The Departed (Working Title)

Chapter Six

I woke from my nightmare in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of my lungs. The souls we reaped haunted my dreams. After the collision, Jax helped a little six year old girl move on to her afterlife. Six years old. I could still see her white blonde pigtails and stuffed puppy she had clutched underneath her arm.

I patted down my shoulders, my chest, my legs... I was safe. I was back at the cabin... only I wasn't in my own cabin. And I wasn't in my own clothes. I now wore large sweatpants and a baggy t shirt. Jax was kneeling next to me, running his hand along my hair and shushing me gently.

"What happened?" The girls' voice so high pitched, so young, echoed in my head.

"Hey," Jax greeted warmly as he bent down on one knee to get to her level, "You were in an accident."

"What kind of accident?" The girl said squeezing her puppy tighter.

Jax continued to shush me while reassuring me, "It was just a dream, it was just a dream."

How did we get here? I remembered following Jax and observing him reap souls, but everything after that was a blur. Did one of our visits end in some sort of fight where I got knocked out? Or was I just in that much shock after everything was said and done?

I couldn't understand how Jax could do this kind of thing day in and day out and seem so unaffected by it at times. Or was he unaffected by it?

Jax tucked a stray strand of hair behind the girls ear, and reassured her everything would be okay. "You were in a car accident, and you didn't make it."

"Where's my mommy?" She asked, her eyes began welling up with tears.

I glanced over at Jax, was that a twinkle I saw in his eye? A hint of a tear? "Your mom didn't make it either," Jax said, "but there's a chance you will see her soon."

I thought Jax didn't make promises he couldn't keep? Why would he even mention that to this poor girl?

Her face uplifted at the thought of possibly seeing her mom again. "How can I see her?" She asked hopefully.

"Take my hand, and I will transport you to the afterlife," Jax instructed holding out his hand.

"Afterlife? Like heaven?" The girl asked.

Jax laughed playfully as he said, "Something like it." He stood up, his hand still outreached.

"I think I'm ready then," the girl said wisely. She was careful to tuck in her stuffed puppy as tightly as possible before grabbing Jax hand. The familiar dazzling halo beamed before me, and then she vanished.

My breathing began to calm, my chest rising and falling in equal intervals. I felt warm with Jax's arms wrapped tightly around me. The sound of his shushing lulled me into a stage of peace.

"I saw the little girl, Hayley," I whispered into his shirt, which was soaked from my tears.

It was only after the incident that Jax informed me of who that was - Hayley Strongman. 6 years old. First grader at Silver Grove Elementary. She was adopted by her two moms only six months before. How could something like this happen to someone so young and so innocent? She had a whole life ahead of her, a life that was hardly lived. I wondered what her other mom was doing... was she grieving over the loss of her daughter and her wife? Did she have family to support and help her in such a difficult time?

"Sometimes... when I dream about them, I get out of bed and look back up at the stars," Jax said in hushed tones, as he continued to stroke my hair. "When I look up at the stars, I'm looking at the heavens. And while we may be down here on the front lines seeing the horrors that happen on earth, there's that little hope that whatever soul I reaped... that soul is up their experiencing all the joys that heaven can bring."