Jinxed

F O U R T Y - T H R E E

CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE: GUARDIAN ANGELS DO EXIST 

EMILIA

"Emilia..." a sweet voice called too me, her tone so warm and achingly familiar that all I wanted to do was crawl in her lap and let go "Emilia baby...it's time." 

"Mommy?" I whimpered, trying as hard as I could to follow her voice "Momma is that you?" 

A warm kissed touched my forehead and her small hands ran their way through my hair. 

"It's me baby" she hugged me tightly to her body "Emmie, sweet girl. I need you to wake up for me now." 

"I don't want too Momma" I cried, hugging her warm body closer to mine "If I do, then that means I have to go back to that cruel and awful world. A world which you're not in. If I wake up, then that means I'll lose you again. It means you're really gone forever..." 

She gripped me tighter in her arms, cooing softly in my ear in a way she often did whenever I got overwhelmed in life. 

"That's not true baby girl" she spoke softly "I'll never truly be gone. I'll always be in your heart." 

"But that's not enough Momma" I cried harder "I want you physically near me. I miss you so much that sometimes, my heart refuses to help me remember what you feel like! Everyday, I swear I forget a little more about you each day." 

"Emmie..." 

"No," I shook my head, gripping her tighter, as I made up my mind "I want to stay here with you. Please? Can I stay with you Mommy? Just for a little while longer?" 

She sighed, and brushed the hair back away from my face. 

"I won't force you to do something you don't want to do baby" she said softly, "If you want to stay with me for a little longer than you can. But if you do, what will happen to Kai? Or Nezzie and your Dad? How about Noel or Scott, your best friends? What will they think about you staying with me up here?" 

My eyes popped open at that, my heart ripping in two as I thought about everyone back home. 

Mom patted my cheek, a knowing grin lining her perfect face. 

She always knew which buttons to press to get me to do whatever she wanted... 

"That's not fair" I said weakly as more tears glazed my eyes "You can't do that to me." 

"Do what?" she asked innocently, although with that gleam in her eye, I knew that she knew exact what she was doing by dangling my friends and our family over my head. 

"I miss you" I whispered "I miss you so damn much that it hurts. Inez and Dad do too you know. Sometimes I catch Dad staring at your old photo albums, tracing your beautiful face lovingly with tears in his eyes."