The Middle Realm

by Alessia Mattei

  Ch. 42

  After we stepped out of the portal, we were back in my town. It is nice to be in a familiar surrounding again. The sun is getting ready to set. The sky is a reddish, orange color. Everything is awash in a soft golden glow. As we walked past houses, we could see families settling in for the night. Curtains and blinds were being drawn. All up and down the street, porch lights sparked to life. People were getting ready for a night of sleep and dreams. I would have given anything to be able to switch places with them. I miss sleep. I miss telling people about the weird dreams I used to have. It is weird to be referring to sleep in the past tense. Hopefully, it won’t be that way for long. I really hope that Voodoo witch can help me. A second chance is all I need. If I am lucky enough to get that second chance, I’ll help others and just be a good person. Emma and I can put this whole thing behind us and move on. Maybe one day we can look back at it and laugh. Okay, maybe not laugh. The only thing is I can’t help but feel guilty about leaving my new friends behind. I glance over at Patrick. He has his arm around Griffin and they are talking and laughing. They fell easily into their new roles as grandfather and grandson. The being brought back to life part will be a lot easier than having to tell my friends. I’ll be trading in one family for another. Actually, I won’t be seeing my family. As hard as that will be, it sure beats being dead.

  “Whoa. This is the house you grew up in?” Griffin asked out loud as we walked up to my former residence.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “It’s huge. I thought my house was big, it’s got nothing on this place,” Griffin said.

  He was referring to my, I mean my parents, big Queen Anne Victorian. I loved that house. It’s the biggest on our street, of course. It was a fun place to grow up. Many happy memories were made in that house. As we got closer to the house, I heard some familiar, and very welcomed, voices. I started walking faster, following the voices of my dearest friends. Patrick and Griffin struggled to keep up. I ran in through the garage into the house then raced up the stairs with Sammy at my heels. He is barking excitedly. In the hallway, I ran into Willow, my ghost dog. She was sitting under the big stained glass window. I petted her, and walked to my room. As soon as I walked through the closed door Emma, Camille, Edgar, Whitney and William greet me. They are just as happy to see me, as I am to see them.

  “You guys, this is the best surprise,” I said, hugging each of my friends.

  “We missed you, plus we heard you’re new boy toy was here and we just had to meet him properly” Camille said. The rest nodded in agreement.

  Just then, Patrick and Griffin walked through the closed door. The room went silent. Even the ever-talkative William was silenced. Emma’s jaw actually dropped, I’m not joking. Like everyone else, she had been rendered speechless. I could tell that the silence and the staring were making Patrick and Griffin quite uncomfortable, so I spoke.

  “You guys, this is Patrick and his grandson Griffin,” I said. The two smiled uncomfortably. Griffin managed to wave a little. I felt so bad. They were not expecting to see so many other spirits. It was just supposed to be Emma and Willow. If I had my way, I wouldn’t have sprung Edgar, Camille or William on Griffin so soon. Whitney would have been fine. The others can be kind of intimidating to be around at first.

  “Savannah, you’re new boyfriend is gorgeous. He looks like a movie star or a male model,” Camille said.

  “His grandson isn’t bad either,” Emma remarked.

  To see Emma surrounded by all these ghosts and looking very calm is a welcome surprise. She doesn’t seem to be at all nervous or uncomfortable. She’s finally accepting that she can see and interact with ghosts. Maybe things will become easier for her now.

  “Emma, you’re right. He is a cutie,” Camille said as she got an up close view of Griffin. I could tell poor Griffin is not comfortable with Camille being all up in his business like that, so I grabbed her gently by the arm and pulled her back to where Edgar is standing.

  “Camille, Griffin literally just died today. He is still getting used to the whole being dead thing. He’s still not completely comfortable around other spirits. If you could just let him be for the time being that would be great. He still needs time to adjust,” I said.

  “Wow, he’s definitely a noob,” William said. He had snuck up behind us.

  “William, please don’t ever say ‘noob’ again. It’s weird coming from you,” I said. I wonder where he learned that?

  William shrugged his shoulders and went to look out the window. That was awkward. Leave it to William to provide all the awkward moments.

  “We’ll be careful not to scare him,” Camille said smiling after William left.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Patrick motioned for Griffin to follow him to the chair in the corner where Emma is sitting. Willow came up to Emma and put her head in Emma’s lap. Poor Emma didn’t know what to do. You can’t exactly pet a ghost dog, unless you’re a ghost yourself. I sent Willow to Lola’s dog bed. She put her head on her paws and looked at me sadly. I’ll make it up to her later.

  “Emma this is Patrick and Griffin,” I said.

  “Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m sorry I didn’t acknowledge you when I came to get Savannah at the store. I was just not in a good state of mind. I had just found out that one of my grandchildren was dying,” Patrick said.

  “That’s why you looked so scared and worried. I am so sorry,” Emma said.

  “Thank you. I’m also glad to see that you’re very understanding of the situation,” Patrick said.

  By now, Emma is tearing up. I grabbed a tissue box off the dresser and handed it to her. She obviously didn’t wear waterproof mascara today. She better remember to wear it tomorrow night. I didn’t say anything, but Griffin did, in the nicest way possible.

  “Hey, Emma, your mascara is running a little bit. It’s not bad, but I thought I should let you know,” Griffin said kneeling down next to her.

  “Thank you,” she said as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

  Edgar called Patrick and me over to where he was so he could talk to us. I heard nothing Edgar said because I was watching Emma and Griffin. Emma is all smiles as she and Griffin talked. She had better not be falling in love. There are plenty of guys with a heartbeat that she could date. Griffin is charming and sweet and funny. He’s also dead. If he were still alive, he would be a great boyfriend for Emma, even considering the small age difference. This is just like her to fall in love with someone she has no chance with. Technically, she does have a chance with him, but she would have to die. I don’t even want to think about it. I have to talk to her. When Edgar finished what he was saying, I turned to Patrick.

  “I have to go talk to Emma,” I said.

  “Is everything alright?” he asked.

  I should probably just tell him that his grandson and my best friend are falling in love, even though they know that they have no chance. He can back me up.

  “Emma and Griffin are falling in love,” I said.

  “That’s great,” Patrick said.

  In what universe is this great? He’s dead. She’s alive. There is no way it can work. I thought Patrick was supposed to be really smart. He did graduate at the top of his class. He has to be kidding.

  “It’s not great. Patrick, Griffin is dead. There is no way Emma could have a normal relationship with him. I’m afraid that she might kill herself to be with him,” I said.

  A light finally went off in Patrick’s head. It’s about time.

  “I didn’t really think about that. When you said they were falling in love, I was happy for Griffin. He’s been through so much. I didn’t even think about the whole one is alive, the other isn’t. We have to do something,” Patrick said.

  “Yes, we do. So you can talk to them,” I said.

  I’ll just let Patrick do the dirty work. I don’t want anyone mad at me. I know pathetic, right? Besides, he’s a lot more intimidating than I am, what with his military uniform and gun. It
’s amazing how much power that uniform and gun possess.

  “You mean we’ll talk to them. We’re a couple now, so we should probably do this together. I think if the two of us confront them, the impact will be greater. We just need to make sure you and I are on the same page here,” Patrick said.

  Did he just say we were a couple? Yes! I am so happy right now. I’m not going to bring it up, again. I’m just going to act like I knew we were a couple a couple all along. I’ve got to wonder how long we’ve been officially a couple. I should know this. Who cares, we’re officially together.

  “Yes, we are most definitely on the same page here. I just feel bad telling them they can’t fall in love. I feel like the anti-cupid or something,” I said.

  “The anti-Cupid?” Patrick asked, looking quite baffled.

  “Yeah, Cupid makes people fall in love and the anti-Cupid makes them fall out of love. It’s something Emma and I came up with in middle school when one of our close friends fell in love with a guy who was totally wrong for her. So we became the anti-cupids causing them to fall out of love,” I said.

  That sounded so much more stupid out loud than it did in my head. Way to go middle school, Emma and Savannah! Judging by the look on Patrick’s face, I think he would agree.

  “I’m just going to pretend you never said that. Are you ready to go talk to Emma and Griffin?” he asked.

  “Yes. Let’s get this over with. Alexander is going to be here in a little bit,” I said.

  “Alexander’s coming over?” Patrick asked.

  Ch. 43

  Is that a hint of jealousy I hear? Come on, he can’t be jealous? Seriously? Granted, I really should learn to keep my mouth shut. Bringing up a past boyfriend in the presence of a current boyfriend is never a good idea. But, when I think about it, what’s the big deal? Alexander is alive and I’m dead, making cheating a little difficult to pull off. There’s also the fact that Alexander can’t see me, the real me anyway. I can’t believe Patrick could at all be jealous. He didn’t seem like the jealous type.

  “Is there something wrong with that?” I asked.

  Patrick grabbed me gently by the hand and led me to the closet and we walked through the door. Edgar, Camille and Whitney watched us closely with worried expressions. Willow wandered in after us with her tail wagging wildly. Patrick sent her back out, her ears now drooped and her tail wagging no more.

  “I take it we didn’t come in here to play Seven Minutes in Heaven?” I asked as we stood in the darkened closet. Ghosts can see perfectly in the dark so the light is not needed.

  “I wish. But no, not this time,” Patrick said.

  “You know that game?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but that’s not important,” he said. He is serious now.

  “We should play sometime,” I said.

  He gave no response. He stared at the floor. Great, he’s gone all serious on me. I better find out what’s bothering him. It obviously has to do with Alexander, I know that much.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Alexander,” Patrick said.

  “Why? What is it about Alexander that is bothering you so much? Why are you so worried?” I asked.

  “What if you fall back in love with him?” Patrick asked.

  “I’m going to be honest here. I never stopped loving him,” I said. Patrick was about to say something, but I held up my hand to stop him from speaking, “but I realize that I have no future with him. I just want you to know that I will always love Alexander. He was my first true love. He will always have a place in my heart. You, Patrick, are my true love. Nothing can come between us,” I said.

  The way he is looking at me, I could tell that he understands. He is now remembering his first true love, the wife he left behind. I wasn’t finished talking yet.

  “Until I met you, Patrick, I thought I was going to be alone and miserable. I was expecting happiness and joy to be a distant memory. After I died, I never thought I would love again. I thought it all ended the moment a person took their final breath,” I said.

  “That’s what we all think after we die,” he said, “and you never do forget you’re first love”

  “So you understand? I love you more than words could ever express. It’s just that Alexander was my first true love and he’ll always have a place in my heart. So he may be out of sight, but never out of mind,” I said.

  “You’re right,” Patrick said, “I’m sorry I acted the way I did. I just forgot how special that first love really is. It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten,”

  I think we are starting to gain an understand–oh, my God, are those the Prada sandals I had been looking for since summer last year?! Go figure. I finally find them, and I can’t even wear them anymore. I’ll have to ask Emma where she found them because I searched the entire house and all the cars for those shoes. I only wore them once. Prada and their sexy shoes have brought this distraction to you. Okay, where was I? Patrick noticed that I was distracted. He followed my gaze to see what had distracted me. He rolled his eyes.

  “Women,” he said.

  We walked back through the closet door. Everything seems to be fine now. I gave Camille the thumbs up, letting her know that all was good in Patrick-and-Savannah land. As I did this, the bedroom door opened and in walked Alexander. He looked amazing. I turned back to Camille. She had a worried look on her face. I watched Alexander go right up to Emma and kiss her. She kissed him back without any hesitation, good girl. I now turned to Patrick. He didn’t seem too happy to see Alexander. I’m not expecting him to be happy. I just didn’t expect him to be so, unhappy? Pissed off? I would like to know what happened to the Patrick I just talked to because the man on my left is not the one I just talked to.

  “What’s wrong now? You know I can’t get back with him. Stop acting all insecure and please stop brooding. I can’t stand it when guys brood,” I said.

  “I’ll stop brooding if you stop yelling,” Patrick said.

  “I’m not yelling,”

  I wasn’t yelling. I’m just naturally loud, okay. I can’t help it. I’m 70% Italian. It’s in my blood to be loud.

  “You’re yelling all right,” William said.

  “Shut it,” I said pointing to William. He went back to sit next to Edgar and Camille on the bed. Edgar slapped him upside the head.

  I looked around and everyone was looking at us, well everyone minus Alexander, he had no idea what was going. Great! The center of attention, my favorite place to be.

  “If you don’t trust me, leave,” I yelled.

  I didn’t think he would actually do it. He walked over to the French doors and slipped through. I couldn’t believe it. He has got some nerve. Griffin didn’t even go after him, which surprised me.

  “Just let him go. He’ll be back in a little while. He needs to blow off steam. My grandma said that when he got mad he would leave for a little bit. He’ll probably walk around the neighborhood and then he’ll come back when he’s ready,” Griffin said.

  “He doesn’t have to bother coming back,” I responded.

  “Savannah, that’s a little harsh,” Whitney said, “you’re just angry. You don’t mean it,”

  “Yes, I do,” I said.

  I went over to Emma. She’s on her laptop, formerly my laptop. Alexander was sitting next to her, playing around with the strings on his guitar. I could tell she felt bad about what just happened. Before she spoke she closed the computer. She told Alexander she left something in the car that she needed. She knew I wanted to talk. She grabbed the car keys from her purse and walked out of the room. We were silent as we walked through the house. Emma didn’t want Alexander to think she is talking to herself. Once we got to the garage, she unlocked the car and we both went in.

  “You’re first fight,” Emma said, “If you want to talk, I’m here”

  She’s right. This is our first fight. It didn’t even occur to me yet. I was too upset to realize it.

  “Guys can be jealous. I understand that. It’s in
their nature. But I don’t know what Patrick’s problem is. He knows that I have no chance with Alexander. Alexander doesn’t even know I’m dead. I can’t understand what he’s worried about. He is overreacting,” I told Emma.

  Emma was quiet. Maybe she isn’t the best person to talk relationship problems with, given her track record and all. She doesn’t know how to choose the right guys. She surprised me with what she said next.

  “Patrick has been alone for so long that I think he’s afraid to lose you. He’s already lost someone he loved so dearly. Think about it, he’s been alone for so long. When he finally finds love again, he will do anything to protect it. He doesn’t want to have to go through losing someone he loves. Alexander may not have a chance in hell, but Patrick is going to protect you no matter what,” Emma said, “I think he sees Alexander as a threat”

  I never really thought about it that way. Patrick lost his wife, technically it is his wife who lost him but that’s really not the point. What matters is that Patrick and his wife were separated due to circumstances beyond their control. It didn’t occur to me that Patrick is worried I was going to be taken away from him. After all he had been through. I brought him happiness again after so many years of sadness. I can see why he might feel that way.

  “That actually makes sense,” I said, “He had already lost someone he loves and found new love. I can see why he might be worried about losing me. I can understand worrying about losing me to another spirit, but to someone who’s still alive? It’s ridiculous,”

  “Maybe to us it’s ridiculous, but to him it’s not. He’s been to hell and back. He had to leave everything and everyone that he cared about behind. All his hopes and dreams died with him. When he met you, you gave him hope again. Do you get what I’m saying?” Emma asked.

  Yes. I get what she is saying all right. I’m feeling really bad about getting mad at Patrick. He is just trying to protect me.

  “Yeah. Now I feel bad for being mad at him. He isn’t so much jealous as he is protective. I’m sure there was maybe a hint of jealousy, but mostly he was afraid to lose me,” I said, “How come I didn’t see it before?”