Dead in the Water

by Chrystal Vaughan

  Jesse

  Jesse knew that Eva had been dealing with everything that happened to her for a long time and had covered it pretty well. But he had no idea how much she kept inside until he'd seen it a couple of times for himself. He admired her more, now that he knew.

  Talking to her parents was enlightening for Jesse. He couldn't imagine if his kid had something like this following her around, how he would act. He was grateful to them in a way, for providing her with as normal a life as they could and not making a big deal out of it. They seemed pretty happy he was around which made him feel pretty good, too.

  He was more prepared the third time it happened.

  He knew Alex Carmichael. When the thing using Eva's body wrote that, every blood cell in Jesse's body froze solid. He told Eva that he would do some research but he remembered exactly who Alex Carmichael was. When Eva came back to herself, they talked about it for a while but Jesse was preoccupied. He knew exactly where to go to get the information he needed, too.

  Eva

  January 12, 2014

  It was Jesse that remembered Alex Carmichael; I guess I was too wrapped up in losing his friendship at the time to remember what had happened. Jesse found a newspaper clipping at the library from when we were in grade school about Alex’s drowning. His body was found at Haystack Rock, drowned and bloated. Here's a copy of the microfilm (Jesse took a picture with his cell phone):

  Of course, I remembered after I read this. I even remember Natasha crying like she was ever nice to or spent any time around Alex in school. He was in the other fifth grade class, so I didn't spend much time around him. Jesse and me barely knew him actually, but I remember him being a really quiet kid with dark hair and pale skin. He had these big brown eyes that always looked sad, and I always assumed it was because his family moved to way the hell over here from somewhere back East, I think it was. Jesse figured that maybe Alex's parents were right and he was killed, based on the answers he's given us to the questions. That one where he wrote "she kills" might not be what he wants me to do but something I am supposed to find out about. Jesse said he'd ask next time Alex comes around.

  It was kind of fun in a terrible way, looking for all these clues like we were those meddling kids from the Scooby Doo cartoons. 'Cept usually there was some monster they were running from but in this case, I feel like I'm the monster.

  January 14, 2014

  Jesse managed to get a copy of the police and coroner’s reports from his pal, Eric, whose dad is a deputy, by telling him it’s for a paper he’s writing about being a forensic investigator for his senior project. My man is super slick!

  The report and the newspaper agree with each other; the police assumed Alex had gone walking along the ridge atop Haystack Rock and fallen in or been taken by surprise by the tide. The coroner said he was dead when he went in the water, from a blunt trauma to the head, likely from hitting the rocks on the way down. Jesse and me knew better.

  January 17, 2014

  Was by myself today, found this in my notebook:

  January 21, 2014

  Another fun message from our friend Alex:

  February 1, 2014

  Alex left a message on my laptop. He typed it this time, clever ghost. Er, kid. What the heck ever, here's a copy and paste of his writing:

  How can Eva help you?

  Kill her

  How did you die?

  Dead in the water

  Are you Alex Carmichael?

  YES

  Were you murdered?

  Yes

  Who killed you?

  Her. Kill her

  Not exactly Shakespeare. Basically he just typed some answers to the questions list, and not all of them, just these ones. I wish he'd be more specific! What am I supposed to do with that?

  February 7, 2014

  I know, Alex. I know.

  February 14, 2014

  We had the most romantic dinner together today, to celebrate our first Valentine's Day as a couple. When we were younger, of course, Valentine's Day was gross and for loser grown-ups and teenagers. We dressed nice and Jess picked me up in his mom's car instead of the drafty Jeep. We ate at the steakhouse outside of town because it's the nicest place around, unless you wanna drive clear into Eugene. I told Jesse I didn't care where we went as long as we were together. I then promptly made gagging and retching sounds at my own gaucherie, on general principle. He responded by pinning me to the seat of the car and tickling me until I cried "uncle!" a million times. My hair was a wreck and I'm sure people in the restaurant thought we were making out in the car. I was probably beet red too! But not Jesse, that jerk.

  Jesse bought me a special edition Coraline book signed by my favorite author! It's the best present I've ever gotten. I love him so much! I wish I'd thought of something better than that watch, but he said he liked it when we were in town shopping for our families during Christmas. I snuck back later with my mom and got it for him. He seemed to really like it but it's not as good as the book. Next time, I'll really wow him!

  Things got pretty steamy after dinner. We were in the car, parked by the ocean; a perfect end to a perfect date. We talked about everything except Alex and spirit writing for a change, and after a while I slipped out of my seat belt and scooted closer to him. Jesse stopped us from going much farther than we already have though, which I was kind of disappointed about. I felt like he didn't want me anymore, maybe he was upset I didn't get him something better than the watch. But he said we had to stop, because our first time shouldn’t be in a car, and that I deserved better than that.

  He said, "The woman I love and the future mother of my children should have a perfect memory of her first time."

  I admit it. I cried like a girl, and he held me close, stroking my hair, and then we talked about our future together and how many kids we would have. What we would name them when we would have them (after college, of course). He didn't say anything about being married but I don't care. I'll take every part of his life he'll share with me.

  Jesse

  He had gone from Eva's house after the last spirit-writing episode straight to Eric's house. Without giving away too many details about what Eva could do, Jesse convinced him to get copies of the Alex Carmichael case from his dad. They came up with a cover story about a senior project for school as the reason the documents were needed, and while they were confidential, Eric's old man didn't figure a cold case file would be of too much importance as long as they didn't use real names, he said.

  Jesse showed the newspaper clipping he had found on file at the library to Eva and she remembered Alex right away. Alex had been the same age as Jesse and Natasha, and one year older than Eva.

  "Oh my, God, Jesse! Do you think it's the same Alex Carmichael?"

  "It has to be. Remember, when we asked how old he was, he said eleven, right? And his parents said he was killed all along but the cops never found anything to support that."

  "The police report (nice job by the way) and the newspaper both say he fell and hit his head and then drowned. The drowned part is right, according to Alex."

  Jesse frowned. "Alex's parents said he would have been able to swim to shore if he'd fallen in, but the blunt trauma part is plausible. Still, if he didn't have something to say about what happened to him, he wouldn't be communicating through you."

  They'd left it at that for the moment. Until Alex came back, they had no more ideas how to get answers to their questions.

  Then a couple days later, Alex wrote something in Eva's notebook, and then again a few days after that. Jesse was irrationally jealous. He seemed to remember Alex having a slight crush on Eva in grade school and now he felt weird about him using Eva's body to write messages. He knew it was crazy, but he couldn't help it. Jealous of a ghost!

  Then Alex fired up the laptop, using Eva's hands, of course, and answered their questions. Well, sort of. He did confirm that he was in fact THE Alex Carmichael and that he had been murdered. He still didn't name his killer though.

>   Jesse decided it was too much for a while. He wanted some normalcy to come back to their lives, so he arranged a nice dinner for Valentine's Day. The twinkle of excitement in her eyes when she opened his gift, and the genuine gasp of surprise and happiness, when she saw that the book was signed by the author, made him want to bring that look to her face every single day. He loved watching her as he opened his gift, her uncertainty causing her to nibble on her lower lip in a way that was actually pretty sexy. After dinner, they drove around a while and then parked by their favorite wayside near the beach. They talked about school, their friends, anything other than Alex Carmichael or spirit writing. She told him about her dreams of becoming an author and illustrator of children's books, and he talked about photography and his dreams of taking the world's most recognized photos someday.

  Naturally, as it seemed so often to happen these days, their talk turned to touch and that turned to fire. Jesse stopped it quickly though, knowing his control was wearing thin. He would be damned if their first time was in the car.

  He told her that the future mother of his children would have the most perfect memory of their first time making love, and she cried in his arms. He held her close, his eyes closed against his own tears that threatened to overwhelm him. After a time, they talked about their future. Where they would go to college. Where they would live. When to have kids, and how many, and what their names were going to be...no one said anything about spirit writing or the ghosts of dead boys.

  Eva

  February 15, 2013

  I went to that doctor’s appointment. Just in case. I was talking to Beth about it and Beth agreed to go with me for moral support, so we just went and the doctor asked questions that we giggled about later in Beth's room. I got the pill, and I started taking them this morning. Beth assured me that it’s not a big deal. She has the pill too. We had girl talk about sex and boys, and did some female bonding. I feel like I have a best girlfriend for the first time in my life. I feel normal. It's indescribable.

  February 16, 2013

  My seventeenth birthday. Jesse's eighteenth birthday was September 3rd. I've never been happier, or felt freer. True, there's a dead kid from my past trying to tell me something but with Jesse by my side, even that feels like not really a huge deal. We'll get through it together.

  I am the twisted and tangled of things,

  rolled and unrolled from colorful skeins.

  I am the master of this ship made of wings,

  and I am the vessel which all of this brings.

  Through my voice the wind howls and sings,

  through my eyes see the splendor of rings.

  Moonlight and sunlight by any means,

  I am the creator of marvelous things.

  I am the master of this ship made of words,

  I am the owner of these thoughts never heard,

  I am the lock whose door cannot open,

  I am the key, which can never be broken.

  My thoughts are the tangled and twisted of things,

  Rolled and unrolled from bright colored skeins.

  Imagination runs wild and rampant in me,

  These are the things needing to be free.

  February 25, 2014

  I'm writing this after the fact. It's important that I record everything that has happened so I never forget how evil some people can be and also how there really are miracles, things that we can't explain away with coincidence. Magic, even the supernatural kind, should never be marginalized.

  Justin showed up unexpectedly at my house on the 16th. He asked me to come to Haystack Rock because, he said, Natasha and Beth were there fighting, and Natasha had a knife. He said he didn't know what she was going to do and he seemed really scared.

  Beth is my friend now; I didn't want her to get hurt by Natasha. I guess I also felt pretty guilty because it was pretty likely the reason they are fighting was because of me.

  I told Justin I don't know what I can do, and he should probably do something. He's the guy after all, right? But he was useless, so I called him a pussy and made a huge mistake: I agreed to get in his car if he'd just get Natasha out of there as soon as I talked them into breaking it up.

  In retrospect, this seems like the all time worst mistake that anyone has ever made in the history of the world. But I wasn't thinking about Alex or his dead broken body in the water at the base of Haystack Rock. I was thinking about how I couldn't bear it if Beth got hurt because she was a friend with me and Natasha was a crazy bitch.

  Jesse got a message on his cell phone at work probably the same exact time I was getting into Justin's beat up Honda. It was from me, or at least from my phone, though I'd left my cell phone on my computer desk like a complete idiot. The message said:

  Hurry! I'm at Haystack Rock!

  Jesse left Dutch Bros at a run, Eric said later. He didn't explain why, but Jesse said to me privately that he was afraid I went there to try to talk to Alex on my own, or force him to write something useful. He said he was sure I was having an "episode" and was worried that anything might happen to me in that state. He didn't dream I'd do something as reckless as going anywhere with Justin. I'm still in a lot of trouble all the way around on that one.

  Jesse had called 911 on his way to the beach and then raced along the deserted cliffs, looking for me. He found me, too, trapped out on Haystack Rock with Natasha, Justin, and two of his friends whose names I can't remember. They were holding me down while Justin was cutting off my clothes. He saw Jesse coming and told him if he came any closer, he'd cut off my tit. I guess he wanted to show Jess he meant business because he sliced me right open under my right boob along my rib cage. The pain was intense and immediate. I screamed and one of Justin's thug friends hit me with his closed fist in the mouth. It kind of made me pass out, or gray out a little.

  Jesse told me later that I appeared to be "in" my body, because I was screaming and writhing; my eyes were wild but lucid, he said. I remember none of that, but I do remember suddenly hearing his tense voice saying that the tide was coming in, which will cover the land bridge that connects Haystack Rock to the cliff side. He screamed for Natasha to tell her dogs to let me go, but she just laughed at him. It was the most brittle sound I've ever heard a human make, like broken glass in people form. She asked why he couldn’t just be happy with her. "No one is EVER happy with me! No matter what I do, how much I put out, or how tough I am, no one ever picks me!" she had screamed.

  I was still on the ground, Justin held his knife over me and his thugs held down my arms and legs. I heard Jesse tell Natasha that he was sorry that her family was so awful to her, that her daddy only paid attention to her sister and her stepbrother molested her, but that was no reason to hurt Eva.

  She screamed and cursed at him, told him he was no better than that stupid Alex kid who refused to believe her when she told him what was happening to her, and how he had rejected her.

  Jesse

  Jesse showed up to work on the 16th early, wanting to leave early so he could get to the store for some flowers. Today was Eva's seventeenth birthday, and he'd planned to propose to her. A couple days before, he had gone to her dad's classroom during his prep period and asked for his permission to marry his daughter. Mr. D had seemed a little taken aback, because he said, "What? Now?"

  "No sir, after college. But I wanted to propose to her on her birthday so she would know how I feel about her and that I will wait for her to finish high school so we can go to college together."

  "Well, well. I can't say I'm surprised. You and Eva together have always made sense. I was concerned there for a while."

  "Yes, sir, I understand. But I was just a kid..."

  "I know, Jesse, it wasn't a criticism, just an observation. I'm a science teacher, it's what I do."

  Jesse laughed dutifully, but waited for Mr. Dunbar to answer. Finally he let up.

  "Of course, you have my blessing, provided you both wait until after college to get married and have kids. Ok?"

  "Yes, sir!" />
  Jesse was elated. On the morning of her birthday, he'd asked his mom to have his grandmother's ring cleaned and polished. Then he had told her about his plans to ask Eva to marry him. She had gone to her room without saying anything. When she came back, she had a red leather box in her hand. She held it out to him; her eyes gleaming with unshed tears.

  "It was your grandmother's. She wanted your wife to have it."

  Jesse opened the box. Inside was an enormous, solitaire diamond encased in a filigree setting, sparkling brightly in the dull light of the kitchen's bulb. He hugged his mother tightly, unable to form the words of gratitude stuck in his throat.

  Halfway through his shift, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He finished the drink he was making and thanked the customer at the drive through. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he saw it was a text from Eva, saying to hurry she was at Haystack Rock.

  What the hell was she doing there? How did she get there? He didn't know but he didn't like it. He called to Eric to cover for him and ran for the Jeep. What if she was trying to make an episode happen, with no one there? Shit. He slammed the Jeep into gear and raced for the part of the beach where Haystack Rock was accessible at low tide. Wrestling his phone from his pocket, he dialed 9-1-1 and yelled at the dispatcher to send someone to the beach immediately. He hung up and flung the phone into the passenger seat, breaking several speed laws on the way. He parked sideways in the wayside parking lot and launched himself from the vehicle, racing for the cliffs.

  Out on the promontory of Haystack Rock, Jesse saw something that made him weak all over. For a moment he thought he might actually puke. Eva was out there, pinned to the ground by two guys Jesse knew as Justin's friends, while Justin himself was cutting off Eva's clothes. Justin saw Jesse coming closer and screamed at him.