"A pretty good day, you say. From where I'm sitting, you and my nephew put everyone's eternal life at risk. Not to mention bringing this creature into the Academy. What are we supposed to do with it?"
"I know you're upset, Headmaster. But we had no choice. As for Spot, he's a great protector and Ruby has him eating out of her hand. He could only be an asset when it comes to defeating the goons looking for Zachary. Which, that's another plus. Zachary was able to use his dark magick but tap into the light. So, lesson learned today." Alex squirmed.
Abernathy narrowed his eyes.
"You know, I think it's time Margaret and I head home. We don't want to miss our window. This is a great school you created, but we don't belong here."
Abernathy cleared his throat. "Wise words, Mr. McKenna."
"Uncle, can we go? I think everyone would like to say a proper farewell."
Abernathy stood up and folded his arms.
"Go. But Zachary, you come back later. We still have some things to sort out. Miss Ruby, you and Spot can stay for as long as you'd like. If you should find the light waiting for you, know we will take good care of your creature."
"Thank you, Headmaster. But I think I'll be sticking around for a while." Ruby glanced at Zachary.
"As for you Leon, feel very lucky that everyone here has forgiven you. You will remain on a trial basis. But I warn you, one more misguided act, and I will send you to The Nowhere myself. Now get out of here, all of you. Oh wait. One more thing, Mr. McKenna. Please, do tell your grandmother I send my warmest regards."
Alex reluctantly curled the corner of his mouth. He wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but whatever it was, it felt like a stiffly starched shirt on a hot August day.
Leon and the other two teens they saved from the clutches of the Soul Gatherer, were sent to the office of the psychiatrist, Dominique Dunworthy, for evaluation. Ruby and Spot left to explore their new home, while the original band of after-life detectives, plus two breathers, chose walking as their mode of transportation to Ophelia and Amry's dorm room. The place where the Academy adventure began.
Once the door behind them closed, the group huddled close.
"Alex, thank you so much for helping me find Haven. I could never repay you for what you have done. You too, Margaret. If you both didn't come to help, I don't know what would have happened."
"You owe us nothing. This is what my family does." Alex smiled.
"We're going to miss you two. You're okay—for breathers," Kyle laughed.
"I know I haven't said much, but I really am glad I got to meet you both." Bethany grinned.
"Yes. Without you, I would not have been able to open the portal. We make a good pair, like brothers, McKenna." Zachary smiled and turned away.
Amry circled around Alex, shimmered solid and then gently kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, for helping my friend and her little sister."
Her green eyes twinkled for the first time since Alex and Margaret arrived. Amry was—happy.
"I guess we should go. We love all of you, if you ever need me, you know how to find me. Ophelia, I hope you and Haven can find your family now. Amry, maybe this will be your ticket to the light too, knowing Ophelia is okay. Kyle and Bethany, I'm not sure why you're still here, but I have an idea." He gazed over at Margaret. "I believe that if you love someone, the one that shares not only your heart, but your soul, you will be together forever. In this life and beyond. I hope that helps."
"Groovy. Thanks, Alex. I hope so." Kyle wrapped his arms around Bethany's waist.
"You know there is something I wanted to ask your uncle, but I forgot." Alex said.
"What's that?"
"The spell to open The Nowhere, it didn't make sense to me. One to open, one to close. I get that part. It signifies it takes two souls to initiate and close it. But...to do it again, no one knows. For one soul, the course is true. That part is boggling my mind. I was gonna ask him before we left, but I forgot."
"I can explain it to you. My uncle told me that it means the realm changes every time someone enters it. So, The Nowhere for you, is different than The Nowhere for me. That's why the course is true. It is the true fear that each individual possesses. It cannot be duplicated, and no one else knows your true fear but you."
"Ah. Now it makes sense. That means eternity in complete solitude with your worst fear. That is hell."
"Indeed. And that soul stealing bastard will know his forever."
"Thanks, Zachary. This was a wild experience. Although, when I tell my Gram, she'll tell my mom, and I think I'll probably be grounded until college. But it was worth it." Alex smiled.
"Alex, a little help?" Zachary beamed.
The boys raised their arms together for the last time, reciting the spell to open the portal to the living world.
Tightly holding on to each other, Alex and Margaret bid their final good-byes, and stepped through the passage home.
13
Life Goes On
It had been two weeks since Alex McKenna and Margaret, had come to the Academy. Ruby and Spot were the talk of the school. Especially, Spot. He seemed to love his newfound attention.
It was Friday night and the theater played the comedy, Ghostbusters. A fun poke at every cliché the living world thought being dead was all about. Ophelia couldn't wait to take Haven. She had never seen a motion picture and she knew her little sister was going to freak with excitement. The theater was empty. Although the film appealed to the band of diabolical-soul slayers, the rest of the students, not so much. They didn't find the humor in the exaggeration of the paranormal quite like Ophelia, and the rest of them did.
The gang was meeting in the front of the theater at six o'clock. Amry had a few projects she had wanted to finish first, so she was coming straight over from the library. Kyle and Bethany had been spending more alone time together. Ophelia thought it was because they were about to decide. Alex's words had really struck deep in Kyle's core, and they had a long discussion about it after science class. Kyle had confided in her, his wish to take the light. He was still scared, but he felt better after hearing Alex's take on it.
Zachary had been making up for lost time both with his uncle, and Ruby. His powers were growing more each day, and although he struggled with the darkness, Ruby was there to kick him in the ass and remind him what side to tap into.
Ophelia had taken Haven to the library. They were there for nearly the entire day. When they left, Amry was finishing up and promised to join them shortly.
Arriving at the theater, Ophelia pulled open the large, heavy doors, and Haven laughed at her big sister.
"What's so funny?"
"You, silly. Why do you open the doors when we could walk through the walls? Or better yet, teleport inside from the library."
"I enjoy the entire experience. If I teleported everywhere, I would miss everything around me. If I walked through walls, I couldn’t feel the texture of the door in my hand. All of it is an experience that should be treasured. The next life will come, and we will leave all of this behind. I'm sure it will be wonderful, but it will be different. Understand?"
"Uh, huh. I do. All that time I was away from you, I never wanted to think about where I was. It just made me sad. But this place is so nice, I want to feel everything, too."
"Haven. Can you still feel things?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you feel pain, or the warmth of the sun?"
"No. Why?"
"When we had our beginning, I wasn't supposed to start mine yet. Because I left too early, I have kept certain things that are still like the breathers. I'm noticing lately though, that they are starting to dwindle. Do you know I used to take a shower every morning since I arrived here?"
"Really?"
"Yup. But since we've gotten back from the Underworld, I have not had the urge. I haven't felt a lot of things I did before."
"What do you think it means?"
"I don't know. Hey, look. There's Bethany and Kyle. Let's go
sit by them."
The sisters flowed toward the couple.
"Amry's not with you?" Bethany asked.
"No. She is still at the library. She will be here soon."
"They're about to start the movie," Kyle whispered.
"It's okay. She's seen it at least ten times." Ophelia smiled.
Ophelia took Haven's hand and they rose up toward the ceiling, stopping at perfect eye level with the screen.
"This is the best seat in the house."
Haven squealed. “This is perfect!”
Down below, Bethany and Kyle waved to them.
The expression on Haven's face was priceless when the movie started. She kept reaching out for the screen, trying to touch the characters. Mesmerized by the enormous picture in front of her, and the idea that they could trap people on a reel of film, and then send them to the screen. Of course, Ophelia had to explain that wasn't what happened. The reality didn't seem to sway Haven at all. She was still just as captivated with Ophelia's truth, as her own make-believe reasoning.
The movie was about half over and Ophelia started to worry. Amry hadn't shown up yet. She asked Kyle and Bethany if they wouldn't mind watching Haven. No reason to take the little girl away from her enjoyment. They happily agreed.
Ophelia left the theater through the doors but once outside, her anxiety caused her to toss aside her need to soak in the experience of life at the Academy. In two shakes, she was standing at the help desk of the library. Amry's books were still strewn across the table, but she was nowhere in sight. Creeping toward the disturbing scene, she noticed a small white sheet of paper on the top of a pile of neatly stacked books. They were set on the table directly in front of the pulled-out chair.
Twenty minutes earlier
Amry shrugged her shoulders. A cool breeze brushed along her shoulders. Startled, she set her book down. She hadn't felt a sensation like that in years. In fact, not since her beginning nearly forty years ago. Her chest heaved as her breath sawed in and out, and the faint thump of a heartbeat whispered its way to her ears. Legs trembling, she stood up. What the hell is happening to me? She thought. A flutter of anxiety wrapped itself around her flowing body, quickly she turned around, sensing something or someone behind her.
A small ball of light hovered in the space between the ceiling and the floor. With each beat of her newly found heart, the ball grew larger. Opening like a flower on the morning of a Spring day, it revealed a shadowy dot in the center. Moving toward her, the shadow took over the center of light. From dot to silhouette, the closer it became, the more it revealed.
Amry gasped when the vision became clear. Stepping from the light, emerged a young man about nineteen or twenty. Average height, dark wavy hair and intense brown eyes. Stepping back, she nearly fell over the chair, and struggled to gain her footing.
"I see some things never change." His deep voice melted her heart like the morning frost on a sunny day.
"John? Is it you?"
"My love, my heart. I've waited for you for such a long time."
The young man extended his hand and Amry shyly took it.
"What's happening? Why do you look so young?"
"I'm here to bring you across the light. So many times, I'd hoped you might come, but I knew you'd never leave, not until Ophelia found Haven."
"How did you know?"
"I would check in on you from time to time. I've missed you so much."
"John. What happened to you? You still look like you did the day I left."
"I took ill about a year after I lost you. It was okay. I couldn't bare living my life without you in it."
"No. No. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. You were supposed to get married, have children, grow old. The thought of you living a full life is part of what kept me going all this time. To think you were waiting, and I stayed here."
"You stayed for your friend. You're not the kind of person who'd abandon someone. I knew that. But we're together now. For eternity."
He scooped her up into his arms, capturing her lips, he released the curbed emotions of the past forty years. Amry's passion swirled, bringing back every memory they shared together. His voice beat along her veins with the syllables I love you, whispered in her ear.
Tears spilled from her eyes, trickling down along her cheek to her quivering lips. She could taste the salty liquid, and for the first time since her beginning, she felt human. John moved along her jawline, and down to the nape of her neck. Showering every inch with a soft kiss. She collapsed in his arms, giving herself completely to the man she had loved since the moment they met.
Gently, he pulled back and brushed her ears with the words she'd been longing to hear for years. "It's time, my love."
Amry looked longingly into his eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening. And then it slipped into her thoughts, pushing away the joy. What about, Lia and Haven?
"John. I can't just leave without telling Lia. I need to write a note. Let her know what happened. Say good-bye."
He nodded.
Quickly Amry pulled a piece of paper from her notebook and sat down to write the hardest letter she'd ever written.
My Dearest Lia,
I am so sorry that fate has separated us for our last words after all these years. Please know that you are the reason I made it through all this time. You would always say that I saved you, but in fact, it was you who saved me. My beloved John has come for me today, every hope and dream I had has been restored.
My only wish was that I could have seen you one last time to tell you how much I truly love you. When the light comes for you and Haven, know I will be thinking of you and rejoicing knowing that you have finally reunited with your family. You are and forever shall be, my sister. Please explain to Kyle and Bethany. Tell them I love them, and I was ready. Also, tell them Alex was right. If your soul is shared by one other, you will have an eternity of love.
Best friends always, with all my heart,
Amry
Carefully placing the note on top of the stack of books, Amry took one last look at the library, before stepping into the light, hand in hand with John.
The letter slipped through Ophelia's fingers and floated to the floor. She melted down on the chair and lay her head on the table. She couldn't believe Amry was gone. A pool of water moistened her temple and she abruptly raised her head. Smearing the liquid on the table, she brushed it across her fingertips. Her eyelashes felt heavy and she took the back of her hands and rubbed them across her lids—tears. She had been crying real tears. Thoughts racing, she pushed the chair back with such force, it toppled back and on its side. All she could think about was, Haven.
In a blink she was at the theater. Haven was sitting in between Bethany and Kyle, laughing profusely. The credits were rolling, and the lights came up.
"Ophelia. You missed it, it was so funny." The little girl flashed a toothy grin.
"I know. I have seen it. They are a bunch of goofs, aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Listen, I need to talk with Kyle and Bethany. Could you please wait in the lobby for me? But do not go anywhere."
"All right, Ophelia."
She waited until Haven left before telling her friends the news.
"Amry's gone. The light came for her when she was in the library and it brought John with it."
"Who's John?" The two asked.
"The love of her life. The boy she thought she had lost for good. She left a letter explaining she was sorry she couldn't see us before leaving, but it was time, and she was finally ready."
"Oh. I'll miss her so much," Bethany sighed.
"There's something else."
"Tell us, Ophelia."
"I think my time and Haven's time is coming. Strange things happened in the library. I had tears, real ones. And I could feel my heartbeat. But not like before. This was real. I heard it."
"I'm...happy, and yet so sad. I'm sorry, that's wrong to say," Kyle professed.
"No, I understand. I felt t
he same way when I read Amry's letter. I need to keep Haven close. In fact, I should go. Will you guys stay with us?"
"Of course. We don't want to lose two friends without saying goodbye."
"I'd like to take her back to my dorm room. That's where Amry and I would dream of what would come next. I'll feel close to her, and you guys. How many times did we have nights of endless laughter in that room?"
"Too many to try and count. I'm so happy we got to know you, and Amry. And Haven. She's so adorable, Ophelia. I'm overcome with joy that you two found each other again,” said Kyle.
"Come on, let's go." Ophelia floated towards the door.
They picked Haven up from the lobby and the four of them slowly glided across campus. It wasn't long before the light found its way to the sisters.
In the center of the room, the ball grew until it was big enough for the girls to step through. A fine mist clouded the view, but Ophelia could sense others waiting for them. Haven however, hid behind her sister, her little body trembling.
"Oh, baby girl, do not be afraid. Do you know who is waiting for us?"
"Who?" Haven's voice cracked.
"Mother and Father. They've been waiting a long time to see us. I know you want to see them, too. You hold my hand. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. All right?"
Haven slowly nodded.
Ophelia turned to Kyle and Bethany; who's expressions bore the full scope of their sadness.
"I love you guys so much. I will miss you more than you could ever imagine."
"We love you, too. Maybe one day, we'll all find each other again," Bethany whispered.
"I hope so." Ophelia hugged them. "Can you do something for me? Will you let Alex know what happened? Tell him we finally found home."
Alex McKenna & the Academy of Souls Page 19
