by Zizi Cole
Ethan rushed me. He seemed to think that he would be able to subdue me quickly. I slammed my palm into his nose as he came at me. I felt the bone crunch under my hand, then felt a warm gush of blood on my hand before he recoiled.
“You stupid bitch!” he wailed, grabbing his nose.
He moved his hands. His face was covered with blood from the mouth down. He grinned at me, his teeth covered in blood. I backed away from him, looking for a weapon to protect myself. I knew that he wasn’t going to let me get the upper hand again so I was going to have to outthink him, and quickly.
He advanced on me more slowly and cautiously this time. Once he got close enough, he pulled his arm back and punched me in the eye before I even realized what was happening. He was actually faster than I thought, and I also knew that he had police training on his side. What he had against him was that he was crazy and his mind didn’t seem to be working logically. If it had, he would have known that he outweighed and outmuscled me, and also had way more training than I did.
I reeled back from the hit, and fell on my backside. I noticed a huge branch that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. I crab-walked toward it as quickly as I could. Before I could reach the branch, he caught me by the ankle and pulled me towards him. I kicked out and my foot connected with his stomach. He doubled over and I crab-walked faster. My fingertips grazed the branch as he jumped on me. He straddled me and grabbed my throat. He started to squeeze.
As my airway constricted, I tried reaching for the branch with one hand, and tried to get his fingers off my throat with the other. I could feel the rough wood of the branch with the tips of my fingers but I couldn’t reach it to get a grip on it. I was starting to see spots and my vision was going dark around the edges. I had to get ahold of the branch before I lost consciousness. If I lost consciousness, all would be lost, and I would be dead.
I was frantically stretching for the branch when I started to feel the energy building in my chest. It was the same feeling I’d had before I had thrown Mia across the room. I went limp and focused on the energy. It pulsed around my chest and seemed flow out of me towards Ethan. When his grip loosened enough that I could breathe, I took a deep breath. My lungs filling with air renewed my determination to get away from the creep and win. I focused my energy on the stick while Ethan was distracted by the energy pushing at him.
The branch shifted slighting and I was finally able to get a grip on the branch. I squeezed it and swung with all my might at his head. It connected with his temple and knocked him off of me. I scrambled to my feet, breathing hard, my lungs burning and aching from being without air for so long. My heart was knocking hard against my ribs, beating erratically.
Ethan was sprawled on the ground, stunned. I looked around. This was my chance to end this once and for all. I ran over to the gun Jake had dropped and picked it up. The cold metal felt awkward and foreign in my hand. It was heavier than I had imagined it would be. I hurried back over to Ethan, who was still dazed, and aimed the gun at his head.
“Stand up,” I demanded.
He stared at me from the ground. He didn’t move. I could see him trying to calculate a plan of attack. I couldn’t let that happen. I aimed steadily at his head.
“I said stand up. Now!”
He came to his feet slowly with his hands up in a gesture of surrender. I aimed the gun at his chest now that he was standing. I widened my stance so I could keep steady aim at him.
“You aren’t going to shoot me,” Ethan said softly. He had a condescending smile on his face.
“You don’t know me very well,” I told him.
“You shoot me, and you’ll be labeled not only a murderer, but a cop killer as well,” he said with amusement in his voice.
“What do you think you are? You killed a federal agent,” I told him, cocking an eyebrow. “And, seriously, I’m willing to take the chance. Besides, I’m doing this in self-defense. You’ve been trying to kill me for weeks.”
The smiled dropped from his face. I could tell that he didn’t consider that when he plunged the knife into Jake’s chest, he was killing a federal agent. He glanced over my shoulder at Jake’s body. He looked at me in the eye again and I saw the first stirrings of fear flash quickly across his face.
From the corner of my eye I watched his hand slowly lower. I realized I hadn’t checked him for weapons. I felt my heartrate pick up a little faster. His hand dropped behind his back, and I pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. The gun kicked back each time I pulled the trigger. The bullets found their mark in his chest and he looked down, confused. The blood started to blossom from the holes and he fell to the ground. I watched as the life left him.
His spirit stood by his body glaring at me. “I can’t believe you killed me, you bitch! I will make you suffer for that. Now I can be with you, haunting you, for the rest of your life and all of eternity.”
I smiled at him. “I don’t think so.”
Shadows rose out of the ground and started to gather around his spirit. There was moaning on the breeze from the shadows. They stretched and crept toward Ethan’s spirit. The shadows never took a definitive shape. They started to form a circle around Ethan. His eyes widened and he started looking around quickly. He looked like he was starting to panic.
“You see, when you do evil things, karma is a bitch. It comes back tenfold. Enjoy hell, asshole,” I said softly.
The shadows completely covered him and I could hear him screaming as they consumed his spirit. I could still hear his screaming as the shadows slid into the ground. The echoes of the screams were haunting me. They would probably haunt me for years to come.
I turned and ran to Jake’s side. I dropped to my knees next to his rapidly cooling body and pulled his head onto my legs. I looked down into his lifeless eyes. They stared unseeing ahead. I leaned over him and started to cry.
“Awe, Lex. Please don’t cry.” A voice said from beside me. I looked up and saw Jake’s ghost standing next to his body.
I starting crying harder. “Get back in your body. You have to. I can’t do this alone.”
He knelt beside me. I was holding his body in my arms and looking at his ghost. “You don’t need me, Lex. You’re capable of taking care of yourself. You always have been. I think I needed you more than you needed me.”
“Then you’re a stupid man,” I yelled. “I love you! I need you with me. I want you with me.”
He continued to look at me and didn’t say anything.
“Please,” I whispered. “Please stay with me. Grow old with me.”
The smile faded. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I don’t know how to come back. I’m sorry I won’t be with you physically. But my spirit will always be with you. I’ll be in your heart. I’ll be in your dreams. I’ll be in the sunrise that you love so much.”
“Without you, I’m nothing.” I sobbed. “My spirit and soul are dying with you. Don’t you get it yet? I am absolutely nothing without you. Without you, I’ll cease to exist.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized. “I really am. I wish I could stay.”
Mia and Cole found us before I could say anything else to Jake’s ghost. I was curled protectively over Jake’s body. They ran over and dropped to their knees beside me. Mia looked at me with her turquoise eyes wide and filling with tears.
“Is he?” she asked.
I nodded, sobbing.
Cole got up and walked away. I glanced up to see him standing at the edge of the clearing with his hands in his hair. He was pulling on his hair, probably trying to keep control of his emotions.
I looked at Mia. “I can’t let him die.”
She hugged me. “Oh, honey, I think it’s too late. I’m so sorry.”
I wiped my eyes and took a breath. “His ghost is still here. I’m not letting him die. I will fix this.”
“I don’t know how you can,” she said. The tears were spilling freely from her eyes.
Cole walked back to us, noticing Ethan’s lifeless body for the
first time.
“Did Jake kill him?” he asked, kicking the lifeless arm.
Cole walked back to us, and knelt beside Mia, putting his arm comfortingly around her shoulders. He kept his eyes on me, waiting for my answer. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to it, but I didn’t care.
“I killed him,” I answered plainly. Cole nodded.
I looked back up at Jake’s ghost. “You aren’t leaving me. I have made this decision and you are going to respect it. You’re going to listen to me, too. I can’t let you leave. I can’t lose you again.”
“Alexandrea, you never lost me,” he said. “I kept that ring in my pocket all these years for when you came home. I wanted to marry you since the day I met you. I knew you were the one. You didn’t lose me, but you will have to let me go. I can’t stay like this forever, but I won’t leave you unless you tell me to.”
I shook my head. There was no way I would let him leave me. I also wasn’t going to make him stay a ghost. I looked at Mia.
“I’m going to bring him back,” I said.
“We don’t have that kind of power,” Mia said, wiping her eyes. “That’s necromancy. Necromancy is a very rare, old, and powerful magic. I haven’t heard of anyone in the last century, at least, with that kind of power.”
“Well I’m not letting him die. So this is going to have to work.” I looked at Cole. “You need to have your phone ready to call an ambulance. As soon as he comes back he’s going to need medical assistance. The knife is in his heart.”
Cole stared at me, wide eyed. In fact, everyone was looking at me wide eyed. I glanced around and noticed another person standing behind Jake. Momma. She nodded once at me.
Use your heart, Alexandrea. You will know what to do. I heard my mother’s voice float through my head.
I lowered his upper body back to the ground so that he was lying flat. I got up on my knees and grabbed the hilt of the knife. I took a deep breath and pulled the knife out of his body as quickly as possible. The knife slid out with a sickening sucking noise.
I dropped the knife on the ground beside us. I leaned over and kissed Jake’s rapidly cooling lips. I was willing him to breathe. I kept chanting use your heart in my head. When he didn’t start breathing, I inhaled deeply and breathed into him through his parted lips. Nothing happened.
I sat back and looked at his ghost. Jake had his fingers to his lips and was staring at his lifeless body. I knew I had to figure out how to get him to breathe and get his heart beating on its own. I frowned. Then an idea formed.
I lay on top of his body so our chests were pressed together heart-to-heart. I put my lips to his again and willed him to live. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips harder to his.
Breathe. Feel my heartbeat. Match your heartbeat to mine. Have our hearts beat together as one. Breathe. Live. Be with me. With us. Live.
I felt it then. It was a slight thump against my chest. At first, I thought I had imagined it, but then I felt it again. There was a stutter, and his heart began to beat along with mine. Then I felt him take a deep breath. I scrambled off of him and took my shirt off quickly.
“Cole, call the ambulance and get them here now,” I ordered. I pressed my shirt to the wound on his chest.
I looked up and found that his spirit was gone. My mother had moved closer and was smiling down at me. I hoped that I didn’t bring him back just to lose him again.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked quietly.
She hesitated, then nodded once. “Yes. You repaired the damage to his heart. You gave him some of your strength. Just don’t let him lose much more blood.”
I could hear the ambulance siren wailing in the distance, coming closer. I looked at Mia. She was staring at me, shocked. I knew that I had just done something that people said couldn’t be done. She inched closer.
“You will have to tell me how you did that,” she whispered.
Before we could say anything else, we were surrounded by police and paramedics. The paramedics pushed me out of the way and applied pressure to the knife wound in Jake’s chest. They worked together to lift him up onto the stretcher and wheeled him quickly to the ambulance. They loaded him into the ambulance.
“Wait,” I called to the EMT before he could shut the ambulance doors. “I’m going with him. I’ll answer any questions the police have for me at the hospital, after I know Jake is going to be okay.”
The EMT looked me over. I knew he was looking at the bruises and the cuts I had all over my body. I glanced down at my shirt. It was torn and the exposed skin was bleeding.
“You need to be looked at as well,” he decided. “Hurry up, we need to get to the hospital.”
I started towards the ambulance when I noticed a flash of light on the ground. I bent down and picked up the ring. It was the ring Jake had kept in his pocket. I stuffed it in my pocket and rushed to the ambulance.
The doors shut and we were on our way to the hospital.
***
I was sitting in the waiting room while Jake was in surgery. I couldn’t sit still. I would flip through a magazine, then pace the waiting room. Every time someone walked out of the restricted area, I would tense up and wait to get the news that Jake hadn’t made it. I was afraid that even after everything I had done, it wouldn’t be enough and he would still die. Again. I put my hand on my stomach. I felt sick.
Mia came rushing into the room and enveloped me in an embrace. She held me tightly. I held her just as tight. I was starting to think if he didn’t come out of surgery soon, I would fall apart. Nothing seemed to help calm my nerves.
Cole came into the room a few minutes later. I let go of Mia and walked over to hug Cole. He wouldn’t say anything, but I could tell he was hurting and scared. I know that when he saw Jake’s lifeless body, it really shook him up and made him face his own mortality.
“How is he?” Mia asked, wringing her hands.
I shrugged. “I haven’t heard anything yet. He’s still in surgery. He wasn’t completely aware of what was going on in the ambulance.”
“Was he...” she started to ask, trailing off.
I nodded again. She knew he had been dead, but she seemed to be trying to reject the idea. I looked at the door to the restricted area again, wishing I could be in there with him. He needed me with him, I could feel it. I needed him, I needed to know he was fine.
Cole looked that direction as well. Then he turned and walked out of the waiting room without saying a word. I looked at Mia with my eyebrow raised. She looked as confused as I felt. We sat back down and she held my hands as we sat there.
Time seemed to move slowly. Every second was excruciatingly long. The room was so quiet, all I could hear was the ticking of the clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. I glanced at the clock again. Cole had walked out of the room three minutes ago.
I heard raised voices coming down the hallway. I recognized the voices, even muffled through the door and far down the hallway. Jake’s parents, Mark and Jennifer, were on their way to the waiting room. I grew up with them around and I spent a lot of time with them while I was dating Jake in high school. I sighed. I hadn’t seen them or talked to them since before I had left Jake for college. I squeezed Mia’s hands as they entered the room.
Jennifer rushed over to me and swept me into a hug. She had tears running down her face. “Oh sweetie, it’s so good to see ya. I wish it were under better circumstances. You should have come by.”
I started to cry. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Morris. Jake is hurt because of me.”
“That’s nonsense, sweetie. I know what Jake does for a livin’, and I know the risks. I also know that he had been so worried about you lately that he couldn’t concentrate even when he was helpin’ his daddy.” She stroked my head gently. It reminded me of Jake.
I felt another set of arms embrace us. I looked to see Jake’s dad had wrapped his arms around us in a hug as well. He didn’t say anything, just offered his support. I didn’t question it. He had always been the strong, silent type.
<
br /> We settled down into chairs to wait for the surgeon to come out and update us on Jake’s condition. I studied his father. Mark had a lean, wiry build. He looked a lot like Jake, expect older and thinner. He was just as handsome as Jake was. I figured looking at him was like looking at Jake in thirty years. I hoped I would see Jake in thirty years.
Mark looked directly at me. He finally spoke. “You shouldn’t have left him like you did. You shattered his heart, and he hasn’t been the same since the day you left. But, you should also know that we don’t hold it against you. We knew that you had to do what was best for you at the time. Honey, we’re proud of your accomplishments. Really, Jake also accomplished so much more than he would have if you would have stayed and y’all would have gotten married. He may not admit to any of it, but we know him. We also know that he still has feelings for ya.”
He reached over and grabbed my hand. “If he doesn’t make it out of this, just remember, he did what he did, not only because it was a job, but because he never wanted anything to happen to you. You mean a whole helluva lot to him.”
The door of the restricted area opened. A doctor dressed in green scrubs came into the waiting room.
“Is this the party here for Jacob Morris?” he asked.
We all nodded. I saw Cole slip into the room behind the doctor.
“Jacob made it through surgery,” the doctor began.
25
I felt all the tension pour out of my body. Jake making it out of surgery was reassuring. I knew he was alive. It was a relief. I looked at the doctor’s face and realized he didn’t look like he was happy. Weren’t they supposed to have a good poker face when delivering good news?
“I’m Doctor Phillips, the surgeon that’s been working on Jacob. He’s strong and holding on. From what the paramedics told me when they brought him in, there were several severe injuries and a lot of blood loss at the scene. I was also told they were certain his heart had been penetrated by the knife that he had been attacked with,” Dr. Phillips explained.
