"Of course," she said. "I'll wait as long as it takes."
With that, they soul kissed again. Once again, their very essence merged and intertwined. Jimmy felt part of Sapphire's soul embed itself into his. He let part of his own energy go, merging with the flow of her energy. They would always be with each other, he knew, at that point. They were part of each other's very souls now.
After what seemed like forever, Sapphire parted from Jimmy. He could sense the profound sadness coming off of her in waves. He tried not to weep—or whatever it was that he could do in spirit form. Sapphire looked at him, letting her hand trail behind, touching his cheek, and then she floated down to where Jimmy's body lay.
She extended her hand. The warm white light flowed from her hand and washed over the lifeless form. The tablecloths that bound Jimmy vanished. Jimmy could tell that his body was already getting cold. For the first time, he wondered if there was any way for him to get back into his body. The light grew whiter and whiter and energy crackled across the body. Slowly, the metal form of the bullet that was embedded inside Jimmy's heart extracted itself and then vanished as if it had never existed.
Sapphire moved her hand again. This time she covered the hole over Jimmy's heart. More light, more energy, and the hole there vanished, and then Jimmy felt his own heart start beating. After that he felt a strange kind of tugging sensation. It was all around him, pulling him in all directions.
"No," Jimmy whispered. "Wait!"
But there was no waiting. Time was not going to stop for them no matter how much power they shared between them. They might be able to warp reality, but time and events moved on without them. Jimmy felt the entire world shifting, changing from one of pure energy, where he could see the world for what it was, to one where he saw the world through his actual eyes. He was now on the ground, looking up into the sky and into the brightness of Sapphire's essence. He held up a hand, surprised at how hard doing that actually was. He was human again, and the manipulation of energy and everything that had happened to his body came crashing down. There was pain over his heart and down his arm. His muscles ached. His head throbbed.
"Sapphire," Jimmy croaked.
Her beautiful, bright essence floated closer to him, perhaps in some form of kneeling. He felt the warmth from her essence wash over him as she touched him, embraced him.
"I love you," he whispered, and as the tears came, there was no stopping them. He felt the tug on his heart at the realization that she would soon be gone and he would be left here without her.
"I know," Sapphire said. "And I love you. I always will."
She moved her head a bit, looking up at Tabitha and Warren and Jimmy's mother, who still stood there on the bridge, as if they were afraid to move. Jimmy saw tears coming from his mother's eyes.
"Take care of them," Sapphire said. "Especially your mother."
Jimmy wanted to say something, but found he was unable to speak, so he just nodded his head dumbly.
"I don't know what to do," he said, at last. "I don't remember how I lived before I met you and I don't know how to live when you're gone."
Sapphire smiled and leaned down. He felt the energy from her body as she kissed him and caressed his face.
"You'll learn," she said. "Live. Make sure you live your life, Jimmy. Never forget me, but don't halt everything you are supposed to be because of me. Promise me."
Jimmy agreed. He didn't know what else to do.
Sapphire began to float away. Jimmy extended his hand, trying to hold on to her, but her essence slipped through his fingers, leaving warm trails across his skin. Her touch lingered for a moment on his fingertips, and then she departed. Jimmy watched, his eyes burning from the light, but unable to turn away as she floated up and up and up, turning the night into day. She floated up above the trees while beneath her the portal from which she and Jimmy had emerged closed and vanished. She spread her arms, light exploding from the center of her being. And then the light was gone, as if a switch had been thrown. There was just the after image of her form burned into Jimmy's retinas and then, following that, darkness, and the sound of crickets and bull frogs and the gentle rumblings of the river nearby.
Sapphire was gone.
Jimmy was, once again, alone.
But he was alive.
14
Jimmy's mother ran to him, sliding and slipping in the mud as she made her way down the embankment. Jimmy stood there, feeling empty, swaying in the breeze. He had never felt as exhausted as he did right then. Although the bullet was gone, there was still a powerful ache in his chest. He was bruised and battered from riding in the trunk of the car. And, finally, inside himself, in his heart, there was the aching, raw hole that had once been occupied by Sapphire and was now completely empty. That may have been the worst pain of all.
"Jimmy!" his mother screamed, and came to him with open arms.
"Mom," he said, his mouth barely able to form that one simple word.
She flung her arms around him and he fell into them. He slumped against her, nearly knocking her over, but her arms held him. Over her shoulder he saw that Tabitha and Warren were coming now. He was safe.
He was safe.
And with that thought to hold him, Jimmy fell into unconsciousness. Blackness took him.
Over the next few days, as Jimmy lay in a hospital bed, recovering from numerous contusions, bruises, lacerations, and injuries, he found out what had happened from his mother, Tabitha, and Warren's perspective. His doctors, meanwhile, tried to figure out what was wrong with him and what had happened. He also got a visit from the sheriff and had to make up a story involving Jesse and Stan Little that didn't include dying and coming back to life. Given the painkillers he was on and the general pain coursing through him, that was easier said than done.
His mother, Tabitha, and Warren had been back at the house when Tabitha had realized that Jimmy was gone. She had been on the phone for hours, making calls and coordinating things with the newspaper to cover the death of Devlin Little. During that time, Jimmy's mother and Warren had come home. When his mother asked where he was and a quick search of the house had come up empty, the three of them had panicked.
In a rush, the three of them had gathered up what they felt was necessary and ran outside. However, once they got there, all three of them, at the same time, had suddenly had the same thought.
Get to the bridge!
It was as if, according to Tabitha and Warren, a voice had come into their heads and told them where to go. The voice was urgent, prodding, demanding that they head to the bridge. No sooner had the voice filtered through their thoughts when the sky had lit up along the horizon. Just as Jimmy had thought, the energy that he and Sapphire had released had lit up the night for miles.
What he couldn't have known was the far-reaching effects that all of the energy they had released would cause. As the three of them had piled into the car and tried to drive away, things had gone crazy around them. Trees suddenly fell over and then vanished. Lightning struck the road in front of them out of a cloudless sky. Lights danced and twirled in front of them. Reality itself seemed to shimmer and change and ripple like water before their very eyes. The road moved like water, undulating underneath the car. It was as if the planet, and maybe even the entire universe, was slowly tearing itself apart.
When they finally arrived at the scene, Sapphire and Jimmy were there, and they had witnessed those moments when Sapphire ripped Jesse's soul right out of his body and then flung it away. They had understood it all, somehow sensing their thoughts, their final exchanges. They even felt the love between Jimmy and Sappphire as they touched and as Sapphire disappeared into the night.
They took Jimmy to the hospital when he passed out. They then had to deal with the sheriff and Jesse’s body. Stan Little, meanwhile, seemed to be in a kind of catatonic state, but not in any great distress. Doctors were hopeful to reach him and bring him out of his state. They figured that the death of his father plus the events that Jesse had dragge
d him through had just been too much for him. Warren and Tabitha, meanwhile, had adopted Jesse’s dog Blackie and he was adjusting nicely to their house. Tabitha said that they had always wanted a dog.
The days and weeks passed. Jimmy barely spoke. His body recovered, but mentally he was unable to process anything. He went about the motions of his life, but his heart was not in it. Reality, once you were able to bend and shape it, was not so real anymore, and nothing was the same. Plus, the aching hole that had once held Sapphire was always there. It seemed impossible to fill.
One day when he was at home, the sheriff came to the house to talk to Jimmy. He came in, nodded politely to his mother, and then sat down next to Jimmy on the couch.
"It looks like everything you told me was right," he said. "We found more evidence back at Jesse's house. He had an obsession with Sapphire. He removed those photos and articles from the public, but he kept copies for himself. He also was a big journal keeper, apparently. And he did his best to unburden his soul in those pages."
Jimmy nodded, but kept his head down. He was thinking about Sapphire's eyes and how she had felt in his arms. He remembered the feeling of her skin against his. She had been real. For a time, she had been real.
"Son," the sheriff said, "I've been sheriff here in Knorr for a while. I know how things are here. People think I am some kind of hick sheriff, but I'm not. I know how strange things are here. I get calls about things that you would not believe. I get calls about all kinds of things that would give you nightmares."
He sighed and took off his hat. He ran his fingers absently through his hair.
"And, at the same time," he said, "I have seen some things that give me hope. You'd be amazed at those, as well. Things that don't have any explanation, but fill you with hope."
He looked at Jimmy and leaned forward, putting a hand under Jimmy's chin. He tilted Jimmy's head up to face him.
"That night, I saw both," he said. "I was at home that night. And when you and Sapphire did your thing, I felt it. I felt reality itself change and it scared me, and I felt the pain and terror that was Jesse and Stan, but I also felt an overpowering sense of love. That was you two. And it filled me with hope. If there could be love strong enough to punch through reality, reshape it, and defy death itself, well, then the universe isn't just darkness."
Jimmy felt a smile cross his face. The sheriff smiled back.
"I just wanted you to know that," he said. "I know it hurts, and I know you've been through a lot, but you have experienced something only a few of us will ever experience."
With that he stood up and put his hat back on. He smiled again and then turned to walk out.
"Have you found her family?" Jimmy asked.
The sheriff paused and looked back. "Sapphire's?"
Jimmy confirmed that was what he meant with a movement of his head.
"Yes," he said. "They know what's happened. We've dug up the rest of her remains and returned her to them. They've had a funeral that's been a long time coming."
"Can you tell me where they are?" Jimmy asked.
The sheriff smiled. Then he wrote down the address.
A few days after that Tabitha and Warren arrived at the house. They exchanged pleasantries. They talked for a while. Jimmy's mother made dinner, and they sat around the table and continued gabbing and laughing. Jimmy laughed with them, but he still felt distant. He had been feeling distant for weeks now. He had even gone back to school the week before, ignoring the stares and the comments. He was lost in his own world, and he wondered if he would ever find his way back again.
When the dishes had been cleared and Warren was in the living room with his mother, Tabitha and Jimmy sat down at the table and chatted. Tabitha reached out and grabbed Jimmy's hand.
"I can tell that you're still not really here, are you?" she asked.
Jimmy shook his head. Almost immediately he felt the tears coming. He tried to hold them back, but it was no use. He wept and when Tabitha put her arms around him, he held on and wept softly into her shoulder.
"I know it hurts," Tabitha said, "but you and Sapphire are connected. I have to ask you, have you gone back to the bridge? Have you tried to reach out to her?"
Jimmy shook his head again, unable to speak.
"The part of you that could bend reality is still inside you," Tabitha said. "Maybe it's weaker than it was, but I bet if you give it a bit of a flex, you'll find you can still do amazing things."
She paused, smiling at him.
"Then again, you could do amazing things even without that ability," she said.
Jimmy and Tabitha chatted for a while longer and then she and Warren left. Jimmy walked into the living room and hugged his mother.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"Because I don't do it enough," he said.
His mother tried to dab at her eyes and hide the fact that she was going to cry. Instead, she shuffled off to her bedroom. When that happened, Jimmy got onto his bike and pedaled his way to the bridge.
The evening air felt good on his skin, and he turned his face up into the sky. The sky was dimming, turning from bright blue to purple and then black. Already there were stars peeking out. He imagined that one of them was Sapphire, somehow turned into a star, still bright and shining.
"Can you see me?" he whispered to the sky. "Can you still feel how much I love you?"
There was no response, save for the trees blowing in the wind and the sound of air rushing past his ears. He reached the bridge and stopped. Down below, the ground had been churned and dug up. Piles of earth were scattered about down there after the investigators had dug up the rest of Sapphire’s body.
Jimmy made his way down to the riverbank. He sat on one of the mounds of earth that didn't look too wet and stared at the tiny, lazy river. He gazed at the trees, swaying in the breeze across the river.
"I miss you," he said quietly. Then he decided to speak louder. "I miss you, Sapphire. For weeks you were inside my head and now you're gone. There's just this hole there."
He held his head in his hands for a moment.
"You told me to go on living my life, but I don't know if I know how to do that," he said. "Now that I've been to the other side, things here still seem so dull. And it seems like I'll be here forever. Forever waiting."
He sighed and looked up at the trees. He reached out his hand. He pointed it at the top of one of the trees across the way. At first there was nothing, but then, suddenly, the top of the tree bent forward, bending towards Jimmy as if bowing.
Jimmy put his hand down and the tree snapped back. Somewhere beyond the trees, as if coming from the air itself, he heard someone giggle. It was a soft thing, but feminine. It was filled with life.
Jimmy smiled.
Then he stood up. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again he was about six feet above the ground. He felt a smile cross his face. Up here, in the air, he felt warmth instead of the cool breeze. It was as if he were being held in warm arms. He heard the chiming giggle again, but this time it was inside his own head.
And then he flew.
He flew over the tops of the trees. He rocketed between the trunks, zooming up and down and back and forth. He felt free and alive as the ground rushed past below him. The trees bent away from him, clearing a path, and then he rocketed into the sky, the ground vanishing beneath him, until he reached the highest level of the clouds, the Earth itself stretching out for miles all around him. The warmth and light enveloped him.
It started at his feet and worked its way up his body until he was completely enveloped in light and warmth. It was Sapphire. There were no words, just the light and warmth, but he knew it was her.
"I love you."
He felt the words inside, filling the hole in his heart. He smiled and held out his arms and the light enveloped him. Then it was gone, and he slowly descended, watching as the planet beneath him rose to meet his feet. The world was his. He had an entire planet to see.
When he landed his tears
were gone and that sucking emptiness inside of him seemed to have lessened. He reached out his hand again, and suddenly rocks and mud from the bank lifted into the air. He smiled again.
Maybe things wouldn't be so bad, after all.
"Thank you," he said.
The trees bowed in response.
Weeks later, Jimmy asked his mother to drive him to a town about fifty miles away. She agreed.
As they drove, he held in his hand he a piece of paper that had some handwriting on it. In his other hand was a GPS device that he had borrowed from the sheriff. It took them an hour to get to the address, but they found the house with relative ease.
The house was modest, almost like Jimmy's. The house was painted blue with white trim, and there was a swing set in the backyard. In the front yard was a large tree.
It was the kind of house Sapphire would have loved, Jimmy decided.
"Are you sure?" his mother asked.
Jimmy nodded. "Yes."
He got out of the car. His mother hung back in case they had to leave quickly. Jimmy walked right up to the door and knocked. After a few moments, a woman with brown hair answered the door. Jimmy gasped.
She was older. She had wrinkles and her hair was gray, and she probably had a few more pounds on her than Sapphire, but the resemblance was striking. The woman had Sapphire's eyes. A smile resembling Sapphire’s smile crossed her face when she saw Jimmy standing there..
"You must be Jimmy," she said in a voice that was so like Sapphire's.
"Yes," Jimmy said Sapphire’s mother. From inside the house there were more noises as people stood up to come to the door.
"Come on in," the woman said. "We have a lot to talk about."
Jimmy turned and waved at his mother. She smiled and made her way up the sidewalk. When she got to the door, Sapphire's mother smiled and welcomed her, as well.
They went inside, and the door closed behind them.
And a new chapter began.
THE END
OTHER BOOKS BY BRYAN W. ALASPA
Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance Page 30
