SPASE

SPASE: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Parker feels them coming. The image of Nick telling her Maddie's appearance comes to mind. He said that it would be like this. Static electricity pulses through her veins, making her body go numb. She grasps the railroad spike that she's leaning against and pushes herself up. As she stands, her knees begin to feel wobbly as though she had just been kissed by the love of my life; a love that she would never have. One like the movies; a love totally unfathomable.

Parker looks at her hands, waiting for a sign. "Will I disappear or will they appear?" She wonders.

Waiting is all she's ever done well.

Parker's thick, black hair is still tied back into a low bun, as she continues to stare at her palms. She can almost witness the numbness becomes stronger, vibrating through her like a helicopter flying close above. It isn't a helicopter. It's Maddie and Reynolds.

A cool breeze blows across Maddie's face. Parker lifts her head to see them both standing in front of her. Confused, Maddie isn't used to traveling in Spase. They don't speak, only stare. Maddie peers at the large, bold pines that line the gravel in between the railroad tracks.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Maddie says to Reynolds.

You'll see, darlin,' Reynolds relays.

"Are you sure that we didn't transport to the wrong place?"

I'm positive.

All of Spase knows why they are here; to give the souls in Spase hope.

Hope that Parker doesn't have or want. She just wants to go home where it started. She knows how she messed up. Parker doesn't want to transition. She wants to go back and fix her mistake. She doesn't want to start all over again.

Reynolds licks his front paw and then slowly starts walking toward Parker. Upon greeting her, he licks her bare thigh and nuzzles her hand with his wet nose. She looks down to see his chocolate brown eyes looking up at her. He seems to not take notice of the fresh gashes on her wrists, but Maddie notices that she is quick to cover them with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

Deep down, Maddie can relate to such a deep feeling of emptiness where a person would try to cut deep just to feel anything.

Parker lifts her head and makes eye contact with Maddie. Parker imagined Maddie differently than how they appear. Maddie is more masculine than Nick described. It makes her wonder whether Nick is full of shit.

"Um, hi," Maddie says as they tip-toe toward Parker. Maddie is more comfortable now that Reynolds greeted Parker. Maddie notices that everyone seems to know Reynolds here in Spase. He's been here before a lot of beings could remember; always visiting, always watching. Reynolds has always been waiting for someone: waiting for Maddie.

Parker chews on a loose strand of her hair and tugs on her Bermuda shorts. Instead of the numbness in her palms, Parker now feels exposed. Maddie can feel how she's feeling. They've been there before. Sitting next to Parker, Reynolds stares at Maddie. Maddie gets the feeling Parker knows they can communicate.

"H--hi," Parker stutters. Her nervousness is apparent in the sound of her voice. Maddie feels Parker is normally just a shadow; going unnoticed and unwanted. Parker could literately fall off the face of the planet and no one would notice.

And they didn't.

"So," Maddie says, seeming hesitant in the words that come out of their month. "Are you lost?"

Lost. Annoyance runs across Parker's face. The wind whipped around the trees, making Maddie shiver and Reynolds change positions. Reynolds and Parker could tell Maddie's cold, only wearing a yellow dress and boots. Maddie finds Parker checking them out, looking up and down as if they were some kind of specimen in a laboratory.