by Cege Smith
The unspoken promise of unrelenting pain made Ellie shiver. Her eyes kept returning to David’s handsome face. Lillian wore a smug grin that Ellie wanted to slap off her face. Then Lucy cried out as invisible hands dragged her forward.
“I count two. Now where is my escaped charge?” Alain said. He was so close that Ellie could feel the heat of his body. “Where is Mikel?”
“He left,” Ellie said. “He used a way line downstairs and left us here.”
Alain closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ellie felt the walls shake, and she realized the massive amount of power that the man in front of her wielded. She was screwed. “I can still feel him here. Let’s go get him, shall we? I want to be sure we can all enjoy the fun.”
Ellie felt a small push against her back and then she moved forward. Her feet were moving outside of her command, and she felt helpless. She saw the terrified look in Lucy’s eyes. Her friend wouldn’t be of any help; Alain was more powerful. Ellie made her way down the stairs to the basement. It was darker at the bottom than she remembered.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Alain called into the room. “My demons shut down the way lines already, so this one is of no use to you. There is no escaping me.”
Ellie quickly looked around. She saw the altar and the symbol on the floor, but Mikel was nowhere to be found.
“Are you sure he’s still here?” David said as he stepped off the staircase and onto the dirt floor. He brushed past Ellie without a single glance. She couldn’t understand how she could have been so wrong about him.
Alain touched the stone altar that was the center of the way line’s power. “The Scolosi are nothing if not thorough. This way line is inoperable. He’s still here.”
David moved to the other side and stood looking down at the symbol in the dirt on the other side of the altar. “If you are so sure of that, then what is this?” he asked, kneeling down.
Both Alain and Lillian moved to his side. “What?” Lillian asked, peering down at the ground where David was pointing.
Then David clutched both of their shoulders and Ellie gasped as a red light shot out of him. Both Alain and Lillian screamed, but David wore a determined look even though Ellie could see that his body was starting to writhe in pain. The walls around them began to shake, and Ellie saw the dirt fall from the foundation walls.
“You can’t hold me!” Alain shrieked as his arm came up to block David’s grip.
Mikel appeared out of the darkness in the far corner and flew to the circle, pushing Alain into the center. His eyes caught hers for just a split second. After that, it all happened in slow motion.
The man in the middle of the circle, who Ellie had so recently found out was her grandfather, exploded in an orange ball of fire.
As soon as Alain went up in flames, David’s arm shot out, and his hand wrapped around Mikel’s wrist.
“Take his hand!” David yelled at Lillian.
Lillian, who looked at her hand in complete disbelief, grabbed Mikel’s other hand. Mikel screamed and tried to shake her fingers loose. David wore a look of hard determination. Not understanding what was happening, Ellie moved to help Mikel, but David shouted at her.
“Stay back! You have to let me do this!”
As the space in the middle of the circle opened up into a massive black hole, Ellie realized that it was because the circle of three was complete. Alain was immediately sucked into the hole. Mikel and Lillian were pulled in right after him kicking and screaming. Ellie couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing.
In that last moment, just before he disappeared after the others, David’s head turned toward her so that Ellie was able to see his face. There was no fear there, only regret.
He mouthed to her “I’m sorry”.
Then David was gone.
The walls stopped shaking..
Ellie was alone.
“Ellie?” Lucy’s shaking voice came from above. “Are you down there?”
“I’m here,” Ellie said. Her voice didn’t sound like her own. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she knew that somehow, David had saved them all. But in the process, he had sacrificed himself.
“There’s someone up here I think you want to meet,” Lucy said.
Ellie was numb as she climbed back to the top of the stairs. Her thoughts were jumbled as she tried to make sense of what had happened. “They are all gone,” Ellie said. “David’s gone.”
Lucy gathered her into her arms. “I know, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I explained it to her.” A small man stood just inside the door with his hat in his hand. “I came as soon as I was allowed. I was told that I had to wait for David to complete his mission first and then I could explain everything to you as well.”
“Explain?” Ellie said. “I don’t know what just happened, but whatever mission he was on was clearly some kind of suicide mission.” Her chest felt tight, and she fought the urge to cry as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“Of course it was,” the man said.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Ellie asked.
“My apologies,” the man stepped forward with his hand outstretched. “My name is Max Turner. I am delighted to meet you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ellie was in shock as she automatically took the man’s hand. “Max Turner. I was looking for you.”
“I know,” Max said with a small smile. His eyes, almost buried beneath his bushy white eyebrows, twinkled. Even after everything that had just happened, Ellie felt her shoulders relax. There was nothing threatening about this man. “I am delighted to meet you, Ellie. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Let’s go into the kitchen and have a cup of coffee,” Lucy suggested. She motioned toward the back of the house. “Or a shot of something stronger. I think Ellie’s in shock, Max.”
Ellie didn’t know what she was at that moment as she was still trying to process what she had witnessed in the basement. She allowed herself to be herded into the kitchen, and Lucy settled her into a chair at the table. Max took off his jacket and sat down across from her. He looked around and smiled taking in the details of the room.
“It’s just like I remembered,” he said. “But it’s so obvious that it’s alive. Or at least, that it was.”
“Was?” Ellie asked.
“When a way point dies, it can take years, or it can happen rather suddenly. I think that you have one that won’t wither away. This place has always been one of extremes.”
“What are you talking about? It’s dying? Why?”
Lucy put a hand on Ellie’s shoulder. “Slow down. He’ll get there.”
Lucy moved back to the stove and put a tea kettle on the stove. Ellie envied that Lucy seemed to be able to function so normally despite what was going on around her. In Ellie’s mind, she kept seeing the fireball envelope Alain, and then David’s final tortured look before he disappeared. He had known what was going to happen. It was the only thing that made sense.
“Perhaps you could start at the beginning,” Ellie said slowly.
“That’s all quite relative, isn’t it?” Max chuckled.
Ellie didn’t get the joke. She looked over at Lucy who shrugged. “Okay, how about the beginning that is relative.”
Max seemed to understand that he had lost her. “Of course. This place is a magical place. The reason that this has always been such a desirable location is because it is the intersection of multiple way lines between the Other Side and the Afterlife.”
“I’ve only seen one downstairs,” Ellie said.
“Oh, they are there,” Max said with a nod. “Maybe not visible, but they are there. So as the Guardian of this place, you are able wield much more power than other Guardians. Of course, this place will also require much more energy from you to maintain it.”
“That’s why I had to be gifted,” Ellie said.
“Exactly!” Max beamed.
Lucy set
a tray with three coffee cups on the table. As Lucy started to pour the coffee, Ellie saw a shadow in the hallway. Then she realized that it was Jake. He motioned for her to be quiet and for her to come into the hall.
“Excuse me just a minute,” Ellie said. She shook her head at Lucy and then made her way back to the foyer.
Jake watched her with sad eyes. “I have to go, Ellie. Now that Alain is gone, I have been released from his spell. My soul is free. Will you see me on?”
Ellie felt a warm feeling settle over her. She was happy for Jake. When the knock at the front door came a moment later, she answered without hesitation. She had something else to do to distract her for a few minutes, and she welcomed it.
The three transports swept into the room. Ellie remembered them well, but she saw that the one called Lila had a question in her eyes.
“We were called for this one,” she said looking at Jake. “We were told to hurry. They said the waypoint is closing.”
“Yes,” Ellie replied. She thought again about what she had seen in the basement and Max Turner’s words. It made sense now. David had found a way to close the waypoint. There was something poetic in that. “I give him to you. I hope that you treat him well on his journey.”
Ellie turned to Jake and hugged him. “Thank you, Jake.”
Dane and Peter motioned to Jake and then they disappeared out the door, leaving Ellie with Lila.
“No blood this time?” Ellie asked. As the Guardian of the waypoint, it was required that her blood be mingled with that of the transport to send the soul on the next leg of its journey.
“He was never officially in your care, so not this time, and I guess never again. It was very nice to meet you, Ellie,” Lila said with a sad smile. She moved toward the door and then paused.
“Is there something else?” Ellie asked. She was eager to return to Max so that she could ask about David. Ellie feared the worst, but needed to know for certain.
“Is David here?” Lila asked as her eyes swept the room.
“No,” Ellie said, surprised at the question. “He’s gone.”
A sad expression swept across Lila’s face. “He was so intent on finding you. I am sorry to hear that. I knew there was something strange when he wanted to go to Hell.”
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked. “Finding me? When?”
“Braz set him free from Purgatory, and we were bringing him here. But we had a slight detour, and after that he insisted that Dane take him to Hell.”
“Why?”
Lila shook her head. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell us what he was told.”
“Told by who?”
“The Council who governs the magical community here in the Afterlife.”
“He used magic,” Ellie said slowly. “He used magic to close the waypoint, but David wasn’t gifted that way.”
“They must have given him a way to do it then,” Lila said. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ellie.”
Tears welled again in Ellie’s eyes. She had lost David for the third time. It seemed like a dream that they could have ever been able to be together. “Thank you, Lila.”
“It was really nice to meet you,” Lila said backing up toward the door. “Maybe we’ll cross paths again.”
“Maybe,” Ellie said. She liked the transport, but, on the other hand, she hoped that she would never see her again. Then Lila was gone.
A question crossed Ellie’s mind for the first time. She hurried back to the kitchen. Lucy and Max were talking in low voices. They stopped as she entered the room.
“What happens to me now?” Ellie asked. “If the way point is dying because it’s closed, then what happens to me?
“As soon as the way point is dead, your ties to it will cease to exist. You will be set free,” Max said.
“Free?” Ellie was stunned.
“You are still human,” Max said. “You never died, so you still have a life to live. The Afterlife is not ready for you yet. You will go home.”
Tears fell freely down Ellie’s face. “I can go home?”
Lucy jumped up and wrapped her arms around Ellie. “Isn’t that great news, El? It’s what you wanted.”
David’s face rose again in Ellie’s mind. “I wanted to leave with David.”
“I know you did, sweetie,” Lucy said squeezing her tighter. “But David did what he had to do to restore the balance, and he gave you your life back.”
“I don’t understand,” Ellie said.
Max motioned for her to sit back down. “Mr. Mitchell was born and was supposed to die. His soul would have been returned to the Afterlife, and at some point in time he would have been reincarnated. Instead, his soul resisted death and the ceremony that Lillian Bradford performed bound him here to this point and created a doorway. Not only through the waypoint, but through David himself. That doorway needed to be closed. David had to die as he was supposed to have died over a hundred years ago.”
Ellie was struck by another memory, this time of the image that David’s mother, Emma, had shown to her. “It was just like that night. Lillian, David, and Mikel. But Joseph wasn’t here.”
Max shrugged. “Alain served the same purpose. His presence was window dressing in any case. Lillian and Mikel were the keys. Back then, Lillian crafted the spell that called to Mikel, and it was Mikel’s power that ripped the doorway open.”
“David got this magic from somewhere else though. A Council of magic?”
“I’m supposed to tell you something, El,” Lucy said. Her voice had taken on a different lilt, and Ellie looked at her. Her face shifted subtly, and then Ellie saw for a brief moment the face of someone that she had lost long ago. Veronica.
“Roni?” Then flashes of memories hit Ellie. Of entering the waypoint and drifting in the darkness and talking to the Voice. The Voice had pushed and tugged at her and made her uncomfortable. The Voice had been Roni.
A brilliant smile lit up Lucy’s face. “You are ready, Ellie.”
“Ready?”
“Ready to go home. Ready to live the life you were always supposed to live.”
“What about David?”
“David did what he had to do to save you and to right the wrong that Lillian Bradford created when she trapped his soul here. It was the only way for him to find peace.”
A deep, familiar sorrow clamped down on Ellie’s chest. “It isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Ellie. But at least now, you have the tools to be the person you were always meant to be.”
“I am glad I got to see this place one last time,” Max said wistfully looking around.
“What’s happening?” Ellie could feel the walls begin to shake once again. The cups slid across the table and then flew to the ground, shattering into pieces.
“It’s dying,” Max said, raising his voice. “I told you that it could happen suddenly.”
“This doesn’t seem right.”
The hand on her shoulder drew her attention. She found herself looking deeply into Lucy’s eyes. “Ellie, you’re ready.”
It was like all thoughts in her mind stopped. “I’m ready,” Ellie repeated. Then the walls began to collapse around her. The lights flickered and Ellie saw cracks appear in the ceiling. Just as the windows exploded, her world went black.
EPILOGUE
Ellie’s eyes opened as her alarm started to screech and she quickly hit the snooze button before burrowing further into her comforter. She didn’t want to get up yet. Just as she started to drift off again, a wet nose shoved its way into her snug burrow and licked her cheek.
Ellie groaned. “Skipper! Please? Can’t I sleep in today?”
A low whine was her answer. Ellie rolled over and stretched. Skipper scooted up into the crook of her arm, wiggling against her and demanding to be petted. She tried to be annoyed, but looking into Skipper’s big brown eyes melted any of those thoughts away. She laughed and gave him a squeeze and quick belly rub.
“Okay, fine. I’m up!”
Ellie flung
the bed covers aside and then slipped out of bed. She quickly pulled her hair up into a ponytail and then put on her exercise clothes. A pair of running shoes completed the outfit. She looked at the small dog still sitting on the bed.
“This was all your idea, so let’s go!”
Ellie loved her morning run. It put her in the right frame of mind for her day and gave her lots of energy. All of her friends groaned whenever she asked them to go out for a morning run with her. Running helped clear away the cobwebs in her mind. She got some of her best ideas while out for a run.
As her feet pounded the pavement, she found that she was looking more forward to her day than usual. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but there seemed to be something important about it. She found that she was eager to get to the shop. It was Kevin’s day to open, but she was sure that he wouldn’t mind a little extra help with the morning rush.
Skipper stayed by her side, his short legs somehow managing to keep pace with her. Ellie did a half loop around Lake Calhoun before heading back to her apartment. Skipper’s tongue hung out of the side of his mouth, but he wore a droopy grin. Ellie felt happy and calm. Her life was good, and she knew it.
After getting home, she quickly showered and changed, and then kissed Skipper’s nose. Then she strolled out the door, her head already bursting with ideas for sale promotions to increase the shop’s traffic in the coming summer months.
As Ellie walked up to the back door of her shop, she heard Kevin’s voice singing a song from the musical, Grease. She burst through the door on the chorus and belted out the harmony, blending her voice with his. Kevin threw his arms wide, and they finished the song in perfect unison. Then Ellie collapsed into his arms laughing.
“I’m telling you, El, if we hadn’t opened this place we could be auditioning on Broadway right now,” Kevin said.
“I would have had to find a better looking partner,” she said winking at him. With mock outrage, Kevin hoisted her back onto her feet and crossed his arms with a huff. “Ah, you know I’m kidding,” Ellie said. “You know that you’re the handsomest of them all.”
