Death, and the Girl He Loves

“Cameron had talked about that before. Rats leaving a sinking ship. They want off this planet, off this plane, and they are committing spiritual suicide to do it by having Jared swallow them, having him breathe them into a place from which there is no return.”

“But I thought having the world full of supernatural entities would be a good thing for other spirits,” Kenya said.

“Not ghosts,” Brooke replied, turning off the water as Kenya pulled her hair back, completely hogging the mirror. “According to Cameron, these are actually good ghosts who don’t want to see the world destroyed or are afraid of what will become of them.”

“When Jared first showed up,” I explained further, “there was a poltergeist that was afraid of him. The mere thought floored me.”

“It floored all of us,” Brooke agreed. “The fact that spiritual entities could be afraid of one another. Could even go to war. It was not something that we absorbed overnight. It took a while.”

“I think I’m still trying to absorb it all,” I said.

“As for school,” Brooke said as she stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a towel. “I just think, and your grandparents agree, that you might get an idea if you are out and about. We’ll be like spies, looking for clues to a mystery.”

“That would be sleuths.”

“Either way.”

“Brooke,” I said, taking her aside. “I saw the end of the world a few days ago. I don’t want to see it again. I don’t want to touch anyone. Sometimes I can stop it, but if I’m distracted—”

“Oh, I totally have that covered. You just wear your coat and gloves the entire time.”

“Won’t that look odd?”

“Ha. Wait till we get to school. You’ll understand.”

We dressed and headed downstairs. Grandma had made breakfast, seeming more cheerful than usual, and we ate as we waited for Cameron to get back. Angry or not, he was our ride to school.

“You kids have a good day,” Grandma said as we headed out.

Brooke threw her backpack over her shoulder and said quietly, “I haven’t seen your grandmother this happy in weeks.”

“Thanks for keeping an eye on them,” I said to her.

“No prob. You guys always have food, so it was like getting paid in calories.”

OUTSIDE OBSERVER

Jared met us at school, winding through throngs of reporters as they tried to interview us. He took my hand into his and threaded us through the melee while they asked us if we’d had any experiences with ghosts.

In a rare public appearance, Cameron walked up to one of the reporters, towered over him for a minute, then said quietly, “We are ghosts.”

That stunned them into silence.

We walked into my old alma mater, and I realized instantly Brooke hadn’t been kidding. The halls were only half as full as usual. Teachers looked haggard, unkempt. Even the custodians watched all the students with a wary eye, as though worried we’d attack them. The entire atmosphere had a somber feel to it.

Brooke took Kenya to the office for a pass. She miraculously would have every class with me. The sheriff had called Mr. Davis the night before and arranged everything.

Jared excused himself, so I waited outside the office and wallowed in self-pity—it seemed like the right thing to do—until I saw Jared pull a girl in between the walls of lockers. I stepped over and peeked around. It was the same girl I’d seen yesterday, the one standing on the street, staring at us as we passed. No, staring at Jared.

She had stringy blond hair and bloodshot eyes above dark circles that made them look twice as big as they were.

“You’ll not come back from this,” he said to her.

She kept her head down but looked up at him from underneath her lashes. “I understand, Azrael. I want off before it begins.”

She was possessed, and the soul inside her wanted off the plane before the war started. Clearly it knew something no one else did. Or something everyone else was refusing to see.

Jared wrapper his fingers around her jaw, his large hand covering half her face. Then he bent down and angled his head as though to kiss her, covering his mouth with hers. Even though I knew what they were doing, my heart seized just a little as I watched the exchange. He pulled back and breathed in the possessing spirit. A darkness left her mouth and entered his until she was emptied of the unwanted presence. Her eyes rolled back instantly and she collapsed into his arms.

He turned to me as he scooped her up into his arms, his chivalry one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen.

“I have to get her to the nurse’s office,” he said, starting that way.

I nodded, no longer even a little jealous. He was doing a job. His job. And that made him noble. He carried her swiftly into the south hall and I leaned against the lockers, utterly in awe of him.

Hearing a familiar footstep, I looked over and saw Ms. Mullins walking toward her classroom. Every molecule in my body brightened. She was my favorite teacher and, as we’d only recently found out, the observer, the person sent to keep an eye on us, the Order of Sanctity and me. The question was, sent from where?

I rushed up to her and she flashed a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. She had dark cropped hair and sparkling blue eyes that made her look like she was forever up to mischief.

A little shaky after what I’d just witnessed, I said breathily, “Hi, Ms. Mullins.”

She tsked and pulled me into a hug. “And she returns at last,” she said, positively beaming. “I’m so glad you’re back.”