by Matt A Byron
She stared at her sister in disbelief. She was as real to her as the detectives who had just left. She appeared solid, blinked her eyes, and seemed as colorful as anyone else. For a moment, it was like her sister had just returned from a trip but she knew the unfortunate truth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, M. I didn’t know myself at first. Let me tell you the transition is overwhelming.” Melissa said.
Too many questions flooded her mind she didn’t know what one to ask first. Her whole life she had this ability but never had a chance to speak to someone from the other side. Now faced with a chance to get answers to all the questions she could possibly think of, she stared at her sister in silence.
“M, you have been dealing with this your whole life; this shouldn’t be new to you, now I can share it with you. Well, not the way I would have chosen to share it, but here I am.”
“You see me, Mel, spirits have never seen me. Why?”
There was a warmness in the room she wasn’t aware of before, a comforting feeling she couldn’t explain. Melissa looked around the room and then looked back at her.
“I think something happened in that store. The boy that you say saw you. I think the intensity of your feelings that day did something to complete whatever connection you have with the other side.”
She thought about that for a moment. Could it be true?
“The door? We tried the door, and it was closed, but you pushed me back towards it, and it opened, how did you know it would open?”
“I saw the door was open. I don’t know how but it just was.”
She remembered the boy holding out his arm pointing a finger at her. Maybe the boy somehow opened the door. She felt dizzy, the pain was starting to flare up again, but she tried to push that aside. She needed answers and wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away.
“I thought spirits were thoughtless, without reason or judgment as those are traits for the living, what do you feel?”
Melissa was silent. She moved off the couch and walked around the room as if her physical being was still there. Emery waited as her sister circled around the chair and sat down on the armrest.
“It’s more of knowing, absorbing, being. Our spirits, I believe, have our life code embedded in it, whatever we were in our physical life is carried over to our spirit side.”
Emery shook her head, “That makes no sense. You don’t think, but you know or absorb. I don’t even know what that means.”
“Perhaps it’s something one can only experience when their time comes and accept that there are some things that are not meant to be understood.”
Emery stood up from the couch, a small fire ignited around her abdomen as she winced in pain. She moved to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She had more questions, but she felt weak in the knees and held onto the counter to steady herself.
“Did you see a bright light, Mel? That’s usually what happens is a bright light appears that you walk through, and you find yourself in heaven. Why aren’t you in heaven?”
Melissa stood beside her as if she was always there. Emery looked over at the chair where she had been just moments ago and then back to her sister.
“No light. I was in the hospital and saw myself lying on the table. I screamed, I shouted, no one would hear me. Then I was in your room watching you. Things started to become familiar I suppose, is a way to put it. The initial shock went away,” she paused, “I don’t know how it’s supposed to work or why I am still here, maybe it’s to help you.”
Emery told her about the man she saw earlier, the look of anger on his face and how it seemed that it was directed toward her. She felt different, she felt vulnerable and afraid.
“They can see you now. There are some spirits out there that are not good, that long for their previous life, and they may resent you for the fact that you can see them, and you are alive.”
“How do you know this?” Emery seemed puzzled over her sister’s astute knowledge.
“You should be careful M, there may be some things coming soon that you may not want to deal with, but you’re gonna have to.”
What was she talking about? She knew something, but she was holding back. She felt her grip loosening from the counter and made her way to the couch and dropped down on top of it.
Melissa appeared in the chair opposite the couch. Emery looked over, “You really need to stop doing that, it's freaking me out a bit.”
“I sometimes don’t realize it's happening. I think of a spot, and I’m there. I’m sorry.”
Emery held her left hand over her eyes, the wave of dizziness almost subsided.
“What’s coming to Mel? What’s going to happen?”
There was silence. Emery moved her hand and opened her eyes, but her sister was gone. The warmness quickly faded, and the room seemed less bright. She sat up on the couch biting her lower lip. She looked around the room again, and she could feel that the whole ambiance of the room had changed. Her sister was gone.
What was going on? She didn’t know what her sister was trying to tell her. Why not just tell her? The room seemed to grow colder by the minute, and the shadows were growing in the corners as night loomed near. She stared at the far corner and thought she felt something staring back at her.
A chill ran up her spine, and she flinched up her shoulders quickly. She didn’t feel alone. She got up from the couch and walked back to her bedroom switching on the hall light as she passed it. She didn’t look behind her but felt something closing fast. She quickened her pace, and when she reached the bedroom, she closed the door behind her abruptly causing it to close with a loud thud.
She stood still and listened at the door when she realized she was out of breath. She felt foolish for getting worked up. She wasn’t the type to be scared easily. What was wrong with her? She took a couple deep breaths and gripped her hand around the door knob and stopped.
“There is nothing to be afraid of you wussy,’ she told herself.
She turned the knob, flung open the door and stared at the empty hall. With her breathing under control, she felt satisfied that she had just let her nerves get the best of her. After a few moments, she was able to put aside any nonsense of something lurking in the darkness.
She stepped away from the door and moved toward the bed. She sat down and as the last grips of panic faded she laughed. She couldn’t believe her behavior. No one was there with her, and there was no reason to be scared. She thought about it, her of all people, should not get spooked. Besides, if something were there, she would see it. She didn’t know why she was letting her nerves get the best of her. She rubbed her eyes and eased back on the bed.
She thought about what her sister told her that something was coming, something she would have to deal with. What had she meant? Surely nothing could be coming, spirits couldn’t hurt her. She wondered if what her sister told her carried any truth. She glanced over to the door, shook her head and began to close her eyes when it suddenly slammed shut.
Chapter Five