“You sure?”
I just nodded my head, unable to say anything else.
ALEX
I felt a little irritated at all the people that were on the road around the lake these days. There were so many of them as I drove to the freeway on my way to meet up with Rod. I enjoyed the quiet lifestyle I had become accustomed to and they were infringing on my new world. It was strange that they all bothered me. I was from Southern California, where there were millions of people. I had always liked people. Now they just stared open mouthed and tried to reason why I looked the way I did.
I tried to reason what I had just seen. What Jessica had just done was impossible. She had been moving almost as fast as I did. She had crashed into me like a torpedo. I still wasn’t even sure if her skin had healed like I thought it did or if that was just something my imagination had made up. Maybe I had gotten a concussion when she knocked me down.
I knew I hadn’t though. I couldn’t get a concussion.
What Jessica had done scared me beyond belief. Something was wrong with her. And it wasn’t just what I had seen her do today. She still didn’t eat much, maybe a meal a day. If I forced her. I wondered if she even still needed to. And she still only slept every other night, at the most.
I knew my limits and what I was capable of but I also knew what I was. I was dead, I was an angel.
I wasn’t so sure what Jessica was.
How much of her was human and how much of her was dead and more like myself, I didn’t want to know. The things she was capable of though proved she was probably more angel than human. I didn’t think she even realized this herself. She had no idea how close she had come to death. How much had she transitioned before I stopped it?
An involuntary shudder rippled through me at this thought. I had been so close to losing her. When I had found the gun she had been about to use on herself my world started crumbling apart. I probably would have used it on myself had Jessica taken herself out of this world.
Surprisingly, the decision I made to trade my life for hers was easy to make. I was going to lose her one way or another. She was going to die; there was no question about that. I had expected to have to move onto the afterlife when I made the trade, so either way I was going to lose her. I would forever be grateful for this extra time we had been granted.
Everything changed after that horrific day though. I knew the things Jessica was capable of before it all happened was impossible. Before I died, she still shouldn’t have been able to survive on as little sleep. She didn’t used to eat often either. Everything had been so much more enhanced after though. While I had freed her of the nightmares she was still far from normal. She might not have realized I noticed, but I knew she was stronger than any man I had ever met. And her senses were closer to mine than a human’s.
There was something else that was off about Jessica since that day. I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. When I looked at her there was something that was different about her than everyone else I knew. Not just all the things that I already knew were different. Something else about her had changed but I wasn’t sure what.
And that was the part that terrified me the most.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JESSICA
I hung the phone up and gave a frustrated sigh.
Where was she?
Panic was starting to eat me up. It had now been a full month since I had seen Emily. I still had no idea where she had gone to. I’d been calling her phone three times a day lately, never getting anything but her voicemail.
“Hey, Jessica?” Austin’s voice came from behind me. I turned around, trying to get my face composed.
“Rita just asked if I’d take this order up to some old lady who lives up in Ferndale. She said you could go with me if you wanted.”
“It is a little dead,” I said as I looked around the bookshop. It was completely empty besides the three of us.
Austin chuckled. “You want to come?”
I hesitated for a moment, hoping he wouldn’t read anything he shouldn’t into this. “Sure.”
We let Rita know we were leaving and headed out to the parking lot. We paused in a momentary awkward second, unsure of what car to take.
“We can take my car but we will have to stop for gas on the way. I’m almost empty,” I said as we stood there.
“Let’s just take mine then. I’ve got a full tank.”
I slid into the passenger seat, pushing aside the food wrappers that were scattered on the floor. It smelled just a little off inside. I tried not to wrinkle my nose.
“Sorry,” Austin’s face flooded with red. “I was going to clean it out yesterday. Guess I kinda’ forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, giving a half smile.
He put the key in the ignition and went to start the car. It gave a high pitched squeal but didn’t turn over.
“Maybe we should just take the GTO,” I said as I pointed in the direction of my car. “Yours isn’t really seaming up to the job today.”
“No, it’s okay,” he said. I heard the undertones of frustration and embarrassment. “Just give it a second.”
He was right. The next try it jumped to life, though the high squeal didn’t die away. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the freeway.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Austin said as he turned his blinker on and merged into the flow of the light traffic. “I’ve taken an order into this lady before for Rita. I was stuck there for nearly two hours while she ranted on and on about I’m not even sure what.”
“So you tricked me?” I said in mock horror. “You’re going to let her take me prisoner too?”
“Not going down by myself,” he chuckled as he glanced over at me. “Like they say, misery loves company.”
I gave an awkward smile. I had always applied that expression to the condemned angels.
“So have you heard from your friend that’s been missing?” Austin asked, his eyes focused on the road in front of him.
I shook my head. “I’m getting really worried about her. No one has heard from her for over a month now.”
“Have you talked to her family yet?”
“Emily isn’t close with them,” I said awkwardly. That was the understatement of the decade. “They don’t talk.”
“Well, have you filed a missing person’s report?”
I shook my head again. “She’s got kind of a shady past. It would only get Emily in even more trouble to get the police involved.”
“What, like, she’s a fugitive?” Austin asked with a chuckle as he gave me a disbelieving glance.
“Sort of,” I said as I looked out the window. Wow. I’d said way too much. How stupid was I?
“That’s kind of hot,” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Okay, change of subj… Austin watch out!” I screamed.
It all happened so fast but I didn’t miss a single detail. The semi-truck in front of us had suddenly slammed on its breaks, causing the trailer behind it to jackknife across both freeway lanes. Austin swerved to the right to avoid hitting it but there was no prayer.
The front left side of Austin’s car slammed into the trailer. The car was suddenly airborne and I saw alternating views of freeway and open fields of the countryside as we flipped.
One second I watched as Austin was catapulted out the driver’s side window that had been rolled down.
The next second everything turned black and very quiet.
ALEX
I set the dusting rag down and went to grab my cell phone off the counter as it rang. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Is Alex Wright available?” a female voice said on the other end.
“This is him,” I answered as I looked around the house. I was nearly done with all the remodeling.
“This is Sandra from St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham. Do you know a Jessica Bailey?”
My stomach suddenly dropped out. I wanted to throw up. ??
?Yes. She’s my girlfriend.”
“There’s been an accident. She’s in the emergency room right now. You should come down as soon as possible.”
“I’m on my way right now,” I said as I locked the front door behind me.
It was amazing I didn’t get a speeding ticket as I screeched down the streets. Horrible visions filled my head as I couldn’t push the truck fast enough. Was she okay? How badly had she been injured? What had happened?
But what if she hadn’t been hurt? I’d seen her heal before my own eyes. There hadn’t even been any blood.
I parked across three spaces as I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Moving faster than I should have, I sprinted through the doors of the emergency room.
“I’m here to see Jessica Bailey,” I said to the girl who sat at the reception counter.
“She’s in room 124,” she told me as she looked something up on the computer, after asking for my name. “Officer Barrington is here to talk to you.”
I turned around and saw the police officer that had been standing in one corner of the waiting room. I shook his hand as he extended it to me.
“Is she okay?” I asked, my voice frantic as we walked down the hall.
“It was a really bad accident,” he said, his face grim. “She and the other boy were just getting into Ferndale when it happened.”
“Wait,” I said as I paused in the hall. “Other boy?”
“Miss Bailey was in the car with a boy she works with. They were driving his car, running a delivery I believe.”
“Austin?” I asked. Even as I did I glanced into the room to my right and saw a nurse propping a pillow under the very guy’s right arm. His eyes met mine, panic seeping into them.
“I’m so sorry, Alex,” he said, anxiety about to overtake him. “It was an accident. I’m so sorry!”
My eyes grew wide and panic filled me. “Jessica!” I yelled as I turned and ran down the hall, my eyes searching franticly for room number 124. “Jessica!” I bellowed again as I half fell through the right door.
She was lying on the bed, her eyes closed, her hair fanned out around her face. Monitors beeped and there were tubes hooked up to her arms.
“Is she alright?” I half whispered as I stood five feet away from the bed. I couldn’t seem to make myself move any closer.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle she made it out of there. A witness says she saw the car fly about fifteen feet before it hit the ground. It rolled about five times before it landed on the roof. The boy was thrown from the car almost immediately. He has a broken arm but is fine other than that.
“Jessica was trapped inside. She was knocked unconscious. We had to use the Jaws of Life to pry her out. The car basically balled around her. I honestly don’t know how it didn’t crush her to death.”
I bit my lower lip, squeezing my eyes closed for a minute. Just then there was a knock at the door and a graying man in a white lab coat stepped in.
“I’m Dr. Russell,” he said as he shook my hand. “I’ve been assigned to Miss Bailey.”
“Is she okay?” I asked, my insides quivering. I felt like I was going to shatter at any moment.
“Excuse me,” the policeman said as he stepped toward the door. “I have to go talk to the boy again.” He closed the door behind him.
“Is she okay?” I asked again.
It was a few seconds before Dr. Russell spoke. “This is nothing short of a miracle, Mr. Wright. The EMT’s told us that Jessica was completely wrapped up on the remains of the car. She really shouldn’t have survived.”
“But she’s okay?” I felt like screaming at the man. I just wanted to know if Jessica was alright and no one would answer me straight.
“Jessica doesn’t have a scratch on her,” the doctor whispered as he glanced at her still form. “Not a broken bone, not a cut or even a bruise.”
I cursed under my breath as I looked back at Jessica.
“We’ve taken x-rays of most of Jessica’s body. Forgive me for saying this, but this woman has the most perfect body I have ever seen. I don’t see evidence of a single broken bone, ever. And her structural make up, well, bodies like this just don’t exist. She’s… well, perfect.”
My vocal cords didn’t seem to want to work as I just stared at her. I was terrified.
“She’s just resting right now. She woke up for a few minutes earlier but she was disoriented. I think her body’s trying to recover right now, despite the lack of damage.
“We would like to keep Miss Bailey here overnight for observation. If everything goes well I see no reason why she couldn’t go home in the morning.”
I gave a nod to indicate that I had heard him.
“I’ll give you some time alone with her. Things are going to be alright, Mr. Wright. She’s perfectly fine.” The doctor laid a hand on my shoulder, giving me one of those all too familiar searching stares. After a moment he let himself out.
Jessica may have been perfect but that just proved she was not fine.
I finally moved to Jessica’s side, pulling a chair up close to her bed. I took one of her small hands in mine and pressed my lips to her knuckles. It terrified me to see her like this, looking so helpless.
She belongs with us…
You must return…
We are waiting…
The whispers built up slowly, so quiet that I didn’t even realize they were there at first. They grew in intensity. They became hurried, frantic. Excited. I closed my eyes, focusing everything I had into pushing them out.
My breath caught in my chest as my insides started to quake. Everything inside of me felt like it was shifting, disappearing and reforming again. My hands shook and I had to let go of Jessica’s hand to keep from crushing it.
I braced my hands on the edge of her bed, my head hanging between my arms. I gave a gasping breath, trying to force air in and out of my lungs that felt like they weren’t there anymore.
“No,” I said through clenched teeth. “No.”
The whispering built in intensity, becoming chaotic. I couldn’t even distinguish actual words. But I was getting their message loud and clear.
“Alex?”
Air flooded my lungs and my insides felt whole again as everything dropped away and my head jerked up. Jessica was looking at me with her wide hazel eyes.
“Jessica!” I cried in relief as I pulled her into my arms.
“Where am I?” she asked as she returned my embrace and looked around. “What happened?”
I sat back a bit, hovering at the edge of the bed. “There was an accident.”
I saw the memories come back to Jessica before I even finished my sentence. “The semi. The car flipped. Austin flew out the window. Is he okay?” Her tone was suddenly panicked.
“He broke an arm but other than that I think he’s fine,” I said as I brushed a stray hair behind her ear.
Jessica took in her surroundings again. “I’m in the hospital.” It was a terrified statement. “I can’t be here Alex. There’s something wrong with me. They’re going to find out.”
I glanced at the closed door, my insides knotting up. She was right. I had to get her out of here. Now.
I jumped up from the bed, digging through every drawer and cupboard. “Here,” I said as I found Jessica’s clothes. “Put these on.”
She didn’t protest or even say anything. She just got out of the bed, keeping her backside covered as best she could with the hospital gown. I turned around as she pulled her clothes on.
“They’re going to ask questions,” she said. “What have they seen?”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “Enough.” Too much.
I didn’t realize she had finished getting dressed until she stepped around in front of me. Her face was tight with mixed emotions.
“They can’t know whatever they might have seen,” she said as she looked up into my eyes. I could see the conflict in her own. “You’re going to have to fix this.”
“What?” I asked, my brow f
urrowing.
“They can’t remember I’ve been here. None of them.” Jessica’s face was stark white.
I swallowed hard as I stared back at her. “I’m not like him. I can’t do that. It’s wrong.”
Jessica bit her lower lip, her eyes dropping away from my face for a moment. When she looked back up at me they were tight. “They can’t know. There’s something wrong with me Alex. They’ll do whatever they have to to figure it out.”
And I knew she was right. Dr. Russell would start to wonder what was going on with Jessica. He had seen proof on the x-ray that there was something off. She was too perfect.
“I don’t want to do this,” I said with a quivering voice.
“I know,” she said, her voice husky sounding. We stared at each other for several loaded moments. “I’ll wait in the truck.”
I felt my insides harden as I watched her go out the door. It felt as if the afterlife had sunk their claws further into me. I was getting forced into being what I was.
My jaw was clenched as I walked out the door and into the hall, all traces of Jessica gone. I walked down the hall and stepped into the room I had seen Austin in.
“Alex, I’m so sorry,” he started in again.
“For what?” I asked. I was focusing everything I had toward Austin. “You have nothing to apologize for. You were in an accident.”
Austin’s face was saturated with confusion as he looked back at me. “The car. Jessica almost came on the delivery with me. She would have been killed if she’d come!”
“Get better soon, Austin,” I said as I started back toward the door. I paused with my hand on the doorknob and looked back at him. My insides felt sick.
“Thanks for coming to see me,” Austin said with a small smile. “You’re a good guy, Alex.”
I couldn’t even return the smile as I gave a nod and stepped out.
I didn’t feel like a good guy after altering Austin’s memories. It was wrong to mess with people’s heads.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JESSICA
He hovered above me, his eyes gleaming black, the excitement and anticipation blurring their focus. His hands stroked both my arms softly, sending shivers down my spine. As his lips brushed mine, my pulse raced and my own hands brushed his bare back, my fingers rising and falling over the coiled muscles. They froze as I felt the feathers.