The Afterlife series Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Willow Rose

  Later on, we moved to the ballroom and people started dancing. I began to wonder if anyone would notice if I just took off. I began thinking about how nice it would be to just curl up in my bed or maybe go for a fly in the starry night. The only problem was that I knew I would only be thinking about Jason. Stars and nighttime kind of did that to me ever since we had kissed while flying. So instead, I sighed and took another glass of champagne while staring at the people dancing on the dance floor. The band was really great and I liked the music. And I liked watching people dancing and enjoying themselves. It made me forget about Jason for a second.

  “In the mood for a dance?”

  I turned and looked into his blue eyes.

  “Mick,” I said and threw myself at him. I held him tight for a while before it became awkward and I let him go.

  “I am sorry,” I said. “I just really needed a hug.”

  He smiled his comforting smile. “Me too.”

  He stared at me for such a long time that I felt embarrassed. “Oh my. You look so … you look so … enchanting,” he said with his old-fashioned British accent. He took off his hat and kissed the top of my hand. Then he bowed in front of me.

  “Well, thank you,” I said and curtsied.

  He glanced at the dance floor and the moving people floating around.

  “So how about that dance?” He asked when the band started playing a slow song on a piano.

  “I don’t know … I am not really up for it.”

  Mick grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the floor. “Sure you are,” he said and put his hand on my back while guiding me. “You just need the right partner.”

  Mick pressed his body against mine and took my hands in his. After a difficult beginning where I fumbled a bit, mostly because he made me so nervous, he put his arm around me. It felt strong, like he was holding not just me but also all of my problems. Together we floated. It was as if our bodies matched each other perfectly and one always knew what the other was doing. I found it to be a little strange but intriguing as well. What was it about Mick that always made me feel so comfortable, so at home? Was it in fact because we were soul mates like Mai had suggested? Were we destined to spend eternity together?

  No matter what the answer, I felt like we shared a beautiful moment on that dance floor, one that I would cherish forever, and one that was so perfect, almost too perfect to be true.

  “The music stopped,” Mick suddenly whispered.

  I opened my eyes and stared right into his. I smiled and so did he.

  Mick leaned over and whispered in my ear. He said something I will never forget. Something I never thought he would say.

  “I think you should go to him.”

  My eyes widened. What was he talking about? Could it be that he wanted me to …? No, that wasn’t possible.

  “What?” I asked, staring into his eyes with confusion, searching for answers in them. Was he trying to be funny?

  He put his mouth close to my ear again.

  “I am very serious. I know for a fact that the mirror in the cellar is still set on Jason’s house.”

  I looked at him in an investigative way. Was this a trick? Was he testing me or trying to get me in trouble?

  “Why now?” I asked.

  “Because in a few hours it will be too late.”

  “No, I mean why have you changed your mind?”

  “Because I feel your love for him. I am afraid of what it will do to you if you don’t at least attempt to save him. I am afraid of what it might do to your heart. If you get angry at God for this, it will turn your heart away from Him and make you an easy prey for the darkness to devour. I just don’t want you to end up like Portia.”

  I sighed deeply. Again Mick was right. I had to go. If not for Jason’s sake then for my own.

  I looked deeply in his eyes. I wanted to hug him, ask him to go with me, tell him how much I loved him for understanding me so well, but there was no more time. The decision was made, and I had to go.

  “You must hurry, Meghan. Before it is too late,” said Mick.

  I floated slowly away from him while still looking into his eyes. Then I turned around and flew quickly out of the ballroom. I felt his eyes on my back following my every move until he couldn’t see me anymore.

  Chapter 19

  Nothing had changed in the cellar since I had been there the last time. The body-sized mirror was still the only thing there, still providing the only light in the room. I touched the frame plated with gold and the small sculptures of praying Angels all around. I remembered when I had been there the last time, when Mick kissed me, and I felt myself smiling.

  Then I took a couple of deep breaths before I put my palm on the mirror’s surface and pressed myself through. Even though I had definitely gotten better at going through solid objects, I still felt like my body was ripped to pieces and put back together again on the other side. But I wasn’t as exhausted as I used to be.

  I found myself in Jason’s bathroom and immediately recognized it with a smile. I used to love coming to his house and spending time with him.

  I sighed. First I would have to explain to him why I hadn’t come since the night he kissed me. He would probably be hurt and mad at me. It was three months to me, but more like a year to him, maybe even more, since time went so much faster on earth.

  I made myself invisible before I carefully opened the door and flew out in the hallway.

  It was very quiet—not a sound in the house. I looked out the window and realized it was still day here. Maybe Jason hadn’t even gotten home from school yet. I just hoped in my heart that I hadn’t come too late.

  I flew to his bedroom and found it empty as well. So I decided to wait for him there. While I did, I took a look around. Nothing much had changed, except the puzzle that we had been doing; it was gone. I sighed. I hoped his heart wasn’t too broken.

  I waited for what felt like an eternity, but it probably wasn’t more than half an hour. Then I heard the front door unlock and open. I hoped it was Jason and prepared myself. I stayed invisible, because I wanted to see him first, see how he was doing before I revealed myself.

  Next I heard steps on the stairs and then the door to the room opened. I became excited and prepared myself. But it wasn’t Jason. I froze. The face appearing in the door belonged to his step-dad. He had a reddish face and his eyes were blurry. He was drunk. I held my breath and felt my heart racing. I hoped that I could manage to stay invisible and tried hard not to make a sound.

  Jason’s step-dad entered the room and started looking in the drawers, pulling stuff out and throwing it on the floor. He was so drunk he swayed from one side to the other. He grumbled while searching through Jason’s stuff. Finally he found a twenty dollar bill and put it in his pocket. Then he turned and left the room.

  I exhaled deeply when he was gone.

  A moment later I heard the front door open again and loud voices coming from downstairs—a man and a woman. Neither of them belonged to Jason. I suddenly remembered the scene from the book took place in the kitchen, so I hurried down there. I found the step-dad and a woman I assumed to be Jason’s mother in a big argument. She was a tiny woman with the same brown eyes as Jason.

  “That little rat keeps stealing my money!” I heard the husband yell.

  The woman sat down on a kitchen chair with her head bowed.

  “I have tried to talk to him, but he says it isn’t him,” she said.

  Her husband moved aggressively toward her.

  “And you believed him?”

  The woman looked at him. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Of course I believe him. He is my son,” she said with a heavy voice.

  “Well maybe you are in it together, then.” He grabbed the back of another chair and pushed it. The tiny woman jumped nervously at the sound of the chair hitting the floor.

  “Huh? Well answer me goddammit, woman! Have you been telling him to take my money?”

  “No,” the woman said with a low squeaking vo
ice.

  The husband grabbed a glass and threw it against the wall, causing the liquid inside to make a mark on the white paint.

  “I don’t believe you, woman!”

  The wife started crying while he snorted.

  “Oh come on. Again with the tears. ‘Boo-hoo … I am so sad that I have taken my husband’s money, and now he is mad at me … boo-hoo.’ ”

  I felt so mad that I wanted to tip something over and scare the crap out of him or throw something at him. I was suddenly thrilled that Portia and the others had teased him the first time we had gone there. I tried hard to think of a way to let the mother know that it was in fact her husband who took money from Jason and not the other way around.

  “Well, if neither you nor Jason has my money, where is it, then?” He yelled so loud it made his wife crumble in her chair.

  He then hit the table with his fist and leaned over her. “Tell me, woman. How am I supposed to support my family? … That means you and that little rat. How am I supposed to pay for the food or the house, if everybody keeps taking my money? Look at me!”

  The woman raised her head. Her eyes were red and swollen. The husband grabbed her chin and held it tight. His whole body was shaking in anger.

  “Tell me! How?” he yelled.

  The woman stuttered. “I don’t … I don’t … know.”

  Then he raised his fist and hit her hard on her cheek. She screamed and tumbled on to the floor. I reacted by flying to her and trying to put my hand on her, to make her feel calm and protected like I had seen Mick do it to the children in the waiting room at the hospital. But I failed. I don’t think she felt it. Then I started wondering if I could lift a chair and throw it at him. I flew toward the one on the floor and tried to lift it. Meanwhile the husband approached his wife on the floor.

  “Get up, woman!” he yelled.

  She sat up and felt her cheek with her hand. Some blood dripped on her fingers from her nose.

  “Come on, get up!” he said again with a smirk.

  I saw her try but as she did, he kicked her in the stomach. A terrifying sound came from deep within her. She gasped for breath. It sounded like she was about to die. But I knew she wasn’t going to die. Not today. It wasn’t her turn yet.

  I grabbed on to the chair the best I could and managed to lift it from the floor. No one saw it, since the husband had already approached his wife again and was getting ready to kick her once more.

  “Please don’t hit me again, please,” the woman pleaded.

  His fist hit her face again with a loud smack and she screamed so incredibly loud.

  With all my strength, I pulled the chair backwards into the air before I swung it as hard as I could. And just before the man kicked the mother once again I hit him in the back of his head with it, causing him to tumble to the floor flat on his face.

  The woman looked at the chair dangling in the air with a frightened look on her face. Then I dropped the chair with a loud clatter. She got back on her feet and stared with fear in her eyes, first at the man on the floor who wasn’t moving and then at the chair. She walked past it and went through the kitchen before she ran up the stairs. I followed her in the air and saw her run into Jason’s room where I heard her lock the door. She probably figured she would be safe there since her husband wouldn’t be looking in there. Maybe Jason could manage to protect her when he came home.

  Chapter 20

  I went back to the kitchen. The man was still lifeless on the floor. I flew close to him and checked if he was breathing. He was. Heavily.

  A few minutes later I heard a key turn in the kitchen door leading to the garage. I turned and stared at it, very happy to see Jason’s face when the door opened.

  I made myself visible at once for him. The first thing he saw was his step-dad on the floor and then he looked up and saw me.

  “What happened here?” He asked and stepped forward. “Did you do this?”

  “Well, kind of.”

  “Why?”

  I sighed and flew closer to him. I wanted to hug him and tell him I had missed him, but this wasn’t exactly the moment.

  “I had to do something. He was being really mean to your mother.”

  Then I saw something change in Jason’s normally kind eyes. They became filled with a fiery blaze. I felt his rage even from the distance still between us. I felt it like a heat wave or the air from a blow dryer—a force so strong, it made me unable to come close to him. He became unreachable to me, as though he had a force field as a shield of anger around him, keeping me out. Every time I tried to come closer to him, it felt like I was burning.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  “She’s hiding upstairs in your room …” I wanted to say more, but he just stormed past me and started running up the stairs.

  “Wait, I have something I need to tell you,” I yelled after him. “It is really important.”

  I flew after him and caught up with him at the top of the stairs. There I placed myself in front of him, blocking his way. When my eyes met his, he softened a little bit, calming him down. Yet the burning shield still surrounded him.

  “Listen,” I said. “There is something you need to know.”

  “Meghan, I am happy you are back but right now I have to check on my mother and see if she is all right.”

  “But you need to listen to me; it is important. I know something.”

  “Not now, okay?”

  He started walking as if he wanted to walk right through me, which he could easily do. He knew that. I tried to stop him.

  “I know you want to protect your mother, but I also know that something bad is going happen to you if you fight your step-dad,” I held my hand out in front of me. “Something really bad.”

  He stopped and looked at me. Then he shook his head.

  “Nothing bad could ever happen to me,” he said. “While you have been gone I bought a gun. It’s in the top drawer of my nightstand. So if he tries anything, I will just kill him.”

  I sighed deeply. There had been no gun in the picture in the book.

  “That might be, but you … I know for a fact that he will kill you.” There it was. I just blurted it out.

  Jason stared at me with great disbelief. Then he shook his head again.

  “I don’t mind dying, as long as I can protect my mother,” he said. “Then I can go and be with you. He will go to jail for killing me. I am not afraid of dying anymore. Not since I met you.”

  I had really screwed things up. Now I knew why students weren’t supposed to leave the school area.

  “But you don’t understand. You are way too young to die. You have your whole life ahead of you. Think of all the fun stuff you will miss out on.”

  He lifted his shoulders.

  “I don’t care. If my time is up, it’s up. I have to go.”

  I was confused. I thought I was helping him by telling him, but it was as if he didn’t care!

  “But …”

  He stopped listening and went straight through my body like he would walk through a wave in the ocean.

  I fell to the floor, trying to catch my breath. Meanwhile Jason continued toward the door. I heard him knock on it. I made myself invisible.

  “Mom. It’s me, Jason. Open the door. Are you all right?”

  The key turned and the door slowly opened. The woman’s small face appeared.

  “Who were you talking too?” she asked with a trembling voice.

  I didn’t hear him answer, but I felt the rage growing in him again. I went and stood next to him. Then I looked at his face. He was staring at his mother. Her eye was swollen and she had bruises all over her face. Blood was still running slowly out of her nose, and she wiped it off.

  Jason stood motionless for a long time, like he was paralyzed. His hands shook and his body quivered. I saw a tear roll from his eye. He didn’t wipe it away as it rolled down his cheek and ended on his chin.

  I tried to grab his hand, but I couldn’t. The shield burned my hand.
His anger made him unreachable to me.

  “Jason, just calm down. It’s going to be just fine. I’m okay. This just looks worse than it really is.” She attempted to smile but winced in pain.

  “I am going to kill him,” Jason said with a shaky yet determined voice.

  Everything inside of him seemed about to erupt—every little frustration buried but not forgotten, every stroke from his step-dad’s fists that he never returned, every humiliating situation never avenged.

  “Please don’t, Jason,” his mother pleaded. “He will be good again once he sleeps this one off. You know that. He’s a great guy on the good days.”

  “That’s not enough.” Jason pushed his way past the mother.

  I was sure he would go for the gun, but instead he grabbed his baseball bat.

  My heart stopped beating and I froze. I recognized the bat from the book. It was that same blue bat I knew his step-dad would beat him to death with.

  “Don’t, Jason,” his mother continued.

  But he didn’t listen. He had made his mind and heart up. He walked toward the stairs. As he walked through the living room I tried to talk to him. I felt tears in my eyes. I had no idea how to stop him.

  “Please don’t do this, Jason,” I said with a soft voice. “Please. That bat is the one your step-dad will use to kill you. I have seen it. There was this book …”

  But it was as though he couldn’t hear me any longer, like my voice wasn’t strong enough to go through that shield of anger. I saw it now like an orange fire surrounding his entire body as though he was glowing.

  I felt my heart skip a beat. I knew where I had seen that kind of fire before. In Portia’s eyes. She had worn the same kind of anger inside.

  Jason’s step-dad had aroused and was sitting at the kitchen table with his head bowed when Jason walked in, holding the bat in front of his body.

  His step-dad lifted his head and looked at him. Then he burst into loud laughter. “Who the hell do you think you are?” He said.