For Always

by Janae Mitchell

  "How did you like that?" I asked her, getting in her face like that woman did.

  She laughed and swatted me away. "Was that what she was doin'?" She shivered again. "We're takin' the stairs back down."

  We were laughing as we walked into Max's room. "Well, don't let my near death experience get y'all down, now," he teased.

  "Hey, Max!" I was so glad to see him. He looked good, just tired, which made me feel relieved. He was hooked up to several machines and an IV, making me afraid to hug him, so I opted to just hold his hand instead.

  "Well, you're lookin' good, Maxwell," Grandmama flirted.

  "Now you better watch it," I teased her, "this man has a heart condition. Don't you get him all riled up."

  "Glad you're okay and that I was able to come and see ya," Beau told him.

  "Me too. How have things been goin'?"

  "I couldn't ask for nothin' better," he smiled, looking up at me, then back at Max. "Thank ya, sir."

  "You're welcome. As long as Malyn's happy, I'm happy. And y'all look awfully happy today. What's goin' on?"

  "Oh, this dead lady on the elevator groped Grandmama," I laughed.

  "Hate that I missed that.

  She looked at Max and raised her eyebrow. "So, when were ya gonna tell us 'bout Henry?"

  Max's eyes got big and he smiled, like he had forgotten all about him. "So y'all met Henry, huh?"

  "Very much so."

  "Well, he's a good fella. Shouldn't bother y’uns any. Knowin' him, he probably won't even stay there while y'all are there, especially if he knows ya can see him. He's more of a private type of man."

  We spent the rest of the day with Max, telling him about Henry scaring me to death and about our trip down here. And he was curious about how Beau was doing, too, so he talked to him about a lot of things. It was interesting hearing what all Beau told him, since he never really talked to me about that stuff. Maybe I needed to let him know that he could talk to me about those things, and anything else that may be on his mind.

  It started to get late when we heard them call an end to visiting hours, so we said our farewells and told Max we'd be back tomorrow. On the way back to the house, we stopped to eat at a little café, which was, of course, crawling with the dead. "What am I supposed to do? I can't wear my sunglasses everywhere down here, especially at night. I'll look like an idiot. And I don't wanna have to stay locked up the whole time we're here, either."

  "Just wear your sunglasses and hold on to my arm. People will just think you're blind."

  "That's awful! I don't want people thinking I'm blind when I'm not." Beau started laughing at me, so I shot him a look. "What's so funny?"

  "I'm sorry. I know it ain't funny, but…" He couldn't finish for laughing again.

  "Malyn, it's not like we'll ever see any of these people again. Either ya can just try to ignore the dead ones or look like an idiot to the live ones. It's your choice," she said as she got out of the car and walked into the café.

  Beau stopped laughing and leaned over, lifting my chin so I'd look at him. "Don't look at the other goners, just look at this one." He leaned in and kissed me, which ended up lasting longer than either of us had planned. "Sorry," he whispered, laughing when he saw the look we were getting from Grandmama, who was waiting patiently inside the café for us.

  "I'm not. I've wanted you to kiss me all day." We got out and walked in, purposely not looking around.

  She was already sitting down looking at a menu. "I leave you two alone for five seconds and you're on each other like starvin' leeches," she said, shaking her head.

  "Sorry, ma'am," Beau said, blushing through his dimples.

  Then she looked at me, expecting to hear my apology. "Nope, not sorry at all. I thoroughly enjoyed myself," I smiled, making Beau blush even more.

  She just smiled and shook her head as the waitress came over to take our order. Beau even got something to eat, which was gonna be interesting later, especially since he couldn't turn his pump off to relinquish it if needed. The rest of the time we were at the cafe I did exactly what Beau had told me to—just looked at him. It made for a very pleasant dinner.

  * * *

  "I'm goin' on up to bed," Grandmama said as we got back to Max's house. "Don't y'all stay out too late. And if ya see any shady characters, come straight home."

  "We're just going to the park, so we'll just be right over there." Forsyth Park was beautiful, even at night.

  "I know, but you could get killed right over there, so I want you to be careful. We're in a strange town, so just keep an eye out."

  "I'll make sure nothin' happens to her, Nellie."

  She looked down over her glasses and pointed at him as she walked into the house.

  "That was her way of saying that you better be right about that."

  "I am. I'd never let anything happen to ya."

  He held my hand as we crossed the street and headed toward the park. "I can't believe Max lives within walking distance to this." The park was huge and had a beautiful fountain that was lit up. And along the paths through the park were old-time lamp posts, which cast an eerie glow onto everything; It was very romantic.

  "If I didn't have this pump stuck in the back of my britches, I'd drag ya right in there," he said as we passed the fountain.

  "If you didn't have that pump, you wouldn't be able to drag me anywhere, actually," I teased.

  "Ya got me on that one," he said as he ran over and splashed water at me, soaking the front of my shirt.

  "Hey," I fussed, fanning out my shirt, hoping it would dry quickly since it was wanting to stick to me.

  He grabbed my hands and held my shirt out even further. "Why do ya wear such big clothes all the time? This'd probably fit me…loosely."

  I smacked his hands down and started walking down one of the paths. "I don't know. I have ever since…for a long time. I'm just more comfy in stuff that's loose and not so tight. And as I grew up, boys started noticing…" I couldn't believe we were having this conversation. "Well, let's just say they noticed," I laughed, more because I was embarrassed than because it was funny. "So I just started covering myself up, and baggy clothes seemed to be the best way."

  We sat down on a bench that sat just off the path we had walked down. "Ya know ya don't have to do that with me, right?"

  "I know." For some reason Jace popped into my head, and the day I showed off my assets in front of Tonya and a gaped mouth Tyler at the pool. Poor Tyler. I didn't feel very ashamed of my body that day—I was rather thankful for it. I thought of the look on Jace's face and wanted it to be on Beau's instead. "I guess you're right." I reached down and tied the bottom of my shirt in a knot, making it fit better. "How's that?" The smile on his face told me it was better.

  His smile always made me smile, too. He was so handsome. His face looked chiseled under the dimness of the lights, like a work of art. If he were truly alive today, he would probably be a model in France or something, not sitting here with me in this park.

  "What?"

  I didn't think I had said anything, but I started to panic, worrying that maybe I had. "What what?"

  "You were just starin' at me. Ya alright?"

  I had to laugh, relieved that my thoughts had remained just that—thoughts. "More than alright."

  I leaned in to kiss him, and to my delight, we continued where we left off in the car. We were in a dimly lit area, so I thought our PDA would be okay, especially since the park was practically empty. But once it started getting to be a little too much for our not so private park bench, Beau took a deep breath and leaned back, looking up at the stars.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  When he looked at me, I felt his diamonds piercing into me, setting me on fire like the sun was shining through them. "I love you…so much."

  My heart skipped a beat. "I love you, too."

  It was getting late, so we got up and started to walk back up the path. "I can't believe there ain't no goners here."

  "I know. I figured th
ere'd be several since the park's so old. A lot of people have been through this area over the years."

  We turned onto another walkway that would take us back by the fountain. Walking hand in hand with him, having the smell of the gardens wafting around us and the Spanish moss hanging down over us, I felt like I was in a fairy tale. But unlike most fairy tales, my ending was about to change from happily ever after to a complete and total nightmare.

  Chapter 26

  VIBRATIONS

  Malyn

  As I laid in the four post bed in Max's spare bedroom, waiting on Beau to call, I stared up at the intricate lace design in the canopy until it blurred into nothing but swirls of colors, then I would blink away the tears. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to sleep with the light on, but I didn't feel like turning it off. So I just grabbed my mp3 player from the edge of the bed, put it on shuffle, and covered my eyes with my arm. Most girls only had to worry whether or not their boyfriends were cheating on them, but I had to worry whether or not mine had been sucked into the bowels of hell.

  I hated not knowing. Not knowing where Beau was or how he was. I just kept replaying what had happened over and over in my mind. We had been heading back home when we saw Henry in the distance and he appeared to be talking to someone. Once we got closer, we could tell that something was going on because Henry had a weird look on his face. When the person he was talking to turned around and saw Beau, their eyes flashed red, which sent chills down my spine. I thought I was seeing things until Beau took off in a sprint towards them. I tried to stop him, but he had been too quick. When he got to them, he leaped into the air like he was going to tackle them, but as soon as he hit them, they vanished into a thick, black smoke that disappeared as fast as it had appeared—taking Beau and Henry with it.

  I ran to where they had been standing, hoping they would still be there, but knowing that they weren't. I stood there in shock trying to make sense of what just happened. When I finally came to my senses, I looked around to see if anyone had seen what had just happened, but no one was around. And strewn around on the ground were Beau's clothes, shoes, and the EMF pump. I immediately began to cry, not knowing what else to do, and grabbed his stuff. I ran back to Max's house as fast as my short legs would take me.

  By the time I stormed in and got upstairs, Grandmama was sitting up in the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked when I barged into her room.

  I was out of breath when I tried to recall to her exactly what had happened. Between having no air and crying uncontrollably, I don't see how she understood a word I said. She reached out and hugged me when I finished and was quiet, just letting me cry in her arms. "We have to get back home. See if he's alright."

  "Malyn, honey, there's nothin' we can do. Even if we went back now, he'll either be out of it or gone, one or the other, and there's nothin' we can do 'bout either."

  "I feel so helpless," I cried.

  "We are…for now, anyway. I'll have to call Max in the morning. They won't send a call through to his room this late and his cell phone's here. That's one of the things he put on a list of stuff for me to bring to him tomorrow." She rubbed her face and wrapped her arms around me again. "I'm so sorry. We'll get this worked out. We'll figure out somethin'." She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that as much as she was me.

  "But what if we don't? He's in the Darkness, I know it. I feel it. He's there," I wiped my tears away so I wouldn't have to keep tasting them, "and we have to get him out. He can't be there." I was becoming panicked again.

  "Just calm down or you're gonna make yourself sick. We'll call Max first thing in the mornin'. There's nothin' we can do tonight, so try to calm down so you can rest." When I gave her a doubtful look, she cocked her head to the side and said, "Try."

  Beau was gone. Beau. Was. Gone.

  Stupid Taker. If I'd have known what it was, I would've attacked it myself. Why did Beau have to go after it? Why? I tried to block it all out and just listen to my music . . . until Prince came on, making me smile. That was the first song in my music list that Beau had ever heard and he hated it. My smile quickly faded into sobs.

  Suddenly a noise woke me up and I bolted up in the bed. Looking around, I was shocked that it was already morning, not realizing I had fallen asleep. I could tell that I looked like death because my eyes were so swollen it was hard to open them. When I remembered why they were swollen, I immediately grabbed my phone to see if Beau had called, but of course he hadn't.

  I noticed his things still laying where I had put them last night on the foot of the bed and pulled his shirt to me. I buried my face in it, inhaling his scent until I started feeling dizzy. As comforting as it was, it made me miss him even more. And it wasn't like he had just turned his pump off and returned home. This was different and I was scared. I ran downstairs to see if Grandmama had talked to Max yet.

  "Yes, I called him first thing," she told me before I could even ask. She continued making coffee but didn't say anything else.

  "And?"

  "And he will talk to us when we get there."

  I groaned, wanting some kind of wisely insight that he always had to share with us. At least some sort of glimmer of hope in this situation. "So you got nothing?"

  "Not yet. But just calm down. It's gonna be okay."

  I started to go off, but refrained from doing so since I valued my life. I mean, how could she tell me to calm down when it was my life that had went from fairy tale to nightmare in a matter of minutes? How did she know it was gonna be okay? I started crying again.

  "You're not gonna be able to open your eyes at all if ya don't stop that." She leaned over and put her hand on mine. "I said it's gonna be okay. And it is."

  "With all my heart, I hope you're right."

  * * *

  As I sat next to Max's hospital bed, I couldn't believe what he was telling us. I thought that seeing ghosts my whole life was strange, but this I had no words for. This is the first time I thought Max may have lost his mind. Or maybe they had his medicine messed up.

  Grandmama, who had been sitting in total silence at the foot of Max's bed, cupped her hands together under her chin and looked at him over her glasses. "Are ya pullin' my leg right now?"

  "Why no. As much as I like doin' that, this ain't the time for it."

  I could tell she was trying to process what all he had just told us. "So let me get this straight. You can leave your body? Go there,” I pointed out the window, “while your body's here?"

  Max gave her a resolute look. "Yes, I can."

  "And that's the only way you can think of to get Beau back?"

  "Well, that or a near death experience, which is way more dangerous. I wouldn't attempt it."

  “Oh, Max,” she said as she sat back and closed her eyes, laughing.

  "Well, ya asked my opinion, Nellie, and that's all I got. If he's in the Darkness, only the dead can travel there. I'm even shocked that the Taker was able to get him while he was usin' that pump. His energy should've been too great." He started rubbing his mustache.

  If this could get Beau back, I wanted to try it. At this point, I'd do anything. I stood up and sat down on the edge of his bed. "And this spirit travel, it's called what?"

  He stopped rubbing his mustache and smiled at me. “Astral projection, or OBE—out of body experience. It's been practiced for thousands of years. It's interested me for a long time, so I decided to try it, and to my amazement, after much practice, it worked."

  "How far have you gone…away from your body?"

  "The farthest OBE I had was Alaska."

  I was shocked. "How are you able to go that far? How long can you stay out of your body? How do you return?"

  He laughed, I'm assuming at my barrage of questions. "Well, as far as distance, when you're in the spirit form, it's like there's no space, only thought. It's like Alaska is right there," he said, motioning out the window. "It's just a thought away. And I won't leave my body longer than five, ten minutes. And when I wanna return, I just d
o."

  "What happens if you leave longer?" I was intrigued now.

  "Well, some say there's a silver cord, like a light, connecting your body to your spirit. The longer you're gone, the weaker it becomes. That cord ain't supposed to be able to be broken by spirit travel, unless death of the body occurs, but I ain't takin' no chances."

  "And you think you can get Beau? Or at least try?" I finally had a glimmer of hope.

  He reached over and grabbed my hand. "No, I can't. Not for a while."

  My heart sank. "But we don't have a while. I don't have a while." I started to cry again, surprise surprise.

  I heard Grandmama get up and felt her put her hand on my back. "Why did ya tell her 'bout this if ya can't do it? Why get her hopes up?"

  "I didn't say it can't be done. I said that I couldn't do it. I'm too weak still. I'd say it'll be months before I'm strong enough to do it again." He raised my hand and shook it. "But I know someone who might be able to."

  I looked at him like he was crazy, but it didn't take long for his idea to start sinking in. "How?"

  "I'll teach you."

  "No," Grandmama interjected.

  I turned to look at her. "Why not? It may be our only chance. I've got to get him back."

  "Malyn, when ya started seein' Beau, ya knew there were risks, especially the risk of losin' him. He's not even supposed to be here. He's dead, Malyn." I got up and walked to the window, not wanting to look at her. I knew she was right, but I hated hearing it none the less. "I'm sorry, honey, but that's how it is. And I'm not gonna let you possibly risk your life tryin' to save someone who's already dead."

  "But he's not dead to me." I hated crying in front of people, but it's like my tear dam didn't work like everyone else's did—mine was broke. "My whole life I've had to work at recognizing who was dead and who wasn't. They all look the same to me. Just like Beau. To me, he looks just like every other person—alive. So I can't help that I fell in love with him. I didn't do it on purpose, it just happened."