Tabitha gestured with her hands as if to say, "Well, go ahead." Then she folded her hands in her lap and watched Jimmy carefully.
Jimmy closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Then he let his mind relax and reached out.
Sapphire? he thought. Sapphire, are you there? Can you hear me?
The silence seemed to last a very long time. Then, suddenly, he heard the static in his brain. It started off very quiet, as if a radio somewhere way in the background were stuck between stations. Then someone turned up the volume and the static became louder and louder. Eventually it felt like his head was filled with some kind of insect.
Jimmy!
"Sapphire!" Jimmy realized he had said her name out loud, and he shook his head. He bit down on the inside of his cheeks, trying to keep things telepathic. Sapphire, thank you for helping watch over my mom.
Where are you, Jimmy? Sapphire said into his brain. She sounded concerned. I can normally get some idea of where you are, but I can't see anything. The connection is bad. I'm not sure what's going on, but something is happening over here.
OK, Jimmy said. He had no idea what she could be talking about, but there was nothing he could do about it here. Sapphire, my mom and I are staying with a man and woman named Warren and Tabitha Hollis. Tabitha runs the town newspaper and Warren is a writer. They helped bring down the Boogeyman. You remember that, don't you?
There was fear in Sapphire's voice. Yes. I've seen him over here, Jimmy. He's not really gone, but he's much, much weaker than he was when I first got here. He's terrifying, Jimmy.
I know, Jimmy said. Sapphire, the Hollises think they can help us. We're staying with them while we try to figure out what happened to you. Tabitha wants to know if she can meet you.
The static got very loud. Just behind the static, like a very dim and soft radio station trying to punch its way through, was another sound. It sounded, for a moment, like other voices. Voices that were in pain, some laughing, some screaming, some singing. It was chilling, but it was comforting at the same time. It was the sound of wherever Sapphire was, Jimmy realized. He was hearing the other side. Jimmy shivered.
I don't know if I can appear in front of them like I do with you, Jimmy, Sapphire said quietly. I've never done anything like this.
Warren and Tabitha will be with me, Jimmy thought. You trust me, right? You can trust them.
The static returned. For a moment the screaming and voices got louder, and then the sound grew softer. Sapphire's connection was stronger.
I can try, Sapphire said. We'll have to meet by the side of the road, like always. Can you come tonight?
I'll ask Tabitha, Jimmy replied. I'll try.
When you get there, call for me. Just call my name. Sometimes that has the power to punch through. It can bring your thoughts to me, and maybe being there it can punch a hole I can step through.
OK, Jimmy thought. I'll be there soon. Oh, and by the way, I can't wait to see you.
The static took on a strange tone. Jimmy could picture Sapphire smiling, her eyes sparkling.
I can't wait to see you either, Jimmy.
And just like that, she was gone. Jimmy opened his eyes and looked at Tabitha.
"We need to go to the bridge," he said. "Now."
Jimmy and Tabitha were standing beside the road on the bridge just twenty minutes later. Tabitha looked nervous, and Jimmy could relate. He remembered the first time he had stood there, calling and waiting for Sapphire. Had that only been a couple nights ago? It seemed like ages ago. He felt much older than he had when he had gone to the dance on Friday night.
"Sapphire?" Jimmy called out loud.
The wind rustled the trees around them. Somewhere down below, in the swampy mess that bordered the lazy and dirty river, a frog croaked incessantly. Insects added to the orchestra of noises from the trees all around them. Overhead the stars shone down, some of them twinkling, some of them silent and stoic and steady. The moon gave everything a weird glow that Jimmy would normally have found beautiful, were he not standing beside a road trying to summon a dead girl.
"Sapphire, it's Jimmy and Tabitha. Can you hear me?" Jimmy asked. He shifted nervously on his feet. "Can you come see us?"
Jimmy looked over at Tabitha, who was leaning casually against her car. Tabitha smiled and shrugged. Jimmy felt himself blushing. What if Sapphire didn't show? Would Tabitha think he was completely crazy? He didn't think so, but then again, he really didn't know her.
Just then, the static in his head suddenly ramped up. It was not a slow ascension like it had been when he had contacted Sapphire earlier. One moment Jimmy was alone with his thoughts, and the next it felt like the inside of his brain was on fire. He clutched at his head and cried out.
"Jimmy?" Tabitha said, standing up from her leaning position against the car.
Jimmy held up a hand. The sound became deafening. Jimmy felt his knees getting weak, and he nearly fell. He felt nauseous, and leaned against the edge of the bridge and nearly vomited into the river below. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the static died down.
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy raised his head and looked around. The world was out of focus for a moment, and he was out of breath. His head was pounding as if he had just been kicked. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and then the world came back into focus.
"Jimmy, are you there?"
The voice came from the end of the bridge where she always appeared. Jimmy’s knees were still wobbly. He looked to his right and smiled at Tabitha, hoping his smile looked stronger and steadier than it felt. Tabitha's eyes were wide with disbelief and shock. She turned and faced the direction from where the voice had come.
"I'm here, Sapphire," Jimmy said. His voice still sounded weak, but it carried.
She appeared at the end of the bridge. The moonlight cascaded around her shoulders, outlining her form, her hair, and the blue dress as if she had summoned it by magic. She glowed. Her smile looked genuine, but scared. Sapphire's eyes glanced nervously at Tabitha, and then settled on Jimmy.
Jimmy couldn't stand it any longer, and he ran toward her. Sapphire opened her arms, and soon they were holding each other. Without even worrying about what Tabitha might think, Jimmy kissed Sapphire. Her lips were warm. She felt solid and real in his arms. He could smell shampoo and perfume. She kissed him back, and, just like before, they were lost in the kiss. The world seemed to spin out beneath them as if it was a pinball in a machine, but they held each other tight.
When at last the kiss broke, Jimmy looked into Sapphire's eyes. They were bright and shining. Jimmy turned and looked at Tabitha. He was surprised to see her wiping her eyes as if she had been crying.
"You two glow," Tabitha said. "I saw it when Sapphire first came up onto the road, but when you two kissed the glow was so bright."
She shrugged. Words had failed her.
"Tabitha," Jimmy said, "this is Sapphire."
Sapphire stepped forward. She was tentative for a moment, and then walked up to Tabitha and extended her hand. Tabitha smiled and stepped towards her. She extended her hand, but hesitated for a moment. Then, Tabitha extended her fingers fully and grasped Sapphire's hand. Tabitha's eyes went wide.
"You're warm," Tabitha said. "You're solid."
Sapphire blushed. "I know. It's something that's only happened recently. With Jimmy."
Tabitha shook her head. "Believe it or not, Sapphire, I've had some experience dealing with, shall we say, the other side. And this is the first time anything like this has happened. It's like Jimmy has reached right through the veil and pulled you through to this side."
Sapphire nodded.
Tabitha was still holding Sapphire's hand and she held it a moment longer. Then she shook her head and let go. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small recorder.
"This is a recorder, Sapphire," Tabitha said. "I'd like to see if I can record your voice."
Sapphire looked nervous. Jimmy stepped over and put his arm around her. She looked into his eyes. He n
odded and she smiled at him and then turned to look at Tabitha. She nodded.
"OK."
Tabitha smiled and hit the record button.
"This is Tabitha Hollis," she said. "I'm here on the side of the road talking to Sapphire Lumire. Sapphire, I'd like to ask you some questions. Is that OK?"
Sapphire nodded at first, and then realized she could not be heard and said, "OK."
"Do you know how you died?"
"No. I'm sorry. I get bits and pieces of my life. It seems like every time I get pulled through to this side, every time I meet with Jimmy, another piece comes back. And then each piece that he finds fills in another gap in my memory, and the memories associated with that piece come flooding back. However, I still have no solid memories. I cannot remember what happened to me."
"We just had a talk with Jimmy's mother. She says she remembers you from high school, but didn’t really know you. In other words, she wasn't a friend, exactly. She says she remembers you coming to the dance and getting into some kind of confrontation with Devlin Little. Do you remember that?"
Sapphire blinked. Then she staggered backwards. Jimmy reached for her and she reached out with her hand and their fingers entwined. Sapphire steadied herself, shaking her head.
"Yes," she said quietly. "I can remember a part of it. I remember the dance. I remember being there with someone. A boy. A boy named…J-Jess?"
"Jesse?" Jimmy offered.
"Yes,” Sapphire said quietly. “That's it. Jesse. He was a nice boy, but the other guys always picked on him. He got up the courage to ask me to the dance and I said yes."
"Do you remember what happened?" Tabitha said.
Sapphire shook her head slowly. "I remember arriving at the dance and how wonderful the gymnasium looked. Jesse was a gentleman. He gave me a corsage and we danced. I remember Devlin Little coming over and wanting to dance with me. I said no and he insisted."
She shook her head again, as if trying to clear away the cobwebs.
"We started shouting. I think I pushed him," she said. "He took a swing at me, and then Jesse stepped in. There was more shouting, and then some of the teachers came over. They said we had to leave. Jesse and I protested, but they insisted that everyone had to leave."
She paused then, chewing on her lower lip.
"Jesse and I left in his car," she said. She began to walk around the area near the bridge a bit. "I remember being in the car on the bridge, but I don't remember anything else."
Her eyes went wide and she looked at Jimmy. Pure terror was in her eyes.
"I feel fear," she said. "I don't know what happened, but I suddenly feel sheer terror in my guts when I think about being here in that car with Jesse. Oh, Jimmy, whatever it was happened here."
Jimmy said, "We kind of figured that. You are always here and you always return here. So we figured something happened here. Do you remember if Devlin Little or the rest of the football team followed you guys here or anything?"
Sapphire shook her head no. Tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"No," she said in a voice that cracked with emotion. "I don't remember anything else. I'm sorry. Oh, Jimmy, did they kill me? Was I murdered?"
She held her hand up to her mouth and bit her nail. Tears were flowing unhindered down her face, trailing down her white cheeks and falling from her chin.
"We don't know, Sapphire," Tabitha said. "It seems like something happened, obviously, but it's entirely possible that Jesse crashed the car here. Of course, why would Devlin and anyone else want to cover that up? There are too many loose ends here, Jimmy. There are too many questions. We still have a lot of holes to fill in.”
Jimmy nodded, but said nothing back to Tabitha. He was focused entirely on Sapphire. He came to her and held out his arms. She came into them, collapsing into them and his arms enfolded her. She sobbed against his chest.
"Figures," Jimmy whispered. "I fall in love for the first time with a girl who is technically older than me by decades."
Sapphire laughed against his chest. Then she playfully punched his shoulder.
"You're never supposed to comment on a girl's age," she said. When she looked up at him again, she was smiling, the tears no longer flowing, and those that had flowed were already drying on her face. "And here I am, the cradle robber."
Jimmy smiled. "These days we call women your age who go after younger men 'cougars.'"
Sapphire laughed. "That's me!" And she pawed the air.
They fell silent and Jimmy leaned in and kissed her.
"I hate to break this up," Tabitha said, "but we should get back. If your mom finds out I came out here with you at this hour, she'll skin me alive."
Sapphire looked between them. "Are you staying with Tabitha and Warren?"
"It's safer, we think,” Jimmy said. “I'm supposed to be out of school for two more days. I want to help Tabitha and Warren as much as I can. I plan to talk to a few teachers at the school who were there when you were. I also want to talk to Jesse."
"Jesse is still alive?" Sapphire said.
"Yes,” Jimmy said. “He runs the library in town. I've been friends with him for years. I overheard him and Devlin talking today, though, and it sounded like they had been covering up whatever happened to you for years."
Sapphire bit her lower lip. "I don't know about any of this. If you find out anything else about that night, tell me. Each time, more memories come."
Jimmy nodded.
"I wonder," Tabitha said.
"About what?" Jimmy said. Then he wondered what there was not to wonder about.
"What happens to Sapphire when all of the memories are put together?" Tabitha said.
Jimmy and Sapphire looked at each other. For the first time, fear and sadness filled their eyes. Although it was not spoken aloud, both of them had the same thought at that point. Sapphire was here because of her connection with Jimmy. For some reason, she was able to reach out to him and use him to find out what happened to her. Thus, the reason she was still trapped between planes of existence was because whatever had happened to her was still a mystery. When that was solved, there would be no reason for her to remain here.
She would move on.
And Jimmy would be alone.
10
Jimmy had said goodbye to Sapphire with tears in his eyes. Sapphire clung tightly to him and they kissed again. Tabitha left them alone for a while, heading back to her car. There was little for the two of them to say, though. They just held each other and kissed as if it were their last chance. Perhaps it was, Jimmy thought.
Jimmy got back to Tabitha and Warren's house, and he could tell that Tabitha had gotten her second wind and was ready to go. Jimmy was just exhausted. He excused himself and headed up to his room.
The room was big and the bed looked comfortable. The furniture was oak and looked homey. The bed was a four-poster and had a colorful comforter on top. It looked like colorful clouds to Jimmy's exhausted brain. He fell on top of the bed and kicked off his shoes. He managed to get down to his boxer briefs and then crawled under the covers.
Jimmy stared at the ceiling, listening to the house. He had never slept well in strange places. Downstairs he could hear Tabitha shuffling around, and then furious typing on the laptop. She was tenacious, he would give her that.
What was he doing? That thought ran around and around in his brain. Tabitha had caught on to what Sapphire and Jimmy had been in denial about. Sapphire had set Jimmy on this course, and the end result would be that he would lose her forever. Or, at the very least, he would lose her until he passed over and ended up in the same place she was. The thought was crushing, and his heart hurt worse than he ever knew possible.
Was this love? If so, why did people go on and on about it? It sucked. Worse, it hurt.
He sighed and rolled over onto his side. His body and mind were exhausted, but he could not bring himself to close his eyes. He needed to get to sleep. Tabitha and he had a busy day planned for tomorrow. They were going to start off early with T
abitha driving them to the high school. Mrs. Walters always got in early, and Tabitha hoped they could get in and talk to her before she had a class. It was a solid plan, but Jimmy and Tabitha both agreed that they would have to face Jesse and sooner rather than later.
Jimmy closed his eyes. Then he heard the buzzing in his head. Sapphire was there, in his mind. Behind the buzzing sound, that now-familiar static, he could detect a note of sadness. His heart hurt all over again. He did not call out—or think out, as the case may have been—to her this time. He just let her sit there, perhaps reading his thoughts. Jimmy guessed that their thoughts ran along similar lines at the moment.
Jimmy figured he would be up all night, but he soon drifted off. He wasn't even aware of it. One moment he was there with that buzzing static filling his thoughts, his heart broken, and the next he was in a dream.
It was a dream unlike any he had ever had before.
He wandered through the halls of Knorr High. He recognized the lockers and the floor and everything about the place, but it was also different. The students were not any that he recognized, and they dressed in ways that he had only seen people dress in movies or on TV, or at "throwback" dances where everyone had to dress in some old-fashioned form of dress. When he caught a brief glimpse out of one of the windows, he saw that the cars parked along the streets outside were huge behemoths that would never be built today.
Jimmy looked down at himself and saw that he was still in his modern-day clothes. Despite being right in the middle of the throngs of students, all of them with odd hairstyles and clothing out of a sixties sitcom, no one looked at him. They all passed by, lost in their own worlds. All of them rushed by him, some of them smiling, some laughing, some somber. It was so much like the way school was now it was amazing to Jimmy. He was peering back in time, but it could have happened yesterday.
Then he saw her. She appeared at the top of the short set of stairs that Jimmy had been dragged across the other day. It was Sapphire. She was out of her blue dance dress, wearing another dress instead. This one was a powder blue, and she had a ribbon in her long, dark hair, holding it away from her face. Her eyes were bright, and she was smiling and chatting with another girl who was wearing a similar dress in green.
Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance Page 17
