The Middle Realm Read online

  This was all going way too smoothly. I knew that there would be a snag in our plans soon. Everything was just falling into place way too perfectly. I wondered when our luck would run out. As I sat there thinking, the phone roused me from my trancelike state.

  Ch. 18

  “I’ll get it,” Emma said, walking toward the desk. She picked up the phone. “Hello? … Oh, good morning, Detective …”

  It was the detective from the police. The police believed they’d found the body. They wanted Emma to go down to the station to identify it. I could clearly hear everything. My hearing had become quite acute. Not only did ghosts have perfect hearing, they also had perfect sight and speed. They had no need for sense of taste, obviously.

  “Yes, I’ll come down as soon as possible … Thank you … I’ll be fine … Okay. Goodbye,” She said and hung up. “They found the body. I have to go down to the station to identify it. I have to go now. Do you want to come or would you rather wait here?”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “Are you sure? Savannah, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” she said.

  “No, I’ll go.”

  I’m not sure why I said I’d go. The thought of seeing my lifeless body freaked me out a bit. It was just something I felt I had to do. I needed some sort of closure.

  “Let’s go.”

  Emma grabbed my purse -- yes, the one she killed me with. She grabbed my phone, threw it in said purse, grabbed my coat, and walked out the door. We waited for the elevator. A woman commented on how much she loved Emma’s Chanel purse. I just love the irony of people commenting on how gorgeous the purse was when it was used in a murder. I bet she wouldn’t think it was so beautiful if she knew what Emma did with it. Who knew that designer purses made great murder weapons?

  The elevator finally came. I told Emma I would meet her out front. It was great not having to wait anymore. As I stood waiting for Emma by a tree on the sidewalk, Edgar and Camille appeared.

  “Bonjour, mademoiselle. What a beautiful morning it is!” Edgar exclaimed.

  “Good morning, Edgar. Good morning, Camille,” I said to the two ghosts.

  “Good morning, Savannah. I want to apologize for how I acted last night. It was very rude of me. After Edgar told me about the circumstances surrounding your untimely passing, I felt horrible. Our stories aren’t that much different. We were both robbed of our lives at a young age. I’m so sorry for everything,” she said.

  “Thank you Camille. I hope we can be friends. Let’s just forget about what happened last night,” I said to her.

  I thought Camille and I would be the best of friends. We had something in common. We could both move on together.

  “I’m so happy you two put your differences behind you. How about we go mess with some humans? I hear that that strange little man is still here, ” Edgar said.

  “Oh, Edgar, may we? It is so much fun to terrorize the pathetic little man from Idaho, wherever that is. We must do so very soon. He could be leaving anytime,” Camille said, excitedly, “Savannah, come join us. It will be so much fun.” She was just chomping at the bit.

  I felt bad for the people at the receiving end of Camille and Edgar’s fun, especially the poor guy from Idaho. I wondered how long they’d been terrorizing him. I’m all for having fun, but when people start getting hurt, things have gone a little too far. Edgar and Camille seemed to enjoy pushing the limits when it came to “playing” with the living. Just because someone couldn’t see you didn’t mean it’s okay to terrorize him or her.

  “As tempting as it is to scare the living shit out of someone, I’m going to have to skip it today. I have some important matters to tend to. Maybe some other time,” I said.

  Their faces said it all. They were really hoping I would join them. Well, we can’t have it all. Besides, they had been doing this by themselves for well over a hundred years. They’d be fine without me. Besides, bothering the living just didn’t appeal to me. I guess when one’s been around as long as Edgar and Camille have one needed to find some way to occupy yourself.

  “Well, Savannah, what do you have to do that’s so important that you can’t have fun with us?” Edgar asked, his arms folded in front of him.

  “Well, I have to go with Emma to identify my body at the police station,” I told them. I must have said something wrong because shock replaced the disappointment in their faces. This was precisely why I need a ghostly mentor. I had said something that offended them.

  “Savannah, you can’t do that. You don’t want to see your body after you’ve died!” Camille exclaimed.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Once you see it, you’ll never be able to move on. It will hold you back. You will be stuck in the past. Please don’t do it. You will regret it. I don’t know why you would want to revisit your body,” Edgar said.

  “Well, I have to do this. I don’t have time to explain it. It’s just something I have to do. I see Emma coming now. I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Let us come with you at least. We’ll lend some support. You can’t do this alone,” Edgar said.

  “Okay, come on,” I told them.

  When a taxi finally stopped, we got in. By "we" I mean Emma, Edgar, Camille and I. Why ghosts would use a taxi when they could just appear anywhere was beyond me. I think we did it because it felt normal and comfortable. Edgar took the front and Camille and I sat on either side of Emma. I wasn’t sure if Emma could see the two other ghosts. After what seemed like the longest car ride in the history of car rides, we arrived at the city morgue. I wasn’t ready for this. Maybe Edgar and Camille were right. Maybe it was a bad idea. But it was too late. After I got out, Edgar and Camille each took a side and we walked arm-in-arm up the steps. Emma led the way. There was a ghost leaning up against one of the doors smoking a cigarette. He looked like he stepped out of a 1940s film noir. He was what you would call tall, dark and handsome. As we walked passed him, he nodded to us. We nodded back. I looked over at Emma. When we went in, the detective and a morgue worker greeted us.

  “Ms. Montgomery, we believe we have found the body of your friend, Ms. Emma George. The body seems to match the description. She was found floating face first in the Seine River. Any personal identification or money she had on her seems to be missing. If you could just come with us, we can make sure that the body found is in fact that of Ms. George,” the detective said. “If this is the right body, we’re surprised we found it so soon. Usually these things take a long time.”

  She threw my body in the river? I shuddered at the thought. Emma followed the two men down a long hallway and then a flight of stairs into a basement. It must have been cold because she pulled her coat tighter around her. We eventually made it to an all white room, which contained metal tables and what looked like freezers.

  “Savannah, are you sure you want to stay here? We can leave before they bring the body out?” Edgar asked concerned.

  “No, I want to stay.”

  “Okay, Ms. Montgomery. Are ready to see the body now?” the detective asked.

  “Yes,” she responded.

  Ch. 19

  The morgue worked opened one of the freezers and pulled out a metal tray with a body covered by a white sheet. I knew it was my body before they pulled back the sheet. The man pulled back the sheet. I stared at myself. It was a surreal moment. What I wouldn’t have given to be able to just climb back in my body and sit up and yell, “Surprise! I’m back!” Unfortunately, that was not possible. I looked almost peaceful. I say “almost” because the bruises and cuts on my face didn’t signify calm peace. They signified a struggle, a struggle that I ultimately lost. I looked to my sides to see Camille and Edgar staring at the floor. It was too hard for them to look at my body.

  “You were beautiful,” Camille said.

  “Thank you. I wish they would cover me back up,” I said.

  Emma was beginning to cry. It made me start to cry. Then Camille started crying. Edgar did his best to comfort us. Okay
, this was officially a bad idea.

  “Ms. Montgomery, is this Ms. George?” the detective asked.

  “Yes, it’s her,” Emma managed to say between sobs.

  The morgue worker wrote stuff down on a chart. “It appears that she suffered blunt trauma to the head, which knocked her out cold. It then appears that she was suffocated to death. I’m very sorry. My deepest condolences,” he said.

  “Do you think I could be alone with her for a few minutes?” Emma asked.

  “Yes. Afterward we can work out all the paperwork so you can bring your friend back to the U.S. so that she can be laid to rest,” the detective said.

  After the two men left, Emma turned to me.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

  “Emma, what’s done is done. We have to move on. Now, take my necklace and ring off my body and put them on,” I told her. “You really could have taken them off before you threw my body in the river.”

  “What? No, that jewelry has been on a dead body. Gross. I’m not wearing any of it,” she said with disgust.

  “Oh, yes, you will. Just carefully slip it off and put it on. It’s not like your dealing with a stranger. You know me,” I said to her. Edgar and Camille nodded in agreement.

  “Fine,” she said. She carefully lifted my wrist. “Eww! Your body is stiff and cold”.

  Camille kept an eye out for anyone coming. Emma carefully started trying to ease the ring off my cold dead finger. The ring wouldn’t budge. She tried a little harder. I was worried she would break my finger off or something.

  “Will you be careful, please?” I asked her.

  “What, it’s not like you can feel anything,” she said.

  I didn’t want Emma to disfigure my body. I wanted it to remain completely intact with no missing body parts. Emma is not exactly the gentlest person in the world. She didn’t mean to be rough, she just was. I remembered when she would pet my cat Boo Radley. She would grab him and place him on her lap. She would pet him so hard his entire body would move back and forth as she pet him. You also didn’t want Emma tickling you. She always left a bruise when she tried to tickle you. I don’t think Emma knew her own strength.

  “I know, but I don’t want you to cause any more damage then there already is,” I told her. I heard a noise from the stairs. I turned to see what it was, and then I heard a crack, a loud cringe-worthy crack followed by Emma’s declaration that the ring is off, but my finger was probably broken. I turned to see her holding my ring up to the bright lights and inspecting it. She saw me.

  If I had a stomach, I probably would have expelled everything in it after hearing that bone break. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have one.

  “The good news is that I finally got the ring off your finger. The bad news is that I probably broke said finger. Sorry about that,” she said.

  “It’s okay. It’s not like I could feel it any way,” I said.

  “The necklace should be easier to get off,” I said.

  “It was,” she said, holding up my dove necklace. I never even saw her grab it. She was fast.

  “We should get going,” I said.

  “First I have to talk to the detective. You go on. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. I’ll see you at the hotel later,” Emma said.

  Edgar, Camille and I made our way up the stairs. We were quiet as we made our way back up to the main level of the building. What just happened felt so weird, so unnatural. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. Where did one go from here? The only world I’d ever known was gone to me. The world I once was apart of now felt millions of miles away. Life was going to go on regardless of whether I was there or not. The realization of what happened to me was really sinking in. All I could think about was Alexander. The thought of not being in the same world as him hurt me more than anything. It hurt more than what Emma had done to me. I couldn’t take it. I would never rest in peace. I just wanted to disappear.

  “Savannah, are you okay?” Edgar asked. “You’ve been really quiet and Camille and I are worried.”

  “I’m fine, I guess,” I said as I slid down on the floor. Camille and Edgar sat down on either side of me.

  “Savannah, you’re not fine. Something is bothering you. Please, let us help. We’ve been through the same thing. Just tell us what’s wrong. Please?” Camille asked.

  “Now it’s really hit me that I’m not coming back. I’m really gone. The world is going to continue on just as it was before I died. I don’t know what to do. I feel so lost. Everything is over for me,” I said in between sobs.

  “Savannah, everything isn’t over. Your journey is just beginning,” Camille said.

  “What do you mean by ‘My journey is just beginning’?” I asked.

  “What she means is that your physical life on earth is over. That chapter of your story is finished. Now you are starting a new chapter. Try not to look at death as the end. Look at it as the continuation of your story,” Edgar said.

  “Well, this is not exactly how I expected my story to turn out,” I said, angry.

  “Unfortunately, they don’t always turn out the way we want them to,” Edgar said.

  “Isn’t that the truth!”? I said.

  “Savannah, I know you’re bitter, but you need to accept what’s happened and move on. There is no point dwelling in the past. You can’t go back in time to change what happened,” he said.

  “I’m not bitter.”

  “Yes, you are,” Edgar and Camille said in unison.

  Okay, fine. Maybe I was a little bitter. Who wouldn’t be in my situation? I mean, come on. I was murdered by my best friend. This was not something that I could easily move on from. Emma was someone I trusted. When one of the people you trust in most hurts you, it’s hard to move on. The hurt they inflict runs deep. It leaves a lasting scar that stays with you as a constant reminder. Maybe I’d move on, maybe I wouldn’t? It was easy for Edgar and Camille to tell me to put all that happened behind me and move on. They’d both been dead well over a hundred years. They’d had plenty of time to adjust. I’d only been dead a short amount of time. The pain was still fresh. What I needed most from them was guidance. I was trying to navigate this new world and I needed them to guide me.

  “Fine. You win. I am bitter. But I’m sure you would be, too, if you were me,” I said.

  “We’ve been there before. Well, I have, anyways. Trust me, the pain will lessen as time goes on. It will never be completely gone, but it will be bearable. We understand what you’re going through. We know you’re scared, confused and lost. We will help you. You can turn to us when you have a problem,” Camille said. Edgar nodded.

  “Thanks guys. I should probably go find Emma.”

  “You will be back, right?” Camille asked, referring to my trip back to Connecticut with Emma.

  “Yes. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

  “Do you need Camille and I to accompany you?” Edgar asked. “I’m worried about what will happen if you run into other spirits. Do you know how to address them? Do you know how to act around other spirits?”

  “No. But I was hoping you guys could tell me on the way back to the hotel, if you don’t mind,” I said.

  “We would love to,” exclaimed Camille.

  Ch. 20

  On the way back to the hotel, Edgar and Camille went over spirit politics. There was so much to learn. I was hoping I wouldn’t forget anything they were telling me. It was not like I would be able to just text them if I had a question. The spirit world was very low tech; actually, it was more like zero tech. It was kind of nice not having to deal with cell phones and computers. I can say that now, but I’m sure later on I’ll feel differently. I learned that I could fly and float in mid air. I also learned that I could open and close doors, turn lights on and off, and do other simple things like that. Edgar and Camille also warned me to be careful because humans were now creating machines that could capture pictures and
videos of spirits. It was important that we remained unseen. There were some spirits who wanted to be seen. That was where the spirit guards come in. They patrolled the places where spirits lived, making sure that spirits remained unseen and preventing them from interfering too much with the living.

  When we got to the hotel, I saw Emma standing on the sidewalk outside talking to someone when all at once a man ran up to her and grabbed her purse. He took off into the crowded sidewalk. I couldn’t believe it. This guy had balls to steal a purse in broad daylight, on a busy street no less. Emma took off running after him, as did two men and a police officer. Camille, Edgar and I took matters into our own hands. We could move faster than anyone with a heartbeat.

  “Guys, come on. We have to stop him somehow. Emma needs that purse,” I said to them.

  “Why should you help her? She killed you. Let her deal with it,” Edgar said.

  I was really beginning to think that something or someone was controlling Emma and made her kill me. That, or she was under some influence. Regardless, I promised to continue to be there for her and help her.

  “Please. You’ll be, doing this for me, not her.”

  “Fine,” Edgar said. “This could be fun. Camille, dear, let's follow him from the air.”

  “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate this. I owe you.”

  “What are friends for?” Camille said.

  Camille and Edgar took to the air. They had a good aerial view that stretched for miles. With their amazing eyesight, they would spot the thief in no time. Did I mention ghosts have excellent sight and hearing? Their sense of smell is okay. Ghosts didn’t really need to smell anything. Touch and taste were completely absent. Ghost couldn’t eat, so a sense of taste was not necessary. The lack of a sense of touch was pretty much self-explanatory.

  “He’s already the next street over,” Edgar yelled.

  “All right. Thanks, Edgar,” I yelled up to him.

  I ran on foot. Wow, I was really moving. Not having a body to weigh you down really helped you move fast. I was getting closer until an unexpected roadblock appeared out of nowhere.