The Afterlife of Lizzie Monroe

by Kelly Martin

  Shane heard a glimmer of reluctance in her words and he saw he had a shot. "It's very sad about his mother. It is. I'm sorry about her, but Lizzie, this is your life. No one expects you to die so his mother can live."

  "I died years ago."

  "No! No, you didn't." Why couldn't she just understand? "You are alive for a reason. I don't know what it is, but I know it's not for Drake's mother. The world needs you, Lizzie." He couldn't look away. "I need you."

  Lizzie bit her lip and closed her eyes. Shane saw it as a good thing. As long as she kept the ring on her finger there was hope. As long as it kept her with him, he had a chance.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lizzie couldn't look at Shane. In all her years, she never expected another person to care about her like Daniel had. Maybe Shane's feelings weren't as deep or as pure, but they were there, and if she was honest with herself, she had them too.

  Her mind was pulled in all directions. She needed Shane. She needed her folks and Daniel. She wanted to help Drake's mother.

  She rolled the ring around her finger, the little ring full of magic that she never imagined having.

  She finally looked at Shane. Breathing so heavily, she thought he might have an attack. And to Drake whose eyes bore a hole into Shane like a buzzard seeing his prey.

  What should she do? What could she live with?

  "Don't kill yourself again, Lizzie. Please. We'll work it out. We'll figure something out so you can stay with me. Heck, I'll go to New York with you. I don't want to lose you," Shane said, his eyes welling up with tears. "Just keep the ring on your finger. For me."

  For him…

  For him…

  Another chance at a life.

  Lizzie knew what she had to do. Whenever she died — completely died —, be it today or in a hundred years, Daniel and her parents would be waiting in Heaven for her. But now, she had a chance to live. "I'm sorry, Drake," she whispered.

  "What? No… no," he stammered, turning to her. "You promised. My mom needs the ring."

  "So do I. I'm sorry."

  Fire burned in Drake's eyes and his face contorted with pain. "You're sorry? Really?" He grabbed her hand and in the same motion opened his hand exposing a large shiny pocket knife. "So am I."

  Drake pushed a button and opened a blade a few inches long. Lizzie screamed from fear and pain as he bent her fingers down and pushed the blade hard to her ring finger. She tried to fight, but it didn't seem to faze him.

  What happened next seemed, to her, like slow motion. Shane yelled from across the barn as Drake tried to cut the ring finger from her hand. He charged them both and slammed into Drake in enough time to keep her finger intact. She and Drake fell to the ground in a thud, with Shane standing over them.

  Drake pushed her off of him and backed away, keeping his eyes on Shane. More specifically on his midsection. Right where the blunt end of his knife was sticking out.

  It took a second for it to register on Shane's face. When it did, he followed Drake's eye line to his stomach and the knife sticking in it. Shane jerked it out and dropped it to the floor with a thud. His eyes rolled in his head and he fell to his knees in front of Lizzie. She screamed his name as he fell over into her arms and pushed them both down to the dirt floor.

  Lizzie rolled him over gently to survey the wound. It didn't look good. Blood oozed from his stomach, through his navy blue shirt and pooled on the ground. He coughed and dark red blood shot from his mouth onto her. Too much damage inside.

  "You're going to be okay," she told him as she put one hand on the wound to try to stop the blood and used the other to stroke his hair. "You're going to be fine."

  He stared at her, coughing and wheezing. His skin became clammy and very wet from sweat. He couldn't focus and his eyes kept rolling back in his head. "Fight, Shane. Okay? I need you to fight. I don't want to lose you. I'm not going to let you die."

  She heard Drake speaking from a distance behind her, but she didn't care what he was saying. All she focused on was Shane and what she had to do. She did see Drake run by her and out the door of the barn. Guessed he didn't want to be connected to murder. Couldn't say she blamed him.

  It was just her and Shane. The way it was supposed to be at that moment in time.

  "Thank you for saving me." She smiled as tears fell off of her cheek onto his hand. "Thank you for caring."

  He convulsed again, coughing more blood to roll down the crease of his mouth.

  "Thank you." She bent down and kissed his lips, not caring about the blood. With her lips on his, she held his hand and rubbed his fingers gently. "Live for me," she whispered as a tear fell on his cheek. With of a flick of her fingertips, the ring slid from her finger to his pinky.

  Surprised, Shane's eyes widened and he shook his head no. "It's okay. I want this for you. I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."

  She felt the wounds on her arms open and the blood start to seep out. It was okay. She was okay. She fell back against the beam, her beam, and watched Shane. He'd have to die for the ring to work, but at least he'd get a second chance at life. She smiled at that. "I'm going to miss you, Shane Davis."

  Shane kept his darkening eyes on her. He ran his fingers over the ring but was too weak to roll it back to her. Slowly, Shane became very still, and his eyes shut.

  Lizzie closed her eyes and felt her own life slipping away again. This time, it had been for a reason, a purpose. She'd saved Shane, and that was all that mattered.

  ****

  Everything felt so strange. Like he was there, but not there. Floating, but anchored to the ground.

  "Shane! Shane!"

  He heard the echo, but it seemed so far away like a dream. It was black, very black and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move.

  "Shane, can you hear me?" It sounded like Cheyenne. Sounded so far away, so muddled like she was speaking through water.

  He tried to say of course he could hear her. He wasn't dead. He was…

  What was he?

  He remembered Lizzie and Drake… and a knife. The knife…

  He was dead.

  He was dead and the blackness was Hell, such as it was.

  "Shane!" she yelled. Why could he hear her, but not move?

  Suddenly, the blackness shifted like flying through a wormhole in space. Blackness zoomed past him in such a way where he could see it, feel it, but it was still very dark. Solid.

  "Drake, do you have your phone?" His sister's words echoed through his skull.

  "Use yours."

  "I would if someone hadn't knocked me out! I left it at home." Who knocked her out?

  Shane heard indecipherable yelling and finally he felt his shoulders being shaken. "He has a pulse. It's weak but it's there. Tell them that!"

  Tell who? He tried to open his eyes, but they were too heavy. Too much work.

  "They're on their way." Drake's voice invaded his darkness. He hated that guy. "I'll take Lizzie."

  That got Shane's attention. Determined, he grunted until his eyes opened. They shut just as fast, but he forced them open again. Drake wasn't doing anything with Lizzie. Why hadn't he heard her talking?

  "You can't just take her! I need help with Shane!" Cheyenne yelled. Shane's eyes rolled around until he focused on her. She sat beside him with her hands pressed against his stomach. She had blood up to her elbows and she had a bloody nose.

  Shane tried to raise his hand to wipe the blood away, but he couldn't. He barely had the strength to look at her.

  "Don't move, Shane? Okay. You just lay there. I'll take care of you." Cheyenne took his hand with one of hers — while keeping pressure on his stomach with the other — and kissed his knuckles. On his pinky, he saw Lizzie's ring.

  "No," he said weakly. No, this couldn't be happening.

  "My dad can't see her, Cheyenne. They won't understand. I'm taking her back to the church. Maybe they'll thin
k they missed her or something. It's better than her being dead here."

  Shane scanned toward Drake's voice. It was hard to see through the fog, but he finally saw his silhouette. Drake was kneeling next to Lizzie, who was lifeless on the floor.

  "No," he said again, trying to get up and help her. He wasn't dead. She needed her ring back.

  "Whoa!" Cheyenne pushed him back down. "You take it easy. Lay here until the ambulance gets here."

  "Lizzie." He tried to sit up again, but his body wouldn't let him. He fell in a pained heap.

  "She's gone, Shane." Cheyenne rubbed his forehead with her hand. The motion left a wet trail. Blood. "She's gone. She gave you her ring."

  "I'm not dead…" he said through ragged breaths.

  Cheyenne glared at Drake who had Lizzie's body in his arms. "You will be if the paramedics don't get here soon."

  Chapter Sixteen

  The beeping woke him up first. It was calming, rhythmic. Nice.

  He wanted to know where the beeping was coming from.

  Slowly, his eyes opened. A dim light met him, not harsh enough for his eyes to slam shut again, but it did take a second or two for them to adjust.

  He heard snoring to his right.

  Snoring.

  Cheyenne.

  "Hey. You sound like an old man." His voice sounded different. Drugged. Heavy.

  Cheyenne's eyes flew open and she leaned over to his bed so quickly she nearly fell over. It was so quick, she still had drool on the corner of her lip. Above the drool was a dark blue bruise. "You're awake!"

  She grabbed his hand and kissed it.

  "Miss me that much?" He grinned. It hurt to grin. In fact, a lot of things hurt now that he felt.

  "You have no idea."

  "Awww… always knew you cared."

  She punched him gently on the shoulder. He said 'ow' just for pity.

  "Of course I care. You're a heck of a drum player."

  "Which is why you love me." His eyes were focusing on his surroundings more. He saw an IV line, coming from the hand Cheyenne held up, attached to a clear bag on a pole. The pole stood behind a monitor with different colored, squiggly lines. His heart monitor. Looked good. At least it was beating. "What happened? How long have I been out?"

  "Two days. What do you remember?" Cheyenne answered, holding his hand with one of hers and picking some of the lint off of his blanket.

  He thought back. "I remember Drake. He wanted Lizzie's ring. We were in the barn. Lizzie changed her mind. He tried to cut it from her hand. Then…"

  "Then what?"

  "Then, I saw blood. He stabbed me."

  Shane touched his stomach with his free hand. Sure enough, he felt the gauze and padding under his white hospital gown. "The jerk actually stabbed me."

  "Yeah. Not his finest moment. His father arrested him after he went to the church. He's out on bond." Cheyenne squeezed his hand tighter. "Mom's here. She's in the cafeteria. She's been by your side since you were admitted. Her luck, right? You wake up when she leaves."

  "Yeah," he said, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't working. "Drake got arrested?"

  Cheyenne shrugged. "That's what happens when you stab someone."

  "And when you hurt someone." Shane rubbed his fingers lightly over Cheyenne's bruised cheek. "Drake?"

  She nodded. "I feel a bit sorry for the guy. He only wanted to help his dying mother."

  Shane started to say something when the ring on his little finger caught his eye. It was small and oval. Lizzie's. "Wait. I have a heartbeat. I'm in a hospital. Why do I have Lizzie's ring?"

  "You had it when I got there. I guess she was afraid you'd die and she didn't want that."

  Panic hit Shane's chest and his heart monitors went wild. "But I'm not dead. I have a heartbeat. I don't need the ring to be alive. She does. She needs it!"

  His breathing got faster and he couldn't think straight. "Where is she?"

  Cheyenne didn't seem to want to answer.

  "Cheyenne! Where's Lizzie?" he asked again, not really wanting the answer, but needing to know. She needed the ring back. He needed her back.

  "The church. Drake took her there… After… So the paramedics wouldn't see her and ask questions."

  For a split second, Shane just stared at Cheyenne. "And you didn't give her the ring? She needs it!"

  "You needed it. We didn't know if you would live. The ring meant you would… one way or another. I wasn't going to lose you." Cheyenne squeeze Shane's shoulder, but he jerked away.

  "I'm not losing her either." He jumped out of bed so fast the world started spinning. He didn't care. Willing his body to cooperate, he started pulling the sensors off. The machine started beeping. He unplugged it from the wall right before he ripped his IV from his arm. Ignoring the pain, he found his bag of clothes and started putting them on — blood and all.

  "Shane!" Cheyenne yelled. She tried to stop him, but he shoved her back. "Get back in the bed. You could hurt yourself! You need help!"

  "I need Lizzie. I'll be back after I give this back to her." He showed her the ring and walked out the door.

  ****

  Being stabbed in the gut hurt. There was no lying about that. His legs were wobbly and his head pounded, not to mention the incredible pain in his stomach. That was nothing compared to the pain in his chest. Why had Lizzie given him her ring? Well, he knew why, but he didn't like it. Lizzie needed it, not him. He had to give it back to her. It would work. She'd come back to him and they'd go to New York like she wanted.

  He couldn't lose her.

  He wasn't sure how he made it to the old, burned out church, but he did. He stumbled down the steps until he got to the basement. The light was dim, but he saw her immediately.

  Slumped against the far wall. Drake hadn't even put her back in her casket. Knowing that coward, he probably just tossed her and ran.

  Shane wasn't sure what he'd do to Drake when he found him, but he knew it would be bad. Painfully bad.

  Weakly, he made it to Lizzie and collapsed next to her body. Though more ashen than the last time he saw her, Lizzie looked almost the same. Her hair fell in brown ringlets around her face, and her face appeared peaceful. In fact, her lips — covered in black blood — were smiling.

  Peaceful. That was a good word for her.

  Shane pulled the ring off his finger and held it in front of him. She needed the ring to live, to be back with him.

  He needed her.

  And she needed Daniel.

  Shane rolled the ring around his fingers, trying to decide what to do. Would Lizzie want to live in the twenty-first century? Would she want to be ripped out of Heaven?

  Because he knew she was there. He knew she was in Heaven. A few days ago, he was sure it didn't exist. A few days ago, he didn't believe in zombies with magic rings either.

  But now… now he had to think that something — someone — was out there greater than he. Someone who controlled things, someone who made everything.

  Someone who made magic and miracles… who made love and friendship.

  Who knew all Shane needed to believe was a hundred year old girl.

  And he did believe.

  In the basement of the church he burned down, the church he hated because it's where his dad married his mom — in the church where he saved Lizzie Monroe — Shane Davis got saved.

  Kneeling next to Lizzie, Shane put the ring back in his pants pocket. He squeezed his eyes shut, and for the first time in forever, actually cried. "I don't see why you look so peaceful. You're dead. Gone for good this time. Thank you for saving me, but darlin', you didn't have to sacrifice yourself to do it. All I know is I'm going to miss you, Lizzie Monroe. Miss you so much. And I want to see you again, and I know what I have to do."

  Shane's legs gave out and he fell on his bottom. Slowly, he scooted next to Lizzie and laid his head back against the wall. "God," he said, unsure how to go about this. "I can't deny you exist anymore. I've see way too much in the last few days. Some say it was mag
ic. I believe that. But I also believe it was a miracle. Lizzie is a miracle. And Lizzie believed in you…"

  He took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. Pain shot through his midsection. "And I believe in you. And I want what Lizzie had. Maybe not the undead part — but the rest. Her certainty in You. Her ability to see the good. Her ability to know you were real no matter what. I want that. I need that. I can't keep going like this. I can't stay mad all the time. I can't burn down churches every time I'm ticked. I can't stay mad at my father anymore… And I need Your help."

  Shane looked up with his tear-filled eyes. "I need You in my heart. I don't know the right words to say. If there is a specific prayer I need to say, but I'm trying my best. I want what Lizzie had. I want peace like she has. And I know You can provide it. I do bad things. I'm a sinner — I guess You'd call it. And I want You to forgive all that. I want to try to do good, though I know I'll fail many times. Amen." He ended the prayer the only way he knew how.

  There. He hoped it worked. He thought it worked. For the first time since he was little, he felt peace.

  "Thank You for Lizzie." It seemed once he started praying, he couldn't stop. Shane leaned over and gently kissed the top of her cold forehead. The pressure caused something he never saw coming, though he guessed he should have. Starting with where his lips had touched her forehead, she began to crumble until she was nothing but ash on the floor.

  ****

  TWO WEEKS LATER…

  Shane took a cleansing breath before he knocked on the inviting red door. It took a minute or two, but finally it opened. "Hi, Mrs. Samson."

  "Hi." Drake's mother smiled warmly, though she appeared curious as to why he was at her door. She looked bad. Dark bags under her eyes and a bandana covering her head. The poor woman… "I'm so sorry for what Drake did to you. I can't understand why he would…"

  "It's okay," Shane said, not wanting to worry her. "I'm healing. How are you?"

  "Fine… I'm fine."

  Shane reached both hands in his pants pockets, unsure of what to say exactly. He felt the weighted envelope he'd placed in his right pocket before he'd left the house. "Can I talk to Drake? I promise. I just want to talk." It wasn't a complete lie.

  "He's in his room," she said, moving to the side to let him by. "Please don't hurt him. He's all I have."