Beyond (Afterlife book 1) (17 page)

“
Now that is the way I
like it,” Abhik said when it landed in front of him. “Dessert is
even bigger than the entrée.”

I smiled and ate a little. I hadn’t had
much of an appetite through the dinner; every time I ate something
it seemed to grow in my mouth and make me want to throw up. Feeling
heartbroken and eating just wasn’t a good combination.

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 voice.

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.

H
is 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?”