I wrinkled my brow for a minute when I remembered I hadn’t brought any sanitizer with me to the hospital today. A hospital was a virtual cesspit of germs, but I hadn’t even considered it. Come to think of it, I hadn’t taken sanitizer to The Zone last night either, and it was even dirtier than a hospital. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d used any sanitizer at all.
Nick smiled at me. “It’s been days, princess. I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to jinx it.”
I smiled back at him, which kind of freaked my parents out since it looked like I smiled lovingly at a wall. My father sprang to his feet. “That’s it. I’m getting Dr. Carter.”
I grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back into his chair. “No, Daddy. I have a story to tell you, and you’re both going to sit here and listen.”
But where to begin? And how to make them understand?
“Start where we started, Lil,” said Nick. “You’ll find a way to get through to them.”
He was right, so I told them everything, about the blobs and the Soul Reaper and about Nick. Zoe and Josh both backed up what I said, but I could see my parents didn’t buy any of it. They sat there in their expensive clothes, judging me and my friends and the Fortunas, as they refused to even consider the possibility I might be telling the truth.
My father patted my hand. “Lily. You were in a terrible accident. None of this is your fault. We’ll get you the help you need.” He turned his icy stare to the other people in the room. “I blame all of you for encouraging this. You should be ashamed.”
I pulled my hand away from him, shaking my head. “No. You should be ashamed. You both left me days after I got out of the hospital, but it didn’t matter because I knew I couldn’t go to you. I knew you wouldn’t believe me. Which is why I’ve been dealing with it myself. You’ve never been there for me. Ever since Rosie died, you both checked out emotionally and you’ve never come back.”
My mother rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Lily. It doesn’t suit you.” She grabbed her handbag off the chair. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“No, you aren’t.” Zoe, wearing a peculiar expression on her face, walked over to stand next to me. Blobby sat on her shoulder.
I looked at the clock above Nick’s bed. Almost five o’clock. We didn’t have time for this. The Soul Reaper had crawled to Nick’s knees. I groaned in frustration, but Zoe stopped me.
“You can’t leave because someone here wants to talk to you.” She gave me a funny little smile, but I still wasn’t following.
My parents had reached the limits of their patience. They argued with the Fortunas, my father threatening to sue. My mother whined about losing half of her vacation because of this, but my eyes were glued to Zoe.
“Be quiet. All of you.” I shot my parents a hostile look, and to my surprise, they listened. “Zoe has something she wants to say.”
“No, it’s Blobby who has something she wants to say.” Zoe looked at Blobby, and Blobby seemed to wobble encouragingly before whooshing through Josh.
“Whoa, little ghosty girl,” he said with a laugh. “You’re tickling me.”
Nick watched Zoe intently. “I think I understand what’s going on now,” he said softly. “Lily, ask her what Blobby’s name is.”
I decided to humor him. “Okay. I’ll play along. Zoe, what’s Blobby’s name?”
Zoe laughed as Blobby sailed to the ceiling and twirled around before coming back to kiss her on the cheek. Zoe and I both watched Blobby, but everyone else watched us watching Blobby, and there was no way we could have synchronized it so perfectly. I could see the first bit of doubt enter my mother’s eyes, and soon my father followed. They were no longer entirely sure I was crazy, delusional, or under the influence of a controlled substance. A part of them, a tiny part, entertained the possibility I might be telling the truth.
“Her name…is Rosie.” As soon as Zoe said those words, the wall my parents had carefully erected around themselves shattered into a thousand pieces. Zoe’s blue eyes turned bright with unshed tears. “She’s your baby sister. I’m so sorry, Lily. I didn’t know.”
My mother gasped in surprise. Zoe crossed the room to stand next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Please don’t be sad, Mrs. Madison. Rosie is here, and she doesn’t want you to be mourn her anymore. She’s fine, and so happy, but it’s hard for her because she understands how much all of you are still hurting.”
“Is this some kind of a twisted, sick joke?” My dad did what he could to control himself, but he teetered on the edge.
Zoe shook her head, her dark hair swishing against her shoulders. “I’d never do something so cruel, sir.” She wrinkled her brow, as if listening to a voice coming from far away. “Rosie said she knows you carry her yellow booties in your pocket with you all the time. She said she’s glad you get some comfort from them, but it’s time for you to let her go.”
At that moment, I saw something I never expected to see in my life. My cold, controlled, detached father put his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a pair of faded booties. He began to cry, sobbing with huge noisy gasps. He’d held it in for so long, and suddenly a dam had burst deep inside him as all the pain rushed out.
Zoe pulled him into a hug, and he cried, without any shame at all, on her shoulder. My mother sat next to him, an ashen statue, trying to take it all in. Zoe patted my dad’s back, murmuring soothing words to him, and she turned to look at my mother.
“It wasn’t your fault. Rosie needs you to understand something. No matter what you did or didn’t do, it wouldn’t have changed anything. It was her time. Her fate. But you need to go on, for Lily, for your husband, and for yourself.”
My mother, although shaken to her core, still managed to hold it together. “Georgie, come here.” She pulled my father close, put her hands on either side of his face, and looked deep into his eyes. “We’re going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.” She kissed him and looked at Zoe.
“Where is she? Where’s my baby?”
My mom’s lips quivered as she spoke. The ice lady had melted, but without turning into a sobbing mess like my father. She had a spine of steel, but even she was bending.
Zoe pointed to my mom’s shoulder, where Rosie sat. My mother turned toward the spot Zoe indicated. “Sweet, little girl,” she said, and finally, at long last, the tears came.
Uncle Danny and Uncle Johnny both looked at each other. The other brothers had left the room as soon as the drama with my parents started. Only Uncle Johnny, Uncle Danny and Maria remained. Uncle Johnny frantically wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. Uncle Danny’s lip quivered.
Maria elbowed Uncle Danny. “We need tissues.”
“We’re on it,” he said, and they both rushed out of the room.
Maria rolled her eyes. “Men. Bunch of jellyfish.”
Nick came to my side. “Are you okay?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know.”
Rosie had been with me all this time, playing and making me laugh, and I hadn’t understood. In fact, I’d spent the last few weeks trying to get rid of her. I wanted to have the time back so I could show her how much I loved her, and now I felt kind of mad, like I’d been cheated out of those extra moments.
“Why didn’t she tell me it was her?”
Zoe got the far away expression in her eyes again, the one showing she listened to someone not physically there. “She said she thought you knew. You called her Blobby.”
My mom chuckled. My father wiped his tears, a smile growing on his face. They looked at each other, and laughed so hard tears streamed down their cheeks, but this time they were tears of joy.
“What’s going on here?” I put my hands on my hips. My parents were acting so weird.
Mom wiped her eyes. “Don’t you remember?”
Dad blew his nose and laughed some more. “She might not. She was so small.”
My mom agreed. “It’s true. I always forget. Lily has always been s
o old even when she was little.”
I stomped my foot, feeling a bit like a two-year-old having a tantrum. “What are you talking about?”
“Blobby,” said my mom. “You used to call Rosie ‘Blobby’ all the time. Because she had those cute chubby thighs.”
I sank on the bed next to Nick’s body. I did call her “Blobby.” Suddenly, I remembered a lot of other things too. The weight of Rosie’s body when I held her, the way she lit up every time I walked into a room, the deep, hearty giggle that came out whenever I tickled her belly. There were good memories, too, not only the memory of her death.
Rosie flew over and snuggled against my chest. All at once, I could smell the sweet baby scent of her, and feel her close to me. I closed my eyes and breathed it in. “Thank you, baby.”
“Rosie said when you came to the other side, she followed you back so she could help you. She says you don’t need her anymore. You’ll be fine now,” Zoe said, trying to comfort me, but I shook my head.
“No. I don’t want her to leave. I miss her.” I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to cry anymore.
“It doesn’t work that way, Lily. It’s time to say goodbye,” said Zoe softly. She looked like she might cry, too. Josh put his arm around her shoulders.
“She’s right, Lily. Let her go.” Nick’s voice was gentle, and his presence, as always, gave me the strength to do what I had to do.
I grabbed Zoe’s hand. She reached for Josh’s hand, and my parents and Maria joined in. We formed a sad little semi-circle around Nick’s bed. Nick stood next to me, at the head of the bed. Rosie floated directly above Nick’s empty body. Zoe looked at her and smiled.
“It’s time for you to go back now.”
“We love you, Rosie.” My parents spoke together, holding hands, and looking more at peace than I had seen them in a long time.
“I love you, too, Rosie,” I said. “I’ll see you again…someday.”
With that, Rosie swished around the room in a happy circle. Suddenly, she changed direction and slammed directly into Nick. Nick’s eyes opened in shock.
“Lily….” he said, and before I could say or do anything, he was gone.
Chapter 16
Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows lack of courage. ~ Confucius, 551-479 BC
“No.” I tried to scream, but hardly any sound came out. “No, no, no, no.”
Zoe grabbed me by the shoulders. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
At first, I couldn’t even speak. I doubled over in pain and collapsed onto the floor, pulling my knees to my chest and rocking back and forth. My worst fears had come true. Nick was gone.
Zoe patted my back, not understanding. “Is this about Rosie, sweetie? She’s in a better place now.”
Josh shook his head. “This isn’t about Rosie. Something happened before she left. I sensed another energy force here with us, and then it was gone.”
I trembled from head to toe and my teeth chattered. “Nick. Rosie took him with her.”
Maria sank into a chair. Her face was ashen. “Why would she do that?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but he’s gone.” Too devastated even to cry, I’d turned into a shaking, shocked heap of nothingness.
Josh rubbed his chin with his hand. “I don’t know what happened, but I know what I felt, and it came from her. She wasn’t trying to hurt him, Lily. She wanted to help him.”
“By taking him away?”
I scowled at them, and noticed the sun setting outside the window. I jumped up from the floor and looked at Nick’s body lying on the bed. The Soul Reaper had climbed even farther and now covered Nick to his waist.
“This isn’t good.” Zoe looked scared. I was scared, too, but couldn’t afford the luxury of a complete breakdown at the moment.
“We have to do what Mr. Wan said. He said to send the little ghost back first. We did.” I paused. “Of course, he may not have expected Rosie to take Nick back with her, but I can’t say for sure.”
“Maybe this is all part of the plan,” said Zoe, encouragingly.
“Karma.” I straightened my shoulders. Nick was my destiny. I wouldn’t give him up without a fight.
“What’s the next step?” Mom, looking a little the worse for wear with her mussed hair and wrinkled clothing, had a spark in her eyes I hadn’t seen in many years.
I kissed her. “The next step is for you and Dad to go home and get some rest.”
My father shook his head. “We’re here for you, Lily, the way we should have been all along.”
I kissed him, too. “Not this time, Daddy. This is something I need to do by myself.”
I couldn’t tell them the Soul Reaper was dangerous, and I wanted as few people around as possible in case it could jump from Nick to someone else. If I’d said those words, they never would have left. Even now, I could see the indecision in their eyes.
“I’ll be fine.” I’d gotten better at lying to my parents, a skill which seemed to improve with daily practice.
My parents looked at each other, and my mother turned to me. “We’ll do what you want.” She squeezed my hand. “You’ve changed, you know. You’ve grown up so much these last few weeks.”
I grew up because I’d had to, because there hadn’t been another option. Tiger Lily was in charge now.
My parents left, and when Uncle Johnny, Uncle Danny, and the other brothers came back with a sad looking little box of tissues, we made them leave too. Maria refused to go, even when I told her about the danger, as did Josh and Zoe.
“Let’s get to work.” I pulled the candle, an ugly, brown lump of a thing, out of my purse. Maria closed the door and stood guard so the nurses wouldn’t come in. As a fellow nurse, she could talk to them and they’d trust her. I wasn’t sure how bad the smell from the candle would be.
The sky had grown dark outside by the time we were ready. Although not yet midnight, we couldn’t wait any longer. The Soul Reaper had moved all the way to Nick’s neck. I grabbed a box of matches out of my purse and lit the candle.
The effect was powerful and immediate. The candle reeked, and I saw the Soul Reaper shudder, shake, and stop its climb, but it didn’t disappear. It lay there, looking stunned.
“Why isn’t it going away?” Zoe’s eyes watered from the smell of the candle. We’d be lucky if the nurses didn’t come in soon.
“I don’t know. Josh, can you feel anything? It’s all the way to his neck now.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Nick. His face looked so pale and pinched.
Josh put his hand on Nick’s chest. He winced, but he held it there as long as he could. When he removed it, he shook it, like it had gone numb. “This thing does not want to leave. It knows it’s close. It wants to win.”
Zoe rubbed her head. “I’m getting the same vibe too,” she said. “I don’t feel so good. I think I need to sit for a minute or two.” She curled up in a chair and closed her eyes. Josh looked like he might pass out too.
“Get her out of here, Josh.” He was about to protest, but I insisted. “I’m worried about Zoe. Something’s wrong, and I won’t put either one of you in danger. I have to do this myself.”
He finally relented, scooping Zoe into his arms and staggering toward the door. “We’ll be right outside.”
I turned back to Nick, and the evil thing on his body. I put my hand through it, trying to feel what Josh and Zoe did, but couldn’t. My head seemed heavy and woozy, so I crawled into bed next to Nick’s body.
I felt the necklace inside my blouse and understood exactly what had to be done. “Sacrifice everything,” I murmured as I placed the necklace over Nick’s head and snuggled into his side.
A jolt went through the Soul Reaper as soon as the necklace touched Nick’s skin, but it wasn’t giving up yet. I stared at it, remembering what Mr. Wan and Mrs. Chang had taught me. I had to see what was really there. I looked at the Soul Reaper closely and waited.
What I saw was far worse than any nightmare. The Soul Reaper, no longer a black bla
nket covering Nick, turned into a demon with red eyes, snarling teeth, and long, biting snakes for arms. It surrounded Nick, chomping and pounding on him, trying to find his essence, his soul. But it couldn’t find it because Rosie had taken it away. She’d done it to save Nick, I got it now, but the Soul Reaper did not. It thought Nick’s soul still resided in his body. I refused to let it have any part of him.
“No.” I said. The Soul Reaper turned to me in surprise, as if seeing me for the first time, and it knew I could see it too. It licked its scabby lips with a long, green, smelly tongue. I recoiled as the tongue shot out toward me but managed to stop myself. I had to stand my ground.
I tried to push myself between the Soul Reaper and Nick’s body, and, to my surprise, it let me. “That’s right, you ugly pile of garbage. I can see you. Now get off.”
Suddenly, it pinned me to Nick’s bed. The Soul Reaper, on top of me now, held me down. I could barely move. In fact, it was getting hard even to breathe. I turned my head, the effort almost requiring superhuman strength, to see Nick’s face one last time and watch the color come back into his cheeks. His breathing sounded stronger and steadier. I saw the chain around his neck. I could grab it and put it around my own neck before the Soul Reaper paralyzed me, but I refused.
“Willing to sacrifice everything,” I said, my words barely a whisper. I could no longer get air into my lungs. The Soul Reaper sat on my chest, but I wouldn’t look at it. I only had eyes for the boy lying next to me. “Goodbye, Nick.”
As the room grew dark, and I began losing my peripheral vision, I noticed a bright flash in the corner and a tunnel of light appeared. The portal. If the portal had opened, I knew I’d lost, but I also knew I’d done everything I could to save Nick.
A sea of blobs flew out of the tunnel and circled the bed, but there was nothing more I could do. The last sound I heard, before the darkness overtook me, was the sound of the Soul Reaper screaming as it ripped my soul from my body.
The second time I died was even less pleasant than the first. Luckily, I had the foresight, or dumb luck, to do it in a hospital. As soon as Maria, Zoe and Josh heard the scream, they rushed into the room, a team of nurses and doctors on their heels. They performed CPR on me while I still lay on the bed with Nick. I knew this because I watched from the perch my soul had taken up on the ceiling.
Tiger Lily (Dark Blossoms Book 1) Page 14
