helped me stand. “But I never know if they're real. How can I know if I'm really seeing you?”

  He shrugged again. “As long as they feel real to you, does it matter?”

  Before I could answer, he pulled me into a tight hug. “Say goodbye to Chase for me,” he whispered in my ear.

  “So I'm alive?” I asked, not wanting to pull away from the hug.

  “It's time to wake up,” he replied, and just like that, I shot up in bed.

  I wasn't alone either. Everyone was crammed into my room: Chase, Lucy, Allison, Max, Jason, my mom, and even Devin and Abel.

  I took a shuddering breath as I looked around at all of the shocked expressions. I reached to the back of my head where I'd hit the rock. There was dried blood caked in my hair, but no wound.

  My eyes lingered on Chase's stunned expression. “How?” I whispered.

  He shook his head. “I did what you told me, then I got pulled back here. A few minutes later, you appeared unconscious, but alive, in the middle of the living room.”

  My mom started to cry, and clung to Abel's arm like he was someone she was actually comfortable with.

  “A few minutes . . . ” I trai
led off. If I'd been in the human world this last bit of time, then my final meeting with my dad really had been a dream.

  Something was making snuffling noises beside my bed. I leaned to the side and looked down. The dalmatian was rolling around on the carpet, playing with a stuffed animal.

  My eyes widened as I looked back to the people in the room. “Did he appear with me?”

  Max, who was standing near the doorway with Allison, answered, “He sure did. Can we keep him?”

  I laughed, startling myself. “I don't think I have a choice.”

  Lucy stepped forward hesitantly, then sat on the bed next to me. She held out a hand, but stopped just short of my shoulder. “C-can I touch you?”

  I smiled encouragingly at her. Chase had obviously filled everyone in on what had happened. They were acting like I was still a ghost.

  I nodded, almost afraid for her to touch me and shatter the illusion.

  Her hand landed solidly on my shoulder, then she pulled me into a tight hug. A moment later, Allison pounced on us, wrapping us both in the circle of her arms. “No more dying allowed,” she ordered.

  My mom began sobbing anew at that.

  After several more minutes of hugging and crying, I looked to Chase to save me from an overwhelming sea of emotion. Plus, I really needed to talk to him. He looked to Jason for some reason.

  Jason looked strangely worried. “Chase and I need to talk to Xoe,” he announced.

  Lucy growled at him from her perch on my bed. I patted her shoulder to draw her attention. “I need to talk to them too,” I lied. Really I just needed to talk to Chase, but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to clear my room of some people.

  My mom stepped forward and looked at me with her tear-stained, puffy face like she wanted to say a million different things, but none of them would come out.

  “I'm fine,” I assured her, “and we're safe now. We left the bad demon girl somewhere in the dreamworld. It's all over.”

  Her eyes widened at the mention of demon girls and dreamworlds, but she still embraced me in a tight hug, then stepped away and allowed Abel to lead her out of the room. Allison, Max, and Lucy followed. I let out a deep sigh, finally alone in my room with Chase and Jason.

  Before I could say anything, Chase blurted out, “We fed you vampire blood.”

  Whatever I'd been about to say froze on my lips. It took a second for his words to sink in. “You what?”

  “Um,” Chase began, “when I took your coffee to put more creamer in it . . . ” he trailed off.

  “B-but demons can't be turned into vampires,” I stammered.

  “But you're half-human,” Jason countered.

  I looked at him in shock. “Why would you do this?”

  “It was our backup plan,” Chase cut in. “He gave me a vial of his blood, and if things looked grim enough, I was going to find a way for you to take it. After our dream, I couldn't just go rushing to the dreamworld without a safeguard.”

  I shook my head, feeling numb and nervous at the same time. “That's why you were so intent on taking my body back. You thought it might reanimate.”

  He looked down at his feet. “I'm sorry, I just couldn't let you die.”

  Suddenly I was angry, and it felt a lot better than being hurt, confused, or sad. “I knew the risks going in! That was my choice.”

  Jason's expression was cold. “Would it be the worst thing in the world to be like me?”

  “That's not the point,” I argued.

  He crossed his arms. “Then what is?”

  “This is ridiculous,” I breathed, utterly perplexed by how the conversation had turned on me. “The point is you two basically drugged me!”

  “You're alive,” Jason said calmly, “so it won't hurt you any.”

  I shook my head. “But I died. I died with vampire blood in my system. I hope you know what that means, because I sure as heck don't.”

  Jason bit his lip.

  I crossed my arms. “You didn't think of that, did you?”

  He opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head. Finally, he met my eyes. “There was only a fifty-fifty chance that it would even work on you, and you were only dead for a short time. You'll be fine.”

  “Do you know that for sure?” I pressed.

  He looked back down, avoiding my eyes.

  I looked to Chase. “Did you tell the others?”

  He shook his head. “We're the only ones that know.”

  I sighed. “Don't tell them. There's no need to worry them without reason.”

  The dalmatian chose that moment to make us aware of his presence by jumping up on the bed with me. He curled up next to me and laid his head in my lap. His dark eyes looked up to meet mine.

  “You better not still be trying to lead me toward the light,” I scolded.

  The dog whimpered, then buried his face in the blanket covering my lap.

  I looked up at Chase. “I'm assuming Cynthia pulled Sam out as well?”

  He nodded. “Nothing happened to him after we were separated. He was wandering around, lost, when Cynthia and Rose pulled him out.”

  “Well since he's alive, you better ask him for some lessons,” I replied tiredly, “you might start seeing ghosts from now on.”

  Chase cringed. “Seriously?”

  “Yep,” I said as I stroked the dog's head. “You've leveled up. Now both of you get out of my room before I light you on fire.”

  Neither of them argued with me. They probably didn't believe that I'd light them on fire, but they knew they were wrong. No amount of arguing would change the fact that they had taken my afterlife into their own hands. I couldn't tarry on what changes might happen to me. I'd already been through enough.

  I continued to pet the dog as the bedroom door shut behind them. I knew I should go back to the dreamworld to find Nix and take her back to the underground for judgment, but I'd let her fret for a while. The dalmatian yipped happily, as if agreeing with my thoughts.

  “I guess you need a name,” I said, looking down at my alleged spirit guide.

  The dog looked up at me in encouragement.

  “Alexondre is dead,” I mused, “Alexandria imploded, and nobody wants my terrible name, so how about Alexius? Do you like that?”

  The dog yipped again and wagged his tail.

  “Alexius it is,” I smiled down at him. “You know, I always wanted a dog.”

  He leapt off the bed and grabbed his stuffed animal, then returned to my lap happily. I laughed, and was surprised that I still knew how.

  There's a lot to be said for the resiliency of humans. Or the resiliency of demons for that matter. Or ghosts . . . or vampires . . . or whatever the heck I was now classified as. The point was that I had lived and died, loved and lost, and I was still the one left standing. Call it luck, or call it resilience. I was still alive, like a cockroach after the apocalypse.

  17

  I eventually had to face Chase, if only to return him to the underground. Sam had gone on his own with the help of a new collection of ghosts, but Chase refused to go until I talked to him.

  It had been my mom that finally convinced me to get the confrontation over with. My friends had left my house, and so had the witches, my new pack members, and Jason. The danger was over with, and everyone else could get on with their lives.

  My mom had come into my room shortly after I forced the boys to leave. She was putting on a brave face, but I could tell she was nearing a breakdown. How is a mother supposed to react when her daughter comes back from the dead? I don't think either of us knew. Instead we had talked about the fact that I was still here, and that I had a very upset, sort-of boyfriend waiting downstairs for me. I still would have to give Jason a piece of my mind, but Chase was the only one waiting around, so he would get a taste of my anger first.

  When I finally saw him, I simply held out my hand, anxious to check on Dorrie. He took it. He was still covered in dirt from the dreamworld. His hair was a mess, and he had large bags under his eyes
. What stood out the most though, were the tear stains in the dust on his face. He'd wept over my dead body, vowing to bring it home. He'd done whatever he could to keep me alive, and I suddenly wasn't mad at him anymore. What would I have done had the situations been reversed? Would I have fed him vampire blood? I wasn't sure.

  We poofed out of existence, then reappeared in my dad's kitchen.

  Chase looked over at me, still holding my hand. “I was wondering if it would still work,” he commented.

  “If what would still work?” I asked, confused.

  “Your traveling,” he clarified. “Since you could only do it after your grandmother died, I thought it might have just been part of her latching on to the ring.”

  I pulled my hand out of his and crossed my arms. “So you figured it out, huh?”

  “The giant green explosion after I broke the stone kind of clued me in, but I still have a million other questions.”

  I sighed and looked down at my hands. The ring didn't show up with my body, and I still didn't understand how I had shown up at all. “So do I,” I mumbled.

  “Pop Tart!” Dorrie exclaimed as she appeared in the doorway to the entry room.

  She rushed toward me like she would swoop me up in an uncomfortable, scratchy hug, but stopped short. She looked me up and down with intelligence radiating in her crystalline blue eyes.

  “You seem . . . different,” she observed.

  “Different?” I questioned, thoughts of vampire blood racing through my mind.

  Instead of answering me, she turned and looked at Chase. “You seem different too.”

  I reached out and patted her shoulder, drawing her attention back to me. “How about we explain everything over pizza?”

  Her face lit up, and she trotted off to call for delivery, leaving Chase and I momentarily alone.

  He glanced over at me hesitantly, but didn't say anything.

  “I'm not mad,” I breathed, but didn't have the chance to say anything as he pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

  He pulled away only enough to kiss me, and I let him. In between kisses I managed to get enough air in to say, “But if you ever lie to me again, I'll take you to the dreamworld and leave you there.”