"What are some of your favorite things?" I asked. He looked at me with the corner of his eyes.
"I like a lot of things," he said. "Old people holding hands, chipmunks, abstract art that you're not sure how to hang because you have no idea which way is right, Cool Whip."
It was in that moment, the very second after he said "Cool Whip" that I understood what he meant about just knowing things. When I smiled at him this time, I knew. I just knew. We wouldn't just be best friends. We would be everything.
*
It was a little after three o'clock when Felix parked the hearse back at the house. I shivered once the AC hit my skin.
"You can have first shower," Felix said after we set our shoes behind the front door.
"Thanks." I headed up the stairs and hopped in the shower. Once the chlorine smell had faded, I wrapped my towel around me and touched my collarbone where Felix had rested his fingers. He had called me beautiful. It was a quick moment that he seemed to skip over as he continued the conversation, but he had said it. It was there. The gut feeling I had about Felix was there, too. That slightly crazed feeling that he was who I was supposed to end up with. That was there, too. But I didn't know what to do with it.
When I made my way downstairs Felix had a mug of tea waiting for me. I picked it up and thanked him.
"You should shower," I told him after a moment of silence.
He tapped his fingers on the counter and then nodded. He was almost out of the kitchen when he stopped and turned to me.
"Hey, be careful in the morning. It's supposed to rain later and it'll make things slick in the woods. Watch your footing, okay?"
I made a mental note to myself to be extra careful. "I will. Thanks. And thanks for tonight. I needed to have a little fun."
He smiled. "I'm glad you had fun. I did, too. Goodnight."
"Night, Felix."
The corners of his lips turned up more and he looked at me curiously.
"What?" I asked, feeling self-conscious.
"You haven't said my name before."
I stared at him blankly. "Oh."
"It sounds good. I like it." He grinned and then disappeared down the hall.
"It sounds good," I said quietly to myself, smiling.
SIXTEEN
The rain was still falling when Felix pulled the gate open at eight-thirty the next morning. The woods smelled piney-er than ever, but I welcomed the break from the sun and humidity.
"Are you going alone again?" Shazo asked.
I glanced at Felix. He gave me another encouraging smile, but also looked a little disappointed.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm ready to do the job full-on."
"Atta girl," Shazo said. "I thought you might say that, so I made this last night." He pulled out large map and Felix helped him straighten it out. "Here's the path where we are, here are the forks. See, I've marked all the portals that we know about with these X's which are not to be confused with the X's we mark on tents. Shit, I should've picked something else. I'll redo this. Okay, anyway, for now, the X's mark the portals."
I didn't dare mention my history with maps. They didn't like me. One of the few times I had been outside Colorado was a total accident because I thought I was following a map correctly. The Wyoming state line said otherwise.
"Thank you," I said instead. "This will make me feel a lot more confident out here."
They helped me put the map in my bag and then we split up. I went further down the path than yesterday before I shook rain off my bag and took out some fresh ribbon. I was supposed to toss ribbon after about three uses to make sure it didn't break, but I still had my first wad at the bottom of my bag as a bit of a memorial to my first real day on the job. With the ribbon tied securely around a pine tree, I headed into the forest.
I stepped over branches and made my way deeper into the trees than yesterday. A little further each day, I told myself. Whether it was five minutes or half an hour more, I was determined to explore more of the forest each day. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this.
The rain picked up and large drops that ran off the leaves began to hit the top of my head and roll down my face. I wiped a few away and stepped over a fallen branch. My shoes skidded on the slick moss below and I grabbed a nearby tree for support.
"That was close," I said with a shaky breath.
Another ribbon wrapped around the tree, another wipe of my face. The rain was falling even heavier, so I decided to turn back. Within seconds, my feet froze on a twig. Leaning against a tree, right against my ribbon, was the same guy I had seen near the house.
"Well, hello," he said. His voice was rough like he had just woken up. He was in the same tattered clothes - a plaid shirt and dark jeans, and, being this close to him, I noticed he had blood splattered across most of his exposed skin. He didn't look much older than me. He was oddly pale with dark hair and his eyes, even though they were bright blue, were emotionless.
"You were by the house," I said, trying to stay calm.
"I was," he said. "I didn't know anyone saw me."
"Um. Can I help you or-"
"Help me?" he asked.
"Is there something you need?" I asked him.
He scratched his head of dark tresses and gave a half shrug. "I think here's where I'm supposed to say something like, 'Help me make amends' or 'Tell my family I love them.' Right?"
I nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's usually how it goes."
"Well, that would be nice, but honestly, I can't remember everything before being here. "
"You don't remember being alive?" I asked.
"Not all of it, no."
"Do you know what year it is?"
He paused for a long moment. "The 80s? No, look at your clothes. 90s? No, look at your hair. Okay, so that leaves us somewhere from 2000 on?" He looked at me hopefully.
"It's 2018. Any idea what your name is?"
"I think it has one syllable because I can kind of remember someone yelling at me and it was a short sound."
I wasn't sure what to do. I wiped some rain off my forehead and thought about the walkie in my bag. I probably needed backup on this one.
"I'm not helping you out much, I know. It's just nice to talk to someone again. When I found the house I wanted to go knock on the door but, hello, ghosts can't knock. Not me, anyway."
"How long before you found the house?" I asked.
"Days and nights start to blur after a while, but I don't think it's been very long."
"If I had a name, I could look you up," I said with a frown.
He nodded slowly. "I know. I was hoping something would get my memory going, but it hasn't yet."
"Well, what would you like to do? I can help you cross over."
"Like Heaven? How?"
"There are places here in the forest where people like you can go and move on."
He stared at me. "I'm in a magical forest?" he asked stifling a laugh.
"This is what we do," I said. I explained the three of us, the house, the forest. He chewed his bottom lip while I spoke.
"I don't know about all this. What if I need to tell someone something? What if I do have unfinished business, I just can't remember it?" he asked.
"Valid point," I told him.
"Guess I'm not letting you do your job today then. Sorry. I need to know before I see what's beyond this world."
"What can I do?"
"You mentioned looking me up if you had my name. What about my face? Maybe you can look at local articles? Maybe I'm a missing person."
I'd have to ask Shazo where we stood with the local police. "Yeah, I can do that."
He lit up and blood cracked in the creases by his eyes. "Awesome. Thank you...."
"Pippa," I finished.
"Pippa," he repeated. "I guess you should call me Fin until we find out who I am."
"Fin?"
"Fin. Finished. Done and over," he said. He looked amused at himself.
I cracked a smile. "Fin it is."
"
I think I've taken up enough of your day, Pippa. I'll be around if you find anything. You should probably get back to the house, the rain is about to get crazy," Fin said.
"How do you know that?"
"Ah ah. Ghost secret." He winked and then was gone.
I gripped my ribbon tightly and took off towards the path. Fin was right. Within minutes the rain was so heavy I could barely see. I needed to get to the path; I needed to get back to the house, to Felix. My shoes squeaked against logs as I climbed over them quickly. And then, it happened. My shoes lost their grip on the slick moss, and I reached out to catch myself but the branches were too wet. I went down, hard, and everything went black.
When I came to, I was on my side, my head resting against a rock. I couldn't move without a branch or a rock touching me. I sat up slowly with a groan. The rain was a drizzle. My ribbon was scattered wildly around me from the fall. I could smell my own blood and a light touch to the side of my head confirmed it when my fingertips were covered in red.
What a fucking cliché. Pippa Wilder, the girl who ran in the rain and fell down.
I crawled to my bag that had fallen a few feet away and had just opened it when I heard twigs snapping at a rapid pace. I fumbled through my bag for the flashlight, the best weapon in the whole thing, and sank a little lower on the ground. The walkie clicked in my bag and the area around me filled with static.
"Pippa?" Felix called out loudly.
I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. His voice wasn't just over the walkie, it was close by.
"I'm over here!" I shouted. I sat up straighter and looked around for him. He came bounding into view seconds later, jumping over branches with ease. I needed to remember to ask what kind of shoes he wore.
He looked at me and his expression went from worry to alarm when he saw the blood. He got to me quickly and kneeled on his knees. "Shit, are you okay?"
"I think so."
"What happened?"
"I slipped."
He furrowed his brow and gently turned my head to the side. "That's quite a bit of blood. I'm going to take you to the ER, you might need stitches or have a concussion or something."
I didn't bother arguing with him. My head was throbbing and I would rest easier if I got checked out. Felix helped me to my feet and picked up my bag.
"How did you find me?" I asked. He grabbed my elbow and we started walking slowly for the path.
"I Hansel and Gretle'd my way to you."
I blinked.
"I followed your ribbon," he clarified.
"Oh, right. Of course. I meant, like, why did you come looking for me?"
"It's been over an hour. I hadn't heard from you. I was getting worried, especially when you weren't answering me on the walkie."
An hour? Damn.
Felix held onto my elbow the entire walk to his hearse. It was a bit of an awkward grip, but I wasn't going to complain. He got me in and even buckled my seatbelt for me before getting in and starting it up. The drive to the hospital was quick and because of the amount of blood coming out of my head, I was taken back pretty quickly. They made Felix stay in the waiting room since he wasn't family, a rule I've always hated. A nurse cleaned up my wound and gave me eight stitches near my temple (my mother was going to kill me), and then I was taken down for a head scan, just to be safe. When it came back negative for anything serious, I was given a list of things to look out for in case I had a mild concussion, then discharged and given a prescription for pain meds. I scanned the waiting room, but didn't see Felix. I didn't have his number, I quickly realized, when I took my phone out to text him.
"He's on the fourth floor."
I turned and saw a nurse looking at me from behind a clipboard.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"The guy that came in with you. Felix, right? He's here a lot. If you can't find him, check the fourth floor. He's there most of the time with the patients."
"Oh. Um, thanks."
Thunder growled loudly outside and she sighed. "Storms bring out the terrible drivers. Gonna be a long night." She took off through a set of double doors and I headed for the elevator. I pressed four and tapped my foot anxiously. I just wanted to see a familiar face. The doors opened in front of another nurses' station.
"Can I help you?" a pretty blonde asked me.
I paused. "I'm looking for someone. He visits the patients. Felix?"
She looked at me suspiciously. "You're here with Felix?"
"Um, kind of. He brought me in." I pointed at my fresh stitches.
"Oh," she said, sounding relieved. "I thought you were, like, his girlfriend. Silly me. He's here, but I can't let you in the patient's room. Just give me a minute, okay? I'll let him know you're here." She took off down the hall, leaving me standing there.
Silly me? What did that mean? I couldn't possibly be Felix's girlfriend? I wasn't bad to look at, I thought, as I crossed my arms. I was taller than her, too. I paced in front of the elevator for a few minutes before the blonde came back out of a room, Felix right behind her.
"Wow, that was fast," he said when he reached me. "I'm sorry, I thought you would've been another hour at least. Are you okay?" He cupped my jaw with a hand and examined my stitches. I could see the blonde visibly tense out of the corner of my eye.
"Nothing broken. I'm to be on the lookout for a concussion. But I'll live."
"We'll wake you up every four hours. That's gonna leave a pretty nice scar," he said with a frown.
"Not my first," I said lightly.
He cracked a smile and took a small step away from me. "Let's get you out of here."
SEVENTEEN
When Felix drove up the mountain we quickly noticed the streetlights were out and the houses were dark. He pulled up to the house and we were greeted with the same darkness.
"Great. Power's out. And where the hell is Shazo?" Felix sighed and rooted around in his bag for a minute before turning on a flashlight. "Ready to make a run for it?" he asked. It was absolutely pouring again. The rain smacked the windshield so loudly that it was hard to hear him. I tucked my phone inside my bag and put my hand on the door handle. We both got out quickly and ran across the yard to the front door. It didn't matter how fast we were, we were both still soaked within seconds. I shivered as he unlocked the door.
"You should shower," he said. He pointed the light into the living room and then down the hall. "I'll call the power company so they know we're in the dark out here."
I took the flashlight out of my bag and lit up the stairs with it. "I'll be fast," I promised. "You need to warm up, too." He smiled a little and nodded, then headed down the hall. I shivered again, this time from being left alone in the dark, and darted up the stairs. I started the water and while it heated up I went to my room and grabbed a change of clothes. I balanced the flashlight on the sink and stepped under the warm water. I wanted to linger, it felt so good and relaxing after the day I'd had, but I knew the hot water would run out quickly and, without power, Felix would be left with a cold shower. I dried off, put on leggings and a long shirt (the epitome of comfort), and squeezed the excess water out of my hair. I dabbed some cream on my stitches and changed the gauze, then headed out into the darkness.
I found Felix in the kitchen eating a peanut butter sandwich and sitting on the counter.
"How's your head?" he asked.
"It's sore. My mom is going to kill me."
He shook his head a little and took a bite of his sandwich. "Don't tell her."
"What?"
"Don't tell her about tonight. They're not coming for three months. You'll be healed by then. Why worry her more?"
I chewed my lip for a moment. "You might be right. The last thing she needs to hear from her lightning-struck daughter is that I got hurt in another storm." That would be new for me; I usually told my mom everything.
"So are we going to talk about this Fin guy in the woods you mentioned before they took you back to get looked at?" he asked.
"Poor guy. He
can't remember much. He didn't want to cross over until he was sure there was no unfinished business."
"What'd he look like?"
"Uh, he had torn clothes, his skin had blood all over it. Our age, dark hair, blue eyes."
Felix frowned and took another small bite. "Did he say how long he's been out there? Maybe we can get a time frame for his death. Recent, ten years ago, whatever."
I shook my head. "He thinks recent, but he's not sure. He mentioned looking for articles or missing people. Do we have a relationship with the police here?"
"Shazo does," Felix said. "He's looked into some people like this but usually has a name. Whenever he gets home we should tell him about Fin and see if he can help out."
"That'd be great."
He polished off his sandwich and slid off the counter. "We'll figure something out. I'm going to go warm up. Power company knows about the outage, but it'll be a couple of hours, they said. You good here?"
"Yeah, go get warm."
He squeezed my shoulder and his eyes lingered on mine for a minute before he stepped away and left the room. I sighed when I heard his footsteps on the stairs. I made myself a sandwich to save the fridge from being opened and took it to the living room. I lit a few candles and sunk into the couch. When Felix came back down he started a fire. He finally sat next to me, pulled a leg underneath him, and faced me.
"I'm more trouble than I'm worth, huh?" I said lightly. "Lightning, stitches, mystery ghost."
"Not at all," he said.
I leaned back into the couch, suddenly very tired. "Have you heard from Shazo?"
"Yeah, he finally texted back. He went to the City Council meeting. I gave him the short version of Fin's story and he was going to call one of his contacts and see about setting something up for you to go look at missing person's files."
"Oh, great," I said. "Thank you."
"Of course. That's why we're here."
I watched the fire for a moment when the room fell silent. My heart skipped and I leaned towards him a little. "At the pool," I started.
"Yeah?"
"You called me beautiful."
Wild Alabama Page 10
