Vindicated

by Keary Taylor

  “I want to meet her. I can’t be married to someone and never meet my own mother-in-law.”

  “Alex, she…”

  “We’re moving on, remember?” he cut me off.

  “Moving on,” I said quietly. If Alex could forgive his mother, who had abandoned him completely for his entire life, couldn’t I forgive the woman who had raised me? She had been there for me, for everything else in my life. She’d just been trying to help me.

  And really, who could blame her for the things she had done? I had thought I was crazy myself at times.

  “Okay,” I answered, looking Alex in the eye. “We’ll go out to Ucon.”

  “Really?” he asked excitedly.

  “We’re moving on with life,” I said, my insides all twisted up. “I have a few days off next week. I’ll call my dad tonight and let him know we’re coming.”

  “I can’t wait,” he said, giving me a sly smile. I just glared at him. “Hey, maybe it won’t be as bad as you think it will be.”

  “I think it will be exactly as bad as I think it will be,” I said sarcastically. “Anyway, we should probably talk to Amber and Rod about going out with us. Dad still hasn’t met him and I don’t think he was too happy with Amber for waiting so long to tell him she was already engaged.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Alex said as he dug his cell phone out of his pocket. “I’ll ask him about it right now.”

  I pulled my own out, and clumsily set to texting Amber.

  I heard the clatter, the sound of someone tripping over a purse set on the floor, the sound of dishes flying off of their tray.

  And the next second I felt the searing pain of the steak knife embedding itself into the fleshy space where my shoulder connected to the rest of my body.

  It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to react. Alex leapt across the table, pulling me into his arms, a look of horror filling his face. Just as I felt his body tense to flee before anyone could even see what had happened, I shook my head, grabbing the handle of the knife and yanked it out.

  I barely contained the scream that threatened to rip from my body. Instead, I pushed Alex away, breathing out “Sit back down.”

  Confusion crossed his face but the next moment he was back in his seat, across the table from me.

  A total of less than two seconds had probably passed.

  My entire front was covered in the scalding hot soup as the waitress landed on her hands and knees, her feet still tangled in the straps of the purse. A dozen pairs of eyes turned in our direction as the room fell silent. I realized then that the knife was still clenched in my right hand. I hoped no one noticed as I dropped it into my lap.

  “Oh my…” the waitress started to apologize as she scrambled to get to her feet. “I am so, so sorry! Are you alright?!”

  I looked across the table to Alex, who stared wide-eyed at the already disappeared cut in my exposed flesh.

  “I’m…” I struggled for words. “I’m fine. I think we’re going to go though. I kind of need to change.”

  Alex stood before she could even respond, grabbed my hand and was hauling me toward the front door. I glanced back just once, meeting the eyes of nearly every person in the restaurant.

  Alex opened the passenger door to the truck, and picking me up around the waist, not so gently sat me on the seat before closing the door. He stalked around the front, shaking his head as his brow furrowed. He pulled the driver’s door open and slid in next to me.

  He turned those gray eyes on me, his stare not quite cold, but definitely not lovingly.

  “What. Happened. In there?” he said slowly but deliberately.

  I struggled with what to say, my mind racing over everything.

  I had never told Alex about how Cole had tested his theory. The theory that I was stuck, that I was neither fully dead, nor fully alive. That I could never move on to the afterlife. The afterlife Alex was soon going to be pulled into.

  “You’d better say something Jessica, because I’m freaking out over here if you haven’t noticed!”

  “Okay, okay!” I half shouted, closing my eyes for just a moment to collect myself. “You know there’s something different about me, more different than before you… died. You’ve seen how I can do things I shouldn’t be able to. When Cole and I talked, he told me some things. What you saw back there, that’s just the beginning of it.”

  And then I told him. The full story of what had happened that week I spent with Cole in his abandoned, ruined mansion.

  I told him how I hadn’t changed at all since he had died. I hadn’t aged one second. Alex had already seen some of the evidence of my apparent indestructability. I’d survived the car crash with Austin, I’d survived Cole’s own knife, in a much deadlier place.

  I confirmed what Alex had already suspected. That I was already eighty percent the same as he was: an angel.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the never moving on part. Admitting that I couldn’t die was more than I could handle.

  As I finished, I leaned back in the seat, my eyes never leaving Alex’s face. He sat there silent for what felt like a very long time.

  “Okay,” he said quietly.

  “Okay?” I finally breathed. I hadn’t realized that I had been holding my breath.

  “Okay,” he said, nodding his head. He reached across the middle seat and took my hand in his. “Let’s move on.”

  I just smiled. “Well, if you’re really okay, I think I’m going to get off your seat before I ruin it with all the gunk on me.”

  Alex cracked a smile, his eyes slightly glazed-over looking. His mind was obviously still on all the secrets I had just spilled.

  “Are you going to be okay to drive home?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Yeah,” he answered, shaking his head. His eyes snapped to my face, his expression clearing. “Yeah, I’ll see you at home in a minute.”

  “’K,” I chuckled, pressing a kiss to his cheek before hopping down from the truck.

  I didn’t think to check my phone for Amber’s reply to my text until I got back to the house and found it empty. She had replied “if I have to” to my suggestion to return to Idaho and with another text that she and Rod were going apartment hunting that night and that they’d be back pretty late.

  After changing into clean clothes, I settled into the swing on the lower back deck and held the phone in my slightly shaking hands. Slowly, pushing each button very deliberately, I dialed my dad’s cell phone number.

  “Hello?” he answered after only two very short feeling rings.

  “Hi,” I said simply, my mind suddenly blanking.

  “Who’s this?” he asked.

  “It’s me, Dad, Jessica.”

  “Hey kid!” he replied excitedly. I couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t recognize this number.”

  “Yeah, it’s my new cell phone.”

  “Is everything okay?” he asked. “You don’t exactly call often.”

  “I’m sorry, I know I promised I would call more. I was just wondering if you were busy next weekend?”

  “Why? What’s up?” his voice was hesitant.

  “Um, Alex and I were kind of thinking about coming out there.”

  There was silence for nearly thirty seconds. “Dad? You still there?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. Of course,” he recovered. “I’d love to see you again. But, Jess, are you sure about this? I mean, your mom’s going to be here.”

  “I know,” I said quietly. A faint breeze picked up off the water sending goosebumps flashing across my skin. “Like you said, she’s still my mom, and I hope I’m still her daughter. I think it’s time to move on.”

  My dad was quiet again for a moment and even through the phone I could sense the emotion he was feeling. I felt the back of my own throat tighten. “Yeah, it is,” my dad said with a scratchy voice.

  “Let Mom know, will you? I don’t want this to be a total shocker to her when I show up at the house.”

  “Okay.”
r />   “Oh yeah, I think we’re bringing Amber and Rod with us.”

  “Wow, it’s like Christmas came in September!” he chuckled. “Getting both of my girls back home.”

  “I’ll see you soon, ‘k, Dad?”

  “Alright, I love you kid.”

  “Love you too, Dad.”

  Just as I hung up the phone, the door to my apartment opened and Alex stepped out. He stood there in the warm late summer air in just a pair of basketball shorts, his flawless skin glowing in the moonlight.

  There was nothing quite like the sight of Alex shirtless.

  “How’d it go?” he asked quietly through the dim light.

  “Fine,” I said as I patted the space next to me. “Dad’s expecting us. I told him to give my mom fair warning.”

  Alex chuckled as he sank into the space next to me. I leaned into him, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I closed my eyes and breathed his familiar scent in.

  “How about October third?” he said quietly as he rested his cheek on the top of my head.

  “October third?” I asked, unsure of what he was talking about.

  “The wedding. How about October third?”

  My heart picked up in pace, butterflies suddenly filling my stomach. “That’s like, three weeks away.” Alex nodded. “Why that day?”

  “It was my grandparent’s anniversary,” Alex said as he laced his fingers with mine. “I’ve never seen two people more in love than them. It must be a lucky day.”

  “We don’t need luck,” I said quietly. “I love you more than anything. It will be perfect. However much time we have.”

  Alex didn’t say anything, just pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

  “Amber is going to be ticked we’re getting married before her,” I chuckled. I was trying to play it cool but inside I was jumping up and down clapping my hands in excitement.

  Just then I heard the sound of tires pulling into the driveway. “Speak of the devil,” I said. A few moments later we heard the sound of the front door opening and closing.

  “Jessica?” I heard Amber call from inside.

  “Out here!” I shouted just loud enough for her to hear me.

  A few moments later Rod and Amber walked out onto the lower deck, hand in hand. Rod’s dark features were nearly lost in the diminished light.

  “We found it!” Amber said excitedly. She was practically bouncing up and down. Rod just smiled and shook his head at her. “We found the perfect apartment. It’s right on Chuckanut Drive and it look out right over the ocean. It’s amazing, Jessica! You have to see it!”

  “Did you already submit an application for it?” Alex asked.

  “We’ve already got keys, man,” Rod said with his own smile as he held them up, jangling them in the air.

  “I’m moving in tomorrow after we go furniture shopping!” Now she really was jumping up and down.

  “You’re moving out?” I asked, my voice sounding downfallen. “Already?”

  She nodded. “And Rod will be moving in after the wedding. He still has a few months left on his contract in his old apartment anyway.”

  “Congratulations,” I said as I smiled up at her.

  “I know! I’ve never had my own apartment before! And you two will finally have the house back to yourselves,” she said with a wink.

  I glanced at Alex with a smile as he squeezed my shoulder and looked down at me.

  “So,” Rod said as he dragged two other chairs over towards us. They both sat. “Have you love birds set a date yet?”

  “October third,” Alex said, meeting Amber’s eyes. Her eyes narrowed and Alex hurried on. “It was my grandparents’ anniversary.” Her eyes softened just a bit.

  “Wow, and I thought we were going fast!” she laughed. “That’s like three weeks away, right?”

  “Yep,” Alex said at the same time that I nodded.

  “Well, congrats again you guys,” Rod said as he took Amber’s hand in his. “You two deserve it.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  I woke the next morning and felt the still warm sheets next to me. As I glanced around the room, I saw Alex standing by the window, his hands braced against its frame.

  I sat there watching him for a while. His wings were out, trailing down to the ground, the light reflecting off of them where it came through the slats of the blinds. His entire frame trembled slightly, all of the muscles in his body taught and strained. His breathing came in slow, labored draws.

  Careful not to make any sounds, I slid off the bed and walked up behind him. I gently placed a hand on his arm. His eyes jumped to my face, a gasp filling his throat. He turned slightly, grabbing my forearms. His fingers gripped me so tightly my skin started turning white. His eyes squeezed closed, his breath continuing to come with labored effort.

  “Stay with me, Alex,” I said quietly, squeezing his forearms. “Concentrate on me. You aren’t leaving me. Not now, not ever.”

  “I…” he gasped. He squeezed me harder. “I’m… not… leaving.”

  Very slowly, his body stopped shaking, his grip loosened. And then he collapsed to his hands and knees, half taking me down with him. I kneeled next to him, laying my hand on his back, fighting back the fear that wanted to consume me.

  “It’s getting stronger, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Alex only nodded.

  “We’re going to figure this out,” I faked calm. “I’m not going to let them take you from me.”

  Alex didn’t say anything, just nodded as he pulled himself to his feet. I stood as well, meeting his eyes, everything in me suddenly wishing they were still blue.

  “Jessica?” Amber’s voice floated down the stairs.

  “Coming,” I called back. I held Alex’s eyes for another long moment before stepping out the door.

  Somehow I had to figure out how to stop this. But how did you stop a dead man from joining the afterlife? It was going to take more than simply loving Alex to save him.

  “I think I’ve got all my stuff packed,” Amber said as I reached the top of the stairs. “Rod is coming over to help me load everything up.”

  “Wow, that was fast,” I said as I raised my eyebrows at her.

  Amber suddenly looked uncomfortable, her eyes flicking to the stairs.

  “What?” I asked.

  She looked to the stairs again. “It’s just, well, Caroline kind of scares me. She’s just…”

  “Is that why you’re so eager to leave?” I asked, feeling my stomach sicken.

  “Well, it’s part of it I guess. I just, don’t really trust having her in the house,” she said, twisting her fingers around each other. I could tell she felt bad for telling me this. And the thing was that I couldn’t blame her for feeling that way. Caroline made me uneasy too.

  “It’s just until she can get clean and then we will help her find her own place, help her find a job.”

  Amber nodded, a sad little smile twisting in the corner of her lips. “I hope so. It’s really sad she was never a part of Alex’s life. He’s such a nice guy.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, a pang in my chest forming. “Yeah, it’s too bad she missed out.”

  The door opened and in walked Emily and Rod.

  “Okay, he had better be lying about there being a ring on your finger,” Emily said as she stopped in the entryway, crossing her arms over her chest. “Or you’re in some serious trouble.”

  I just chuckled and held up my hand, wiggling my fingers. “I guess I’m in trouble,” I said sheepishly.

  “Oh my gosh!” she squealed as she bounded across the room to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. “Congratulations!”

  “So… you’re not mad?” I asked as I hugged her back.

  “Well, maybe a little, but whatever,” she said as she took a step away from me, taking my hand in hers and inspecting the ring. “Dang girl. Spoiled much?” She chuckled and stepped away from me, resting her hands on her hips. “At least now you won’t go back to being all moppy.”

 
; “Thanks for reminding me of that,” I rolled my eyes at her. I watched as Amber and Rod started carrying boxes outside.

  “And I’m going to be your maid of honor, right?” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

  I just chuckled and shook my head, “Is there a chance you won’t murder me if I didn’t ask you to be?”

  I didn’t think about what I was saying until it was too late. Emily’s face blanched, her eyes growing big. I instantly felt terrible, wishing I could take back my words.

  Emily’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head at me. “You,” she said as a smile slow formed on her face. “Not funny.”

  “Sorry,” I said with a chuckle as I followed her into the kitchen. “Of course you’re going to be my maid of honor.” She grabbed an orange from off the counter and started peeling it. Amber called a quick good-bye and then she and Rod were gone.

  “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I saw Alex’s mom creeping around a pretty shady part of Bellingham last night. I was on my way back from the homeless shelter when I saw her. I thought you should know, what with trying to get her clean and whatnot.”

  “Serious?” I said with a downfallen sigh. “Crap.”

  “Lots of crap,” she said as she bit into a juicy slice.

  “Hey, Jessica,” Alex said from the stairs. His face looked all too serious. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  I glanced back at Emily. “Go for it, I’ve got to get going actually. I just thought you should know.”

  “’K, thanks for telling me,” I said as I walked her to the door. As I watched her go, I was amazed at how cheery she was considering it had been just over twenty-four hours since Cormack had gone back to the afterlife. She had taken his advice to heart though. She was already setting up volunteer work to try and redeem herself.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I turned back to face Alex.

  He held up a long and quite disgusting looking needle with a piece of toilet paper. “I found this in Caroline’s bedroom. I heard her leave the house around midnight last night.”

  “That’s the reason Emily came over. She said she saw her last night in a part of town she shouldn’t have been in.”