by Alicia Rades
I remembered what my mom had said about how ghosts were more powerful the longer they’d been dead. That must have been how he could possess Derek.
“It’s not as much as when I’m outside the body,” he continued. “You see, it takes a lot of energy to keep control of this body. After I try something . . . powerful, I have to rest, but since I haven’t tried anything in a couple of days, I have just enough energy . . .” He paused as if mocking me, and then his eyes shifted to the stage lights hanging above my mother.
My gaze followed his, and in a split second, my world seemed to crash down around me. My heart slammed against my chest, and I could hardly breathe. One of the stage lights swung from its safety cable.
I didn’t even think about what I was doing when I pushed past Sam and sprinted across the stage. I shoved my mother from where she stood in front of the microphone the moment the safety cable snapped.
Chapter 22
Realizing I’d narrowly escaped Sam’s attack, I whirled toward him a second later and raced across the stage, tackling Derek’s body to the ground. I pulled my fist back and momentarily caught the fear that crossed his expression. It didn’t slow me down. Though it was Derek’s face, I could see Sam in his eyes. My fist came down, slamming into his solid cheekbone. I pulled back again, this time aiming for his nose. Before I could land another punch, a set of hands gripped my shoulders to pull me off of Sam.
“Stop!” I screamed to whoever was behind me. I struggled away, trying once again to somehow make Sam feel pain, to get back at him for trying to hurt my mom. “He tried to kill her!” I screamed.
“Crystal, calm down,” a male voice said into my ear. He gripped onto my shoulders so tightly that there was no use trying to fight my way out of his grasp. I was still too full of fury to place the voice behind me.
“Please!” I cried, finally giving up the struggle. I slowly turned to face the man who had pulled me off of Sam, and when I met his eyes, my knees went weak. I couldn’t move or speak, only stare into the eyes of my father. How was this possible? He looked the same as I remembered him from my childhood and from pictures I’d saved of him. A bright glow from one of the stage lights behind him outlined his silhouette.
“Crystal,” he said again.
“I—I don’t understand.” I looked up at him, my eyes watering and my body completely still. “How are you here?” I forced my gaze down to his hands, which were still on me, and moved my own hands to touch his. He was so solid, so real. I spoke slowly when I looked up into his eyes again. “I don’t get it. How did you come back? How is this possible?”
He swallowed hard. “I’m not back. Crystal, it’s you . . .”
He turned, and I stared past him to where he was looking. This time, I fell to my knees. My father let go of me, and my hands came to my mouth. In front of me lay my body, sprawled out next to the stage light that had crashed on top of me. My mother, Sophie, and Diane knelt next to my unmoving form.
After the initial wave of shock hit me, I was able to look back up at my father. That bright glow behind him remained.
“I’m dead?” I asked in a small voice.
He nodded somberly.
It’s easier to accept death when you know there’s an afterlife, but this was just unreal. I hadn’t felt any pain, and I certainly felt alive.
“Don’t move,” my father said sternly.
My gaze jerked in the direction he was looking, and I noticed he was talking to Sam, who was slowly creeping toward the stairs. He stopped as soon as my father’s voice boomed in his direction. Sam cowered but didn’t move.
I glanced between Sam and my father. “How did I—?”
I didn’t have to finish my sentence. My father understood what I meant. How was I, as a ghost, able to interact with Derek’s body as if I were still solid myself?
“Sam still has one foot on this plane, so you can interact with him. Since he’s still in your friend’s body, those interactions will affect both the spirit inside and the body he’s controlling.”
“And you?” I asked. “I don’t understand. I thought you’d crossed over.”
My father smiled like the answer was so simple. “I did. Remember the folklore about the veil between the living and the dead being open on Halloween? Well, it’s true. Plus, I haven’t gone very far.”
He glanced behind him, and for the first time, I noticed five other figures on stage with him. The stage lights glowed behind them, giving off the same effect they had when I first turned to my father moments before. The lights were so bright that I could hardly make out the figures’ faces. My father shifted, and the light followed. That’s when it clicked. It wasn’t the stage lights at all. It was the light to the other side. Each spirit on stage had their own, as if each was a doorway they’d stepped through to visit me tonight. I looked back at the other five figures, and one by one, I noticed they all looked familiar. Tears welled in my eyes.
“We’ve all been watching over you,” my father admitted.
I rose from the ground and stepped toward them, completely in shock. My eyes locked first on the tall teenage girl with blond hair and brown eyes. “Olivia?”
She nodded, and I fell into her in an embrace. Olivia was the first ghost I saw a year ago when my abilities manifested.
“Whoa, Crystal,” she laughed.
I pulled away, staring into her eyes. I couldn’t help but crack a nervous smile that almost made the tears go away. I sniffled. “How has life been on the other side?”
She smiled back. “It’s wonderful.” She’d always looked like an angel, but with the bright glow behind her, I now believed that she was. “I’ve kept my promises,” she told me. “I’ve been watching over Kelli this whole time.”
I blinked away the last of the remaining tears. “She’s changed, and it’s all been for the better, thanks to you.” My eyes drifted to the faces of the next two figures. A young girl with green eyes and dark hair held onto an older man’s hand. “Penny. Scott.”
“We saw you,” Penny told me. “We’ve been watching Hope and my mom this past year, and we saw you visiting Hope.”
“I did. I was her babysitter. How’s your mom, by the way?”
“She’s doing much better,” Scott answered. “Lauren is getting the help she needed.”
“That’s great to hear.”
The other girl with them inched forward, and I recognized her, too. I’d only seen her once, but she helped me save Sage’s life.
“Melissa.” I greeted her like I was reconnecting with an old friend, even though we’d only ever spoken a few words to each other.
“Hi, Crystal. I never got a chance to thank you. You know, for saving my sister’s life.”
“Don’t worry about it. I see you crossed over.”
A smile stretched across her face. “I did a long time ago. I was already crossed over when I met you. It took a lot of energy to get to you, but it helped to have my sister nearby. She always gave me strength.”
That explained why she’d been so transparent when most of the ghosts I saw appeared solid and why I only saw her the one time. She didn’t have enough energy to come to me in full form.
Finally, I focused on the fifth figure standing next to Melissa. The girl looked a little older than me, right about at the prime of her life.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you,” I admitted sheepishly. “Did I ever help you in some way?”
An amused expression crossed her face. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve certainly changed.” She glanced down at herself. “Don’t you remember me, Crystal? We used to be best friends.”
I didn’t understand and immediately shifted through my memory, wondering if there was a girl I’d forgotten. It didn’t make any sense since Emma had always been my best friend ever since Kindergarten. I was about to ask her name when it suddenly clicked. She was the best friend I had before Emma, my first ghost, my imaginary friend.
“Eva!”
She nodded.
r /> “But you were so young. Shouldn’t you look like you did?”
She giggled in amusement. “We don’t always stay the way we die. The young grow older, and the old grow younger on the other side. For a while, we keep the identities we had when we died, but eventually, you realize that age doesn’t really matter on the other side.”
“That’s . . . actually kind of amazing.” I glanced back toward my father. “Is it time for me to go? What are you all doing here? Are you here to guide me into the light?”
He shook his head. “We’re here to watch over you, Crystal. First, we have a few things to take care of, starting with Sam.”
Sam hadn’t moved from his position on the floor where my father had told him to stop. I wasn’t sure if he was scared of my father himself or of the many spirits around him. Like my father had said, Sam was still partially on the spiritual plane, and all the other spirits around him could now interact with him. He was no longer the most powerful one around.
“Sam,” my father said, kneeling down to his level. “It’s time for you to let go.”
The evil laugh Sam was so good at returned. “I’m not going anywhere until Andrea pays for what she did to me.”
“Come on, Sam,” my father tried to reason. “We were good friends. You have to trust me that Andrea would never purposely hurt anyone.”
“We were friends a long time ago,” Sam spat, still not moving from his position on the ground.
I stood behind my father, wondering if there was some way I could help, but he seemed to have the situation under control.
My father shook his head in response to Sam. “It doesn’t seem that long ago to you, though, does it? You only recently awakened. That’s why you’re still so angry. To you, your death just happened, but it’s been years, Sam. Your family has found peace. Theresa has found peace. Come with me into the light. You’ll find peace there.”
“There’s nothing for me there! Everything I loved is here, and Andrea took that away from me.”
“You’re remembering it wrong,” my father insisted. “Andrea was trying to save your life. Why can’t you see that?”
As my father and Sam talked, my gaze drifted toward my body on stage. Emma and Robin now knelt next to me. Teddy leaned over my body and administered some sort of makeshift first aid. I couldn’t really see it since there were so many people crowded around the scene. My mother had dropped to her knees just feet away, and Sophie and Diane were attempting to console her. Beyond that, a crowd of onlookers observed from the grass at the front of the stage. I recognized each and every one of them.
First, I saw Hope and her mom, who both had tears in their eyes. Emma’s mom and her little sister, Kate, stood next to them. Kate raised herself on her toes, trying to get a good look. Beside them was Derek’s family, including his mom, dad, and twin sisters. Sage was also nearby, her eyes filling with tears. Finally, I spotted Kelli and Justine.
They were all here, everyone I loved, everyone I’d ever helped.
A police officer was trying to push people back, telling them to give me some space. It’s no use, I thought. I’m already gone. It had only been minutes since it all happened, but the ambulance that was nearly here wasn’t going to be any help, not now.
Movement caught my eye, and I noticed one more person I recognized in the crowd, Justine’s mother, Theresa. She pulled Justine into a comforting hug.
“Sam,” I blurted, interrupting my father. “Look!” I pointed to Theresa, and his gaze followed. “Look at Theresa. She has a daughter now. She has a family.”
Justine looked up into Theresa’s eyes before resting her head on her mother’s shoulder.
“Look at their family. Theresa has moved on, and she’s found happiness.” I turned to face him fully and then knelt beside him like my father was doing. “My mother didn’t hurt you. She was trying to save you. You were hurt because you didn’t have faith in her. If you can’t have faith in my mother, think about Theresa. One day, she’s going to make it to the other side. She’s going to expect you to be waiting there for her, but what is she going to find if you’re still seeking revenge? What will she think of you if you manage to kill one of her friends? You’re better than this, Sam.”
He didn’t say a thing. He simply stared out into the crowd, his eyes locked on Theresa. I noticed the way they softened and brightened when he spotted her, like she was all that mattered to him. And that’s when I realized the truth.
“It’s not about my mother and her prediction, is it?” I asked quietly. “It never was. You weren’t mad that she warned you about your death. You were angry that you never got to live the life you dreamed of with Theresa, and you needed someone to blame, someone to take your anger out on. Sam, you can be with Theresa again, but you have to find peace and go into the light.”
Sam finally tore his gaze from Theresa and looked me in the eyes. “I had so much planned for us. We were supposed to grow old together.” His voice was so small that he almost didn’t seem like the Sam I’d just been talking to.
“It won’t seem like any time at all before she joins you on the other side,” my father promised. He turned to me and rested a hand on my shoulder. “It seems like Crystal was only a child a week ago, and now she’s a beautiful young woman.” He looked back at Sam. “Your life with Theresa isn’t the only one you get to live. Someday, she’ll be with you again in another life.”
Sam blinked a few times and then stared across the stage. I glanced back to see what he was looking at, but I didn’t spot anything.
“That’s your light,” my father said.
Sam’s voice grew soft. “That’s—that’s my dad. I didn’t know . . .”
My father looked back toward the light I couldn’t see. “He’s been waiting a long time for you.”
Sam swallowed hard. “You’re sure Theresa will join me one day? I mean, she lived a whole lifetime without me. Will she even remember me?”
My father nodded. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”
“I don’t want to go,” Sam pleaded. “I just found her again. She’s right in front of me, yet so far out of reach.”
“And you will find her once more,” my father promised in a calm voice. “Be there for her at the light like your father is for you now.”
Sam’s eyes shifted between the light I couldn’t see and Theresa, but they eventually stayed on the light. He visibly reacted as if his dad was speaking to him.
“It’s time,” my father said.
Sam took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll do it for Theresa. I’ll be there waiting for her.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing next. It was like my eyes were playing tricks on me. One second I was seeing Derek’s face, and then next, an unfamiliar image washed over it until I was only seeing Sam. His outline was so familiar, but his face was new to me. Derek’s body dropped to the ground, and Sam’s spirit stood.
He turned back briefly before fading away. “Hey. Tell your mother I’m sorry.” And then he took two more steps before he was gone.
I quickly looked back at Derek. “Is he okay?” I asked my father, frantically searching for signs of life.
“He will be,” my father promised, “but right now, we don’t have much time.”
“Is it time for me to cross over? Why didn’t I see Sam’s light and you did? Is it because I haven’t crossed over yet? But I can see your light. Where’s my light?” The questions tumbled out of me.
My father answered quickly like he was pressed for time. “You’re correct. You couldn’t see Sam’s light because you haven’t crossed over. You can see mine because it’s a different type of doorway, if you will. You don’t have one because you’re not ready to go yet.”
“What do you mean I’m not ready to go yet? I don’t have any unfinished business. I already said goodbye to everyone. I did what you told me to do. I saved . . .” My voice trailed off. Why he had told me to save three people when I only needed to save my mom? Did his warning somehow change
the future? How were Robin and Emma involved?
Oh. Now I knew exactly what he had meant. It never was about Robin and Emma.
“It doesn’t matter right now.” He stood and grabbed my hand to pull me up, leading me over to the center of the stage.
By now, there was an ambulance crew surrounding my body.
“Clear,” one of the EMTs shouted before shocking my body with an AED.
I looked back toward my father. “It’s no use. I’m already dead.”
“That AED might not save you, but we can.” He glanced toward the five other spirits on stage. “There’s so much love surrounding you tonight, Crystal. It may just be enough to revive you.”
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He only answered with a smile.
The six spirits on stage stepped closer to my body. They didn’t even regard the EMTs next to me. My father, Olivia, Penny, Scott, Melissa, and Eva all gathered around to place their hands on my heart. I couldn’t help it when I began sobbing happy tears in response. My father gestured for me to join them. I knelt down beside my own body, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath for courage. Then I placed my hand on top of all of theirs.
“Clear,” the EMT shouted again.
I opened my eyes and stared down at my unmoving form. My eyes widened in shock at what I saw. A pale white glow emanated from each spirit’s hand, all but mine. I watched in amazement as light originated somewhere near their hearts and traveled down their arms to end at their hands. Another pulse of light journeyed from their hearts to mine. Each time the light reached their hands, the brightness grew until it was almost blinding. I witnessed that light fill my body, bringing color back to my cheeks.
“I’m going to miss you all,” I managed to say through the tears before the EMT shouted one last time and shocked my heart back to life.
Chapter 23
I awoke to a white room, where the sun spilled into every corner. Sorrow flowed through me, igniting my senses as if they weren’t my own. I forced my body to awaken further until I realized there were hands holding mine. In the next second, I sprang up in the bed I was lying in, fully alert. The sorrow I was feeling wasn’t my own. It was my mother’s and Robin’s, the two people who were hanging onto me.