Dazed, I watched as Katie Jones' hands began to glow with rainbows of color and light fizzing and swirling around them in a translucent cloud. She placed her hands on Morris' chest, and I saw her push the rainbow light into him. The colors seemed to separate, each gravitating to a specific area of the body. It reminded me of a greeting card about chakras I had seen once in the store.
But then, the colors stretched into glowing strings under his skin, pulsing as they slinked through his veins. I heard an awful crack come from Morris' back, followed by a blinding light that was too bright even for my freakovision. When it cleared, I could see battered Katie Jones still concentrating and pushing more of her magic into him.
Suddenly, the brightness of the colors faded, and the light around her hands grew dim. The pulsing of color and light in his veins stuttered and went dark.
"No," she whispered. "No! This is supposed to work!"
Without thinking, I slammed my hands down on Morris' chest and shot a full dose of life into him.
This time, his body briefly left the ground because of all the energy I had shoved into him, throwing me, Zack, and Katie Jones off of him and onto the ground. Bursts of light began to go under his skin like fireworks in a jar, and I could sense the rampant flush of new life zipping and zinging through his body.
He hit the ground again, but this time, there was a distinct, "Oomph," that came from his lips, right before his eyes fluttered open.
"Wha—" Morris murmured groggily, tentatively sitting up with a wince. "Wha' habben'?"
"You're alive!" Helen squealed and launched herself at him, pulling him into a fierce hug. Cerberus frisked around Helen and Morris, wagging his tails and play bowing.
I was so relieved and wanted to hug Morris, too, but Zack held me back. I realized I probably wasn't fully in control of myself just yet, and I didn't want to risk Helen or Morris by touching them.
"Wha'd'ya mea' alive?" Morris asked, clutching at his head.
"Well, let's just say you were down for the count," Helen replied. "For the really, really long, permanent count. But, Stephanie and Katie Jones brought you back!"
Morris gazed in bewilderment at Katie Jones and at me.
I stared back at him, half in wonder, half in horror.
What had I done?
I was definitely not looking at the Morris I knew.
"I think you might have overdone it with the life thing," Katie Jones said with a grin.
"Yeah, maybe," I agreed, still in shock.
Helen noticed us and pulled back to look at Morris, then gasped.
"What?" Morris asked.
"Uh, you're alive!" Helen answered with fake cheerfulness.
"Oh God, I'm a zombie, right? I'm already decomposing and horrible!"
"No, actually, you're kind of the opposite."
"Wait what?"
Helen and Morris looked at me, and I held up my guilty hands defensively.
"Don't look at me," I said. "I have no clue how this happened."
Zack laughed and clapped me on the back hard enough to make me cough.
"I think the ol' Stephinator here gave you a bit more life than you bargained for," he said. "She may have accelerated your body by about two years in the space of two minutes."
"You look good," I offered apologetically.
“Yeah," Helen added. "Really good."
And, he did. His braces had fallen off his now-perfect teeth. His face had lost its baby fat and now showed lean, clean lines and sharp cheekbones. Gone were the pimples of high school and here to stay was a man's skin with a faint hint of stubble. His body actually looked longer to me, and his muscles had filled out. He was no quarterback, but he had a tall, broad-shouldered, athletic look to him, which, of course, made his now-ragged clothes seem way too small and tight on his new frame.
"How about we get him to a hospital before we get him to a mirror?" Katie Jones suggested. "We should probably get his back x-rayed to figure out what we actually did to it."
"My back?" Morris spluttered.
"Yeah," I said sheepishly. "It was kinda broken, and we fixed it."
"Do I want to know?" he groaned.
"No, not really," Helen told him.
"Fine by me. I'm done with magic and gods. I'll be sticking with the weather from now on."
"Good idea," she agreed, motioning for Zack to help him to his feet.
He winced as he tried to straighten up.
"Your spine is probably still a little sore," Katie Jones said kindly. "Fusing breaks like that leaves the tissue and nerves a little tender."
He looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, then shook his head. He turned with Helen and Zack to head back toward the gym. He stopped and turned to look back at me over his shoulder.
"Thanks, Steph," he said awkwardly.
"Anytime," I replied, equally awkwardly.
"I hope not."
"Me, too."
I watched them walk off and then approached Katie Jones.
"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.
"Me? Oh, I'll be fine," she replied, smiling wryly. "After I sleep for about a month."
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure you're exhausted."
"That doesn't even begin to cover it. However, we need to talk about your mother."
"Right." It was the last thing I wanted to discuss. I needed five minutes by myself, pretending none of this had actually happened, before I was ready to deal with more grim reality. But goddess is as goddess does, and this goddess had a mother problem to handle.
"I think there's a way we can help her," Katie Jones said, beginning to limp over to where Haley sat on the ground, gently cradling Mom in his arms as she cried and whimpered.
"How?" I was all ears.
"She is still in her mortal body, and in that mortal body is a human brain. That brain is fully human, and it might respond to treatment."
"Treatment?" I queried. "What kind of treatment?"
"Good psychiatric care," she replied. "Inpatient care with careful monitoring and the right anti-psychotic medications, she might have a chance of recovering some balance, at least enough for you to talk to her."
"But, doesn't that also run the risk of returning her power to her, if she remembers who she is?" Haley asked cautiously.
"I'm pretty sure they would have her on some form of mild tranquilizer or mood stabilizer or other drugs as well, to help with her mood swings," she replied. "I think that even if she were to remember everything, she would be in a gentler, less volatile, more rational state."
"But, isn't it hard to commit someone to a psych hospital?" I objected. "I thought you had to go to court and all that stuff."
"I used to hang with Jung and Freud back in the day," she answered with a cheeky grin. "I know a case of paranoia and delusions of grandeur when I see one."
"What?" I said, confused.
"In my professional opinion as Dr. Kate Jones of the Springfield Psychiatric Center, this woman fully and totally believes she is the Greek goddess, Demeter. She has no other recollection of any identity other than that and the 'secret' mortal name of Deborah Starr she uses to hide herself and her daughter, Persephone, from Hades. She has demonstrated violent tendencies and may be considered a danger to herself and others."
I stared at the woman, flabbergasted, relieved, and scared shitless by her bottomless bag of tricks.
"Will I be able to visit her?" I asked finally.
Katie Jones looked at me thoughtfully and hesitated before saying, "That depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you'll be...staying...here or not."
"Oh."
Just like that, the vague sense of everything being okay was swept out from under me. Again.
In two days, Haley would lose his mortal body, and unless I went with him, I would be separated from him again, at least until my body died or I chose to join him. Being without him or leaving this life as I knew it—neither option was viable in my heart.
Katie Jones helped Mom stand
up and led her away.
Before I could say a single word, Haley pulled me into his embrace and kissed me. Fiercely. Passionately. Almost painfully. And, I kissed him back with just as much desire.
My human lungs needed air, and gasping, I broke the kiss. I burned blissfully in his smoldering hot black gaze, no longer afraid of the depth of his need and his feelings for me. I knew my own eyes held the same longing and the same love.
"I can't let you go," I whispered the instant before my vision of him blurred with tears. Part of me was surprised that I had any tears left after everything that had happened.
"I don't want to go," he sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. "But, I don't have a choice. I can already feel the edges of this body wearing out from hosting me."
I could see what he said was true. There were tinges of blue around his lips, and his pale complexion looked more grey than white.
"And it's really Saturday at midnight? There's no more time?"
"No, the spell will break then."
"Too bad I'm only good at breaking spells and not—whoa. Wait. I'm dumb. I'm so stupid. How did I not see this before?" I exclaimed, pulling out of his arms and studying him. "This could work. I know it could. I won't run out of it. It'll be fine. We'll just take it day by day."
"Care to enlighten me, Miss Starr?" Haley asked, sounding confused but amused.
"Life!" I proclaimed. "I'll give you life!"
"But, I am alive, I don't need life."
"Not now, but you will on Saturday night. Think about it, if I can bring Morris back from the dead, why can't I be proactive and keep you from dying by infusing my power of new life into you? It'd be like filling up the gas tank of a car on a regular basis!"
"Thank you for that comparison," Haley chuckled, then frowned in thought. "But, this is different. I'm not a simple being to contain in a human body. It would take a lot more power than what you gave Morris to keep me alive, even for a small amount of time."
"Haley, I'm the goddess of life. I got this shit. I'm not going to run out of life to give you. So, why not? Why can't we spend one mortal life together here? I can't just abandon my mother and my friends, and...I want to live a full, long life so I can know what it's all about. I'll experience death at the end of my human life, so I'll understand what you're about, too. Then, we can be immortal together, chillin' in the afterlife and ruling the Underworld."
Haley grinned and took me back in his arms. "If you're willing to try and accept the consequences if it doesn't work, I will do anything for you.”
"It will work," I assured him. "If anything, it'll work too well, and I'll turn you into Superman by accident. Having enough power doesn't seem to be a problem of mine."
"If we’re going to do this mortal life thing, we'll have to work hard to train you into controlling your powers. You're still too dangerous to be around others."
His lips were now a breath away from mine. I inched mine closer so they brushed against his as I spoke.
"I'll be a very good student," I promised. "I'm all about perfection."
"So am I."
A few minutes later, we surfaced for air. Haley brushed my hair out of my eyes, and looked at me thoughtfully.
"What do you think about Greece?" he asked.
"I don't know. What about Greece?" I replied, bewildered.
"Would you like to go there?"
"Yeah, someday, I guess. Why? Do you want to go there?"
"Call it sentimental, but I have a special place in my stone-cold eternal heart for Greece."
"Oh, so did you have anything to do with the Hades and Persephone myth?" I asked archly.
"Katie Jones isn’t the only one who can plant clues in classic literature. Dead Greek poets were always asking for favors.”
I stared at him. He grinned at me.
“So, what do you say, my love?"
"Okay. Yes, I'd love to go to Greece."
"Good. Are you ready?"
"Wait, what? You mean now?"
Haley smiled secretively at me, and I almost melted. Almost. I was getting better at the not-melting-right-away thing. It now took at least two seconds for him to persuade me.
"We can't go right now," I stated.
"Are you always this difficult?" Haley asked.
"No," I replied stubbornly. "I've just started being difficult recently, but I'm getting better at it all the time."
"Good."
"Seriously, we can’t just go. If we're going to stay and do the mortal life thing, there's stuff we have to do!"
"Like what?"
"Apply to college, graduate high school, figure out how not to go to jail for stealing those cars."
"Take your GED when we get to Greece. We can apply to college from there if you want to, as well. Or, we could go to college in Greece or anywhere in the world that we wanted. But in Greece, I'll find us a place where we're far enough away from people that you won't be a danger to anyone but we’ll still have Wi-Fi. Don't worry about the cars. I wouldn't be much of a god if I couldn't erase some grand theft auto charges, now would I?"
"What about Cerberus?"
"Apparently, he has decided he likes this form for now. I believe he also likes Helen, and she could use a faithful guardian in her life."
"Besides Zack?"
"I was thinking that Cerberus would actually guard her from Zack, but that's another conversation for another time, over breakfast in a lovely, lonely mountaintop villa."
"That sounds lovely," I said dreamily.
"It will be. Now, kiss me, my queen."
"What happened to princess?"
"She became a queen who has an adoring king," Haley whispered, kissing me between words. "Take my hand and trust me."
"Deep down, I think I always have."
My hand was warm in his cool one, but together, we were the perfect temperature. Together we were perfect.
"Don't let go, no matter what," he instructed me as we walked toward the line of the woods where a cool mist was beginning to roll through the trees, quickly becoming dense and impenetrable.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my heart thudding in my chest despite my absolute trust in Haley.
"Greece," he replied with that sly grin of his that totally undid all my non-melting resolutions and progress.
Willingly, I followed the God of the Dead into the mist, swallowed by clouds of grey and white, and then... and then...
Oh, the light!
EPILOGUE
Journal of Helen Jenkins
May 28, 20--
I never kept a journal before in my life. Not for any particular reason.
That all changed last fall. Now, I depend on my journal to keep me sane, to reassure me that the things I remember and the things I know did happen are true. This journal, and, of course, Cerberus, who is currently snoring at my feet. So, here I am on the last page.
***
Morris, Rob, and I are the only others who remember any of what happened back in September. It's hard to believe it was at the beginning of the school year, and now, I'm done.
I graduated this afternoon and went with my family to the obligatory and painfully awkward dinner after. My brother Davey sulked because he wanted to be home playing video games. Mom downed three martinis before starting in on the white wine with dinner. Dad wavered between ignoring her and being embarrassed by her—that is, when he wasn't talking to me about all the pre-med requirements I'll have next year in college.
I didn't have the energy to care enough to tell him I wasn't going to follow in his footsteps like he had always wanted me to.
I'm going to be an astronomy major.
You can't just tell a girl about the mysteries of the universe and ultimate truths and expect her not to have questions. I want to know more. Actually, I want to know everything: who we are, where we came from, and the stars beyond.
Morris is going out west to study meteorology. I teased him about wanting to become a TV weatherman now with his new good looks, but he s
aid he's still the same geek at heart and wants to work for NOAA someday.
I'm glad he's still the same Morris on the inside. Maybe that's why he's turned down every single girl who asked him to prom, including Kara. Steph would have been so proud of him.
It was Morris who gave Zack the idea of how to do the "mind mojo" thing, as Stephanie used to call it, on the thousands of people who had seen every impossible thing that had happened that day on the football field.
Instead of changing their memories completely, he simply removed the bits about us and substituted them with bits about how crazy the weather had been. It was definitely an easier explanation for their brains to accept than a divine battle royale on the football field of Darbyfield High School.
Everyone looked a little purple in the face for a day or so, but Katie Jones reassured me that it would go away.
Even now, though, it's hard to believe that I could go from those awful moments, thinking it was all over, and nothing would be right again, to this relatively happy ending today.
Morris and I are going to college. Rob Furlong 'mysteriously' got a full journalism scholarship to Boston University. I suspect Zack felt bad for having maimed Rob on purpose to get onto the football team and pulled some magical strings…just like he did to erase all evidence of the cars we stole.
Morris's back still gives him a lot of pain, but he has been doing physical therapy, and it seems to be helping. He will have to do it for a very, very long time, and Katie Jones said he may never fully recover. But, he's so accepting of it all and just so happy to be alive.
Katie Jones also said Deborah is well enough at the psych hospital. Deborah continues to be heavily sedated and take anti-psychotic meds, and she can't remember much of anything, other than she's ”Demeter.” But, she seems content and peaceful, at least she did the few times I visited her.
***
I missed Stephanie today. I'm not usually an emotional person, but Stephanie was my best friend. If she were here, we'd probably be in my room, going through our old yearbooks and laughing with glee about how we survived all those awful years together.
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