Judges

Chapter Thirty Seven

1994

I close my eyes and think of the moment, one of my favorites, where, for once, something didn't go utterly wrong simply because of Alastair.

The people congregate once more to say their final goodbyes in front of the coffin. As people leave and go to their cars, I hear the principal of Greene talking to several adults near a bench.

"It was a freak accident. Weather was crazy that day, and now our school is damaged and one of our students is dead. The shock completely fried the power system, the school may be shut down for a year or two due to the damage. We may have to relocate students. And the poor boy..."

"Just trying to help someone..."

"Didn't deserve to die..."

I'm not supposed to be here. I have to leave, but I wait a moment as I watch classmates leave. I spot Augusta and Julia, and another girl, Nicole, leaving with my mother. Not my mother anymore, I suppose, but Mrs. Hayes. They get in the car, talking about how they wish they had known Jared better, while Augusta really knew him well. We had talked quite a bit, waiting in lines for the rides at the park.

His favorite color was blue.

He liked Nirvana, Weezer, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Oasis, No Doubt, The Cranberries, Blink-182.

He was a dog person, and allergic to cats.

He liked spaghetti.

His parents weren't great.

He liked riding the bus to school, and riding in a limousine everywhere else, so he wouldn't be judged at school.

He loved shopping for records.

On weekends he would usually go to the theme park and ride every single ride.

Strawberry ice cream is disgusting, he liked rocky road the best.

I wait, until a cold feeling drifts over my ethereal body, starting from my arms and drifting up to my shoulders, a foreboding. A sick feeling of dread.

I turn slowly, and I see Alastair once more, with the wind blowing his hair and he is dressed in black.

Funny that I see him again in a graveyard.

"I told you to leave!" I scream at him, and he laughs.

"I'm not going to just leave. If I do, you're coming with me."

"You killed him! The one person I actually care about!"

"Not me? Not your family?" He laughs. "You're being hysterical. Think for a second. I'm in a position of power, and I know you really well. And you can be with your family and me."

"I can be with him and my family."

"Not in my realm. You see, I own the City of Palaces. While you were messing around down here, dealing with a bunch of death, falling into my hands, I was getting myself right up in a powerful position. I'm practically a Divine now, if you know what that is. They are the bosses, of everything. So you might as well just come with me."

"I don't have to."

"I'll see that his spirit gets destroyed."

I can hear his words strike me deep, and my limbs feel paralyzed. I look into his eyes, and I don't see a soul.

I try to run, but my feet feel numb and I don't move anymore. Suddenly, a figure appears behind Alastair and grins.

It's Jared.

I had forgotten to Judge him, he's returned as a ghost.

Alastair turns, and tries to grab at Jared, who is smaller than he is. Tendrils of smoke explode in a gust from Alastair, and they swirl in the wind. Something tells me not to touch them, as they swirl into the ground and I hear a rumbling noise as Jared runs toward me. We run as Alastair chases us, to the road.

No one can help, because none can see.

Alastair approaches slowly, smiling, he thinks he's won.

"Jared, there's nothing we can do. We're right in the palm of his hand."

"Didn't you say there was somewhere else? Where you disappear to? I would try, but something is keeping me here."

I speak quickly as we run. "That's because you're trapped here, until I judge you."

"So judge me."

"I don't know if I can. I kind of quit."

"Try anyway! We don't have much of a choice, here!"

"Are you good?"

"Am I good? What do you think?"

"I think you are. You tried to save that girl, you tried to save me. It's kind of obvious, I don't know why I didn't say it before, maybe because I wanted to stay."

"Then say so. Say it now."

"You're a good person, Jared."

Something heavy lifts off my chest, and my vision blurs as light floods the graveyard and it swirls into nothingness, and Jared and I stand in a blank world, with nothing but a view of a city on the horizon.