The Almost Rock Star (A Ghost Story) (DRAFT)

The Almost Rock Star (A Ghost Story) 14, Weird Hats

Chapter Fourteen

Weird Hats

I was so angry at Aja that I felt my face getting red. 

Aja was looking down at his picture. He had just printed it out. 

There it was. My face. The one he called Cara Mia. It means “my face” in Spanish. It means “dear one” in Italian. I think I went a little crazy.

“Cara mia, cara mia, is not a cara mia.” I shouted at him. My face, dear one, is not a dear face.

Of course he didn’t get it.

“Beautiful Cara Mia. I will make you more beautiful even in death,” Aja said, not even looking in my direction. 

I reached over and with one swipe, pushed the digital picture off his desk. It went flying. Straight up to the ceiling, where a fan caught it and twirled it part way around and flung it toward the door. I ran to the door and just caught it as it landed. Using everything I had learned so far, I tore it into little pieces. Sometimes my hands just slipped through the photo and hit each other. Then I focused harder and made sure the rips happened.

“What is wrong with you? I’m an artist. An artist of the dead. I make death beautiful. That is what I do. You have even come to my shows. I am almost famous.”

I looked at his face. He believed what he was saying. 

“You are a sick, twisted artist wannabe who is never going to make it painting dead frogs, dead pigs and dead rock stars,” I screamed at him. 

On the ground, in the pile of torn photos, a single small piece of photo paper seemed to stare at me. The paper had torn around the photo of my eye socket. My gruesome lack of an eye, the black hole where my beautiful blue eyes had been, stared up at nothing.  It hit me then. I was truly dead. The blue eyes were gone, and what was left of the space they occupied was staring at what was left of me. Nothing. I was invisible. I didn’t exist any more.

I went on a rampage.  I tore up all of his photos I could find. 

As Aja cried out for me to stop ruining his work, the voice of the goddess, that hated Hera who’d been tormenting me, overwhelmed the room. 

It won’t do any good until you come to me and apologize. You do not exist unless I give you a reason to exist. Come to me now, before the shadows come to get you.

I stopped in my rampage. Hearing Hera again made me even angrier. This mean goddess was the one causing my pain, and now the shadows, whoever or whatever they were, were going to come for me? This whole situation was getting worse, and I was so furious that I was nearly out of control. But I couldn’t get any words out. I felt like something had started choking me. 

“Ackkk! Aooouwwwk!” I got the sounds out, then looked at Aja.

He was sitting, staring at his now empty desktop, real fear on his face. The goddess had spoken so loudly that Aja heard it. 

I looked at him and wondered what he was so afraid of. Why be afraid of a goddess? With a huge effort, I wrestled an invisible weight off of my neck and head. Now I could think. 

“Aja, don’t be afraid. That’s just some goddess. What’s wrong with you? You fear the gods?” I couldn’t believe it. This was the same guy who went with me to movie after movie after movie about the gods and demigods. Aja always liked the demigod movies, like “The Lightening Thief.” I preferred the love stories. Like “Twilight.” I thought it was because he secretly wished he was a demigod himself, with all the special powers. He already had the looks. 

Oh, he knows he should fear me. You were born in India, weren’t you?

“Yes, great goddess. Please forgive me, are you the goddess Kali? I am so sorry we have angered you. We will be leaving now.”

I stared at Aja. I think my mouth dropped open. Leave his own apartment? My Sylvestor Stallone Indian friend was quivering just because this goddess sounded angry? 

“Aja,” I finally got out. “Are you serious? You’re not afraid of some discombobulated voice, are you? It could be anyone.”

I am not Kali, but she is near. I am Hera, the goddess of all the goddesses. I also am the only one who can save Allie Alison Swift from her fate, which is a burning hell. If you care about this human, please explain to her who I am.

Aja looked down, and I saw him take a deep breath. I was starting to burn even worse, all around the edges of my soul. It felt like my soul was on fire.

“Aja, I need some water,” I began.

“You will need more than water,” Aja said. “I did not realize what is going on. This is much worse than I thought.”

I wasn’t really over my rage, but I cared about Aja’s thoughts. We always listened to each other. He sounded serious.

“Allie, I have not spoken to you about goddesses,” he said. “I know more than what is in the movies. In India, I was raised knowing them. They followed us to England. We only had peace from them after we left London, and my father converted to Christianity. You must not make them angry, Allie. They are the gods and goddesses. You can only hope they forgive you. You must make amends immediately for whatever you have done. I will help you.”

I was stunned. Aja had never been Christian, as far as I knew. Aja had never said he was Hindu, either. Aja had never been anything. I knew he’d been raised in both India and Great Britain, but we didn’t discuss our parents’ religions much, except to say we hated them. He and I both had been educated in these different churches, but both of us had little use for it. 

“Help me what? Apologize for something I haven’t done? I have done nothing to this Hera. I didn’t even know she existed. Are you crazy?”

I headed toward the sink. 

“Where are you going?” Aja asked.

I had not tried to appear, so I thought I was invisible. Either Aja was now seeing me all the time, or my intense emotions were making me visible. Or something. I briefly wondered if the goddess was affecting my visibility.

“I need water,” I said. 

“Why?” Aja sounded genuinely confused. “You have a more serious problem. Hera is right here. You have to deal with this now. You have to make her happy. Don’t leave for water.”

Tell him why you’re going for water, Allie. 

The goddess’ voice was getting meaner.

I hadn’t told him yet. I had been dumping water on myself and running for the sink ever since I had realized that water relieved the pain. But I felt funny telling Aja. Things were just too weird. This whole being a ghost thing was just weirdness upon weirdness. I couldn’t really take it. I started shaking.

“The water makes the pain stop. I’ve been having pain since I left my body in the woods to come back for Mambo.”

“Why does water make you feel better?” Aja said. “That pain is the anger of the goddess. Nothing can stop it except their forgiveness.”

I couldn’t believe what she said then.

I have let her go to water as a relief from my anger. She needs to cleanse her soul. This teaches her how to purify. I have other things for her to do, to purify her soul, so that she can come into Heaven. However, she ignores me, as if I am nobody. So I have been letting her run around until she learns her lesson.

Aja looked directly at me.

“We need to talk,” Aja said.